Change Matter Statuses

Updated 24 September 2026 20:26

In Clio Manage, the matter status records where a case sits between intake and resolution. For example, you can close a matter when the work is complete, or reopen a closed matter when additional work is needed. Changing the status moves the matter under a different quick filter on the Matters page, and controls whether the matter appears on the stages board. You can update one matter at a time from the matter dashboard, or update many matters at the same time from the Matters page.

Clio Manage uses the following statuses.

Open: An active case that your firm is currently working on.
Pending: A case your firm is still considering, or a case you are preparing to close.
Closed: A fully resolved case. Closing a matter doesn't change any of its contents, so you can still view everything in a closed matter and reopen it at any time.

Tip: When you finish working on a matter, close it instead of deleting it. Delete a matter only if it's a duplicate or has no work recorded in it. Learn more in Delete and Recover Matters in Clio Manage.

When viewing a matter dashboard, the Details section shows recent status changes by way of Open date, Pending date, and Closed date, so the status history of a matter stays visible alongside the current status.

View matters by status

While viewing your Matters page, every matter your permissions allow is listed, grouped by status.

Go to Matters.
Select the All, Open, Pending, or Closed quick filter.

You can adjust columns or apply filters to modify the Matters page view export the results.

Change individual matter status

Go to Matters and for the relevant matter, click Actions > Edit. Alternatively, select the matter name from the matter table to open the matter dashboard, then click Edit matter.
Go to the Matter details section.
Under Matter status, update the status to the relevant option.
Click Save matter.

Note: Closing a matter removes it from the matter stages board, which carries open and pending matters only. A closed matter retains its practice area and stage, so reopening it returns it to the same board position.