Sometimes you may want to hide or limit access to certain matters - you can do this using the 'Restrict Matter' feature.
In this article:
Who can see restricted matters?
A restricted matter has been restricted in such a way so that it is only visible to people who have been explicitly added to the matter as members.
If you haven't been explicitly added to a restricted matter, then, unlike most matters, you will not be able to add yourself to it. In fact, for those who are not named members, the matter will effectively not exist.
How can I find restricted matters?
If you have the role of LawVu Administrator for your organization, then the restricted matters will be listed in the Restricted Entities report under Settings, but all of the details of the matter will be hidden. Only the LawVu ID, matter type, state, owner, and manager will be visible.
You will still be able to see who owns the matter and manages it, so you can contact those people and ask to be added to the matter if you need to be on it.
How do I make a matter restricted?
To restrict matters, go into the matter that you want to restrict and click on the Security tab.
Click the Restrict Matter button.
The matter will now be restricted, and only the people that have been explicitly added to the matter as 'Members' will have access to that matter.
Note that some matters have been designated as Restricted by your org administrator within the matter type settings. These matters will therefore have the Restricted field value ticked by default during the matter creation process, but this can still be unticked if necessary.
The Restricted field can be added to the 'Create form' of a matter type (and make it required or not), which gives the matter creator the ability to decide if he wants the matter to be restricted.
However, it is worth considering that doing this can mean a standard user creating a matter might tick this field, resulting in the organization or the legal team not knowing that the matter exists due to not having proper visibility. For the most part, the suggestion is to do this for organizations where the people creating the matters are lawyers or perhaps where all standard users are asked to select their matter manager during the matter creation process.
Note: Legal Service Providers can be members of restricted matters but do not have the ability to restrict matters.
Can the restricted status be inherited?
A contract created within a restricted matter will automatically inherit the same members and status, thereby becoming a restricted contract - visible only to named members. However, existing contracts that are later linked to a restricted matter will not automatically inherit the restricted settings.
A statement of work created within a restricted contract will automatically inherit the same members and status, thereby becoming a restricted contract - visible only to named members.
An amendment created within a restricted contract will automatically inherit the same members and status, thereby becoming a restricted contract - visible only to named members.
Note: Currently, child matters created from within restricted matters DO NOT automatically inherit the restricted status.