The lead attorney
Exactly one lead at all times.
What the lead alone can do
Release to the client. Not any attorney on the matter, and not the firm owner unless they hold the lead. Releasing and revoking on a matter belong to its lead alone.
Open a client thread to the client. A client channel is created shut; the lead opens it.
The lead is also who gets notified when someone is added to the matter, and who is reminded seven days before an external grant expires.
Who can be lead
Only members who hold a bar number on file. The same licence is what grants the right to approve AI output.
If you are not in the list, record your bar number and the state that issued it on Your account.
Transferring the lead
Transfer the lead on the Team tab. Pick the new lead, then decide what happens to the outgoing one:
- Stays on the matter — keeps their assignment and everything it carries, minus the release right.
- Comes off the matter — access ends on their next request, not at their next sign-in.
The transfer is atomic: never zero leads, never two. The Settings tab shows the lead but will not change it — handing a matter over happens on the Team tab, by the outgoing lead or the firm owner.
If nobody else on the matter holds a bar number, add an attorney to the roster first.
A matter cannot be left without one
Two rules follow from that:
- You cannot remove the lead from a matter. Transfer it first.
- A firm member who still leads at least one matter cannot be deactivated. A case cannot be left without a lead attorney, even for an afternoon.
No lead
A matter with no lead — possible only in transitional states — cannot release anything to the client and says so.