Stages and matter templates

What stages and templates do

A matter template sets what a matter starts with: its stages, its first tasks and its document folders. Stages are the steps the matter moves through, in order, such as Pleadings or Trial. They show as a bar under the matter's title, and the client sees their progress in the client portal.

Templates live in Settings, under Workflows, then Matter templates. Changes to a template apply to new matters only.

Add Chronica's starter templates

If you have no templates yet, click Add starter templates. Chronica has templates for common Nigerian matters, such as litigation, debt recovery, land purchase and probate. You can add more later with Starter templates, and edit any of them.

Build a template

1. Click New template, or Start from scratch if you have none yet.
2. Enter a Name, such as "Commercial litigation".
3. Choose a Practice area if it's for one area only, and add a Summary of when to use it. Both are optional.
4. Under Starter tasks, click Add task for each first task. Give it a title, the number of days after opening when it's due, and a priority.
5. Under Folders, type a folder name such as "Pleadings" and click Add folder.
6. Under Stages, click Add stage for each step, in order. For each one:
   • give it a name
   • under What the client sees, add the wording the client sees, if it should differ from the stage name
   • add a Time limit in days, if the stage has one. A time limit adds a deadline task when a matter enters the stage.
7. Use the arrow to move a stage up. Check the preview under What the client sees in the portal.
8. Click Create template, or Save changes when editing.

Give a matter its stages

When you convert a lead into a client and matter, you can pick a Matter template. The new matter gets the template's stages, starter tasks and folders. See Convert a lead.

For a matter you opened another way, add stages from its settings:

1. Open the matter and click Settings, then Stages.
2. Under Use stages from a template, choose a template.
3. Click Use these stages.

This adds the stages only, not the template's tasks or folders. To take stages off a matter, click Remove stages. The stage bar and the client's progress in the portal go away, but the stage history is kept.

Move a matter to another stage

1. Click a stage on the bar under the matter's title.
2. Check Date it started. It's today unless you change it.
3. Add a Note if you like, for example "Judgment delivered".
4. Leave Show the client in the portal on for the client to see the new stage, or turn it off.
5. Click Move to and the stage name.

If the stage has a time limit, Chronica adds a task due that many days after the date it started. Past moves show in Stage history on the matter's Overview.

To move several matters at once, tick them on Matters and use Change stage. Matters that don't have that stage are skipped.

Questions

I changed a template. Why didn't my open matters change?

Matters keep the stages they started with. Template changes only reach matters opened afterwards.

What happens to matters when I delete a template?

They keep their tasks and folders. New matters can no longer use it.