Matters & Expert Pipeline

Matters help you organize expert research across the cases you're working on. Each matter tracks experts through a pipeline that runs from initial shortlisting to a completed engagement.

#Matters

A matter represents a legal case you're working on. You can create as many matters as you need.

#Creating a Matter

1. Go to Dashboard → Matters (or click Create new Matter on your dashboard)
2. Click New Matter
3. Fill in the matter details:
   • Title — descriptive name for the matter (the only required field)
   • Matter Number — your internal reference number (optional)
   • Case Type — Civil Litigation, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, Intellectual Property, Corporate, Employment, Family Law, Real Estate, Environmental, or Other
   • Jurisdiction — the applicable jurisdiction
   • Court — the court where the case is filed (optional)
   • Description — brief summary of the matter
   • Trial Date — expected trial date (optional)
4. Click Create

#The Matters List

The list has status tabs — All, Active, Closed, Archived — plus a search box. On desktop it's a sortable table; on mobile it collapses to cards. Long lists paginate.

Screenshot

The Matters list page showing status filter tabs (All, Active, Closed, Archived) and a search input at the top, then a sortable table of matters with columns for Title, Case Type badge, Number of Experts, Status badge, and Last Updated date. A prominent 'New Matter' button is in the top right.

#Matter Detail View

Click any matter to open its detail page. The header shows:

• Matter title and back navigation
• Badges for matter number, case type, and status
• Trial date with a countdown indicator (red if under 30 days, yellow if under 90 days)

The detail page has four tabs:

#Experts Tab — The Pipeline

The Experts tab is the core of matter management. It shows all experts assigned to this matter in a Kanban pipeline with six active columns:

Two further states sit outside the board:

• Completed — engagement finished
• Declined — expert declined, or you removed them from consideration

Screenshot

The Kanban pipeline view showing expert cards arranged in six columns (Shortlisted, Inquiry Sent, Responded, Under Review, Retained, Active), each column header with a coloured dot and a count. The 'Shortlisted' column has 4 expert cards, 'Inquiry Sent' has 2, 'Responded' has 1. Each card shows the expert's name, headline, and specialty tags.

#Moving experts through the pipeline

The pipeline only moves forward one stage at a time — you can't jump an expert from Shortlisted straight to Retained. From any stage you can always mark an expert Declined, and only Completed and Declined are terminal.

Drag expert cards between columns to update their progress. You can also switch to a table view for a spreadsheet-style layout of the same pipeline data.

#Adding Experts to a Matter

From search results or an expert profile, click Add to Matter and select the target matter. The expert appears in the "Shortlisted" stage of the pipeline.

#Details Tab

The Details tab lets you edit all matter fields:

• Title, matter number, case type
• Jurisdiction and court
• Description
• Trial date

Click Edit to modify fields, then Save to persist changes. You can also Archive a matter when it's resolved — archived matters are hidden from the default list but stay available under the Archived tab.

#Inquiries Tab

The Inquiries tab shows all inquiries sent to experts from this matter. See Messaging & Inquiries for details on creating and managing inquiries.

#Atlas Research Tab

If Expert Atlas is enabled for your account, this tab collects the Atlas reports ordered against this matter, so the deep research on your candidates sits alongside the pipeline rather than in a separate list.

#Shortlists

A shortlist is a standalone curated list of expert candidates, independent of matters.

#Creating a Shortlist

1. Go to Dashboard → Shortlists
2. Click New Shortlist
3. Enter a name and optional description
4. Click Create

Screenshot

The Shortlists page showing a grid of shortlist cards. Each card shows the list name, description (truncated), expert count, and creation date. A 'New Shortlist' button is at the top, and a search input filters the grid.

#Managing Shortlists

• Search — filter your shortlists by name using the search input
• View — click a shortlist card to see all experts in it
• Delete — hover over a card and click the delete icon (cannot delete the default shortlist)

Shortlists display in a responsive grid: 1 column on mobile, 2 on tablet, 3 on desktop. The list paginates at 12 items per page.

#Organizing Your Work

Best practice for a typical matter:

1. Create a matter with the case name and details
2. Run several searches and add promising experts to the matter
3. Send inquiries to top candidates directly from the pipeline
4. Move experts forward through the pipeline as they respond and you evaluate them
5. Create shortlists for quick reference across multiple matters
6. Archive the matter when the engagement is complete