Matter Screen Overview

This article will give you an overview of the different sections within the matter screen.

When you open up a matter, one of the tabs will be the 'Overview' which displays summary information about the matter in a set of configurable panels. As an administrator, you can create custom sets of panels for the various Matter Types and System Roles. Customized overview screens allow users to see the most important information about a matter at a glance.

Top Panel

Matter type icon

This is customizable under Admin > Matter types > Matter in question > Matter type settings

Matter name

This will be the name you gave the matter when you created it

Matter type

This is configured under Admin > Matter types

Matter ID

Each matter has an auto-generated unique ID

Related matters

This will only show if the matter type has related matters configured under Admin > Matter types > Matter type in question > Related matter types

Primary participant

This is usually the client. It is configured in the 'Parties' section under Admin > Matter Types > Matter Type in question > Matter Type Settings

Workflow ribbon

The workflow ribbon shows you the steps you need to go through to close your matter. The workflow steps are configured for each matter type under Admin > Matter Types > Matter Type in question > Workflow

Matter Menu

Home/Overview

This section is customizable. You can add and remove different sections and you can drag and drop the panels so they're in the order that you prefer. The setup that you configure is specific to the matter type and to your login, so it will update for all matters using this matter type and it will not update for other users.

To edit, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the 'Configure Panels' button. 

 

Parties

The roles that you see available in the parties tab are configured under Admin > Matter types > Matter type in question > Matter type settings.

In this tab on the matter screen, you can use the dropdowns to add the people involved in the matter to the appropriate party

If a contact does not exist, you can add them from the dropdown

You can also add multiple parties per role

Steps

This tab shows the steps that you have gone through in the workflow, how long you have been on steps and when you changed steps.

File Notes

In this tab, you can create and view file notes. You can filter file notes by tags, or change them to a list view. You can also choose to include file notes from related matters

Appointments

This tab shows a list of all of the appointments that have been made on a matter

Tasks

This tab shows a list of all of the tasks for a matter. You can also create new tasks here.

 

Comms

This tab contains all of the emails that have been assigned to or sent from a matter. You can create an email here.

Alerts

This tab contains a list of alerts that have been created for the matter. You can also create alerts here.

Documents

This is where you access any documents in relation to the matter. You can generate and upload documents from this screen. 

Reports

Any reports in relation to the matter can be found here.

Billing

Here you can see fees, invoices, disbursements, payments & write-offs. You can generate invoices and also customize the billing settings for the specific matter in question.

Trust account

If the matter type is configured for trust accounting under Admin > Trust Accounting, you will see the Trust account icon in the matter menu. This tab shows the trust accounting options for the specific matter.

Wiki

The wiki can be used to direct staff to files, links, and articles that you've written to assist them when they're moving through the workflow.

Portal

The client portal can be set up as an alternative to emailing a client back and forth. You can upload a document to the portal and they will get a notification and can then download the document.

Custom Data Panels

Custom data panels can be configured on a matter type to collect additional data that doesn't necessarily come with Actionstep. These can be configured under Admin > Matter types > Matter type in question > Matter data.

 

FAQs

How do I set a default view for different matter types and/or system roles?

You can set custom matter overview panels for each system role and matter type. To do this navigate to Admin > Users & permissions > Matter Overview Panels.
 
From here, you will be able to select the system role and matter type. You will then be presented with a list of available panels and options to assign these to particular rows and columns on the overview page. Any panel that is not assigned to a row and column will not be displayed on the overview page. 
 

 
Once you have configured the panels, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on 'Save' or 'Save and apply to all System Roles' if applicable.

Why can't I see the 'Configure panel' button?

This is likely due to your system role not having permission to do this. An admin in your system would have to update the matter overview panel for your role.
 
They can navigate to Admin > Users & Permissions > Matter Overview Panels and make sure everything has a double dash as shown in the screenshot below. This will allow you to change the panels from a matter home screen.