Templates for every practice area

Claire and Priya build a practice-area matter template from scratch, then open one that Shah Family Law has used for two years. You will see how key dates follow from a single trigger date, how tasks are assigned by role and how to keep templates from going stale.

It is for principals, practice managers and senior lawyers who decide how the firm opens files. Examples cover conveyancing (real estate closings), family law and commercial work. If your firm opens files from a blank screen or a copy of an old matter, start here.

Why templates matter

A matter template is the firm’s memory for a type of work. It sets the key dates, the tasks and the documents a matter needs, so the file opens the same way whichever lawyer opens it. Without one, every matter starts from someone’s recollection of how it was done last time.

Most firms have templates of some kind. The difference between a template that helps and one that gets ignored is usually how it was built and whether anyone keeps it current.

Good templates also make a firm easier to join. A new lawyer who opens a family law matter sees the steps the firm expects in the order it expects them, without needing to ask.

How the session runs

The recording is 33 minutes. Claire builds a template live in the first half, and Priya walks through her firm’s template in the second. You can follow along in your own system, and the chapters let you jump to the part that matters to you, whether that is key dates, task chains or the review routine.

Agenda

1. What belongs in a matter template

2. Key dates and task chains

3. A family law template in practice

4. Keeping templates up to date

What you will see

• What belongs in a matter template: Claire separates the steps every matter of a type needs from the ones that depend on the facts, and explains why the second group belongs in a checklist instead.

• Key dates and task chains: how one trigger date, such as a contract date or a filing date, sets every later date and task automatically.

• A family law template in practice: Priya opens the property settlement template Shah Family Law uses, with the dates, tasks and precedents it creates.

• Keeping templates up to date: the twice-yearly review Priya runs with her team, and how changes reach matters that are already open.

The examples cover conveyancing, family law and commercial work, so most firms will see something close to their own practice. Claire also shows a template that has grown too large, and how to cut it back.

Priya also shows the mistakes her firm made early on: templates with fifty tasks that nobody completed, dates that assumed every matter ran the same way and a template that only one lawyer understood. Each one was fixed by doing less, not more.

Before you watch

• Pick the matter type your firm opens most often. It is the best one to build or review first.

• List the steps a lawyer must remember for that type of matter, including the ones that rarely go wrong.

• Check how your firm opens files today: from a template, from a copy of an old matter or from a blank screen.

If templates are owned by different people at your firm, ask them to watch together. Agreeing on what belongs in a template is easier with everyone in the room.

Your hosts

Claire Donnelly is a product specialist at Filebird and a former conveyancer. Priya Shah is principal of Shah Family Law, where every new matter opens from a template. She has built templates for property settlements, parenting arrangements and consent orders, and shows the one her team uses most.

Recorded on 5 August 2026 and available on demand. The session ends with a checklist for reviewing your own templates twice a year. Check with your law society or state bar whether it counts towards your CPD points (CLE credits in the US).

Common questions

How many templates does a firm need? Fewer than most firms think. Priya’s firm uses six templates for most of its work, and adds steps through checklists rather than creating a new template for every variation.

Who should own them? One person per practice area, usually a senior lawyer, with the practice manager making the changes.

What happens to open matters when a template changes? Claire shows how to apply a change to new matters only, or to open matters as well when a rule or court timetable has changed.

Can a template include documents? Yes. Priya’s templates create the first letter to the client and the costs agreement when the matter opens, filled in from the matter details, so the lawyer starts with drafts rather than a blank page.

After you watch

The checklist for reviewing your templates twice a year comes with the slides. Our guide, Open every matter properly, covers the intake steps that come before the template, and the matter intake checklist is available as a free template.

If your firm is moving to Filebird, the migration team can rebuild your existing templates during the switch, so they are ready on the first day.