Create and Manage Matter Stages

In Clio Manage, matter stages are kanban-style boards that track where each matter sits in your firm's process. Stages belong to a practice area, so a criminal matter moves through different steps than a personal injury matter. The board gives your whole firm one view of which matters sit in which stage, which cases need attention first, and how work is distributed across larger caseloads.

Only administrators can create, edit, delete, or configure the visibility of matter stages. Any user with access to a matter can move it between stages.

Create matter stages

Matter stages are tied to practice areas, so every practice area at your firm has its own stages board. Create your practice areas first. Once stages exist, they are available across your entire firm, up to 15 stages for each practice area. Learn more about Create and Manage Practice Areas. 

1. Go to Matters > Stages.
2. Select the practice area dropdown to view matters assigned to that practice area and to begin creating its stages.
   • If no practice areas exist yet, click Create practice area to get started. Return to this page afterwards, and the new practice area appears as a dropdown selection.
   • Matters that already carry a practice area appear in a No Stage Assigned column, ready to move once stages exist. That column stays hidden once every matter sits in a stage.
3. Click Add a matter stage.
4. Enter a name for the matter stage and click Add matter stage.
   • Example stages include Pre-trial for a criminal law matter, or Settlement and Trial for a personal injury matter.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to create the remaining stages for that practice area.

Add matters to matter stages

Assigning a practice area to a matter places that matter on the stages board for that practice area, and the first stage is selected by default. A matter needs a practice area before it can take a stage, so assign the practice area by editing the matter.

1. Go to your matter and click Edit matter.
2. In the Matter details section, select a practice area under Practice area.
3. In the same section, under Matter stage, select one of the stages created for that practice area.
4. Click Save matter.
   • The matter stage for a specific matter also appears under the Details section of the matter's Dashboard.

Move matters between matter stages

A matter card carries the matter name and number, the matter description, the client name, and the number of days the matter has sat at its current stage. That count starts when a matter moves into a new stage column, and it excludes time in the No Stage Assigned column. The colored bar to the left of a card reflects matter status: green for open, yellow for pending. Only open and pending matters appear on the board.

You can move matters from the Stages subtab or from the matter's Dashboard.

Move a matter from the Stages board

1. Go to Matters > Stages.
2. Click and hold a matter card, then drag and drop it into a new matter stage column.
   • You can also select a matter card, press enter, and use the left and right arrow keys to move it to a new column. Press enter again to confirm placement.

Move a matter from the matter dashboard

1. Go to the matter and select the Dashboard subtab.
2. Scroll down to the Details section.
3. Next to Matter stage, click the stage dropdown and select the new matter stage.

Manage matter card actions

Each matter card offers three actions.

1. Go to Matters > Stages.
2. Click the three dots in the upper right of a matter card.
3. Select an action:
   • Switch practice area: Move the matter from one board to another. The matter card files into the first stage of the new practice area.
   • Mark as pending, or Mark as open: Change the matter status. Marking an open matter as pending changes its colored bar from green to yellow. Marking a pending matter as open changes the bar from yellow to green.
   • Close matter: Remove the matter from the board, as the board carries only open and pending matters. A closed matter retains its practice area and stage, so setting it back to open or pending returns it to the same board position.

Manage the stages board

From the stages board, administrators can switch practice areas, narrow the matters shown, rearrange columns, and rename or delete stages. Deleting a stage moves the matters in that column to No Stage Assigned.

Change board view

1. Go to Matters > Stages.
2. Click the practice area dropdown and select a different practice area.

Filter matters

1. Go to Matters > Stages.
2. Click Filters.
3. Select your filter parameters and click Apply filters.
   • Each board filters by client, responsible attorney, originating attorney, and responsible staff. You can also filter by the date a matter last moved from one stage to another.

Reorder columns

1. Go to Matters > Stages.
2. Click and hold a matter stage column, then drag it to the left or right of another column.
   • You can also tab to highlight a stage, press enter, and use the left and right arrow keys to reposition it. Press enter again to confirm placement.

Edit a matter stage

1. Go to Matters.
2. Select the Stages subtab.
3. Select a practice area from the dropdown.
4. Click Customize.
5. Update the stage name. With Show matter stages in Clio for Clients toggled on, you can also edit the Client facing name and Description.
6. Click Save.

Delete a matter stage from the Stages board

1. Go to Matters > Stages.
2. Click the three dots next to a matter stage name and select Delete matter stage.
3. At the warning prompt, click Delete matter stage.

Delete a matter stage from the Customize page

1. Go to Matters.
2. Select the Stages subtab.
3. Select a practice area from the dropdown.
4. Click Customize.
5. Click the bin icon on the card of the stage you want to delete.
6. Click Save.

Show matter stages in Clio for Clients

Firms using Clio for Clients can surface matter stages to clients in the client portal. Clients then find the current stage name and an optional description on their Overview tab on web, or the matter stage card on mobile, and they receive a push notification and an email each time their matter moves to a new stage.

Up next

Change Matter Statuses. Move a matter between open, pending, and closed, which controls whether it appears on the stages board at all.