Your First Day
You just logged into Laminar for the first time. Here’s a quick tour so you’re not clicking around wondering what’s what.
The Layout
Section titled “The Layout”Laminar has three main areas on screen:
The sidebar runs down the left side. This is your primary navigation: your personal task list, your matters, and any team queues you belong to.
The top bar has the search shortcut (Cmd+K or Ctrl+K to jump to anything instantly), your user menu, and a Create button for new matters and tasks.
The main content area fills the rest of the screen: whatever you’ve navigated to.
The Sidebar
Section titled “The Sidebar”Context selector sits at the top. It controls whose work you’re looking at: your own (“Me”), one of your teams, or the whole organization. Most people leave it on “Me” for daily work; when you start managing others’ work, read Switching Context for what each view includes.
My Tasks is where you’ll likely spend the most time. It shows every task assigned to you, organized by when it’s due. Overdue tasks float to the top so you can’t miss them; tasks scheduled for the future stay hidden until their day arrives.
Flows shows your matters grouped by workflow stage. This is your bird’s-eye view: how many transactions are in Searches? How many are approaching Closing? What’s stuck?
Below that, you may see team sections if you belong to any teams, giving you visibility into shared workload.
Finding Things Fast
Section titled “Finding Things Fast”The fastest way to find anything is Cmd+K (or Ctrl+K on Windows). It searches across matters, tasks, people, and teams. Start typing a name, a matter number, or a file reference, and results appear instantly. Get comfortable with this shortcut; it will save you more time than anything else in your first week.
Your Daily Routine (The Short Version)
Section titled “Your Daily Routine (The Short Version)”- Open Laminar. Your overview loads with a summary of what needs attention.
- Check what’s due. Head to My Tasks. Today’s tasks (and anything overdue) are right there.
- Work through your list. Open a task, do the work, update the status, move on.
- Schedule anything you can’t get to. It’ll disappear from your view until its day.
- Check your matters. Glance at Flows periodically for the big picture, and move matters forward as milestones are hit.
That’s the rhythm. The details are covered in the Guides section.
A Few Things That Might Feel Unfamiliar
Section titled “A Few Things That Might Feel Unfamiliar”Tasks disappear and come back. This is by design. Schedule a task for next Wednesday and it’s gone from your view until Wednesday. Not deleted, not lost, just waiting. This keeps your daily list honest: what you see is what you actually need to deal with today.
Matters have stages, not just statuses. You won’t see “Open” and “Closed.” You’ll see specific stages like “Searches” or “Closing.” “It’s in Conditions” tells you a lot more than “it’s open.”
The audit trail is always running. You don’t need to write down that you changed an assignment or uploaded a document. Check the Activity section on any matter or task for the full history.
When You Get Stuck
Section titled “When You Get Stuck”Try Cmd+K first and search for the thing you’re looking for. For deeper questions, the Guides section is organized around common tasks. And if something feels genuinely broken, your firm’s administrator is the right person to ask.