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Matters

A matter is the central entity in Laminar. It represents a single legal engagement — such as a residential purchase, a sale, or a refinance. Everything in Laminar connects back to a matter: tasks, trust transactions, documents, notes, and billing.

What a matter looks like

Section titled “What a matter looks like”

Here is a simplified view of how a matter appears in Laminar:

MAT-2026-0142

123 Maple Street — Purchase

Preparation
ClientSarah Chen
Closing DateApril 15, 2026
Property123 Maple Street, Toronto, ON M5V 2T6
JWJames WilsonUnscheduled

Lifecycle

Section titled “Lifecycle”

Every matter follows a workflow — a structured series of stages that represent its lifecycle. For residential real estate, a typical workflow might look like:

  1. Lead — Initial inquiry, not yet retained
  2. Information Gathering — Collecting client details, property info, and documents
  3. Preparation — Drafting documents, ordering searches, coordinating with parties
  4. Signing — Documents ready for execution
  5. Pre-Closing — Final checks, trust accounting, and closing preparation
  6. Closing — Transaction completes
  7. Post-Closing — Follow-up items, reporting, and file wrap-up
  8. Archived — File is closed and stored for reference

Key properties

Section titled “Key properties”

Every matter has:

  • An assignee — the person accountable for moving it forward
  • A workflow status — where it sits in its lifecycle
  • A scheduling state — whether it needs attention now, later, or is overdue
  • Trust transactions — money held in trust on behalf of the client
  • Tasks — individual action items tied to the matter