Clients, matters and the conflict check
hayaterp.com ↗Open work in Hayat Legal — legal clients with encrypted CNIC and phone, the four-step new matter wizard (client, details with court, case no., opposing party, counsel, judge and team, the conflict check across every client and party of the firm, the fee arrangement — hourly, fixed, retainer or contingency), matter statuses, the matter page, parties with their own conflict check, closing and reopening a matter.
Clients, matters, parties and the conflict check need legal.manage.
Clients
Open Legal clients and press + Client:
| Field | Fill |
|---|---|
| Name | As on the CNIC or registration |
| Kind | Individual, Company, Government or Other |
| Contact person | For companies and departments |
| Phone, Email | Phone is kept encrypted |
| CNIC / national ID | Kept encrypted |
| Address, City, Notes | |
| Active | Untick clients you no longer act for; Include inactive shows them |
Each client gets a code (LCL-…). Search by name or code, or by the exact phone or national ID (they are stored encrypted, so part of a number does not match).
The client page shows their matters, invoices with the total outstanding, the client funds you hold for them (+ Deposit, Refund), receipts (Record receipt) and their portal link (Copy, Reset).
Open a matter
A matter is one case or piece of work for a client. Open Matters & cases and start a new matter. The wizard has four steps:
- Client — find and pick the client.
- Details — the Title (e.g. Ahmed v. City Bank (recovery suit)), Type, Status, Court / forum, Case no., Stage (e.g. Evidence), Opposing party, Opposing counsel, Judge, Filing date, Responsible lawyer, Opened on, the Team (+ Team member: name, role, hourly rate) and a Description. Press Next: conflict check.
- Conflict check — see below. Press Next when it is clear, or after writing the conflict note.
- Fee arrangement — choose it (below), check the summary and press Open matter.
The matter gets a number (MAT-…).
| Type | Status |
|---|---|
| Litigation, Corporate, Family, Property, Criminal, Labour, Tax, Other | Intake (not yet accepted), Open, On hold, Closed |
The conflict check
Before you act for someone, make sure the firm does not already act for the other side. The check searches the names of the client, the opposing party and the opposing counsel — and any name you add (a related company, a director, a witness) with Add — against every client and every party on every matter of the firm. Check again after changing names.
- ✓ Clear — no conflicts found. Go on.
- Possible conflicts are listed: the name searched, the name matched, their role (e.g. Opposing party, or Client of the firm), the matter and its status, and the client code. Rows where the match is on the other side of one of your matters are marked adverse.
To open the matter anyway, write a Conflict note saying why it is not a conflict (different person of the same name, informed consent obtained on …). The note, who checked and when are kept on the matter. If someone else adds a matching name while you are in the wizard, Hayat stops at the last step and takes you back to the check.
Fee arrangements
| Arrangement | Fill | How it is billed |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly | Hourly rate for the matter | Time entries × rate: a team member's own rate first, then the matter's rate, then the default rate in settings |
| Fixed | Agreed fixed fee | A fee line on the invoice; Hayat keeps track of how much of the fee is already billed |
| Retainer | Monthly retainer | A fee line each time you bill |
| Contingency | Contingency % | A fee line you type when the matter succeeds |
Budget is an optional ceiling to compare against in the reports. Expenses you pay for the client are billed under any arrangement.
The matter page
The matter page has tabs: Overview, Parties, Hearings, Deadlines, Tasks, Documents, Notes, Time & expenses, Billing and ✦ Draft notice. The hearings, deadlines, tasks, documents and notes are on Hearings, deadlines, tasks and documents; time, expenses and billing on Time, billing and client funds.
Overview shows everything from the wizard, the next hearing and the hours and amounts recorded. Edit changes the details.
Parties
The client, opposing party, opposing counsel and judge of the matter are kept as parties by themselves. Add party adds others: Role (Client, Opposing party, Opposing counsel, Witness, Related or Judge), Name, Organisation, Notes. Each new party is checked for conflicts at once and any matches are shown. The conflict check of future matters searches all these names too.
Close or reopen a matter
Close matter asks for the outcome (decided, settled, withdrawn…) and closes it today. Scheduled hearings after that date are cancelled, and Hayat tells you how many time and expense entries are still unbilled — bill or write them off. Reopen brings a closed matter back to Open.