Docket Planner Setup and Maintenance

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Docket Planners

Docket Planners serve as the logic engine for the Advanced Docket Management (ADM) system. They are client-configured templates that define the internal workflow triggered by an external court date. There are two parts: the Docket Planner, which defines when the record will be used, and the Docket Planner Actions, which define what tasks and appointments will be generated.

Planners are used to set up the plan for specific legal events, such as a Deposition, Trial Prep, or Dispositive Motion Deadlines. They are tied to system objects like "Matter" or "Dispute" so that when a date is identified, the system knows where to apply the tasks.

Consider the following example. Suppose you have a scheduling item due date for Motion for Summary Judgement. For that due date, you want to have a task generated for a document to be drafted by the Attorney on the matter and a task for the document to be reviewed by the AGC on the matter. In this case, you would have a Docket Planner for Dispositive Motion Deadline and then two Docket Planner Actions - one for each task to generate. The details of how these are set up are documented below.

Users can create docket planner records by clicking New → New Docket Planner.

The primary purpose of the planner is to automatically build a case schedule without manual entry. While creating Planners, users can define specific outcomes and settings as follows:

First, the Docket Planner record is created. Required fields are indicated.

Next the Docket Planner Actions are created.

Name: The label for this specific rule, titled Identify Experts Deadline.
Action Type: To specify the action type from the drop-down list.
Record Type: Specifies the high-level category of the case this rule applies to.
Current Phase: Shows the status of the rule, currently listed as Active.
Created On: The date the entry was established.
Triggering Action: The event that starts the logic.
Scheduling Item Category: The specific item within the trigger that activates this rule.
Record Type Category: A checklist to narrow down which sub-types of matters this planner applies to.
Categories to be Excluded: A checklist used to specifically prevent this rule from running on certain types of cases.

Additionally, Involved Parties can be added to Docket Planner records to control when these are used. This can be used to allow docket planners by jurisdiction. The Docket Planner updates Scheduling Items based on the applicable planner without considering whether an Involved Party is active or inactive.

Click New → New Involved Party to add new involved parties.

After updating Involved Party's general information, click Save.

The General Information of Involved Party includes:

Contact: Specific docket planner or court information.
Default Role: specify the role based on the chosen Contact.
Active Date / Inactive Date: Determines the dates when the involved party is active and inactive.
Note: if needed, update some notes.

The system provides the flexibility to create unique Docket Planners tailored to specific offices or jurisdictions, allowing users to automatically control which rules are applied based on the court and case type, ensuring each matter follows the correct regional requirements.

Once the docket planner has been created, the Docket Planner Actions can be added.

Name: The name set for this specific action
Assignee Role on Matter: Specifies which role within the case is responsible for this task. It is currently set to Attorney.
Days to Set Due/Start Date: A numerical trigger. It is currently 0.0, meaning the task is likely due on the exact day the trigger event occurs.
All Day Event?: A checkbox to determine if this takes up a specific time slot or spans the entire day. Currently unchecked.
Event Duration (hours): The estimated time required for the task. It is set to 1.00 hours.
Default Start Time: The time the task should appear on the calendar, format should be in HH:MM format.
AM or PM: The modifier for the start time, set to AM or PM.
Parent Project: Name of the parent project, linking this action to a larger workflow or phase. It is linked to the "Identify Experts Deadline."
Record Type: Defines the nature of the calendar entry. Set to Appointment.
Category: If a specific category is desired for the resulting task or appointment, this should be the four-letter tree position of the category such as MEET or TRAI.
Due/Start Date Basis: The reference point used to calculate the deadline. It is set to Schedule Item, meaning it likely keys off another date in the system's calendar.
How to Handle Weekends: Logic for when a deadline falls on a Saturday or Sunday. Set to Forward, which typically pushes the deadline to the following Monday.
How to Handle Holidays: Logic for public holidays. Also set to Forward, pushing the deadline to the next available business day.

Basically, an attorney's calendar system applies a hierarchical search logic that prioritizes the most specific rules before defaulting to general ones. It evaluates records in the following order of priority:

Searches for a combination of both the Involved Party and the Category.
Looks for either the Involved Party alone or the Category alone.
Defaults to records with no specific category or assignee to ensure a baseline rule is applied.
When multiple roles are targeted, the system automatically creates entries for every person assigned to that role on the matter.
Only individuals in active legal roles receive these updates; those in administrative roles, like an invoice approver, are naturally excluded from calendar appointments.
If an individual is assigned to a specific role, they will receive all associated appointments, as there is currently no way to manually exclude specific people within a role.