Creating a matter

A matter is a single legal case or engagement you work on for a client. In Esqase you create a matter through a guided, step-by-step wizard that gathers everyone involved, the practice area and key dates, the team and their revenue split, billing, documents, tasks, and any workflow. This page walks you through every step, how to save a draft versus activate the matter, how to start from a template, and how the edit wizard differs from creating from scratch.

Before you begin

You need Create access for matters to start a new matter. If your role does not include it, you will not see the New matter button and the new-matter page will show a "no access" message. Firm owners, administrators, and attorneys have this access by default; staff members usually have view-only access.
You need at least one practice area with at least one stage set up, because every matter belongs to exactly one practice area and one stage. If your firm has not set up practice areas yet, see Practice areas and stages.
The clients you want to add should already exist as contacts. You can also create a new contact from inside the wizard, so this is not strictly required.

Tip: The wizard saves nothing until you finish. You can move between steps freely using the left-hand step list, and you can leave at any time with Save as draft to come back later.

Starting the new-matter wizard

You start the wizard from the matters list.

In the sidebar, click Matters.
In the top right, click New matter. The full-screen matter wizard opens at the first step, Customers.
The left side shows the list of steps. The current step is highlighted, completed steps show a checkmark, and you can click any step you have already reached to jump to it.
To leave without finishing, click Save as draft in the top bar (more on drafts below) or click the back arrow labelled Matters in the top left to discard and return to the list.

📷 Screenshot: The new-matter wizard open on the Customers step, with the step list on the left (Customers, Matter information, Custom fields, Team, View permissions, Related contacts, Billing, Document folder, Tasks, Workflow) and the top bar showing Save as draft, Next, and the Matters back link. Suggested image: images/matters/creating-a-matter-wizard-overview.png

The wizard has up to ten steps. The order is always: Customers, Matter information, Custom fields, Team, View permissions, Related contacts, Billing, Document folder, Tasks, Workflow. Each step is covered below.

Note: Each time you click Next or jump to another step, Esqase checks the current step for required fields. If something is missing it stays on the step and highlights what needs fixing, so you cannot skip past a step with errors.

Step 1: Customers

Customers are the clients this matter is for. This is where you confirm the primary client and anyone who should receive bills. A matter needs at least one customer.

In the Customer field, search for and select a contact. To add someone who is not in your contacts yet, open the field and click New customer, fill in the contact dialog, and the new contact is selected automatically.
Use the Primary dropdown to mark the main client for the matter. At least one customer must be set to Yes for primary.
Use the Bill recipient dropdown to mark whether this customer should receive invoices. At least one customer must be a bill recipient.
To add more clients, click Add customer and repeat. Remove a row with the trash icon (you cannot remove the last remaining row).

What each option does:

Primary: identifies the lead client on the matter. The primary client (plus any others) is used to auto-fill the matter title on the next step, for example "Alice Reyes - Family law".
Bill recipient: marks who invoices go to. You will configure how bills split between recipients later, on the Billing step.

Important: You must mark at least one customer as Primary and at least one as a Bill recipient, or the step will not let you continue. The same contact cannot be added twice.

Running the conflict check

Below the customer rows is a Conflict check panel. A conflict check screens your selected clients against your firm's existing records (matters, contacts, leads, invoices, and more) to surface any potential conflict of interest before you take on the work.

Add the clients you intend to represent in the customer rows above.
In the Conflict check panel, click Run conflict check.
Review the results. Matches are grouped by record type and tagged with a priority badge (high, medium, or low) and the reason for the match (for example, Existing client, Related party, or Mention). Click any result to open that record in a new view.
If you change the selected clients, click Re-run conflict check to screen again.

If nothing is found, you will see No conflicts found. Running the check is advisory: it does not block you from creating the matter, but it is good practice to run it before you proceed.

📷 Screenshot: The Customers step with two customer rows (one marked Primary, one marked Bill recipient) and the Conflict check panel below showing the Run conflict check button. Suggested image: images/matters/creating-a-matter-customers-conflict.png

Tip: For a deeper explanation of how conflict checks work, see Running a conflict check.

Step 2: Matter information

This step sets the practice area, title, and important dates. It is the core identity of the matter.

(Optional) Start from template. At the top is a Start from template dropdown. Picking a template auto-fills the rest of the matter setup. See Apply a matter template while creating below.
Select a Practice area (required). This determines the available stages and matter types. Changing the practice area resets the stage and matter types.
Select a Stage (required). Stages are the columns on the matters kanban for that practice area. When you pick a practice area, the first stage is selected for you.
Select one or more Matter types (optional). These are the sub-types defined for the practice area, for example "Divorce" or "Custody" under Family law.
Confirm the Matter title. If you leave it blank, Esqase uses the auto-generated title (primary client plus practice area). Type your own to override it.
Add a Matter description (optional) for any internal notes about the case.
Set the Open date (required), the date the matter is considered open. It defaults to today.
Set the Close date (optional), for when the matter is or will be closed.
Set the Statute of limitations date (optional). The statute of limitations is the legal deadline by which a claim must be filed; tracking it here keeps the deadline visible on the matter.
Check Statute of limitations satisfied? when the deadline has been met or no longer applies.

📷 Screenshot: The Matter information step showing Practice area, Stage, Matter types, Matter title, Open/Close/Statute of limitations dates, and the "Statute of limitations satisfied?" checkbox. Suggested image: images/matters/creating-a-matter-information.png

Statute of limitations reminders

When you enter a Statute of limitations date, a Statute of limitations reminders section appears so you can be reminded ahead of the deadline.

Click Add reminder.
Enter an Amount (a number) and a Unit (Day(s), Week(s), Month(s), or Year(s)). The row reads, for example, "7 Day(s) Before".
Add more reminders for multiple lead times, or remove a row with the trash icon.

Step 3: Custom fields

Custom fields let you capture extra information specific to your firm, such as a court case number or an insurance carrier. This step is optional unless a field is marked required.

Use Add individual custom field to attach a single field, or Add custom field template to attach a whole set of fields at once.
To create a brand-new field on the fly, open either dropdown and click New custom field or New custom field template, fill in the dialog, and it is added to the matter.
Fill in a value for each field you added. Fields marked required must have a value before you can continue.
Remove a field you do not need with the trash icon next to it.

Note: Adding a field here attaches it to this matter only. To manage the firm-wide library of fields and field sets, see Custom fields and Field sets and using custom fields.

Step 4: Team

The team step assigns members to the matter, sets their roles, and splits revenue between them. You must have at least two team rows.

In each Member field, search for and select a firm member.
Choose a Role for each: Originating Attorney, Responsible Attorney, or Responsible Staff. You must keep one Originating Attorney row and one Responsible Attorney row. The same member can hold both.
Enter an Allocation % for each member. Allocations split future revenue between team members and must add up to exactly 100%.
Click Add assignment to add more members. Some rows are locked (you cannot remove or re-role them); these are seeded for you with the current user.

What the roles mean:

Originating Attorney: the member who brought in the matter.
Responsible Attorney: the attorney accountable for the work.
Responsible Staff: supporting staff on the matter.

Important: Allocation percentages must total 100%. If they do not, the step shows the current total and asks you to fix it. Allocation only affects future transactions, not work already recorded.

📷 Screenshot: The Team step showing member rows with Role dropdowns and Allocation % fields, and the "Roles and revenue allocation" info banner at the top. Suggested image: images/matters/creating-a-matter-team.png

Step 5: View permissions

This step controls which members in your firm can see and work on the matter.

Choose Everyone in the firm to let all members access the matter, or Specific members to restrict it.
If you choose Specific members, a Members with access field appears. Select each member who should have access.

Note: Members you assigned on the Team step are always included automatically and cannot be removed here. To remove one, go back to the Team step and remove their assignment.

Related contacts are other people connected to the matter who are not your clients, such as opposing counsel, witnesses, or experts. This step is optional.

If there are no related contacts yet, click Add related contact.
In each Contact field, search and select a contact, or click New contact to create one.
Enter the Relationship (required), for example "Opposing counsel" or "Witness".
Use the Bill recipient dropdown to mark whether this person should receive invoices for the matter.
Add more rows with Add related contact, or remove a row with the trash icon.

Note: Contacts you already added as customers do not appear in this list, so you cannot add the same person twice.

Step 7: Billing

The billing step decides whether the matter is billable, how it is billed, and how bills split between recipients.

Check or uncheck This matter is billable. If unchecked, the matter has no billing configuration.
If billable, choose a Billing method: Hourly, Flat rate, or Contingency fee.

What each method captures:

Hourly: bills by time and expense at standard rates. You can optionally add Custom billing rates to override firm or member rates just for this matter (give each a description, a rate amount, and a type of Time or Expense). You can also check Set a budget for this matter and enter a Matter budget amount.
Flat rate: a single fixed fee. Pick a Fee recipient (the member credited for the fee), optionally a Flat fee category (a fixed-rate category, which fills in the amount), and an Amount.
Contingency fee: the firm is paid a percentage of the recovery. Pick a Fee recipient and enter a Rate %.

Splitting an invoice between recipients

When a matter has more than one bill recipient (across customers and related contacts), and the method is Hourly or Flat rate, a Split invoice section appears so you can divide each invoice between them.

Each bill recipient appears as a row with a percentage. Set each recipient's share so the percentages total 100%.
To add another person to the split, click Add biller and pick a Member or Contact from the list.
Remove a manually added biller with the trash icon. (Recipients that come from your customer and related-contact choices are managed on those steps.)
Check Send invoice copy to all bill recipients to email a copy of each invoice to everyone on the split.

Note: The split invoice section is only available when there is more than one bill recipient. To make it disappear, remove bill recipients on the Customers or Related contacts steps. Contingency-fee matters cannot be split.

📷 Screenshot: The Billing step with "This matter is billable" checked, the Billing method set to Hourly, a custom rate row, and the Split invoice section with two recipients and percentages. Suggested image: images/matters/creating-a-matter-billing.png

Step 8: Document folder

This step sets the default location where files for this matter are uploaded.

Leave the Document upload location field blank to use the default path, which Esqase shows below the field (for example, "Matters / MAT-001 Alice Reyes - Family law").
To use a different existing folder instead, enter it here.

Note: This step does not appear in the edit wizard. The document folder is set when the matter is created and is then managed from the matter's Documents tab. See The documents workspace.

Step 9: Tasks

The tasks step prepopulates the matter's task board so your team has work to do from day one. Everything here is optional.

Pick a Task stage template to set the columns on the matter's task board, or leave it blank to use the default columns (To do, In progress, Done). A Stage preview shows the columns you will get.
Pick a Task list to copy a ready-made set of tasks onto the board, or leave it blank to start with no tasks. A Tasks preview lists the tasks that will be cloned.

Tip: If a task stage template's name matches your selected practice area, Esqase selects it for you automatically. You can change it. To build these reusable sets, see Task lists and templates and Task kanban, stages, and types.

Note: Like the document folder, the tasks step does not appear in the edit wizard. Task columns and tasks become live data once the matter exists and are then managed from the matter's Tasks tab.

Step 10: Workflow

A workflow is an automated or guided sequence of steps (such as sending a form, creating a task, or scheduling a meeting). You can optionally attach one to the matter. This step appears only when creating a fresh matter, not when editing or when converting a lead.

In the Workflow dropdown, pick a workflow, or leave it blank with Don't attach a workflow.
Read the description under the field to understand what will happen:
- An automatic workflow starts its first step as soon as the matter is created; the remaining steps are added for you to run from the matter's Overview tab.
- A manual workflow simply adds its steps to the matter for you to run from the Overview tab.

If your firm has no active workflows, this step shows a note instead, and you can create one later. See Workflows and the builder and Assigning and attaching workflows.

Save as a draft or create the matter

On the last step you decide whether the matter goes live or is saved as a draft.

Create the matter. Click Create matter. The matter is created as active and you are taken to its workspace. A confirmation shows its reference number (for example, "Matter MAT-001 created").
Save as a draft. Click Save as draft (available in the top bar at any step). The matter is saved as a draft so you can finish it later. A confirmation shows the draft's reference number.

What the difference means:

A draft is an incomplete matter you intend to come back to. It still gets a reference number.
An active matter is a complete, live matter. Creating from the final step always activates the matter.

📷 Screenshot: The final step's action bar showing Save as draft, Create matter & save as template, and Create matter. Suggested image: images/matters/creating-a-matter-save-actions.png

Create and save as a template at the same time

On the final step you can also click Create matter & save as template. This creates the matter and saves its setup (practice area, custom fields, team, permissions, billing, and tasks) as a reusable template.

Click Create matter & save as template.
In the Save as matter template dialog, enter a Template name (it suggests the practice area name).
Click Save and create template.

The matter is created and the template appears under Matter templates for next time. See Matter templates.

Note: Templates store the matter's setup, not its clients or saved values, so sensitive field values are never included.

Apply a matter template while creating

A matter template prefills the wizard so you do not start from scratch for routine case types. There are two ways to apply one.

From the Matter information step:

Start a new matter and go to the Matter information step.
In the Start from template dropdown, pick a template.
The wizard fills in the practice area, custom fields, team, permissions, billing, and tasks from the template. You can still review and adjust every step before saving.

From the matter templates list:

In the sidebar, click Matters, then Matter templates.
Find the template and click Create (create a matter from this template).
The new-matter wizard opens with the template already applied.

Tip: Applying a template does not skip any steps. It is a starting point; you confirm the clients, dates, and anything else specific to this case before creating the matter.

Edit an existing matter

You can reopen a matter in the wizard to change its core details. The edit wizard reuses the same flow but covers only the first seven steps.

Open the matter, or find it in the Matters list.
- From the list, click the ... (more actions) menu on the matter's row and choose Edit.
- From the matter's workspace, click Edit in the header.
The wizard opens in edit mode with every field prefilled from the saved matter. The available steps are Customers, Matter information, Custom fields, Team, View permissions, Related contacts, and Billing.
Make your changes. In edit mode you can jump to any of these steps directly.
Click Save changes. You return to the matter's workspace with a confirmation.

Note: The Document folder, Tasks, and Workflow steps do not appear when editing. Those become live parts of the matter after creation and are managed from the matter's own tabs (Documents, Tasks, and Overview) rather than the wizard.

Important: You need Update access for matters to edit. If your role does not include it, you will not see the Edit option and the edit page shows a "no access" message.

What "replace-all" means when you save edits

When you save an edit, Esqase updates the core matter details and then completely replaces the matter's sub-records for the steps you can edit, namely its customers, matter types, team and allocations, view permissions, related contacts, billing configuration, and custom field values. The previous versions of those records are cleared and re-created from exactly what is on screen when you save.

In practical terms:

Anything you removed on a step (a customer, a related contact, a team member, a custom field) is gone after you save.
Anything you added or changed replaces what was there before.
The matter keeps its reference number, its documents, and its tasks; those are never touched by an edit.

Tip: Because saving replaces these records wholesale, review every editable step before clicking Save changes, not just the one you came to change. If a step still shows the right people and values, leaving it as-is preserves it.

📷 Screenshot: The edit wizard open on the Matter information step, showing the prefilled values and the Save changes button, with only the first seven steps listed on the left. Suggested image: images/matters/creating-a-matter-edit-wizard.png

Common questions

Do I have to fill in every step? No. Required fields exist only on the Customers, Matter information, Team, and (when billable) Billing steps. Custom fields, related contacts, the document folder, tasks, and workflow are optional unless a specific custom field is marked required.

Can I leave and come back? Yes. Click Save as draft to save your progress as a draft matter, then reopen it from the Matters list later.

Why can't I move to the next step? A required field is missing or invalid on the current step. The wizard highlights the field and shows a message. Common cases are a missing primary or bill-recipient customer, team allocations that do not total 100%, or a missing practice area or stage.

The Workflow step is missing. Why? It only appears when creating a fresh matter. It is hidden when you edit a matter and when you create a matter by converting a lead (in that case the lead's own workflow carries over). See Converting a lead to a matter.

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