Open every matter properly

Why the first hour matters

Most problems that surface late in a matter started at intake: a missing contact, an unchecked conflict, a costs agreement that was never signed. Fixing them later means going back to a client who has already moved on. Each fix also costs time that usually cannot be billed.

When I worked as a conveyancer, I opened every file from the same checklist. The point was not paperwork. It was so that anyone in the office could pick up the file and know where it stood.

This guide walks through intake in the order it should happen: collecting details once, verifying identity, running the conflict check, sending the engagement and setting up the file from a template. Done in one sitting, it takes most matters under an hour. Spread across a week, it takes far longer and things get missed.

Capture the right details once

• Full legal names of every client and the other side, including former names and related entities

• Contact details, the preferred way to reach the client and who can give instructions

• Identity verification, recorded against the matter

• The scope of work in a sentence or two, in the client’s own words

• Any dates the client already knows, such as a settlement or hearing date

Enter these once, on the matter, and use them everywhere: the conflict search, the engagement letter and the matter template. Typing the same name three times is how spelling errors get into conflict searches.

Who can give instructions matters more than it looks. On a matter for a company, record which directors or employees can instruct you and confirm it in the engagement letter. On a matter for a couple or a family, record whether either client can instruct alone. Disputes about authority are much easier to avoid than to resolve.

Verify identity before you act

Identity verification belongs at the start, not at settlement or the first trust deposit. Record what you checked, who checked it and when, against the matter. If you rely on a third-party verification service, attach its report.

What you must check, and to what standard, depends on the type of work and where you practise. Property transactions, trust money and some financial matters often carry stricter requirements. Your law society or state bar’s guidance is the place to confirm them, and your checklist should reflect what it says.

• Verify every client, including each person in a joint matter.

• For companies and trusts, verify the entity and the people giving instructions.

• Re-verify repeat clients when your policy says to, not only when something looks different.

Run the conflict check before any advice

Search every party name, including the other side, related companies and anyone acting for them. Search closed matters and contacts as well as open ones, so a name from an old file still comes up.

Record the result on the matter, including a nil result and who cleared it. If a possible conflict appears, stop and escalate before any advice is given. What counts as a conflict, and how it can be managed, depends on your conduct rules, so check your law society or state bar’s guidance.

I used to run conflict checks by searching my inbox. Now the check is part of opening the matter, and the result sits where the partner can see it.

Callum Reid, Associate, Ashgrove Legal

A conflict check is only as good as the names in it. Search for former names, trading names and spelling variations, and include any company the client controls. When the other side is not yet known, record that, and run the check again as soon as they are.

New lawyers bring their own history with them. When someone joins the firm, search their previous clients and matters against your records as well, as far as your rules allow, and record the result. Lateral hires are a common source of conflicts that nobody saw coming.

Send the engagement in the same sitting

The engagement letter and costs agreement (fee agreement in the US) should go out on the day the matter opens. Waiting a week tells the client the paperwork is optional. Sending it straight away also means the client sees the estimate before they see the first bill.

1. Confirm scope, estimate and billing method with the client by phone.

2. Generate the letter from the matter and check every variable field.

3. Send it through the client portal so the signed copy lands on the matter.

4. Set a task to follow up in three business days if it has not come back.

Use the client’s own words for the scope where you can, then add the exclusions in yours. A client who reads “We will act on your purchase of 14 Harbour Street, but not on the finance or any building dispute” knows what to expect. A client who reads “conveyancing services” will assume everything is included.

Update the estimate in writing as soon as it is likely to change. A short email that says the matter will now take longer, why, and what it is likely to cost is far easier to send than a long conversation about an unexpected bill.

Let the template do the rest

Choose the practice-area matter template when you open the file. It sets up the key dates and tasks for that type of work, so a family law property matter and a commercial lease start with different checklists. The template should hold the steps, not someone’s memory.

Review each template every six months with the lawyers who use it. Add the step that caught someone out last quarter, remove the tasks nobody does, and check that every key date still matches current rules and court timetables.

Templates also make supervision easier. When every matter of a type opens with the same tasks, a supervising lawyer can see at a glance which steps are done, which are overdue and which matters need a conversation.

A one-hour intake, start to finish

Put together, intake for a typical new matter looks like this:

1. First call: take the client’s details, the other side’s name and a short description of the work. About 15 minutes.

2. Conflict search on every party, with the result recorded. About 5 minutes.

3. Identity verification, in person or through your verification service. About 10 minutes.

4. Open the matter from the right practice-area template and check the key dates it creates. About 5 minutes.

5. Generate the engagement letter and costs agreement from the matter, check the fields and send it through the portal. About 15 minutes.

The times vary by practice area, and a complex commercial matter will take longer. The order does not change. Nothing is advised and no money is received until the first three steps are done.

Repeat clients and new matters

Repeat clients are where intake most often gets skipped. Open a new matter for each new piece of work rather than adding it to an old file, run a fresh conflict check against the new parties, and send a new engagement or a variation that covers the new scope.

It feels like extra paperwork for a client you know well. It is also what lets you bill the work properly, see each matter’s position on its own and close the old file when it is finished.