Lesson 6 of 8 · 7 min

Building your matter team

Add the staff working a matter and set its lead.

Lesson 6 of 8

Every matter has a team of staff working it, separate from the contacts and parties on the file. This lesson shows you the Matter Team panel — how to add people, give them roles, and set the lead who owns the matter.

Before you start

  • More than one person in your organisation (invite a colleague first — see "Creating your account")

Team vs contacts

The Matter Team is your firm's people — the fee earners, supervisors, and reviewers actually doing the work. That's different from the Contacts tab, which holds the external parties (client, other side, lender). One matter can have several team members, each with a role, and exactly one of them is the lead.

  1. 1

    Open the Team tab

    Open a matter and click the Team tab. It lists everyone on the matter with their role and, for the lead, a highlighted "Lead" badge. From here you can add people, hand the lead over, or remove someone. Two actions live in the tab's header: Add person, and Request help (covered in the next lesson).

    The Matter Team panel: who's working the matter, and their roles.
  2. 2

    Add a person with a role

    Click Add person to reveal a small form. Choose a colleague, pick their role — Assisting, Supervising, Reviewer, or Lead — and click Add. Add as many people as the matter needs. Only active staff are offered, so someone who's been deactivated won't appear.

    Pick a colleague and a role: Assisting, Supervising, Reviewer, or Lead.
  3. 3

    Set the lead — and who can change the team

    A matter has exactly one lead, and the lead is the matter's assignee — the two are kept in sync, so making someone the lead makes them the person the matter is assigned to. On any non-lead member's row, click Make matter lead to hand it over; use Remove to take someone off the matter. Who can edit the team? Managers and above, or the matter's own lead/assignee — so the people closest to the work can manage it without needing a manager every time. Readonly users can view the panel but not change it.

Tips & pitfalls

  • There's only ever one lead. Making a new person lead moves the lead (and the matter's assignee) to them — it doesn't add a second one.
  • If you can't add or remove people, you're probably not a manager and not the matter's lead/assignee — ask the current lead or a manager to make the change.

Key takeaways

  • The Matter Team panel holds the staff working a matter, with roles Lead, Assisting, Supervising, and Reviewer
  • The single Lead is the matter's assignee — the two stay in sync
  • Managers, or the matter's own lead/assignee, can add, promote, and remove team members
Adding contacts and roles Asking for help & coverage

Put the lesson into practice.

Book a guided session and our team will help you configure MatterFirst for your own practice.

Book a session Back to the Academy