Legal document templates and drafting: MatterFirst

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

Last reviewed 10 August 2026

How do legal document templates work in MatterFirst?

You upload the Word precedents your firm already uses, with {{merge.tags}}. Generating one on a matter fills each tag from the matter record and from facts read out of the matter's documents, and the merged document is filed on the matter, ready for the portal or for signing. AI drafting draws on the same two sources.

How it works

From precedent to filed document

1

Your template

The precedent you upload, with {{merge.tags}}

2

Matter record

Fields, parties and roles, key dates

3

Document facts

Values read out of the matter's documents

4

Merge

Every tag resolved, unresolved ones flagged

5

AI drafting

Sections grounded in the matter, badged for review

6

Filed & sent

PDF and Word on the matter, portal or signing

Two sources: what the firm recorded, and what the documents establish

Everything a model wrote is reviewed before it can be filed

Letterhead headers and footers keep their merged values

One pipeline: your precedent, the matter's data, a drafted and reviewed document, delivered.

Your precedents

Upload the precedents you already have

A template is your own uploaded document tied to a matter type, with an optional destination folder. It appears on every matching matter, ready to generate, and nothing is created until somebody decides it should be.

Templates are the documents you upload, not versions rebuilt in our editor
Tied to a matter type, so a conveyancing letter never offers itself on a family matter
Each template can name a destination folder, and the generated document files itself there
Nothing lands on the matter until someone presses generate

Capability 1 of 5

Your precedents, ready on every matching matter.

Merge tags

Prefilled from the record, and from the documents

Merge tags cover the matter, its people and its dates: {{matter.reference}}, {{role.Vendor.name}}, {{key_date.settlement}}, custom fields and more. They fill from two sources: what the firm recorded on the matter, and what the matter's documents establish.

Tags for matter details, contacts, parties by role, key dates, custom fields and the current workflow step
Conditional blocks, so a paragraph appears only when a field has the value that calls for it
A field or key date the firm has not filled in resolves from the matter's documents; where both exist, the recorded value wins
Tags that resolve to nothing are flagged before the document goes anywhere, not shipped to a client as placeholders

Capability 2 of 5

Two sources: the record, and what the documents establish.

Letterhead & branding

The PDF looks the way Word would print it

Merge tags are substituted into headers, footers and footnotes, which is where letterhead carries the matter reference. The exact PDF render is produced by LibreOffice, so those headers and footers keep their merged values instead of being discarded the way lighter converters discard them.

Substitution in headers, footers and footnotes as well as the body
An exact PDF rendered by LibreOffice, showing the page as Word would print it, letterhead included
Firm-wide document branding: letterhead, fonts, page numbers, margins set in millimetres
A signature sign-off block set once in branding and applied to generated documents

Capability 3 of 5

Letterhead that survives all the way to the PDF.

AI drafting

Longer documents, drafted from the matter

Document definitions compose a document section by section. Merge, clause-library and data sections are deterministic and make no model call. AI sections are written from the matter record and the matter's documents, and nothing a model wrote leaves the firm unreviewed.

Sections built from your templates, your clause library and the matter's own data involve no AI at all
AI-written sections are grounded in the matter and its documents, not a generic prompt
Every paragraph shows its origin, and each AI-written one must be accepted or edited before filing
A value the matter does not record prints as a visible gap with a warning on the document itself

Capability 4 of 5

Drafted from the matter, reviewed by a person.

Out the door

From draft to portal, inbox or signature

Finalising is the moment a draft becomes a document: it is rendered in the formats you choose, filed in the matter folder you pick, and locked. Only a finalised document can be put in front of a client, by any route.

Rendered as PDF, Word or both, filed on the matter and locked against further edits
Published to the client portal in every format that exists, so the client sees what you see
Emailed as a PDF to a contact on the matter, through the firm's connected inbox
Sent for e-signing: place the fields, each signer signs their own, and one executed document with a certificate is filed back

Capability 5 of 5

Finished documents go where the client is.

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 firms whose work runs on precedents: conveyancing, family and commercial practices where the same letters and documents recur matter after matter, and firms that want to keep their Word precedents exactly as they are rather than rebuild them in someone else's editor. It is worth less to a firm that drafts every document from a blank page, and a precedent kept only as a PDF is copied as-is rather than merged: the merge needs a Word or text source.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Do we have to rebuild our precedents in your editor?

No. A template is the document you upload, not a copy rebuilt inside MatterFirst. Put {{merge.tags}} where the details go and the file is otherwise untouched: Word documents keep their formatting, and tags are substituted in headers, footers and footnotes as well as the body. A PDF or legacy .doc precedent cannot be merged, and the screen says so before you press generate rather than shipping the placeholders.

Where does the merged data come from?

Two places, and both are real records rather than guesses. The matter record supplies its fields, the parties and their roles, key dates and the current workflow step. Facts read out of the matter's own documents fill in where the firm has not recorded a value yet. Where both exist, the firm's recorded value wins, and a disagreement is reported on the matter rather than silently written into a client's letter.

Does AI write the documents?

Only where a document definition says so. Most of a generated document is deterministic: your templates, your clause library, data straight off the matter, none of which involves a model call. Sections that are AI-written are grounded in the matter and its documents, badged as written by AI, and every one must be accepted or edited by a person before the document can be filed. A document composed without any model call is included, not metered.

What happens to the finished document?

Finalising renders it as PDF, Word or both, files it in the matter folder you choose, and locks the draft. From there you can make it visible in the client portal, email the PDF to a contact on the matter through the firm's connected inbox, or place signature fields on it and send it for e-signing, which finishes as one executed document with a signing certificate.

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.