Feature Spotlight: Custom Matter Views
Our Feature Spotlight series focuses on Actionstep features that our customers love to use the most, cannot do without, or find super helpful!
Our Gold Partner, Borek Consulting, wrote this month’s Feature Spotlight all about Custom Matter Views.
Custom Matter Views are one of the most powerful ways to organize and report on your Actionstep data.
Custom Matter views are included as a standard feature in Actionstep, available in the Practice Pro and Practice Pro+ versions without any additional fee.
Why We Love Custom Matter Views
The power of any database is not just in capturing individual Matter information but also being able to easily gather and report on it across all Matters. Reviewing individual Matter information is useful, however, when a firm can easily report both globally and drill down to specific metrics, they can make management and case decisions easier. Custom Matter Views help users to utilize their time more efficiently.
Matter Views are a powerful reporting tool that can be accessed by any (assigned) user right from the main menu bar. Instead of viewing hundreds (or thousands) of records to assemble a list manually, Actionstep can be customized to provide this information exactly as you define, sort, and filter it.
What It Does
Matter Views can be customized to report on a variety of information. The “Standard” Matter view includes general Matter information including:
- Matter ID
- Matter Name
- File Ref
- Primary Participant
- Type (of Matter)
- Current Step
- Status
- Priority
- Assigned To
- Created
- Last Activity
- My Last Access
The following are some examples that can be used to create Matter Views using the above fields:
Example 1: Show Specific File Type and Date Create Range
In the example below, the list has been filtered to Motor Vehicle Collision (MVC) Matters created in the last 7 days:
Example 2: Show Specific File Type and Current Step
In the example below, the Matter View has been customized to reflect Family Law Matters who are currently in the Discovery step.
Example 3: Show Trust, Accounts Receivable, etc.
In this more advanced example, financial information has been added to the Matter View, including the Trust Balances and Accounts Receivable for Matters. Since it contains sensitive data, this view might be restricted to specific user roles.
Using Custom Data in Matter Views
If you have customized your practice areas to include case-specific information (data collections), these details can also be included in your Matter Views. Whereas firms without practice management might manually consolidate their information into spreadsheets, Actionstep has the power to do so with the click of a few buttons.
Example 4: Matter View Showing Specific Case Details
Example 5: Matter Showing Specific Case Details (Multi-Record)
In this example, a negotiation multi-record table was created for the Matter type, and each negotiation was entered separately. This view shows the most recent offer and status of the negotiation.
Example 6: Retainer Replenishment (Custom Fields)
In this example, custom fields for retainer replenishment are easily reported.
Other Ideas for Matter List Views:
- Show key party types on a Matter (Opposing Counsel, Judge, etc.)
- Show key deadlines or milestones on cases
- Show Last notes or tasks on Matters
How It Makes a Difference to Law Firms
The ability to consolidate and filter Matter Views allows both administrative and attorney staff to find and report on key data quickly. They can then use this information to observe trends across Matters and focus on any outlier information. It’s a great tool to use in case status meetings, reviewing workloads and making decisions on what actions to take next. Staff can use their time more efficiently since the consolidation of information is dynamic and does not require manual updates.
Read more about Matter Views here
