What happens to existing matters and contracts when an Administrator adds or removes fields from a matter and/or contract type?
To learn how to add or remove fields, take a look at this article: How to use custom fields by assigning them to contract/matter types.
Matters
Adding fields to a matter type
When you add a new field to a matter type, the following happens depending on the state the matter is in at the moment:
Active – new field is added
On hold – new field is added
Complete – new field is not added as the matter information is in a "locked down" state when completed. Workaround: If the matter state is changed back to active or on hold, the new field will be added to the matter.
Removing fields from a matter type
When you remove a field from a matter type, the following happens subject to the matter state:
Active – field is removed and disappears from matter details
On hold – field is removed and disappears from matter details
Complete – field is retained as the matter information is in a "locked down" state when completed.
Note that If the matter state is changed back to active or on hold, the matter details will reflect the latest matter type form and the field along with the existing value will be removed.
Contracts
Adding fields to a contract type
When you add a new field to a contract type, the following happens subject to the contract state:
Draft – new field is added
Negotiating – new field is added
Signing – new field is added
Executed – new field is added
Expired – new field is not added, as expired contract stage puts it in a "locked down" state.
Removing fields from a contract type
When you remove a field from a contract type, the following happens subject to the contract state:
Draft – field is removed and disappears from contract details
Negotiating – field is removed and disappears from contract details
Signing – field is removed and disappears from the contract details
Executed – field is removed and disappears from contract details
Expired – field is retained.
Any changes on the contract type fields will not apply to contracts with the expired state so when a contract is renewed, it only retains all the contract fields that were there when it expired. Fields that were removed and new fields that were added to the contract type prior to renewal will not reflect on the renewed contract. The same goes when a contract is voided and unvoided back to draft - it retains all the fields that were present prior to it being voided.