Matters
If you’ve worked in a law firm before, you already know what a matter is. It’s a file. A transaction. The thing that represents a client’s deal from start to finish.
Laminar’s version is that same concept with more structure underneath. Instead of a folder you throw documents into and eventually close, a matter is a living container that tracks where the transaction is, who’s working on it, what’s been done, and what still needs to happen.
What’s Inside a Matter
Section titled “What’s Inside a Matter”A matter is the hub connecting everything related to a single transaction:
Services define what the firm is actually doing: “Purchase Representation,” “Mortgage Discharge.” One matter can hold several.
Tasks are the individual pieces of work. This is where daily progress happens.
Contacts are the client and the people who speak for them. The same contact can appear on many matters.
Events are the key dates: expected completion, closing, deadlines.
Trust Transactions track money flowing through the firm’s trust accounts for this deal, with a ledger showing the balance.
Assets are the files: PDFs, scanned documents, images.
Interactions log the communications: emails, calls, faxes, meetings.
Notes are timestamped comments that become part of the record.
Activity is the automatic audit trail of everything that’s happened.
Services: What the Firm Is Selling
Section titled “Services: What the Firm Is Selling”In most legal software, a file has a “type” (purchase, sale, refinance), and that’s it. Laminar goes further with services: a service represents a specific product the firm delivers.
A matter can hold one or more services, and you can add or remove them as the transaction evolves. Client came in for a purchase, but now also needs a mortgage discharge on their old property? Add the service to the existing matter. No second file needed.
Why this matters in practice: services bring their own data requirements and their own relevant work. Document templates and task creation can be tied to specific services, so a “Mortgage Discharge” knows it needs different documents than a “Purchase Representation,” even on the same matter.
Workflow and Stages
Section titled “Workflow and Stages”Every matter belongs to a workflow, which defines the stages it moves through: for a residential purchase, something like Leads, Information Gathering, Preparation, Signing, Closing, Archive.
The workflow is chosen when the matter is created and doesn’t change after that. The matter’s current stage tells you where it is in the progression. Stages are high-level on purpose: they answer “where is this deal in its lifecycle?”, not “what task is being worked right now?” That’s what tasks are for. See Workflows & Stages for the deeper look.
The Matter Lifecycle
Section titled “The Matter Lifecycle”A matter typically moves in one direction through its stages. Each transition is a decision a person makes when they’re confident the matter is ready to move forward. Completing all the tasks in a stage doesn’t automatically advance the matter; that’s a judgment call, not a checklist.
Once a matter reaches a completed stage, it’s effectively closed. You can still view it, pull its history, and reference its documents, but it’s no longer active.
Assignment
Section titled “Assignment”Every matter has exactly one assignee: the person (or team) primarily responsible for the transaction. When you create a matter, that’s you by default; you can reassign it anytime. Tasks created on the matter inherit its assignee unless someone picks a different owner.
There’s also a Responsible Lawyer field: the lawyer who’s professionally accountable for the transaction, which matters for things like trust expenditure approvals. The assignee and the Responsible Lawyer might be the same person, or a clerk might run the day-to-day while the supervising lawyer holds professional responsibility. See Assignment & Accountability.
Matter Identifiers
Section titled “Matter Identifiers”Every matter gets a human-readable ID automatically: M-1, M-42, M-1337. These are unique within your firm and appear throughout the app and in search.
Matters also have a title you set at creation: “Purchase of 123 Main St” or “Refinance, Jane & John Doe.” Keep titles scannable; you’ll see them in lists constantly.
What Matters Are Not
Section titled “What Matters Are Not”A matter is not a task list, not a document folder, and not a calendar entry. It contains all of those things, but the point is what it adds up to: the single source of truth for a transaction. Every person, every document, every dollar, every status change, in one place.