Case files: what goes in one

Step by step

1. Open the file with the cause title Title, case number, court and stage. If the matter is not filed yet, leave the number blank and fill it when the registry gives it to you — everything else works without it.
2. Add the parties Your client, the opposite party, and anybody else on the record. A party added here appears on documents drafted from the library without being typed again.
3. Set the stage Filed, appearance, evidence, arguments, judgment — whichever list your practice uses. Master lists, kept by the administrator, decide the options.
4. Put the dates in Each hearing is a dated event on the file. It appears on your calendar, on the cause list board, and on your client’s portal.
5. Attach the papers Case documents are stored outside the web root and are never cached on a device. Only the people on the file can open them.
6. Log the work as you do it Minutes against the matter, with a line saying what it was. This is what becomes an invoice later; work logged at the time bills accurately and work remembered at month end does not.

Worth knowing

• Your client sees the file: its stage, its dates, the documents you attach and the messages on it. Anything you do not want them reading does not belong in it.
• Closing a file keeps it and its history; it only takes it out of the active list.