One Record Per Matter, and Everything Hangs Off It
A client walks in without warning. The junior holding the file is at the City Civil Court, and the file is in his bag. The senior still has to talk about the matter.
What the record holds
Court, case number and year
The court, bench or tribunal comes from your own list. Case number and year go in as they were allotted, so a search for O.S. 412 of 2023 finds it in one line.
Parties and opposing counsel
Client, opposite party and the counsel appearing against you are records, not names typed twice. One company can be a client on one matter and an opposite party on another.
Stage, and who is in charge
Filing, appearance, evidence, arguments, disposal. The stage moves when somebody records what the court did, and the advocate in charge is named on the matter.
The fee arrangement, agreed once
Retainer, fixed fee, per appearance, or on time spent. It is recorded when the brief is accepted, so the bill is drawn on what was agreed and not on what anyone remembers.
Everything else attaches here
Open the matter and the rest of the practice is already on it.
- Dates, adjournments and the reason each time
- Drafts, filed copies and the order sheets you hold
- Court fee, process fee, typing and travel paid from the cash box
- Hours logged by the advocate who spent them
- Bills raised, receipts taken and the balance standing
Before you accept the brief
A search across parties shows whether your firm already appears for or against either of them. It reads your own records, and it answers a question the senior would otherwise answer from memory.
Who sees the matter
Matters can be made visible only to the advocates and staff you name. That matters on the day one partner is briefed against a company another partner acts for.
What it cannot tell you
The conflict search reads your own matters, not the world. A party your firm has never recorded will not appear, and the decision on accepting a brief stays with the advocate making it.
Frequently asked questions
Can two matters for the same client carry different fee terms?
Yes. A company can be on a monthly retainer for its labour matters and on a per-appearance rate for a cheque bounce case. Each matter is billed under its own arrangement.
How do we number our matters?
The way you number them today. Your internal file number, the court case number and year all sit on the record, and the search reads any of them.
Can our running matters be moved in?
Yes, from registers or Excel, with parties, case numbers, next dates and fee arrangements. One court’s listings are checked against the clerk’s diary before go-live.
Tell us what you need.
Send a short brief and one of our engineers will come back to you — usually the same day.
- No obligation
- We reply the same working day
- Your details stay private