Are matter management and case management the same?
In essence, case management and matter management are connected but different. The most common source of misunderstanding is the interchangeability of these two terms, and lawyers occasionally use the terms "cases" and "matters," respectively.
Individual clients with cases that make up the majority of the work make up the business of a legal firm. On a micro level, attorneys and staff handle these clients and cases, monitoring discovery, communications, and billables for each client and case. It’s these cases that sit under the security of the large umbrella.
That larger umbrella is matter management; it controls the procedures and methods used in case management and how the legal team conducts business concerning a certain case or client.
What is legal matter management?
Controlling the business operations of the legal firm for specific cases is known as matter management. Managing internal and external procedures is a part of it, and law firms can use matter management to manage complex litigation with multiple clients and related cases progressing simultaneously.
Analysis of the productivity of all fee earners engaged in a certain area of the billable hours devoted to certain cases will be included in matter management for law firms with multiple practice areas. It can also involve tracking budgetary and financial metrics by practice area or cases with comparable features. Through matter management, partners can assess spending, productivity, and the effect a matter has on the law firm's resources.
Legal matter management involves managing internal and external processes and frequently entails supervising any third parties engaged in a case, such as local counsel or expert witnesses. This may entail dividing up cases and particular tasks among internal and external solicitors and administrative staff and assessing the case management process’ overall operational effectiveness.
When managing complex cases, multiple solicitors can upload their legal documents, work products, and data into a cloud-based matter management system. This allows them to review and download documents from any location. Also, the system performs a useful project management function because each contributor may view, in real-time, via task lists and collaboration features like a comprehensive calendaring system, the work their colleagues, have performed.
What is legal case management?
Case management is the process of overseeing all aspects of the lifecycle of a certain legal case or client. It’s internally focused and is more about the case management procedures than the case’s ramifications for the law firm’s overall business.
Consider a case management system as the single source of truth for a digital case file. Legal case management software typically includes time tracking, billing and invoices for a specific case or clients, managing client and witness communications in a client portal, storing and organising documents and discovery, and managing court dates and appointments.
Law firms should consider using case management to manage cases involving other solicitors, administrators and clients that don’t quite reach the level of complex litigation. Unlike matter management, case management collaboration is more limited to the case at hand than a larger matter. It’s less of a tool for law firm management as it’s not designed to provide the same high-level insights into workflows and automation as case management.
To wrap this up, law firms can leverage legal case and practice management software to streamline almost every business process, like billing payments, metric reporting and client onboarding. Then with case and matter management, use processes such as automation, workflows and other efficiency savings.
If you’re ready to look into digital transformation, in particular a case management system that helps you keep everything in one secure place, check out our FREE bespoke demo builder or find out more about digital transformation.