®Matters
Create matters, move them through the pipeline, attach services, and record retained revenue.
What a matter is
A matter is a potential or retained legal engagement connected to one contact. It carries the pipeline stage, estimated value, owner, close date, services, fee type, and notes used for pipeline and revenue reporting.
The standard pipeline is:
- New
- Qualified
- Engagement Sent
- Retained
Lost is a terminal stage for work the firm did not retain.
Create a matter from the Matters page
Use this path when you are working from the firm-wide pipeline.
- Open Matters.
- Click New Matter.
- Edit Untitled Matter to give the engagement a clear name.
- Search for and select the contact. A matter cannot be created without a contact.
- Choose the current Stage.
- Add the Estimated case value, or add service line items under Services.
- Choose the Fee Type:
- Contingency
- Hourly
- Flat Fee
- Recurring
- Assign the responsible team member.
- Set the expected or actual Close Date.
- Add services from the catalog or click Manual entry.
- Add case notes.
- Click Create Matter.
Create a matter from a contact
Use this path when you are already working in a person's record.
- Open Contacts.
- Open the contact.
- Select the Matters tab.
- Click New matter.
- Complete the matter fields. The contact is already selected and cannot be changed in this flow.
- Click Create Matter.
You can also begin this flow by changing a qualified contact to Converted. Superpractice opens the matter form so the retained engagement can be recorded instead of changing the status without a matter.
Other ways matters are created
Matters can also be synced from:
- HubSpot deals and line items
- GoHighLevel opportunities
- Matter webhooks from another CRM or case-management system
See Integration basics before a large import. Map stages and services first, then verify a single matter end to end.
Add value to a matter
There are two ways to record value:
One estimated value
Click the amount in the matter header or the Est. Value row and enter the total.
Use this when the engagement has one meaningful total and you do not need service-level detail.
Service line items
Under Services, click Edit, then:
- Choose a service from the catalog to use its name and default price.
- Or click Manual entry for a one-off item.
- Adjust the quantity and price as needed.
When line items exist, reporting uses the sum of price × quantity. The matter's single estimated value is the fallback only when the matter has no line items.
Line items take priority
If a matter has line items, changing only the header value will not change reported revenue. Update the line items themselves.
Move a matter through the pipeline
Open a matter, then click a stage label in the pipeline bar or edit the Stage row.
- Use New when the opportunity has just been created.
- Use Qualified when it is a real fit worth pursuing.
- Use Engagement Sent after the agreement or proposal has been sent.
- Use Retained only after the firm has won the work.
- Click Mark Lost when the opportunity will not proceed.
Moving a matter to Retained:
- Sets the contact to Converted.
- Sets the close date to the current date if the matter did not already have one.
- Makes the matter eligible for closed-revenue reporting.
Retained matters require a positive value or at least one priced line item.
Creating directly as Retained
When creating a new matter directly in the Retained stage, set the actual Close Date before clicking Create Matter. Revenue reports group retained revenue by close date.
Edit an existing matter
- Open Matters, or open the contact's Matters tab.
- Click the matter.
- Click a field to edit it.
- For service line items, click Edit in the Services section.
- Review the Activity section to confirm important changes.
Most matter fields autosave. Service line items also autosave after you leave a changed field.
Use the Matters page
The firm-wide Matters page supports two views:
- Table — best for scanning detail and sorting through records.
- Kanban — best for seeing the pipeline by stage and moving work visually.
Use search to match a matter name, contact, owner, stage, practice area, matter type, fee type, notes, amount, close date, created date, or service name.
Use Filter for stage, contact, service, value, owner, close date, and created date. Active filters appear above the list and can be removed individually.
Delete or mark lost?
- Mark Lost keeps the history and makes the pipeline outcome visible.
- Delete removes the matter and should be reserved for duplicates, tests, or records created by mistake.
If the engagement was real but did not close, mark it lost instead of deleting it.