Contacts represent people and Companies represent organizations. Link their relationships instead of duplicating the same party in free text across matters. Use custom properties for structured facts the firm repeatedly needs.
Check for an existing record before creating another; merge only after reviewing which record should remain primary.
Use intake and forms to collect the minimum facts needed to understand the prospective work, identify parties, assess urgency, and route review. Additional matter setup can occur after acceptance.
Do not make the prospective client repeat facts that already exist in a contact, company, or submitted form.
Run the appropriate conflict and compliance checks before creating or accepting the matter. Review possible matches rather than treating a name hit as an automatic conflict. Preserve the search inputs, evidence, reviewer, outcome, and any conditions.
Compliance and AML/KYC availability can depend on the firm's enabled modules and jurisdictional workflow.