Why Is This Locked?
Laminar locks things on purpose: approvals, submissions, and finalizations are promises, and promises don’t stay editable. Here’s every lock you’ll meet, why it exists, and the path back when there is one.
Trust Transactions
Section titled “Trust Transactions”| Locked because | What’s locked | Way back |
|---|---|---|
| Expenditure is approved | Amount, payee, title, description, trust account, matter | Remove the approval (Responsible Lawyer, delegate, or admin), edit, re-approve |
| Submitted for processing (left Planning) | Same fields, receipts and expenditures alike | Administrator moves it back to Planning; remove approval separately if also approved |
Both locks can apply at once; each is released separately. Scheduling is never locked. Details in Managing Trust Transactions.
Billing
Section titled “Billing”| Locked | Why | Way back |
|---|---|---|
| Sent estimate | It’s a dated record of what the client was told | None; create a new estimate |
| Finalized invoice’s line items | The bill went out | Delete the invoice (items return to the pool) and redraft; not possible once paid |
| Paid invoice | Money changed hands | None, by design |
| Line item amount while itemized | Components drive the total | Edit the itemization rows, or remove itemization |
| Write-off reversal while invoiced | Invoice totals depend on it | Remove the item from the invoice first |
| Recovery receipt’s amount | It mirrors its source expenditure | Edit the source expenditure |
Structure
Section titled “Structure”| Locked | Why | Way back |
|---|---|---|
| A matter’s workflow | The stage progression is the matter’s spine | None; create the matter with the right workflow |
| A work item’s type | Type determines workflow and routing | None; recreate the item |
| A second closing date | Singleton event types allow one active event | Edit the existing event |
| Saved interactions | The communications record is evidence | None, and that’s the point |
| ”Fulfill via team” disappeared | The item left its starting status; the opt-in window is one-way | None; handle it yourself this time |
The Pattern
Section titled “The Pattern”If Laminar won’t let you edit something, someone (possibly you) made a commitment on it: an approval, a submission, a send, a finalization. The unlock path, where one exists, always runs through undoing the commitment explicitly, so the audit trail shows both the promise and its retraction. When you find a lock with no path back, you’ve found a record the system considers permanent.