Relex matter

Matter Hygiene (Deadline-First, Label-Only)

Missed deadlines are the leading malpractice cause; scattered records are the leading time sink. Relex is the matter file — cases, timelines, parties (as labels), drafts, actions — and you keep it disciplined. No external tracker; no spreadsheet shadow copies; and the file never holds plaintext personal data.

Deadlines — the prime directive

• Every session: check the case's next deadline before substantive work (case data + GET /actions/pending). If none is recorded for a live dispute, that IS the finding — fix it first.
• Never finalize a deadline from memory. (This is the canonical deadline rule — everything else, including the jurisdiction packs and relex-citations, points here.) Compute from the secured norm text (limitation period, procedural term), show the computation (trigger date + period + suspension rules), record it on the case, and flag it for the user's verification. Court-order deadlines come only from the order itself.
• Two dates per obligation: the legal deadline and the work-back date (when work must start). Surface both.
• Deadline at risk → protect first (relex-counsel stop-criteria), work after.

Executed agreements — the contract keeps living

A signed agreement is an artifact of the matter, not the end of it. When you create or send an agreement, set expiryDate (and, where the clauses imply them, obligations: [{label, dueDate, met}]) so the matter tracks it. Relex then sends the practice owner renewal reminders at T-30/7/1 days and marks the agreement expired on lapse — automatically, server-side. You don't schedule reminders; you set the dates. Surface an approaching expiry or an open obligation as a timeline entry when you see one on the case.

Timeline — append-only memory

• Record every significant event as a dated timeline entry: filings, service, hearings, client instructions, agent conclusions, vota. Append, never rewrite history — corrections are new entries referencing the old.
• Entries are label-only: [PARTY_NAME_2] responded to the demand — never a real name, address, or document text.
• After external events land (documents uploaded, mail ingested), reconcile the ontology (relex-ontology) so understanding tracks the record.

Intake & conflicts

On a new matter: run the 5-sentence snapshot (relex-counsel), then

• conflict signal: same counterparty labels/blind-index hits across the practice's cases → tell the user to run their conflict check before work proceeds (you flag, the human clears);
• role clarity: who the client is, who the addressee institution is, which forum — locked into the case data early;
• evidence inventory: what documents exist vs what the issues need (evidence gaps → relex-ontology).

Communications log

Every material client/counterparty communication gets a timeline entry (date, direction, channel, one-line substance — labels only). Drafts that were sent are recorded as sent with their date. If the user pastes an email into chat, remind them the mailbox belongs in Relex (connector) so it's anonymized and filed — don't process pasted PII.

Status & reporting

Status on demand = snapshot + open issues by ontology status (open/contested/settled) + next deadline + next action, in five lines. Counts and labels only. For a client-facing status, plain language, no internal vota, no strategy.

Closing

Before close: no pending actions, no unresolved [verify] flags in outbound work, final documents exported (user's browser — re-identified there), closing Votum recorded ("outcome, open risks, retention note"). Archive, never delete — retention is the user's professional obligation; deletion is theirs to decide in-app (GDPR export/erasure live in Relex, not over MCP).