Commercial law

The terms are in the documents.
Stop hunting for them.

Commercial work is document-dense and the documents are structured, which is exactly the case where extraction earns its keep. MatterFirst reads uploaded agreements, lifts the key terms into fields you can search and report on, and answers questions from the documents on the file.

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Encrypted at rest and in transit Australian data residency Hosted on AWS No lock-in contracts Guided setup available Your data exportable on request

Last reviewed

What should an Australian commercial law firm look for in practice management software?

Document extraction that pulls key terms into searchable fields, the ability to ask questions of a matter and get answers cited back to the source document, workflow automation for repeatable transaction steps, and billing that generates from recorded time. MatterFirst covers all four, with AI processing in the AWS region the firm chooses.

What commercial practice needs, and what carries it
Need In MatterFirst Why it matters here
Key terms buried in agreements Document AI extracts terms into matter fields The information exists, it is just not searchable until something reads it
Questions about a large file AI assistant answers from the documents, citing which one it used A citation is what makes the answer usable rather than merely plausible
Repeatable transaction steps Visual workflow builder with stage-level automations Commercial transactions repeat in shape even when the terms differ
Time that becomes an invoice Invoices generate from recorded time entries Rekeying between systems is where billable work goes missing
Client visibility on progress Client portal included on every plan Commercial clients ask for status in writing, repeatedly
Reporting across the practice Matters, time, billing and trust in one reporting view Partners want the whole picture without exporting to a spreadsheet

Every row describes something the product does today. Bring a real agreement to a demo and make us extract it in front of you.

Why MatterFirst

What you get when you switch.

Extraction that does the reading

  • Key-term extraction. Parties, dates, amounts and obligations lifted out of an uploaded document into the matter, where they can be searched and reported on.
  • Matter questions with citations. Ask a question about the file and get an answer that names the document it came from, so you can check it.
  • Processing stays in region. Extraction and inference run in the AWS region your firm chose. Documents are not sent elsewhere and returned.

Upload the agreement, get the terms as fields.

Transactions that repeat, handled once

  • Visual workflow builder. Draw the stages of a transaction type once. Automations fire on stage changes, and every version is kept.
  • Billing from recorded time. Time entries become invoices without rekeying, with Stripe handling collection.
  • Referral partner tracking. See which sources send commercial work and what it turns into, so the relationship can be judged on numbers.

Draw the process, version it, let it run.

What this actually does

MatterFirst extracts contacts, dates, financial figures and property details from an uploaded document into the matter record, and the AI assistant answers questions citing the document it used.

A property of the software rather than a customer outcome. Bring a real agreement to a demo and watch it run.

7 days

guided trial shaped around how your firm works

4 integrations

Xero, Stripe, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, plus PEXA set up with you

100%

of your data and AI processing stays in your chosen AWS region

MatterFirst is a legal practice management platform for Australian law firms, built by NorthCape Technology, covering matters, documents, trust accounting, billing and a client portal, with data hosted in the AWS region the firm chooses.

This suits Australian commercial practices up to about twenty seats that are document-heavy and want extraction and workflow automation without a configuration project. It is a weaker fit for large firms needing deep bespoke configuration, where Actionstep is genuinely stronger, or for firms needing the widest third-party integration ecosystem, which is Clio.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What can Document AI actually extract from a commercial agreement?
Contacts, dates, financial figures and property details, into fields on the matter that you can then search and report on. Accuracy varies with document quality, which is why extraction is presented for review rather than committed silently.
Where does the AI processing happen?
In the AWS region your firm chooses, Sydney by default. Documents are not moved to another region to be OCRed or analysed. This is worth asking every vendor separately from where files are stored.
Can we automate a transaction type we run repeatedly?
Yes. The workflow builder lets you draw the stages, attach automations to each one, and version the whole thing so changing it does not disturb matters already running.
Does it suit a firm doing both commercial and other work?
Yes. Each matter type gets its own workflow, so commercial transactions and, say, conveyancing can run different processes in the same workspace without interfering.
Where is my data stored?
In the AWS region your firm chooses. Sydney (ap-southeast-2) is the default for Australian firms. Matter data, documents and Document AI processing all stay in that region: documents are not moved to another region to be OCRed or analysed.
How much does MatterFirst cost?
Pricing is per workspace rather than per seat, starting at $149 per month for Solo. Each plan includes a set number of users, a monthly pool of Document AI credits, 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 seven-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, which is why trust accounting and Xero are first-class rather than regional add-ons, and why PEXA and InfoTrack are on the roadmap rather than absent from it.
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.

Bring an agreement and watch it extract.

The fastest way to judge this is to hand us a real document in a demo. We will also tell you where extraction struggles.

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