Matter numbering and file naming that scale beyond five lawyers

When a firm has three lawyers, every case is known by the client's name and everyone knows which one you mean. Somewhere past five or six lawyers that stops working: two matters for the same client, a new associate who was not there when the file opened, an invoice that needs to reference a case unambiguously.

A matter numbering scheme and a file naming convention are the cheapest infrastructure a firm can build, and the hardest to add later.

Give every matter a number that never changes

A good matter number is unique, permanent and meaningful at a glance. A common pattern combines a client number with a sequence for that client — for example, the client's number followed by the matter's position among that client's matters. Anyone who sees it knows which client it belongs to and that it is distinct from their other matters.

Let the system assign it

Numbers typed by hand collide and skip. Assigning them automatically when the matter is opened guarantees they are unique and in order.

Use the number everywhere

The number should appear on invoices, expense claims, court correspondence, internal emails and document names. When everything carries it, finding every piece of a matter is a single search.

Name documents the same way every time

A simple convention works better than a clever one:

• the matter number,
• a short document type (letter, memo, pleading, contract),
• a few words describing it,
• the date in a sortable format,
• a version marker for drafts.

Files named this way sort themselves in date order and are recognisable even after they have been downloaded or emailed.

Avoid names that only make sense today

"Final", "final-2" and "latest" mean nothing a month later. Versions and dates do.

Write it down and apply it to new matters

A one-page guide is enough. Apply it to every new matter from today rather than trying to rename years of history in one weekend.

Lexivo assigns matter numbers automatically in a client-and-sequence format and carries them onto invoices, claims and downloads so documents are named consistently without anyone having to remember the rules.