Conflict Checking

Performing a conflict check is an important step in your intake process that can be easily accomplished (and automated) with Lawmatics. This feature allows you to run a search using any terms, and check to see if those terms are present within any fields, notes, etc. on any of your firm's matters. The system will then approve, deny, or flag the search as a possible conflict.

Conflict checks can be performed manually as well as via automation.

To begin a manual conflict check, start by hovering your mouse on the CRM tab at the top left of your page, and select Conflict Checking. Here you will see a history of all conflict checks that have been run in your firm, along with the verification status of that check, the terms that were searched, and the date of the check.

Use the icons shown at the far right of the image above to delete a conflict check, review/edit a possible flagged conflict, or view the results of a search. To run a new conflict check, click the button located near the top right of the page.

When running a new conflict check, you will be prompted to select the matter that you are searching for a conflict for. You will then type in the terms you wish to use as the basis for the check. This will typically be the person's full name, email address, phone number, etc. 

Feel free to select either Exact Match or Contains when entering your search.

You also have the option to use Advanced Search Terms to search multiple terms at once, giving them either an ‘And’ or ‘Or’ relationship between multiple terms. 

This will include more relevant data in your search by significantly broadening your conflict check results.

These terms will then be searched within all of your matters, and if there are any matches they will appear on the page, as shown below.

Our conflict checking system closely examines flexible search term matches as well as contact relationships on matters, ensuring that you have a holistic view of potential conflicts. If your search yields more than 50 results note that you will have the option to view the results as a CSV file for easier reviewing.

In the top right corner of the image above, you will find your options to approve, flag (undecided), or deny this check.

Once you return to the main conflict checking page, shown below, you are once again able to view the overview of all of the firm's conflict checks. 

To view the results of a search that has already been completed, click the magnifying glass icon on the far right. This will show the results of your search, including where/if your search terms were recognized in any of your firm's matters, as well as the verification status, which is denied in this example.

You will also see conflict checks logged on the related matter's timeline, as shown below. Click the document icon, highlighted on the right in the image below, to view the conflict check results. This allows the resutls to be easily accessible from the Conflict Checking overview page as well as the individual matter's profile.

In addition to running a manual conflict check, as outlined in the steps above, you can also run a conflict check via automation. Begin by navigating to the Automations page found under the Marketing tab. You can either create a new automation, or add a conflict check action into an existing automation.

Once you select the Run Conflict Check action item, highlighted above, you will see the following menu open up on the right side of your screen. Each item in this menu is outlined below.

  • Associated Person
    • Select which of your users/staff members should be associated with the search
  • Search Term
    • Here you can select which merge fields you would like to use to create your dynamic search term. Since this is an automated check, and not a one-off manual check, you will want to make this a variable search by inserting fields. You may wish to use the first and last name, email address, phone number, etc.
    • Select from the drop downs provided to add the fields of your choice into the search terms
    • Use multiple search terms as needed with either an "and" or "or" relationship
    • It is important to note that the search will only register a match if all parts of the terms are found as an exact match. So if you choose to add the email address field after the name, the search will only register a match if the name and email address are found together in a matter.
  • Auto Approve
    • When this option is selected, then if no possible conflict results are found, the Conflict Check will automatically be marked as 'Approved', without anyone needing to review it manually.
    • If you do not select this option, then it will default to 'Possible Conflict' and someone will need to manually approve or deny.
  • Skip When Blank Search
    • When this option is selected, the automation will skip over the Conflict Check action if the Search Term is found to be blank. 
    • For example, if your search terms contain the email address field, and the matter in question does not have an email address entered on their matter, then with this option selected the conflict check will be skipped and the automation will move on to any following actions. 
    • Without this option selected, then the Matter will pause in the Automation if the search terms are found to be blank.

Any conflict checks performed via automation will also appear on the Conflict Checking overview page, found under the CRM tab, as well as on the matter's timeline, just like if the check was performed manually.

You can also use the results of a conflict check to trigger an automation, as shown below. Simply select the Conflict Check option when adding your entry conditions.

You may choose to prevent any conflicts from running in your automations, this is a good safeguard to protect against outreach that could go out to a conflict. To do this, simply turn on the "Skip Conflicts" toggle, as shown at the top of the image above. This will ensure that any matters who have been identified as a conflict cannot trigger into the automation.

Lastly, we also suggest that each of your firm's users visit the Notifications page in settings to select their notification preferences for conflict checking. They can choose to be notified of conflict check approvals, denials, or undecided results for the whole firm, or the "only mine" option which alerts them of those same statuses, but only for matters of which they are the owner.

FAQ's

Can I perform a conflict check on a new lead before they are created as a matter in Lawmatics?

No, to perform a conflict check on a new lead or PNC they will first need to be a matter in your CRM.

What happens to a matter if it is denied due to conflict? Does the matter get deleted automatically?

The matter will not be automatically deleted, you will want to keep the matter in your CRM for your records.

Is there a good way to keep track of and/or create a report showing matters that were rejected due to a conflict?

Yes, we suggest created a sub-status under the Lost category to track your conflicts. You can then use that sub-status to create a custom filtered report, showing all of your conflicts along with any other fields you wish to include in the report. Each user can also turn on their notifications for conflict checks to help stay up-to-date on results.