Closing a Case

Your firm may need to close a case at any time, for any number of reasons, and it’s easy to do in SimplyConvert. The program treats the closing of a case as just another acquisition status, so you can close a case regardless of its current status. Here’s what to do:

  1. Open the Cases page.
  2. Filter the client list as needed, as described in Using Filters to View Your Cases.
  3. Find the case you’re looking for and click its row in the case list. The case opens and the case information tabs appear on the left.
  4. Click the Case Details tab (Figure 1).

Screen shot: A case opened to the Case Details tab, with the Status field highlighted.
Figure 1. You can use the Status field to close a case on the Case Details tab.

  1. Click the Status drop-down arrow and select Closed (Figure 2).

Screen shot: Options for the Status field.
Figure 2. Options for specifying a case’s acquisition status.

  1. Scroll to the bottom of the Case Details tab and click Save Changes. The Closing Actions dialog box opens (Figure 3). This dialog box lets you draft a notification message for the client, alerting them to the closure and providing an explanation for it.

Screen shot: The Closing Actions dialog box.
Figure 3. Creating a notification message for the client.

  1. Click the Select reason for decline/close drop-down arrow (Figure 4) and select one of the following reasons for closing the case:
    • Does not meet criteria. The information provided to the firm does not meet the criteria required for pursuing a case.
    • Does not wish to pursue. The client has notified your firm that they do not want to continue with the case.
    • Unable to reach. The firm has not been able to contact the client and thus is declining the case.
    • Lost to competitor. The client has decided to work with a different law firm.
    • Duplicate. There is an identical case (same client, litigation, etc.) logged in SimplyConvert. For more information, see Managing Duplicate and Dual Representation Cases.
    • Other. The firm has another reason for closing the case.

Each reason in the list tells SimplyConvert to use a different message in the message composition box. You can click each reason and read its template.

Screen shot: The list of options for the Select reason for decline/close field.
Figure 4. Selecting a reason for closing a case.

  1. Select one of the options for drafting and sending the message to the client:
    • Send the following “declined representation” email to the client. This option allows you to edit and format the contents of the message before sending it to the client.
    • Send the decline email template to the client. This option sends a custom template your firm has provided to SimplyConvert (if applicable) or the default decline email template if no special template is set.
    • Do not notify the client. This option lets you close the case without sending a message to the client. This option is selected by default if you are closing the case because a duplicate exists in the system.
  2. Click Confirm Decline & Save. Whether or not a message goes out to the client, SimplyConvert closes the case.

The case’s status is now “Closed,” and SimplyConvert automatically adds a note about the status change to the Notes tab. This change does not remove the case from the case list; if you filter the list to find the case, it still appears in the search results. To remove a case from the list, you can archive it, as described in Archiving a Case.