Workflows & Stages
Workflows are how Laminar tracks where a matter is in its lifecycle. If you’ve ever wished you could answer “where is this file at?” with something more specific than “it’s open,” workflows are the solution.
What a Workflow Is
Section titled “What a Workflow Is”A workflow is a defined sequence of stages that a matter moves through from beginning to end. It’s the progression path for a specific type of transaction.
For example, a residential purchase workflow might look like:
Leads, Active, Searches, Conditions, Closing, Complete
A private mortgage lending workflow might look different:
Intake, Review, Approved, Funding, Complete
Different types of work get different workflows, because a purchase doesn’t move through the same steps as a refinance or a private lending deal.
Workflows are defined at the system level or by your firm’s administrator. Most firms use the canonical workflows that Laminar provides out of the box, but custom workflows can be created if your practice has specific needs.
What a Stage Is
Section titled “What a Stage Is”A stage is one step within a workflow. “Searches” is a stage. “Closing” is a stage.
Every stage belongs to one of three categories:
Todo stages represent work that hasn’t actively started yet. A matter in a “Lead” stage is in Todo: it exists, but nobody’s really working on it yet.
In Progress stages are where active work is happening. “Searches,” “Conditions,” “Closing” are all In Progress stages.
Done stages mean the matter is finished. “Complete” or “Cancelled” would be Done stages.
These categories matter because Laminar uses them to organize views. When you look at the Pools view, matters are grouped by their current stage, and the categories help you quickly distinguish between work that’s pending, work that’s active, and work that’s finished.
Moving Through Stages
Section titled “Moving Through Stages”Matters move forward through stages when someone makes a conscious decision to advance them. This is always a human action. Laminar doesn’t auto-advance matters based on task completion or elapsed time.
Why? Because advancing a matter through stages is a judgment call. You might have technically completed all the tasks in the “Searches” stage, but if something in the title search looks off, you’d hold the matter in “Searches” until you’ve resolved it. The stage reflects reality, not a checklist.
To advance a matter, you change its status in the matter detail view. Select the next stage, and the transition is saved and logged immediately.
Matters generally move forward, not backward. Going from “Conditions” back to “Searches” is possible but uncommon. If it happens, it’s logged in the activity timeline so there’s a clear record.
Pools: Stages as Columns
Section titled “Pools: Stages as Columns”The Pools view takes your matters and arranges them into columns, one column per stage. This gives you a bird’s-eye view of your caseload that answers questions like:
- How many matters are waiting on searches? (look at the Searches column)
- What’s close to closing? (look at the Closing column)
- Is anything stuck? (look for matters that have been sitting in one stage for too long)
If you’ve seen a Kanban board in other project management tools, Pools works the same way. If you haven’t, think of it as sorting your physical file folders into labeled trays on a desk. The trays are the stages. Each file sits in the tray that matches where it currently is.
The difference from physical trays: Pools update in real time. When you advance a matter from “Conditions” to “Closing,” it moves columns immediately. When a colleague advances one of their matters, you see it move too.
Canonical vs. Custom Workflows
Section titled “Canonical vs. Custom Workflows”Laminar ships with canonical workflows for common transaction types. These are pre-built, well-tested progressions that work for most firms doing residential conveyancing.
Your firm’s administrator can also create custom workflows for practice areas or transaction types that don’t fit the defaults. Custom workflows follow the same rules: a sequence of stages, each assigned to a category (Todo, In Progress, Done), progressing in a defined order.
Most firms won’t need custom workflows right away. The canonical ones cover the common scenarios. But the option is there when you need it.
Workflows Are Not Checklists
Section titled “Workflows Are Not Checklists”This is worth emphasizing. A workflow doesn’t tell you which tasks to do at each stage. It doesn’t enforce a sequence of steps within a stage. It doesn’t block you from advancing if certain tasks aren’t complete.
Workflows are about the big picture: where is this deal in its lifecycle? Tasks handle the details of what actually needs to happen at each point.
This separation is intentional. It keeps workflows simple (six or seven stages, not forty) and keeps the system flexible. Different matters in the same workflow might require different tasks depending on their services, their contacts, or their specific circumstances. The workflow stays the same; the work underneath varies.
How This Connects to Everything Else
Section titled “How This Connects to Everything Else”Tasks live inside matters, and tasks have their own workflows (simpler ones, usually just Unstarted, Started, Completed). Task workflows track the status of individual pieces of work. Matter workflows track the status of the deal as a whole.
Trust Transactions also have workflows that track their own lifecycle. These are independent from the matter’s workflow.
Pools display matters grouped by their current workflow stage. This is the primary way most people interact with workflows visually.
Activity logs every stage transition: who advanced the matter, when, and from which stage to which stage. This is your audit trail for how a deal progressed through its lifecycle.