Practice areas define the area of law for your Matters. Within a practice area are stages, which track the progress of Matters from Active to Closed, with default stages include Pending, Active, In-active, and Closed. Custom stages can also be defined.

Practice areas and stages are mandatory information for a Matter.

Create Practice Areas

To create a practice area:

1. On the sidebar, select System ().
2. Under Matters, select Practice Areas, and then select Create New Practice Area.
3. Enter the practice area name and description.
   
   
   
   
4. Select Add Stage, and then add one or more stages for the practice area.
   For the stage where you consider the matter closed, select Matter Closed.
   
   
   
   
5. Optionally, select which security roles can access this practice area.
   If you don't select any security roles, then all roles have access to this practice area. For more information, see Security Roles.
   
   
   
   
6. Select Save.

Edit Practice Areas

To edit a practice area:

1. On the sidebar, select System ().
2. Under Matters, select Practice Areas, and then select the practice area you want to edit.
3. Make your changes, and then select Save.

Matters assigned with this practice area are updated.

Delete Practice Areas

To delete a practice area: 

1. On the sidebar, select System ().
2. Under Matters, select Practice Areas, and then select the practice area you want to delete.
3. Select Delete.

Changing the Practice Area for a Matter

To change the practice area for a matter:

1. On the Details tab for the matter, select Edit.
2. In Practice Area, select the new practice area for the matter.
   
   
   
   
3. Select Save.

After changing the practice area, the matter is set to the default stage for the practice area.