Legal matters are often linked to other matters or contracts that extend from it. Linking matters and contracts together in LawVu can be used to clearly identify a matter's connection to other information stored in the platform.
Depending on your needs, you can link records using either a parent-child hierarchy or a more flexible, non-hierarchical relationship using the Relates To section.
In this article:
How to link contracts to matters
There are several ways to link a contract to a matter:
From the contract view:
Click the + icon at the top of the contract name:
From the matter’s Contracts tab:
Click on the +Add contract button to link the matter to either an existing contract record or to create a new one.
As you start typing the contract name or ID, the autofill feature will provide suggestions for all contracts that match the characters you've entered.
From the Files tab in a matter
By clicking on the ellipses next to the file and selecting "Create contract from file". The new contract will be related to the matter as a child.
Once the matter and contract are linked, you can access the matter from within the contract and vice-versa.
A matter can have many branching linked contracts. However, each contract can only have one linked primary matter.
View all related records
Explore all associated records related to your matter or contract by accessing the Related panel at the top right of your screen. Evaluate the status of linked records, view their owners and managers, and open them with a simple click, provided you have the necessary permissions.
Flexible linking using the Relates To section
Matters and contracts can be linked through a parent and child relationship, or they can simply be linked without any hirarchy from the Relates to section.
This any-to-any linking setup gives you more freedom to connect records that are related, even if they aren’t directly linked as parent or child.
From the Relates To section, you can easily link matters, contracts, amendments, and SOWs, so everything stays connected and easy to find.
If a record is currently set as a child but you'd prefer a non-hierarchical link, just select "Copy to Relates To", then remove the child link.
Inherited Membership
When linking a contract to a matter, the current members of the matter will be automatically included and inherited to the contract and will be granted the "Member" access level.
Any changes made to the members of the parent matter, whether adding or removing members, will also be reflected and updated in the associated contracts.
Removing the link between the parent matter and the contract will automatically remove the inherited members.
When linking a restricted contract to a matter, matter members will NOT be automatically inherited to the contract. It is necessary to manually add members to the restricted contract.
