Roles
Roles define the kinds of party a matter can have — applicant, attorney, client, inventor and so on. On the Roles section you set up the role types for this matter type. Each one becomes a slot a fee-earner fills with a contact on the matter screen, and those slots drive far more than a contact list: they determine who templates address, who appears in email sender and recipient pickers, and who automations can assign. This is the configuration behind the roles and contacts on a matter.
The roles list
Each row is a role type. The columns show its Role Name and an Enabled toggle. Use the show-disabled toggle to reveal roles you have switched off, and + Add Role to create a new one. Role names must be unique within the matter type.
Defining the parties
Add a role for each distinct party your matters of this type involve. A patent matter typically needs an applicant, an attorney, an inventor and a client; a different type of work might call for an opponent, a licensee or an agent. Give each role a clear, consistent name — the same name is used everywhere the role appears.
Why roles are central
Roles are the connective tissue of a matter type. Once defined, a role can be referenced across the rest of the configuration:
- Templates address recipients by role — an email template can be sent "To" the Client and "Cc" the Attorney without knowing the specific people in advance.
- Merge variables pull in a role's details, such as
${role.Client.first_name}or${role.Applicant.display_name}. - Automations can assign a contact to a role, or use a role to decide who an action affects.
- Related matters map roles across when a linked matter is created, so the same parties carry over.
Because so much depends on them, it is worth settling your roles before building templates and automations. You can disable a role you no longer use rather than deleting it, which keeps existing matters intact.
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