The Law Practice Manager: Your Firm's Matters, Time, Deadlines and Billing in One Place – Sapience Cloud

Overview

The Law Practice Manager gives a small law firm a working practice-management system in the time it takes to click Duplicate. It is a ready-made Sapience database: nine linked tables — Clients, Matters, Time Entries, Expenses, Tasks & Deadlines and Invoices, plus Case Files, Documents and Notes that tie each matter to its project, its files and its notes — twenty-three saved views that answer the questions a firm asks every day, and a Client intake form that turns a new enquiry into a client record. It comes filled with fictional example entries, so you can see how the whole thing works before you enter a single real matter.

This article is the complete guide. It starts with what the template does for your firm, then explains how to get your own copy, how the tables fit together (including the case files, documents and notes), every view, the intake form, and the everyday routines that keep a practice running.

What It Does for Your Firm

Feature	What your firm gains
Every matter in one place	Each matter links its client, status, attorney, dates and billing — with time, costs, deadlines and invoices hanging off it.
Time that turns into invoices	Log hours as you work. The Unbilled billable time view lists every billable entry not yet billed, biggest first.
Deadlines you can see coming	Court dates, filings, hearings and meetings sit on the Deadlines calendar, each with a priority and tied to its matter.
Cash you can chase	Overdue invoices and Outstanding balances show exactly what is owed to the firm, biggest first.
Costs you recover	Filing fees, travel, research and expert fees go against their matter; Costs awaiting reimbursement lists what clients owe back.
Enquiries that arrive as records	Share the Client intake form: each response lands in Clients as a new record. Nobody retypes anything.
The shape of the practice	Matters grouped by practice area, live matters on a board by status, contingency matters, billable hours month by month.
An assistant that knows your data	Ask the database's Chat agent in plain English, for example which invoices are overdue or which deadlines are still open.
Paperwork that is the real file	Engagement letters, pleadings, court orders and correspondence live in Documents as files you open and edit. Each matter links the documents filed on it.
Notes that are real notes	Attendance notes, file notes and research memos live in Notes. Each matter links its notes, and time entries link the attendance note that records the work.
Every matter can point at its case file	A Case Files table links each matter to its project. Clicking a chip or a linked row opens the real project, note or file.

For the managing partner

See the whole practice at a glance. The Open matters board shows every live matter by status (Open, Pending, On Hold), and Matters by practice area counts the work across Litigation, Corporate, Family Law, Real Estate, Employment and Estate Planning.

Know where the fee is at risk. Contingency matters collects every matter you are paid for only if you win.

Watch the firm's billable effort. Billable hours by month totals recorded hours, billable against non-billable, for each month.

Know what cash is still to come in. Outstanding balances lists every sent or overdue invoice, biggest first.

See which matters still need a case file. Matters with no case file lists every matter whose project link is still empty.

For the fee earner

Capture time while it is fresh. One entry per piece of work: matter, date, hours, rate, a short description and a Billable tick.

Never be surprised by a date. The Deadlines calendar shows every open court date and filing deadline across the firm. Tick Done and the task drops off.

Open a matter and have the context. The client, that client's current status, the practice area and the billing method are all on the matter.

Keep the file with the matter. Link the matter's documents and notes as you create them, and link each time entry to the attendance note that records it.

For the practice manager

Run billing from one list. Unbilled billable time is the starting point for every invoice. Tick Billed as the time goes onto a bill.

Chase what is owed. Overdue invoices is the chasing list, biggest first.

Recover disbursements. Costs awaiting reimbursement lists every cost not yet paid back, biggest first.

Handle new enquiries cleanly. Each intake form response arrives as a Clients record, marked with the form it came from, and you get an email for each one.

Chase missing paperwork. Expenses missing a receipt lists every cost with no receipt file, biggest first, and Court documents collects the pleadings and court orders in one place.

💡

The Law Practice Manager is designed for a firm's day-to-day practice management. It is not an accounting or trust-accounting system, and it does not run conflict checks or work out court deadlines for you: you enter the dates, and the views keep them in front of you.

Getting Your Own Copy

The Law Practice Manager is a template: read-only and shared with everyone in Sapience, so anyone can open it and look around without changing a thing. It is also featured in the Sapience AI Store catalogue under Compliance & Legal. To get a copy you can work in, follow the steps below.

What Happens Behind the Scenes

You find it. Open Databases and choose the Templates filter, or go to Menu ▸ Manage ▸ Templates. The Law Practice Manager is listed with the other templates.

You explore read-only. Open any table, switch views, open entries. Nothing you do can change the template.

You Duplicate. Choose Duplicate. In the Copy dialog the name starts as the template's name followed by "— Copy". Change it to your firm's name if you like.

You choose the contents. Leave Copy records too ticked to bring the example entries with you, which is best for learning. Untick it to get the same tables, links, views and form with no entries, which is best when you are ready for real work.

You make it yours. The copy is private to you until you share it, fully editable, and has no connection back to the template.

What your copy contains

With Copy records too ticked, your copy arrives with the 57 example rows and your own editable copies of the 7 documents, 4 notes, 3 receipt files and 3 invoice documents, with every row re-pointed at your copies. Open a Documents row and you are editing your file; open a Notes row and you are editing your note.

Without the records, you get the nine tables, links, views and form with no rows, no files and no notes: Documents, Notes and Case Files all start empty. Case Files starts empty either way. A project cannot live inside a database, so the template ships the link column with nothing in it, and Matters with no case file shows all 10 matters until you link your own projects.

If you have not used a database template before, the Starting From a Database Template article covers templates in general.

The Nine Tables and How They Connect

Everything hangs off two anchors: who you act for, and what you are doing for them.

Table	What it holds	Linked to
Clients	Name, type (Individual or Business), contact email, phone, status (Active, Prospective or Former), client since date, intake notes	—
Matters	Practice area, status (Open, Pending, On Hold, Closed), attorney, opened/closed dates, billing (Hourly, Flat fee, Contingency), Case file, Documents, Notes	One Client, with that client's status shown on the matter; one Case file; any number of Documents and Notes
Time Entries	Date, hours, rate, description, Billable and Billed ticks, Attendance note	One Matter; one Note recording the work
Expenses	Date, amount, category (Filing fees, Travel, Research, Postage & copies, Expert fees, Other), description, Reimbursed tick, Receipt file	One Matter
Tasks & Deadlines	Deadline, type (Court date, Filing deadline, Statute of limitations, Client meeting, Hearing), priority (High, Medium, Low), Done tick	One Matter
Invoices	Invoice date, amount, status (Draft, Sent, Paid or Overdue), due date, Invoice document file	One Matter
Case Files	Summary	Each row IS a project: your matter's case file, linked in
Documents	Type, date, summary	Each row IS a file: the matter's paperwork, opened and edited in place
Notes	Type, date	Each row IS a note: attendance notes, file notes and research memos

You make each link once, by picking the client on a matter or the matter on a time entry, and every table stays consistent. No names are copied between spreadsheets. Because Client status on a matter is looked up from the client, changing a client to Former shows on every one of their matters straight away.

Three of the tables are lenses, not lists: a Case Files row is a project, a Documents row is a file, a Notes row is a note. Clicking a chip or a linked row opens the real project, note or file, and Link existing item offers your projects and folders alongside files and notes.

The Twenty-Three Saved Views

Each table opens on an "All" view, and the template adds views for the questions you ask most.

Table	View	What it answers
Clients	All clients	Who are our clients? Newest first
Clients	Active clients	Who is currently engaging us?
Matters	All matters	What work do we have? Most recently opened first
Matters	Open matters board	Where is each live matter up to? A board with lanes for Open, Pending and On Hold
Matters	Matters by practice area	What kinds of work do we do? Grouped by practice area, with counts
Matters	Contingency matters	Where is our fee at risk?
Time Entries	All time entries	What did we record lately? Newest first
Time Entries	Unbilled billable time	What can we invoice right now? Billable and not yet billed, biggest first
Time Entries	Billable hours by month	How much billable time did we record each month? A pivot of hours, billable against non-billable
Expenses	All expenses	What did we spend on each matter? Newest first
Expenses	Costs awaiting reimbursement	What are clients yet to pay back? Biggest first
Tasks & Deadlines	All deadlines	What is due next? Soonest first
Tasks & Deadlines	Deadlines calendar	What is coming up, and when? Open tasks on a calendar by deadline
Invoices	All invoices	What have we billed? Newest first
Invoices	Overdue invoices	Who must we chase for payment? Biggest first
Invoices	Outstanding balances	What cash is still to come in? Sent or overdue, biggest first
Matters	Matters with no case file	Which matters still need a case file? All 10 ship without one, most recently opened first
Matters	Matters with documents	Which matters already have paperwork filed? Most recently opened first
Case Files	All case files	Where do our case-file projects live? Empty in the template — link your own
Documents	All documents	What paperwork do we hold? Newest first
Documents	Court documents	What has been filed or ordered? Pleadings and court orders, newest first
Notes	All notes	What did we record, and when? Newest first
Expenses	Expenses missing a receipt	Which spending still needs its paperwork? Biggest first

Most views are sorted tables. Three use another layout, and in your copy they work the way they do across Sapience Databases:

Board (Open matters board): drag a matter's card to another lane to change its status.

Calendar (Deadlines calendar): a month view, with Week and Day views too. Drag a deadline to another day to move it.

Pivot (Billable hours by month): hours summed by month, with no formulas to write.

In your copy you can change, add or delete any view.

The Client Intake Form

The template includes a form on the Clients table called Client intake. People who need the firm fill it in on a web page, on any device and with no Sapience account, and each response becomes a new client record. Its introduction reads:

Seeking legal help? Send your details and a short note about your matter and the firm will be in touch for a first consultation.

It asks for four things:

Field on the form	Required	Where the answer goes
Full name	Yes	The client's name
Contact email	Yes	Contact email
Phone	No	Phone
What do you need help with?	Yes	Intake notes

The button reads Request consultation, and after sending, the visitor sees:

Thanks - the firm has your request and will be in touch.

To put it to work:

In your copy, open the Client intake form and click Create link, optionally setting a password first. The template's form has no link, and a copied form never inherits one, so you always create a fresh link in your copy.

Share the link wherever new clients find you, such as your website or your email signature.

Each response becomes one new Clients row, marked in the Source column with the form it came from. By default you also get an email for every response.

Follow up, then fill in the client's Type, Status and Client since date yourself. The form asks only for the four fields above.

The Example Entries

Keep Copy records too ticked and your copy arrives with 57 fictional entries, linked together the way a real practice would be — plus the files and notes those entries point at.

Table	Example entries
Clients	9, one of whom arrived through the Client intake form
Matters	10
Time Entries	12
Expenses	8
Tasks & Deadlines	10
Invoices	8
Case Files	0 — the link column ships empty, by design
Documents	7, each a real file: an engagement letter, a statement of claim, a directions order, an employer letter, a tribunal application, a lease markup and a medical report
Notes	4, each a real note: two attendance notes, a file note and a research memo

The 7 documents arrive as files you can open and edit, the 4 notes as notes you can open and edit, and 3 expenses carry a receipt file while 3 invoices carry their invoice document — all as your own copies, with every row re-pointed at them. Untick Copy records too and Documents, Notes, receipts and invoice documents all arrive empty; Case Files arrives empty either way.

Every name, email address and phone number is made up, the money is in US dollars, and the dates fall in 2026. Delete the examples when you are ready, or untick Copy records too when you duplicate and start empty.

Everyday Workflows

Take on a new client

Share your intake form link, or add a row to Clients yourself with the name, type, contact email, phone, status and client since date. Active clients shows everyone you currently act for.

Open a new matter

Add a row to Matters: pick the client, choose the practice area, set the status to Open, type the responsible attorney, enter the opened date and choose the billing method. The matter appears on the Open matters board straight away.

Open a case file for a new matter

Create the project for the matter in Projects, or pick the existing one.

Open Case Files, choose Link existing item, and pick the project. It appears as a row.

Open the matter and set its Case file to that row. The matter leaves Matters with no case file, and clicking the chip from then on opens the real project.

File a document or note against a matter

Upload the file, or create the note — or find the Documents or Notes row that already holds it.

Open the matter and add the document to its Documents cell, or the note to its Notes cell. For a time entry, set its Attendance note to the note that records the work.

For costs and bills, attach the file directly: the expense's Receipt cell, or the invoice's Invoice document cell.

Log time

Add a row to Time Entries: pick the matter, enter the date, hours, rate and a short description, and tick Billable if the client should pay for it.

Record a cost

Add a row to Expenses against the matter with its date, amount, category and description, and attach the receipt in Receipt. Tick Reimbursed once the client has paid it back.

See what is due this week

Open the Deadlines calendar and switch it to the Week view, or open All deadlines, which lists every task soonest first. Tick Done when a task is complete and it leaves the calendar.

Bill a matter

Open Unbilled billable time and find the matter's entries. Drag across the Hours cells to see their sum in the status bar.

Work out the amount from the hours and rates. The template does not calculate it for you.

Add a row to Invoices for the matter with the invoice date, amount, due date and a status of Draft, then change it to Sent when the invoice goes out. Attach the invoice file in Invoice document.

Tick Billed on each time entry the invoice covers, so those entries leave the unbilled list.

Chase payment

When an invoice passes its due date unpaid, set its status to Overdue and it appears on Overdue invoices. When the client pays, set it to Paid and it leaves both Overdue invoices and Outstanding balances.

Close a matter

Set the matter's status to Closed and enter the closed date. It leaves the Open matters board but stays in All matters with all its history.

Ask Sapience About Your Firm's Data

Every Sapience database has its own Chat agent, opened with the green Chat button next to the database's name. It works on this one database and with your permissions. In your copy it can find and count entries and read your views. It can also add and change entries for you, asking before it deletes anything, and add columns, views and forms. If you only have read access to a database, it answers questions but changes nothing.

Things to try in your copy:

What tables are in this database?
Which invoices are overdue, and for which matters?
List the open court dates and filing deadlines, soonest first.
Which matters are billed on contingency, and who is the responsible attorney on each?
Which billable time entries have not been billed yet?
Add a time entry for today: 1.5 hours on the <matter name> matter at $350 an hour, billable, "Drafted response to motion".

The Chatting With a Database article covers the Chat agent in full.

Good to Know

No calculated columns. The template does not multiply hours by rate or add up a matter's time or invoices automatically. Use the grid's selected-cell sum, grouping subtotals, or the Billable hours by month pivot.

The responsible attorney is plain text. Type whoever owns the matter. There is no staff list to pick from, so agree a naming convention in your copy.

You set the statuses. An invoice becomes Overdue, or a matter Closed, when someone changes its status. Nothing changes on its own, and the template sends no reminders.

Money is in US dollars. The rate and amount columns are currency columns set to USD.

Clicking a chip opens the real thing. A chip or linked row for a document, note or case file opens that project, note or file — not just the database row.

Case Files starts empty, by design. A project cannot live inside a database, so the template ships the link column with no projects. Link your own.

Duplicating without records copies no files or notes. Untick Copy records too and Documents, Notes, receipts and invoice documents all arrive empty.

The template is read-only. Duplicate it to work for real. Your copy is private until you share it.

Quick Reference

To...	Do this
Find the template	Databases ▸ Templates filter, or Menu ▸ Manage ▸ Templates
Get your own copy	Open the template ▸ Duplicate
Start with no example entries	Untick Copy records too in the Copy dialog
Take on new clients online	Your copy's Client intake form ▸ Create link
See what you can bill	Unbilled billable time
See what is due this week	Deadlines calendar ▸ Week view, or All deadlines
Chase payment	Overdue invoices
See cash still to come in	Outstanding balances
Recover costs	Costs awaiting reimbursement
See live matters by status	Open matters board
Ask a question in plain English	The green Chat button
Link a matter to its project	Case Files ▸ Link existing item, then the matter's Case file
See matters needing a case file	Matters with no case file
See missing receipts	Expenses missing a receipt

Summary

The Law Practice Manager gives a small firm one place for its clients, matters, time, costs, deadlines and invoices, linked so that each matter tells its own story — with the matter's documents, notes and case-file project linked alongside. Its saved views turn that data into the answers a firm needs every day: what to bill, what is due, what is owed, what paperwork is missing and where the practice stands. The Client intake form brings new enquiries in as ready-made records. Duplicate it, keep or drop the examples, and it is yours to shape.