Matter record and client reporting
Each stage is written to the matter record as it closes, with its documents attached; the monthly report is built from those rows, checked by the partner, and sent with a copy kept on the file.
The report is assembled from the record, not reconstructed at month end.
Who it is for
A firm that spends the last three days of every month rebuilding what happened in the first twenty-seven. The work was done and it was done well. What is missing is the record of it, written while it happened.
The trigger
Every change to a matter stage, including a hearing, petition, service event or client decision, and a reporting date.
The stages
Define the stages
The stages are named once for each matter type and used consistently across its matters. The list stays short.
Record the stage
Each stage is recorded as it closes, with its owner, its time and its sign-off, rather than entered in bulk at month end.
Attach
The artefacts, UYAP notices, e-Tebligat and KEP correspondence that belong to the stage are attached to it rather than filed separately.
Assemble
On the reporting date the report is assembled from the record. A row with no underlying record cannot enter the report, and a missing stage is flagged rather than filled.
Partner reviews
The partner responsible for the matter reads, corrects and signs.
Send and keep
The report goes to the client in whatever form the client is used to. The version sent is kept with the record.
What the agent may read, keep and do
| May read | The matter record, its artefacts and stage definitions, UYAP notices, e-Tebligat and KEP correspondence. |
|---|---|
| May keep | The assembled report versions and the record rows they are based on, for the retention period agreed with you. |
| May do | Assemble, summarise within the record, and flag a stage with no owner or no sign-off. It may not send a report, characterise an outcome, calculate or state a fee, or change the matter record. |
The record must already exist before the agent can assemble a report from it. The first part of this workflow establishes the record; the second makes that record readable.
Where a person signs
Stage 05, by the partner responsible for the matter. Nothing reaches a client unsigned, and the signature covers the characterisation as well as the arithmetic.
The partner sees the report and the underlying stage record for every row. A report with an unsupported row does not reach signature. The signature also covers whether the report was assembled accurately from the record.
What the record contains
The stage record is the firm’s own history of how it works, written while the work happens.
These are the fields, not a real matter. No client work appears on this site.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Stages | Every stage and its definition, with its owner, opening and closing times, and the signer’s name and sign-off |
| Artefacts | What the stage produced, attached to the stage |
| Gaps | Any stage with no owner or no sign-off, flagged rather than filled |
| Report | Every report version assembled from the record, with its underlying record rows |
| Review | The partner’s decision, corrections, signature and the time of review |
| Send | What version was sent, to whom, through which channel, and when |
| Matter | The identifier and the matter type |
| Events | UYAP, e-Tebligat and KEP events linked to their stage |
Entries are written as the run happens and are append-only. A correction is a new entry naming the one it corrects. Section 5 of the operating standard says what that means in practice.
The measure a pilot uses
One measure, chosen by you. The one I would usually propose is the share of reports assembled from the record without manual reconstruction. The hours month end previously took are recorded for information, with a baseline taken before anything changes, not as a second acceptance measure.
The critical error is a row in the report sent to a client with no counterpart in the matter record. Tolerance in that class is zero.
The systems it usually sits on
The matter system, the document system, and whatever the client is sent the report in. LEXSAS resells none of these and claims no certified connector to any of them.
The first week
- Day one
- The scope call: matter types, the stages a matter actually has, who signs each, the reporting date, the measure.
- Days two and three
- We define the stages and read the last three months’ reports. For a recent month end we count how the report was actually assembled, and how long it took.
- Day four
- The stage list, the mandate and the report format are written down, and you correct them.
- Day five
- The record format is agreed, a gold set is built, the baseline is taken and the pilot dates are fixed.
The engagement brief determines the sequence for each assignment. This is the usual order of work, not a timetable commitment.
Exit terms
Everything below is yours from the first day and leaves with you in an exportable format, whatever happens to the workflow:
- The stage definitions and their map by matter type
- The report template and its version history
- Every stage record
- The mandate and its register
- The gold set and every run record
The stage record is the firm’s own history of how it works, and it is what supports pricing by stage rather than by hour. The exit terms are written into the pilot from the start rather than negotiated at the end.
Three questions
It assembles the report from what is already in the record and flags any stage with no owner or no sign-off. It does not characterise an outcome and it does not state a fee.
The gap is flagged rather than filled. A report assembled from an incomplete record says so, which is the point of assembling it from the record.
Pricing by stage needs a history of how the firm’s matters actually run. That history is written while the work happens, and it cannot be reconstructed at month end.
The controls behind this page are in the LEXSAS operating standard, sections 5 and 8. The reasoning is in The billable hour is running out of logic. The other three firm workflows: matter intake and engagement scoping, research and citation verification and drafting from precedent. The terms are defined in the glossary. All eight workflows are on the workflows page. Get in touch