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A

Privilege shields confidential communications made to get or give legal advice from being compelled in court; it belongs to the client and can be waived by careless handling. Counselera keeps matter communications and documents on the file rather than scattered across personal inboxes, which helps preserve it.

B

Bad debt is billed work the firm probably won't collect — usually an invoice well past due. Counselera ages every receivable and flags at-risk and bad-debt invoices so the firm can act before writing them off.

Most firms bill in 0.1-hour (6-minute) increments and round up. Counselera's timer captures real time and rounds to the firm's configured increment so entries are consistent and defensible.

C

A client has formally engaged the firm, typically by signing an engagement letter and/or paying a retainer. Counselera promotes a lead to a client at that moment and opens their matters, trust ledger, and portal.

Commingling is letting client funds and firm funds touch the same account — even temporarily, even by accident. It's among the most common reasons lawyers are disciplined. Counselera enforces the wall: trust and operating are tracked separately, and a disbursement can't pull from the wrong side.

Before opening a matter, the firm checks current and former clients and adverse parties for a conflict of interest. An undetected conflict can disqualify the firm and void the work, so Counselera runs the check at intake and re-checks against the adverse-party registry as new matters open.

Under a contingency fee the firm's payment is a share of what the client recovers, and nothing if there's no recovery. Most states require the arrangement in a signed writing. Counselera records the matter's billing method so the bill follows the agreement rather than an hourly rate.

A continuance moves a scheduled hearing or deadline later. Because other dates often depend on it, moving one can shift many. Counselera re-cascades the deadlines anchored to a date when it changes, so the whole chain stays consistent.

Cost advances are hard costs the firm pays out of its own pocket and later recovers from the client. They are a billable cost, not a trust draw — whether they may be advanced from trust varies by state. Counselera logs a cost on the matter and adds it to the client's next invoice as a recoverable item.

Some deadlines are counted in court (business) days rather than calendar days, skipping weekends and holidays; and a deadline that would land on a closed day rolls forward to the next open one. Counselera's deadline engine handles both, so a due date never falls on a day the court can't receive a filing.

D

A deposition is questioning of a witness under oath outside the courtroom, transcribed for use in discovery and at trial. Counselera schedules depositions as calendar events with travel buffers and ties them to the matter's timeline.

A disbursement is a payment from a client's trust funds for something owed on their behalf. It reduces that client's trust balance and must never overdraw it. Counselera records each disbursement against the right client ledger and blocks one that would take the balance negative.

Discovery is the formal pre-trial exchange of evidence between parties, through document requests, written questions, and sworn testimony. Its deadlines are strict. Counselera computes discovery cutoffs from the litigation rule-set and keeps the dependent dates in view.

Docketing is the discipline of recording every court deadline and hearing so nothing slips. In Counselera, civil-litigation matters get their deadlines auto-computed from the filing and service dates: pick a jurisdiction rule-set — a state, the federal rules, or a specific judge's standing order — and each deadline is computed, cited to its governing rule, rolled off weekends and court holidays, and re-cascaded if a date moves. For other practice areas, the key dates you set are placed on the firm calendar so they stay in view.

E

A retainer is unearned when received — it's still the client's money. As the firm does the work, fees become earned and move out of trust against an invoice. Money only leaves trust after it's earned. Counselera draws down a client's trust balance only as time is billed, never ahead of the work.

The engagement letter is the contract that starts the representation — defining who the client is, the scope of work, the fee arrangement, and the terms. Counselera generates it at intake and tracks signature so the relationship is documented before work begins.

An evergreen (replenishing) retainer requires the client to restore the balance once it falls below a set threshold, keeping funds available for ongoing work. Counselera flags a trust balance that drops below the firm's threshold and prompts a replenishment request.

F

The fee agreement spells out how and how much the client pays; several states require certain fee arrangements (notably contingency) to be in a signed writing. Counselera records the matter's billing method and surfaces a written-fee reminder where it matters.

I

Under imputation, a conflict held by one lawyer is generally attributed to everyone in the firm, unless it's properly screened. Counselera checks conflicts at the firm level, not just the individual's, so a colleague's adverse relationship still surfaces.

Interrogatories are written questions served on another party, answered in writing and under oath within a set deadline. Counselera tracks the response deadline against the discovery schedule so an answer is never late.

L

A lead is a prospective client who has made contact but not yet signed or paid. Counselera tracks leads separately from clients, scores follow-up, and converts a lead to a client once they engage.

M

A matter is one discrete legal engagement — a case, a deal, a filing — for a client. One client can hold several. Counselera makes the matter the hub: time, deadlines, documents, trust, and communication all live on it.

A motion asks the court to decide an issue — to dismiss, compel discovery, or grant summary judgment — and usually carries its own filing and response deadlines. Counselera keeps motion deadlines on the docket alongside the rest of the matter's dates.

N

Rule 4.2 bars contacting a represented adverse party directly about the matter — communication goes through their lawyer. Counselera records opposing counsel on the matter so it's clear who is represented before anyone reaches out.

O

The operating account holds the firm's own funds, distinct from client money in trust. Fees move here only once earned, normally against an invoice. Counselera keeps the two ledgers separate and records each transfer from trust to operating so the trail is clean.

P

Latin for “for this occasion.” A lawyer admitted elsewhere can ask a court to appear on a single matter in a state where they don't hold a bar license, normally by associating local counsel. Counselera flags when a matter's office state isn't one of the attorney's admitted states.

Even a person who only consults the firm (and never engages) is a prospective client under Rule 1.18: the firm owes them confidentiality and can be conflicted out by what it learned. Counselera keeps a consult on the record so those duties — and any conflict it creates — aren't lost.

R

Realization measures billed value against worked value; collection measures collected cash against billed value. Together they show how much of the firm's effort turns into money. Counselera tracks both and ages receivables so leakage is visible early.

A retainer is money paid up front to secure the firm's services. Until the firm earns it, it's unearned and belongs in trust. Counselera captures the retainer into the matter's trust balance and draws it down as billable work is recorded.

S

Service is the formal delivery of the summons and complaint to a defendant. It's what gives the court power over them, and most litigation deadlines run from the date service is confirmed, not from filing. Counselera anchors a matter's downstream deadlines to the served date and recomputes them all if it changes.

Many judges publish standing orders (or “individual practices”) that tighten or add to the default rules — shorter discovery windows, extra pretrial filings, a pre-motion conference letter. Counselera's deadline library lets you pick a judge's standing order so a matter's deadlines follow that courtroom, not just the jurisdiction's baseline.

Every claim has a filing deadline set by statute. Once it passes, the claim is generally lost forever — a classic malpractice trap. Counselera tracks a matter's statute date, shouts as it enters the runway window, and surfaces it at the top of Urgent Today.

T

Trust accounting requires that the bank statement, the firm's trust ledger, and the total of individual client balances all reconcile. A gap means money is misallocated. Counselera runs the three-way check and flags any discrepancy before it becomes a violation.

A trust (or IOLTA) account holds funds that belong to the client until the firm earns them. Commingling trust money with operating funds is one of the fastest routes to a bar complaint. Counselera tracks trust separately from operating, runs a three-way reconciliation, and blocks any disbursement that would overdraw a client's balance.

U

UPL covers practicing in a jurisdiction where one isn't admitted, and non-lawyers (including staff) giving legal advice or signing off on legal work. Counselera flags when a matter's jurisdiction falls outside an attorney's admitted states and keeps roles distinct.

W

WIP is the value of billable work performed and costs advanced that haven't reached an invoice yet. Letting it age erodes cash flow. Counselera shows unbilled WIP per matter and rolls it into the next invoice so nothing earned goes unbilled.