Compliance

Conflicts checked, flags cleared by name,
obligations on the record.

A MatterFirst conflict check scoring a new party at 97% against a former client on a closed matter, with the matching evidence set out side by side

MatterFirst matches on names in Latin script to check every new party against everyone your firm has ever recorded, and reads the obligations out of your matter documents into a register a person reviews. Every decision is logged with who made it and why.

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Encrypted in transit Documents and AI in Australia No lock-in contracts Guided setup available Your data exportable on request

Last reviewed

What is conflict checking software for law firms?

Software that checks each new party against an index of the parties the firm has recorded, closed matters included, and flags matches for a named person to clear on the record. Matching runs on names in Latin script. MatterFirst adds an obligation register that reads deadlines out of matter documents for human review.

How it works

Two pipelines, one auditable record

1

New party

2

Name index check

3

The register

4

Document arrives

5

Obligation detected

6

Due date and escalation

Re-checked as new parties arrive, not only at intake

Nothing reaches a calendar until a person confirms it

Clearing a flag takes a named person and a written reason

The conflicts lane runs when a party arrives; the obligations lane runs when a document does. Both end in a record a firm can show its working from.

Conflict checking

Search every party your firm has ever recorded

The engine keeps a name index of every party across matters, contacts and leads, open and closed, and checks each new party against it, matching on names in Latin script. Fuzzy on purpose: alternate spellings, reordered names, initials, phonetic near-misses and typos all score, and a related-party graph can flag a connection when no name matches at all.

  • A name index of every party the firm has recorded, closed matters included
  • Fuzzy matching for alternate spellings, initials, reordered names and typos
  • Exact identifier matches (ABN, ACN, email, phone) outrank any name score
  • Related-party graph: a shared director or trustee flags with no name match

Capability 1 of 4

Former clients on closed files are searched, not skipped.

The register

Checks that keep running after intake

Checks run when a lead is created or converted, when a matter opens or reopens, when a party is added, and again on a firm-set interval, because the other side's related parties change after a file opens. Every result is banded against your firm's own thresholds: auto-clear, flag or block.

  • Re-checks on party addition, matter reopen and a periodic firm-set interval
  • Automatic clearances logged with the score and threshold that produced them
  • Clearing requires a named person and a written reason; a block needs an explicit override
  • Waiving on informed consent requires the consent document attached

Capability 2 of 4

A check from March is not evidence about September.

Obligation detection

Deadlines read out of your documents

A deterministic rule pass flags the sentences that look like obligations, and an AI pass reads only those and says what each one requires. Restatements across documents are merged, a date that disagrees is flagged rather than merged, and everything lands in a review queue: nothing reaches a calendar until a person confirms it.

  • Reads documents, emails, portal messages and file notes on the matter
  • Every detection quotes its source verbatim, or it is dropped
  • Duplicates across documents merged; dates that disagree are surfaced as variations
  • A review queue with a visible precision figure, so you know how far to trust it

Capability 3 of 4

Detection proposes. A person confirms.

Dates, escalation and reporting

Computed dates that show their working

Due dates are computed with Australian public holidays per jurisdiction, distinguishing calendar days, clear days and business days, and every date carries the basis it was computed on. As a deadline approaches, an escalation ladder warns the fee earner and then a supervisor, and every event lands in a tamper-evident log.

  • Calendar, clear and business day arithmetic with per-jurisdiction AU holidays
  • Refuses to compute rather than guess when holiday data is missing
  • Silent-approach flag: a deadline nearing on a matter nobody has touched
  • A hash-chained event log, and a firm risk report you can hand an insurer

Capability 4 of 4

An uncheckable deadline is not trusted, so a computed date shows its basis.

MatterFirst is an AI-native legal practice management platform for Australian law firms, focused on small and boutique firms from solo practitioners up to about 20 users, built by NorthCape Technology, covering matters, AI document work, configurable workflows, automatic time capture for review, Matti, built-in signing, trust accounting, billing and a client portal, with firm and matter visibility of MatterFirst AI usage charges.

This suits a firm large enough that nobody holds the full client history in their head, and a firm whose insurer or regulator asks how conflicts and deadlines are tracked. It is a register, not an adviser: the engine flags and records, computed dates state their assumptions, and a practitioner verifies them. A sole practitioner with a short, stable client list will get less from the conflicts side, though the obligation register works the same regardless of firm size.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Does conflict checking cover closed matters and former clients?
Yes, deliberately. Closed matters are where conflicts hide: a firm that acted for a vendor in 2019 and is asked to act against them now needs the old file to surface. Matching runs on names in Latin script, so record a Latin spelling alongside a name written in another script. Matching is fuzzy, so a name recorded under a second spelling, reordered or abbreviated is still found, and an exact ABN, ACN, email or phone match outranks the name score.
Can a conflict check clear itself?
Only below a threshold your firm sets, and automatic clearances are logged with the score and the threshold that produced them, because the audit question is whether you checked. A blocked result is never auto-cleared: releasing it takes a named person, a written reason and an explicit override. A check run before the name index is built stays pending rather than reading as clean.
Can MatterFirst screen a practitioner from a matter with an ethical wall?
Not today. Ethical walls are not part of MatterFirst at the moment, so an information barrier between people inside your firm has to be managed outside the software. Your firm's data is always kept separate from every other firm's, and clients see only what you share with them in the portal.
Do AI-detected obligations go straight into our calendar?
No, and that is permanent behaviour rather than a rollout stage. Every detection lands in a review queue, and only a person's confirmation creates a calendar entry. Each detection must quote its source document verbatim or it is discarded, and where the engine is not confident of a date it records the period as read and computes nothing, because a wrong deadline is worse than a blank.
Where is my data stored?
The application runs on Fly.io in Sydney. Database and backups are hosted on Fly.io Managed high-availability PostgreSQL clusters in Sydney. Documents are stored in Amazon Web Services S3 in Sydney. Document extraction and matter questions run on Amazon Web Services Bedrock in Australia, and reading a scanned document runs in Microsoft Azure's Australia East region. These locations describe the application, document storage, database, backups and document AI services. The trust evidence page at /trust records the scope and dated evidence for each published control.
How much does MatterFirst cost?
Pricing is per workspace rather than per seat, starting at $199 per month for Solo. Each plan includes a set number of users, a monthly AI balance in Australian dollars, the client portal and automations. Extra users are billed only past the included seats. Full plan inclusions are on the pricing page.
Can I get my data out if I leave?
Yes. Your matters, contacts, documents and time records are exportable on request, and there is no lock-in contract. We would rather you were able to leave and chose not to.
Is there a free trial?
Yes, a 14 day guided trial on Solo, Practice or Firm. It is guided rather than self-serve because a practice management system tells you very little until it has your real matters in it, and we would rather help you load them than leave you looking at an empty workspace.
Who builds MatterFirst?
NorthCape Technology, a Melbourne-based software company. MatterFirst is built in Australia for Australian legal practice, with trust accounting and Xero as first-class capabilities. Available through coordinated setup: PEXA, InfoTrack. Coordinated manual setup is arranged with MatterFirst and the provider.
Is MatterFirst suitable for a firm of my size?
It is designed for solo practitioners up to firms of roughly twenty seats. Below that, Solo carries the full platform for one user. Above it, the platform works but you should expect to talk to us about migration and rollout rather than signing up online.

Reviewed by Nick Hallam

Co-founder and Operations Director, NorthCape Technology

Aerospace engineer with a background in mission-critical software and complex systems integration, and the one who talks to firms about how they actually run. Keeps MatterFirst grounded in how firms operate, and reviews the practice-area and workflow pages on this site.

Last reviewed

See a conflict check run on your own names.

Book a demo and bring a name your firm has acted for before. We will run the check live and walk through how a flag is cleared, blocked or escalated, and what the record shows afterwards.

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