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Matter Management

Matters are the primary unit of legal work in The One Legal. A matter represents a discrete legal issue — a contract dispute, compliance investigation, security incident with legal implications, or general legal question — that requires attorney involvement.

Matter Types​

TypeWhen to Use
contract_disputeA client or vendor is disputing a contract term, payment, or obligation
complianceA compliance investigation, audit response, or regulatory inquiry
incidentA security incident, data breach, or event with potential legal liability
generalAny other legal question or project that doesn't fit a specific category

Matter Lifecycle​

open → in_progress → resolved → closed
         ↑               |
         └───────────────┘ (can be re-opened)
StatusMeaning
openMatter submitted, not yet claimed by attorney
in_progressAttorney is actively working the matter
resolvedAttorney has provided resolution — MSP to confirm
closedMatter is fully closed and archived

Opening a Matter​

  1. Navigate to Matters in the sidebar
  2. Click New Matter
  3. Fill in the matter form:
    • Title — Brief descriptive title (e.g., "ACME Corp — Disputed Invoice Q1")
    • Type — Select the matter type
    • Description — Full context: what happened, relevant dates, parties involved, and what you need from the attorney
    • Client — Select the relevant client organization (optional for general matters)
    • Urgency — Normal / High / Urgent
    • Related Retainer — Attach to a retainer if billable hours should be tracked against it
    • Attachments — Upload any relevant documents (contracts, emails, evidence)
  4. Click Submit

From PSA (via integration)​

When a PSA ticket has legal implications, technicians can open a matter directly from the ticket:

  1. Open the PSA ticket
  2. Click Legal → Open Matter in the ticket sidebar
  3. The matter form pre-fills with ticket subject, client, and description
  4. Review and submit

Viewing and Managing Matters​

Navigate to Matters to see all open and recent matters.

List View Columns​

  • Matter title and type badge
  • Client organization
  • Assigned attorney
  • Status
  • Urgency indicator
  • Created date
  • Last updated

Matter Detail Page​

Click any matter to open the full detail view.

Overview Tab

  • Matter description and all original details
  • Status timeline showing every transition
  • Linked client and retainer

Hours Log Tab

  • All billable hours logged against this matter
  • Each entry: date, hours, description, attorney name, rate applied
  • Running total for the matter
  • Retainer balance remaining (if applicable)

Documents Tab

  • All documents attached to or generated for this matter
  • Upload additional documents at any time
  • Documents stored encrypted in the vault

Messages Tab

  • Encrypted conversation thread for this matter (see Encrypted Conversations)
  • Real-time messages between you and your attorney

eDiscovery Tab

  • Submit an eDiscovery request for tenant data search
  • View status of pending eDiscovery requests
  • Download results when complete

Logging Hours (Attorney Only)​

Attorneys log billable hours directly on a matter:

  1. Open the matter detail
  2. Click the Hours Log tab
  3. Click Log Time
  4. Enter:
    • Date — Date the work was performed
    • Hours — Time spent (decimal, e.g., 1.5 for 1 hour 30 minutes)
    • Description — Brief description of work performed
    • Billing Code — Optional classification for reporting
  5. Click Save

Hours are deducted from the attached retainer's included hours. If the retainer's included hours are exhausted, additional hours bill at the retainer's overage rate.

Matter Assignments​

Matters are assigned to a specific attorney partner. By default, new matters go to your primary attorney. If you have multiple attorneys on your account:

  1. Open the matter
  2. Click Reassign in the summary panel
  3. Select the attorney from your team
  4. The new attorney receives a notification

Encrypted Conversations​

Every matter has an encrypted message thread for communication with your attorney.

ℹ️

Matter conversations are end-to-end encrypted using AES-256-GCM. The server stores only ciphertext — the platform cannot read message content. Messages are decrypted only in your browser.

To send a message:

  1. Open the matter detail
  2. Click the Messages tab
  3. Type your message and press Enter or click Send
  4. Messages appear in real time for both parties (powered by Azure SignalR)

Conversations support:

  • Plain text and formatted messages
  • File attachments (stored encrypted in the vault)
  • Read receipts and unread indicators
  • Message history with full scroll history

eDiscovery Requests​

If a matter requires searching through data held in The One Stack (emails, files, activity logs), you can submit an eDiscovery request:

  1. Open the matter detail
  2. Click the eDiscovery tab
  3. Click New eDiscovery Request
  4. Specify:
    • Search Scope — Which data types to search (email, files, activity logs)
    • Date Range — Time window for the search
    • Keywords — Terms to search for
    • Data Subjects — Specific users or organizations to scope to
  5. Submit the request
ℹ️

eDiscovery requests are processed by the background service and may take several hours for large datasets. You will receive a notification when results are ready.

Matter Closure​

When an attorney marks a matter as Resolved:

  1. You receive a notification
  2. Review the attorney's resolution notes
  3. If satisfied, click Close Matter
  4. If more work is needed, click Re-open

Closed matters move to the archive but remain searchable. All hours, documents, and messages are retained permanently.

Reporting​

Navigate to Analytics to see matter-level reporting:

  • Open matters by type and urgency
  • Average resolution time by matter type
  • Hours logged per month
  • Matters per client organization
  • Attorney utilization rate