Matter Management
Track, organize, and manage all your legal matters in HAQQ - linked to clients, documents, tasks, hearings, time entries, and AI context.
The Core Unit of Work
NavigateLegal Matters (from left sidebar)
Every client engagement, case, transaction, or project lives as a matter. The matter connects documents, tasks, hearings, time entries, invoices, calendar events, and team assignments into one place. Matters are organized by practice area tabs: All Matters, Corporate, M&A, GC, Securities & Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, Disputes & Litigation, Employment & Labor, and Wealth Management.
Creating a New Matter
Click "+ Add Matter" or use Quick Add.
Matter Creation Fields
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Yes | Descriptive name for the engagement. |
| Practice Area | Yes | Determines which tab the matter appears in. |
| Client | Yes | Linked to Contacts. Start typing to search. |
| Status | Yes | Current state of the engagement (e.g., Active, Pending, Closed). |
| Date Opened | Yes | When the matter was formally opened. |
| Opposing Party | No | The other side in the matter. |
| Assigned Team Member | No | Primary lawyer responsible for this matter. |
| Custom Fields | No | Firm-specific fields configured by your administrator (e.g., Opposing Counsel, Engagement Letter Date, Conflict Check Status). |
+ Add Matter
Scenario
New client calls with a commercial dispute
A new client calls with an urgent commercial dispute. You need to open a matter immediately.
Steps
Click "+" > New Matter > Title: "Al Rashidi v. Gulf Trading LLC" > Practice Area: Disputes & Litigation > Client: search and select (or create new contact on the spot) > Status: Active > Assigned: yourself > Save.
Result: Matter is open. You can immediately start logging time, creating tasks, uploading documents, and scheduling hearings — all linked to this matter.
- Matters live under Case Management in the left rail, alongside Hearings, Court Reviews and the Service Log.
- The matter title, its status, and the practice area and jurisdiction it was opened under.
- Ten tabs hang off every matter. Anything you create from inside one is linked to this matter automatically.
- Custom fields your administrator configures, such as opposing counsel, engagement letter date and conflict check status.
- The Legal AI bar. Justinian already has the matter's documents, time entries and hearings loaded as context.
- Linked matters keep related engagements connected while their billing and time stay separate.
Shaping the Form Per Matter Type
The matter form is not fixed. Each type carries its own set of fields, and the useful configuration work is subtraction: the default set assumes a contested court case, and most matter types are not one. A form asking for a judge on a matter that will never see a bench trains people to leave fields blank, which is how a directory stops being trustworthy.
What Changes By Type
| Matter type | Drop | Keep or swap |
|---|---|---|
| Government procedures | Court, court case number, judge — there is no court in the loop. | Who it is filed against, and who the firm represents. |
| Administrative proceedings | Judge, and the opposing-counsel fields where no counsel appears. | Court and case number, since these are still filed. |
| Arbitration | Judge — there is no judge. | Swap it for the arbitral tribunal, which occupies the same slot on the form. |
| Corporate and advisory | Court, case number, judge, opponent, opposing counsel — none apply to non-contentious work. | Client, stage, specialisation, assigned lawyer, notes. |
| Landlord and tenant | Nothing structural — it behaves like a standard contested matter. | The full litigation set, including opponent and their counsel. |
Tip
Let the matter ID auto-number rather than typing one. A hand-entered reference is the field that collides first once more than one person is opening matters.
Important
Field order is part of the configuration, not decoration. Put what identifies the matter at the top — client, stage, specialisation — and push description and notes down. People fill a form top-down and abandon it partway; what sits above the fold is what actually gets captured.
Info
Configure the types your firm genuinely runs, and no more. Every field you leave on a form is one somebody has to decide about on every matter they open.
The Matter Detail View (10 Tabs)
Matter Detail Tabs
| Tab | What It Contains | Key Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Matter Info | All details, status, assigned team, custom fields | Edit any field, update status |
| Tasks | Tasks linked to this matter | Create tasks here for automatic linking |
| Calendar | Events related to this engagement | Schedule meetings, set deadlines |
| Reminders | Important dates and follow-ups | Set automated reminders |
| Milestones | Key events in the matter lifecycle | Track major progress points |
| Files | All documents with drag-and-drop upload | Upload, organize, search documents |
| SharePoint | External documents via M365 integration | Access linked SharePoint folders |
| Financial | Invoices, expenses, payments for this matter | Create invoices, log expenses |
| Hearings | All court dates for this case | Create and track hearing dates |
| Time Log | All time entries billed to this matter | Review logged hours, check billable time |
AI Assistant - Matter Context
AI Inside the Matter
From any matter, click the Legal AI bar to start a conversation with Justinian. The Legal AI has full context: the client, practice area, jurisdiction, all related documents, time entries, and notes. Ask it to draft documents, summarize case status, recommend next steps, prepare filing packages, or draft client communications - all with the matter context already loaded.
The Legal AI bar appears inside a matter once your workspace has an active AI Engine trial or subscription. Without one, the matter still works as a full practice-management record - documents, tasks, hearings, time and billing - and the AI bar becomes available as soon as the trial starts.
Linked Matters
AlphaCorp Acquisition
M&A
AlphaCorp Due Diligence
Corporate
AlphaCorp IP License
IP
Linked Matters
Matters can be linked to related engagements. When a client has multiple interconnected cases or a transaction spawns follow-on work, linked matters keep everything connected while maintaining separate billing and task tracking.
Tip
Create tasks from within the matter's Tasks tab rather than the standalone Tasks module. Tasks created this way are automatically linked to the matter - no manual "Link To" step needed.
Summary
The matter is the core of HAQQ - 10 tabs connecting documents, tasks, hearings, time, billing, files, SharePoint, and AI, all in one place.