Matter

Introduction

A Matter in Houdini can be anything, including testimony, evidence, rulings, and sometimes arguments. Although a Matter is an expression often heard in trials and legal arguments that "such and such is a matter of record" as distinguished from actions outside the court or discussions not written down or taped in Houdini typically a Matter record is used to collect information pertaining to one of your client's cases.

Matter Form Menu

Click the Matter Form icon located in the Houdini Spring menu at the top of the Houdini Desktop.

The Matter Form

Zoom

The following is a break down of the Matter Form.

1. The Category bar:
Notify: Click notify if you would like an alert whenever this Matter is changed.
Status: Status codes are defined by your and your organization (See Organization Manager). You can filter by Status Codes on most tables and list (See Navigation Tables and List).

2. The Matter Rate bar:
Matter Rate: Matter Rates are defined by you and your Organization (See Organization Manager). You can select a Matter Rate to be used when calculating a client's bill. (See Bill Rates, Matter Rates and Staff Level Configuration).
Terms: This is the terms you would like applied to all invoicing. Terms are defined at the Client level, the Matter Level and can also be overridden at the Invoice level. This is just a convenience field and is not required.
Close Matter: Check this box to close a Matter. This essentially archives the Matter and all its associated records. You can still search and view closed Matters.
Classification Codes toggle icon: Click the icon to reveal the Classification codes panel. Classification Codes are defined by you and your organization (See Organization Manager). Classification Codes allow you to classify your data in a very fine grained manner. Separate Classification Codes can be specified for each Matter Category. They can also be specified for Events, Contacts etc. (See

3. Reference bar:
Reference: This is the term you will assign to the matter. This term (Matter Reference) is often used to describe the parties involved and is used throughout Houdini when searching and linking other records to this Matter.

4. Client bar:
Client: Type the name of the client this Matter is regarding. You do not have to type an exact match, Houdini will suggest as you type. Select the Client.
Edit Client record icon: Click this icon to edit the Client.
New Client record icon: Click this icon to add a new Client to the system and this Matter. Clicking this Icon will reveal the Client entry form in place of the memo. When done the client form will disapear.

5. Related Contact area: This area list all contacts that are related to this Matter.

6. Memo field: This is a text area where you can enter key notes regarding the Matter. Please note, you can add notes under the Notes tab. This area should only be used for key information, a summary of the Matter would be ideal.

7. Supporting Record tabs: There are nine (9) supporting record tabs. Each is described below.

8. Custom Fields: An example of custom fields. You use the Organization Manager to define custom fields by primary records type Matter, Event and Contact then specify a sub-type Appeals, Personal Injury etc. You create fields of just about any type and as many as 64.

Adding a new Contact

Zoom

Clicking the New Client icon (the plus icon left of the Client entry field) will reveal a Contact entry form. The form tempoarily replaces the Related Contact and Memo areas.= as depicted in the image above.

This form is identical to the Contact form except that the anciliray record tabs and Contact memo fields are not present. Fill this form out and click [save].

Please note, you one use this form to add the primary Contact or Client to the Matter. To add Related Contacts add them from the Related Contacts area of the Matter form. See Adding Related Contacts below.

Adding Related Contacts

1. Click the Add Related Contact icon

2. Type your search criteria and select your client from the suggested list.

3. Click the check icon to accept and complete.

The selected Client will now appear in the Related Contact area along with the primary contact.

Customize the Matter Form

Zoom

Just about every form can have custom fields placed on it. When you create custom fields you specify if they are Matter, Event or Contact fields and what category they will belong to. For example, you may want to have specific fields displayed when the Matter is a Personal Injury case.

In the image above you can see that the Matter category is Personal Injury. You will note that above the memo field are Date of Incident, Location of Incident, Insurance Company, Class, Workers Comp ID and ICC No. These are all custom fields. Custom fields are defined in the Organization manager since they will appear on all forms of a particular type and category. (See Creating Custom Fields and Adding Classification Codes). For example you can have custom fields for Appeal and Real Estate Matters as well.

You can add up-to 64 custom fields per form. For more specific needs you can create custom forms. You define a custom form and then add custom fields to the form as you would a Matter, Event or Contact form. (See Custom Fields or Custom Forms)

Please note that Classification Codes can also be linked to a Matter Category. (See Classification Codes).

Matter Members

Zoom

A Matter Member is any Staff Member that you would like to give access to the Matter. For example, you and several Staff Members are working on a case. Instead of having the Houdini Administrator set up permissions at a record level you can simply add a Staff Member as a Matter Member.

1. To do so click the Matter member | Related Contacts tab.

Click the [add staff] button add a record. You will be presented with the Staff Roster. Select one or more Staff Members and click the [select staff] button. The selected Staff now have access to the Matter.

Please note, it is very important that you click the Notify check box on the General tab of the Matter form when you have Matter members assigned to your Matter. When the notify option is checked you will receive alerts anytime a Matter has been changed.