WorkPlans are a valuable tool in SmartAdvocate for ensuring that your firm's work processes are consistent, well-defined, and repeatable. WorkPlans are collections of tasks and other necessary events, organized in a hierarchical tree structure so that you can nest items (i.e., you can trigger certain items to become active only after another specific item is completed). You can set the due dates of individual tasks relative to other dates in the WorkPlan, or to relevant case dates; alternatively, you can prompt the user to determine the due date when the task becomes active. Tasks activated by a WorkPlan appear in the case summary screen along with other tasks and can be marked completed either in the case summary screen or the WorkPlan screen. You can also set WorkPlan items to trigger certain actions, like changing the case status or generating documents. In this way, you can direct the entire workflow of a case by using a well-designed WorkPlan (according to the needs and practices of your particular firm).
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Workplan Management
The WorkPlan Management page allows you to view, edit, and record the descriptive details of WorkPlans in the SmartAdvocate system. This is also the only page where new WorkPlans can be created.
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The WorkPlan Administration table contains the following columns:
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Name. The name of the WorkPlan, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Panel.
Description. The description of the WorkPlan, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Panel.
Special Notes. Any special notes about the WorkPlan, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Panel.
Creation Date. The date on which the WorkPlan was created.
Modify Date. The date on which the WorkPlan was last modified.
Action. Icons to Edit, Open, Copy, or Delete a WorkPlan.
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You may wish to create a new WorkPlan based on an existing one. To copy a WorkPlan:
Click the Copy icon (
)in the Actions column of the row representing the WorkPlan you wish to copy. This will bring up a panel with only one field, for the name of the new WorkPlan.
Fill in the desired name, then click OK to copy the WorkPlan. The new WorkPlan will have the same items and structure as the WorkPlan that was copied. You can then make any desired changes to the new WorkPlan.
If you decide you do not wish to copy the WorkPlan, click Cancel instead of clicking OK to cancel the copying and close the panel. You can also click the white X at the upper right of the panel to do the same thing.
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If you decide you do not wish to delete the WorkPlan, click Cancel instead of clicking OK to cancel the deletion. You can also click the black X at the upper right of the message to do the same thing.
Until you either confirm or cancel the deletion, you may not be able to visit any other tab in your browser.
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Click the New WorkPlan button. This will bring up an Add/Edit panel for WorkPlans, completely blank.
Fill the fields in with your desired information. See The Add/Edit WorkPlan Panel for details about the fields.
Click Update to save the WorkPlan and close the panel. To edit the contents of the new WorkPlan, click the WorkPlan icon (
) in the Actions column of the row representing the new WorkPlan.
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Decisions behave slightly differently from any other item in a WorkPlan. A decision contains various decision options, and a decision is completed by marking any one of the decision options as complete. This is used to create a branching structure for your WorkPlan, where different sets of items could be invoked depending on some circumstance of the case. For example, you might have a decision for whether any plaintiff in the case died in the case incident. If not, no additional items are activated, but if so, some sequence of items relating to Surrogate's Court becomes active. Decision groups can be as complicated or simple as you wish.
A decision in a WorkPlan has two parts. One is the decision question, which is an item like a task or appointment. The decision question can be edited like any appointment. However, you cannot add any other item directly to the decision question. If you right-click the decision question, the only thing you can add to it is a decision option, which is one of the possible answers to the decision question. You may add as many decision options as you wish, and as few as two (you could actually have fewer, but then the decision would be useless). Editing a decision option only offers one field: the text of the option. But you can add items to a decision option just as with any non-decision item.
When a decision becomes active in a case, so do all of the options of that decision. (This is the only exception to the general rule that children of incomplete items are not active.) The decision question appears in the Case Summary page as a task and trying to mark it completed will automatically bring you to the WorkPlans page for that case; it will not yet mark the decision completed. To mark the decision completed, you must mark one of the options of that decision completed from the WorkPlans page. Doing so will also mark the decision question completed and activate all of the children of the option that was marked completed. However, it will not activate any of the children of any of the other options; if that option is not relevant to the case, none of the subsequent items should need to be completed, so they should properly remain inactive for the entire duration of the case. (You may mark more than one option of the same decision completed, if multiple options all apply. This will activate the children of the completed options, and not the children of the options that have not been marked completed, as expected.)
Item Templates
The Item Templates page allows you to create WorkPlan item templates. WorkPlan items are the essential building blocks of WorkPlans; they are the individual requirements that must be completed to move to subsequent WorkPlan items. Item templates allow you to define the specific details of items that can be included easily in any WorkPlan. For commonly used tasks, deadlines, and appointments, defining them as templates can save significant time.
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The WorkPlan Item Template Administration table contains the following columns:
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Name: The name of the item, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel.
Type: The type of event represented and created by the item, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel.
Category: The type of the item, within the event type (e.g.: the appointment type or the critical deadline type), pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel.
Priority: The priority level of the item, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel.
Description: The description of the item, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel.
Action: Edit and Delete icons.
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Select template or leave empty […]: Dropdown allowing you to choose the template upon which the text will be based. If no template is chosen you will be required to insert the context of the text manually.
Enter the content of the text. This field will only be editable if no text template has been chosen.
WorkPlan Assignments
The WorkPlan Assignments page allows you to create automatic assignment rules for WorkPlans. Automatic assignment rules cause WorkPlans to be inserted in cases at a predetermined phase of the case and can be customized further to only be used in a subset of cases, based on the case type, state, and/or firm office connected to the case. Assignment rules are essential tools in the use of WorkPlans, as they ensure that WorkPlans are applied consistently and automatically at the appropriate point in your cases.
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The WorkPlan Assignment Administration table contains the following columns:
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[column with checkbox heading]. Checkbox selector.
Rule Name. The name of the assignment rule.
Date Created. The date the rule was initially created. This field is automatically set at creation of the rule and cannot be edited.
Enabled. Checkbox indicating whether the rule is in use or has been (temporarily) deactivated. The box is automatically checked (meaning the rule is enabled) at creation but can be unchecked to deactivate the rule.
Action. Edit and Delete icons.
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[Name]: The name of the rule.
Assign the selected workplan(s) to the case: Checkbox-select dropdown, which requires you to choose the WorkPlans that the rule will cause to be automatically added to cases.
When case status changes to one of the selected statuses:
Checkbox-select dropdown, which requires you to choose one or more statuses. If a case covered by the rule changes to one of the selected statuses, the rule will insert the WorkPlan.Anchor _Hlk504725997 _Hlk504725997 [...] selected types [Checkbox]: Checkbox, which permits you to determine whether the contents of the [...] selected types [Selection] field are included in the rule. If this field is not selected, the [...] selected types [Selection] field will be ignored when saving the rule.
[...] selected types [Selection]: Checkbox-select dropdown, which permits you to choose one or more case types. If a case does not belong to one of the selected case types, it is not covered by the rule. If this field is empty or ignored, cases are not excluded from the rule based on case type.
[...] selected types [Checkbox]: Checkbox, which permits you to determine whether the contents of the [...] selected types [Selection] field are included in the rule. If this field is not selected, the [...] selected types [Selection] field will be ignored when saving the rule.
[...] selected types [Selection]: Checkbox-select dropdown, which permits you to choose one or more case sub-types. If a case does not belong to one of the selected case sub-types, it is not covered by the rule. If this field is empty or ignored, cases are not excluded from the rule based on case sub-type.
[...] selected states [Checkbox]: Checkbox, which permits you to determine whether the contents of the [...] selected states [Selection] field are included in the rule. If this field is not selected, the [...] selected states [Selection] field will be ignored when saving the rule.
[...] selected states [Selection].
Checkbox-select dropdown, which permits you to choose one or more states. if a case is not in one of the selected states, it is not covered by the rule. If this field is empty or ignored, cases are not excluded from the rule based on state.Anchor _Hlk504726333 _Hlk504726333 [...] selected offices [Checkbox]: Checkbox, which permits you to determine whether the contents of the [...] selected offices [Selection] field are included in the rule. If this field is not selected, the [...] selected offices [Selection] field will be ignored when saving the rule.
[...] selected types [Selection]: Checkbox-select dropdown, which permits you to choose one or more of the firm's offices; if a case is not being handled by one of the selected offices, it is not covered by the rule. If this field is empty or ignored, cases are not excluded from the rule based on office.
WorkPlans in Cases
The WorkPlans in Cases page contains a complete listing of all the WorkPlans that have been included in cases.
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The Current WorkPlans In Cases table contains the following columns:
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Case#: The case number of the case containing the WorkPlan.
Case Name: The name of the case containing the WorkPlan.
Full Description: The name and description of the WorkPlan.
Notes: The special notes of the WorkPlan.
Completion Date: The date on which the WorkPlan was marked as completed.
Start Date: The date the WorkPlan was inserted into the case file. This information is automatically added at time of insertion of the WorkPlan.
Actions: Delete icon.
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