Matterfile is for the firm with twelve partners, complex matters, and sophisticated clients who already know the case better than anyone — they just need somewhere to put it. The chronology and the reading room are how their signal becomes work product.
Clients know things their lawyers don't — names, timing, motives, the half-remembered email from 2023. Matterfile gives them a calm place to read the matter, and a structured way to surface what only they remember — with sources, on your record, before counsel needs it.
Litigation is slow. Clients refresh their inbox. Matterfile gives them a quiet reading room where they can see where the matter stands, at their own pace — instead of waiting on the partner's calendar. Status emails drop by 60–80% in pilot weeks.
The chronology that used to take an associate three weeks comes back in an afternoon — with every fact already cited. Partners spot-check rather than build. The leverage shifts up the stack.
Boutique firms compete on taste. The reading room is a different kind of demo — this is how we work — and the conversation it starts with a prospect is a different conversation. It also helps you hire.
| In short | In practice |
|---|---|
| A native desktop app. | Matterfile runs on the client's desktop, beside the matter folder. The folder is the source of truth; the app is the lens. The firm sees the work product; the client inhabits the matter. |
| A reader and chronology builder. | Focused on one matter at a time. Intake, corpus map, chronology, wargames, reading room — the whole loop, in one window. |
| An invitation-only client view. | The client sees what the partner marks shared, with the chronology pre-loaded. They follow the matter at their pace, flag what's off, add what's missing. |
| Restrained by design. | One accent, one window, one matter. No carousels, no dashboards, no marketing chrome. The product should disappear when you're not using it. |
| Built for the long matter. | The folder is watched; the corpus, the chronology, and the wargames all stay current for the life of the case. No re-intake. |
For the precise model-usage, privilege, and chain-of-custody story, see security & privilege.
Usually a complex, well-organized one with a sophisticated client. We help you size up whether your matter folder is in shape, or what the cleanup looks like.
One afternoon, on Zoom or in person. Folder in, corpus map out, chronology drafted. The partner is in the loop the entire time.
The client gets the reading room with the chronology pre-loaded. They read. They flag what's wrong. They contribute the parts only they remember.
Two weeks in, you decide whether to roll out to a second matter. No annual contract, no lock-in.
We'd walk through the product live, on a case you bring. If it's a fit, we set up the beta the same week.