Law firms & notaries
TodayThe follow-up date sits in one person's calendar. The note is on their desk.
In law firms and notarial offices the file is the centre. It is often part digital, part paper – and the information needed right now is in whichever part you are not looking at.
Also for notarial offices, smaller partnerships and sole practitioners.
Does this sound familiar?
- Follow-up 4 NovIt sits in one person's calendar, not on the matter.
- Scan_20260918.pdfThe incoming post is digitised but not assigned.
- Two numbers, one matterThe same matter is filed differently in two systems.
- Where is the original?The document exists. It is findable only for the person who filed it.
- Yesterday's draftIt is finished. That it is waiting for approval is visible to nobody.
The difficulty is rarely the file management itself. It is the simultaneity: dates, correspondence, parties and documents belong to the same matter but are kept in different places. Anyone who wants to know the state of play looks in several places and ends up asking someone anyway.
On top of that, confidentiality here is not a matter of convenience. Who may access what has to be governed and traceable – technically, not just organisationally.
What the workflow could look like
Not every company needs every stage. But each one gets easier when the previous one has prepared it.
01 Enquiry
First contact is captured, not jotted down
Request, opposing party and urgency are settled before the file is opened.
02 Client
Record the parties once
Client, opposing party and others are then available at every point of the matter.
03 Matter
Everything on the case in one place
State of play, ownership and access rules are recorded and visible to those involved.
04 Dates
They hang off the matter
What is due on a case is held there rather than only in one person's calendar.
05 Documents
Incoming post gets assigned
Post, scans and pleadings land on the right file instead of in a collective folder.
06 Drafting
Drafts draw on the matter
Recurring letters take parties, number and state of play from what is already recorded.
07 Closing
Filed in order
What belongs to the matter stays together and findable, years later too.
What we build or connect for it
- A matter overview with state of play, dates, parties and documents in one place
- Dates and follow-ups on the matter, visible to stand-ins as well
- Assignment of digital incoming post to the right file
- Letters that take details from the matter instead of asking for them again
- Access rights that are governed and documented
- A connection to existing practice software rather than replacing it
What changes day to day
- One matter holding parties, documents, dates and state of play together.
- Being able to look up the state of a case instead of asking for it.
- Incoming letters visibly belong to a matter instead of sitting in a collective folder.
- Recurring letters draw on details that are already recorded.
One noteProfessional obligations – on confidentiality, time limits, retention and file management, for example – are yours to assess. We do not advise on them and give no assurances. We implement what you specify and document it traceably.
From applications we have built
What follows are excerpts from applications we have actually built. No mocked-up interfaces and no invented figures.
The parts most often needed here
- 01
Documents
Documents are built from the data you already have — and end up where people look for them.
View: Documents & information - 02
Projects & cases
Projects, people, tasks, documents and open items in one place — instead of spread across mailboxes and folders.
View: Projects & cases - 03
Customers & data
Record companies, contacts and objects once — and find the same details everywhere afterwards.
View: Customers & data - 04
Technical support
One point of contact for the technology, even when no project is running.
View: Technical support
Questions from the industry
Do you replace our practice management software?
As a rule, no. Where specialist software handles file management and billing, we do not build alongside it but close the gaps – for instance in assigning incoming post or producing recurring letters.
How is access governed technically?
Through access rights per matter and role, documented and auditable. Where data sits and who processes it is put in writing before the start. Which professional obligations follow from that is yours to specify.
Can the data stay in Germany?
Yes. Where the data sits is decided at the beginning, not at the end. A solution without providers outside the EU is possible.
We still work partly with paper files. Does that have to stop first?
No. It is often sensible to run new matters digitally from a cut-off date and leave the existing stock as it is for now.
Also searched asfirm organisation · file management · diary and follow-up · assigning incoming post · digital file · matter management