Matters module guide

The Matters List and Records

This Matters module guide covers how Lextree tracks a litigation, claim, or dispute matter — a pre-suit demand, lawsuit, arbitration, mediation, regulatory inquiry, internal investigation, or government proceeding — as a single record from filing to close. Each matter carries a status of Open, once it’s opened or filed, or Closed. Unlike most modules, a matter’s records follow the matter itself rather than an organization or person. Sharing a matter shares every record underneath it — the same model used by the Policies module and by how Real Estate properties are shared directly.

The Matters List

Open Matters from the left navigation to see every matter you can access, along with its matter type, counsel, forum, jurisdiction, and status. Filter with the row beneath the column headers, and select rows to Export.

Adding a Matter

Adding a matter requires Editor access to the Matters module.

1. From the Matters list, click New.
2. Enter the matter name, matter type, your organization’s role, forum, and counsel, and optionally link the matter to a related contract, property, or insurance policy.
3. Click Save, then open the record to add parties, settlements, exposure assessments, litigation holds, documents, and orders.

Parties, Settlements, and Exposure

Matter Parties

Record any organization or person party to the matter — including your own entities — along with that party’s litigation role: plaintiff, defendant, co-defendant, and similar designations. Because a matter can name several of your own entities as co-defendants, the party list is where “who’s actually on the hook here” gets a direct answer without cross-referencing the caption.

Settlements

A Matter Settlement records the decision, date, settling party, and amount, plus the paid-on date and payment reference that prove it was actually discharged, not just agreed to. A matter with several defendants and several separate resolutions gets one settlement record per resolution, not a single record carrying all of them. A partial settlement with one defendant doesn’t overwrite the terms reached with another.

Exposure Assessments

A Matter Exposure Assessment is a dated evaluation: ASC 450 likelihood, a low-high loss-estimate range, the reserve recorded against it, and the intended response. Exposure Assessments accumulate as a history rather than replacing one another, so the record shows every assessment made over the life of the matter, not just the latest one. The matter’s current likelihood and exposure range are drawn from the most recent assessment, while earlier assessments stay on the record for anyone reviewing how the estimate moved.

Litigation Holds and Their Rollout

Issuing and Reviewing a Hold

A Litigation Hold is the preservation directive issued for the matter, tracked by its issue date and scope — what’s covered and who it reaches. Status is Active once issued and Inactive once released. A next-review date drives review reminders through Events, so a hold doesn’t go stale between checks. The release date closes out the record once the preservation duty ends.

Hold Rollout Workflow

Issuing a hold is more than setting a field. The seeded Litigation Hold Rollout workflow template walks the rollout as a five-step checklist: identify custodians, issue the notice, confirm acknowledgment, suspend routine deletion, and schedule the review. Running the rollout as a workflow, rather than a single status change, puts distribution and follow-up on the record alongside the hold itself. Each step gets its own assignment and its own tracking.

Documents, Orders, and Order Reports

Matter Documents

Matter Documents form the matter’s file: your own filings, received orders and correspondence, demand letters, and conformed copies of registry documents, recorded by document type and date. Settlement agreements attach to the Settlement they belong to, and consent orders attach to the Order they evidence. Supporting paper stays next to the record it proves, rather than in one undifferentiated folder. See Attachments for how attachments work across the record.

Matter Orders

A Matter Order is a consent order or decree, an injunction, a cease-and-desist, an assurance of voluntary compliance, a deferred prosecution agreement, an undertaking, or a settlement-imposed covenant. These obligations can outlive the matter’s Closed status. An order tracks its own next report due, expiry, and satisfaction discharge pointer, independent of whether the underlying matter is still open. Status is Active once issued and Inactive once expired or satisfied, so a closed matter with an active order still surfaces in reminders and status filters.

Order Reports

A Matter Order Report is a dated performance under an order or undertaking: a periodic report to a monitor or agency, or a compliance certification. Its submission reference serves as the discharge pointer. Each report filed under an order is its own record, so a history of compliance survives the matter’s closure. “Did we file this quarter’s report” then has an answer that doesn’t depend on anyone’s memory.

Who Can Access Matters

• Viewing a matter requires access to the Matters module.
• Creating or editing a matter and its records requires Editor access to the Matters module.

Sharing follows the matter, not an organization or person. Sharing a matter shares every party, settlement, exposure assessment, hold, document, and order underneath it — the same non-standard sharing model used by Policies.

On Business and Enterprise plans, per-module Editor and Viewer roles control who can view or edit Matters records. On Enterprise plans, access group scoping limits the list to matters within your assigned access groups.