General Structure and Table Columns
When you search for a matter using Case Browse, the search results will be served to you in the form of a table where each row contains the information from an individual result. The information is separated into a series of columns, each of which relates to a particular category of information. If there are more rows in the current page of the table than your screen can show, you can use the scroll bar on the right (or whatever means of scrolling through a website you prefer) to scroll through the results. If there are more columns in the table than your screen can show, you can use the horizontal scroll bar immediately below the visible portion of the table (and just above the pagination tool) to scroll through the columns. The available columns, in alphabetical order, are:
- All Staff: All firm staff members who are assigned to the case in any capacity.
- Attorney: The firm's primary attorney for the case.
- Case Manager: The firm's case manager for the case.
- Case Name: The name of the case.
- Case No: The number of the case in the SmartAdvocate system. Clicking the number will open the case summary for that case number in a new tab. (Note: Case No. is the only column that cannot be removed from the Case Browse results table using the Select Columns To Show button.)
- Closed Date: The date the case was closed.
- Court: The court handling the case.
- Def. 3P Adjuster: The third party adjuster for the primary insurance company covering the primary defendant.
- Def. 3P Insurance Admin: The third party insurance administrator for the primary insurance company covering the primary defendant.
- Def. Ins. Limit (High): The upper limit of the primary defendant's insurance coverage.
- Def. Ins. Limit (Low): The lower limit of the primary defendant's insurance coverage.
- Defendant Address: The street address of the primary defendant.
- Defendant Adjuster: The name of the adjuster for the primary insurance company covering the primary defendant.
- Defendant City: The city in which the primary defendant is located or resides.
- Defendant Claim #: The claim number for the primary defendant's primary insurance.
- Defendant Insurance: The name of the insurance company providing primary insurance to the primary defendant.
- Defendant Law Firm: The law firm representing the primary defendant.
- Defendant State: The state in which the primary defendant is located or resides.
- Defendant Zip Code: The ZIP code for the address where the primary defendant is located or resides.
- Defendant: The name of the primary defendant.
- Docket #: The docket number of the case.
- Incident Date: The date of the incident.
- Incident Facts: The facts underlying the case, as entered in the Incident tab of Case Wizard or on the Case Incident page.
- Last Note (by Date): The most recent note on the case. Also includes the date, time, and creator of the note before the text of the note. This information in this column is based upon the date inputted on the note by the creator of the note, regardless of date the note was actually created.
- Last Note: The most recent note on the case. Also includes the date, time, and creator of the note before the text of the note. This information in this column is based upon the date on which the note was created, regardless of the date inputted on the note by the user who created the note.
- M1 - Case Rank Comment: Any comments about the M1 sub-status. (See M1 – Case Rank.)
- M1 - Case Rank Date: The date on which the M1 status was entered in the case. (See M1 – Case Rank.)
- M1 - Case Rank Days: The number of days the case has been in the M1 sub-status. (See M1 – Case Rank.)
- M1 – Case Rank: An additional sub-status. As initially set up, this sub-status is intended to represent the case's Case Rank (however that term may be defined by your firm). The M1 status is configurable by the firm Administrator to represent any sub-status chosen by your firm and be named accordingly. The exact heading and meaning of this column will depend on how your status types have been configured. If the firm Administrator has edited the name of this status, the edited name will appear as a column heading.
- M2 - Treatment Comment: Any comments about the M1 sub-status. (See M2 – Case Rank.)
- M2 - Treatment Date: The date on which the M1 status was entered in the case. (See M2 – Case Rank.)
- M2 - Treatment Days: The number of days the case has been in the M1 sub-status. (See M2 – Case Rank.)
- M2 – Treatment: An additional sub-status. As initially set up, this sub-status is intended to represent the status of the plaintiff's treatment. The M2 status is configurable by the firm Administrator to represent any sub-status chosen by your firm and be named accordingly. The exact heading and meaning of this column will depend on how your status types have been configured. If the firm Administrator has edited the name of this status, the edited name will appear as a column heading.
- M3 - Negotiation Comment: Any comments about the M3 sub-status. (See M3 – Case Rank.)
- M3 - Negotiation Date: The date on which the M3 status was entered in the case. (See M3 – Case Rank.)
- M3 - Negotiation Days: The number of days the case has been in the M3 sub-status. (See M3 – Case Rank.)
- M3 – Negotiation: An additional sub-status. As initially set up, this sub-status is intended to represent the status of any settlement negotiations in the case. The M3 status is configurable by the firm Administrator to represent any sub-status chosen by your firm and be named accordingly. The exact heading and meaning of this column will depend on how your status types have been configured. If the firm Administrator has edited the name of this status, the edited name will appear as a column heading.
- Minimum Settlement Value: The minimum settlement value set for the case.
- Next Deadline/SOL: The next open Critical Deadline or Statute of Limitations in the case.
- Office: The firm office that is handling the case. This column is unrelated to the state in which the case is being litigated.
- Open/Closed: Whether the case is open or closed.
- Opened Date/Time: The date and time the case was opened.
- Opened Date: The date the case was opened.
- Other Referral: The referral source, not otherwise classifiable, that referred the case to your firm.
- Paid Advertising: The paid advertising source that provided the case lead.
- Paralegal: The paralegal for the case.
- Pl. 3P Adjuster: The third party adjuster for the primary insurance company covering the primary plaintiff.
- Pl. 3P Insurance Admin: The third party insurance administrator for the primary insurance company covering the primary plaintiff.
- Pl. Ins. Limit (High): The upper limit of the primary plaintiff's insurance coverage.
- Pl. Ins. Limit (Low): The lower limit of the primary plaintiff's insurance coverage.
- Plaintiff Adjuster: The name of the adjuster for the primary insurance company covering the primary plaintiff.
- Plaintiff Claim #: The claim number for the primary plaintiff's primary insurance.
- Plaintiff Insurance: The name of the insurance company providing primary insurance to the primary plaintiff.
- Plaintiff Law Firm: The law firm (other than yours) representing the plaintiff.
- Plaintiff: The name of the primary plaintiff.
- Referral Attorney: The attorney who referred the case to your firm.
- Referral Law Firm: The law firm that referred the case to your firm.
- Referral Source: The main referral source of the case. If the case has multiple referral sources, the one listed in this column is chosen in the following way: Attorney has highest priority, then Paid Advertising, then Other.
- Referred Out Attorney: The attorney to whom the case was referred by your firm.
- Referred Out Law Firm: The law firm to which the case was referred by your firm.
- Retained Date: The date on which the case was retained.
- Stage: The stage the case is currently in.
- State: The state in which the case is being litigated. This column is unrelated to the state in which the office handling the case is located.
- Status Comment: The comment on the current status.
- Status Date: The most recent date on which the status of the case was changed.
- Status Days: The number of days since the most recent date on which the status of the case was changed.
- Status: The current status of the case.
- Sub Out Attorney: The attorney who has been substituted into the case and taken over the case from your firm.
- Sub Out Law Firm: The law firm that has been substituted into the case and taken over the case from your firm.
- Sub Status Comment: Any comment about the case's sub-status.
- Sub Status Date: The most recent date on which the status of the case was changed.
- Sub Status Days: The number of days the case has been in a particular sub-status.
- Sub Status: The current sub status of the case.
- Sub Type: The case subtype.
- Total Liability Coverage: The sum of liability coverage across selected insurers in the case.
- Type: The case type.
- Value From: The low end of the Estimated Value range of the case.
- Value To: The high end of the Estimated Value range of the case.
The firm Administrator can set which of the above columns are shown in a Case Browse search by default.
If any of the above columns have not been set or do not apply (e.g. "Closed Date" for a case that is not closed), those columns will be blank.
There is also one additional column which is always visible and is at the far left of the screen. Its header only contains a checkbox, as do each of the cells in the column. This column allows you to select cases for the use of the Mass Update function, described below. Clicking the checkbox in the column header will select all of the rows in the table. Clicking it again will deselect all of the rows in the table. After clicking the checkbox in the column header to select all of the rows in the table, you can then deselect any particular rows by unchecking the checkbox for those rows.
To the left of each column name is a small push-pin icon ( ). The default position for most columns is as pictured to the left, with the pin pointing to the left. Clicking on this icon will cause the pit to point down. The column will move to the left portion of the screen and the column will lock, so that as you scroll through the other columns the one(s) you have locked will remain visible. By default, the Case No. and Case Name columns are locked in this fashion, but you can lock or unlock any columns you wish. When exporting the search results to an Excel spreadsheet, any columns locked in the Case Browse results will remain locked in the spreadsheet, unless changed using the functionality in Excel.
Mass Update and Saving Filters
To the upper left of the table are two buttons. One is labeled "Mass Update" with a triangular icon, and unless at least one of the rows in the table is selected, this button is greyed out. The other is labeled "Save Filter to Favorites." Clicking "Save Filter to Favorites" brings up a small panel consisting of a checkbox marked "Default," two radio buttons marked "Fill" and "Fill & Execute" (which are greyed out if "Default" is not checked), an input field marked "Filter Name," and a button marked "Save Filter." This panel allows you to keep the filter in your Favorites (see Favorites for details). To keep the filter in Favorites, simply fill in a name for the filter and click Save Filter. If you wish to have the filter be the default, and automatically fill itself in whenever you open the Case Browse screen, click the Default checkbox. You can additionally have the search be performed whenever you open Case Browse by selecting "Fill & Execute." If you have selected at least one row, clicking "Mass Update" will reveal a list of actions you can take on all the selected cases at once. Those actions are as follows:
- Add/Update Other Referral: Beings up a small panel. At the top, there is a radio button to choose between adding, updating and removing a referral. Then a dropdown selection can be made to add a new other referral by name. Then the referrer's relationship to the firm can be indicated along with a date the referral was received. At the bottom, comments about the referral can be entered.
- Add Contacts to Mailing List: Brings up a small panel. At the top are several buttons that allow you to choose which types of case contacts will be added to the mailing list. Then either select an existing mailing list, or click on the New Mailing List button and name and describe the new list. Then click "Add Contacts". Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Add Court/Docket/Judge: Brings up a small panel. Court can be selected via dropdown. Docket number can be entered and type of docket number indicated. Judge and Role can be selected via dropdowns.
- Add Defendant: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown to select additional defendant and their role. A new individual or organizational defendant can be added if necessary.
- Add Disbursement: Brings up the disbursement panel where the details of the disbursement can be entered into each of the checked cases.
- Add Note: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown labeled "Note Type:", an input field labeled "Note:", and two buttons labeled "Add Note" and "Cancel." To add a note to all selected cases, choose a note type, fill in the input field with your desired note, then click "Add Note." Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Add Staff: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown labeled "Staff," a dropdown labeled "Role," an input field labeled "Comments," and two buttons labeled "Add Staff" and "Cancel." To add a staff member to all selected cases, choose a staff member and a role, optionally add a comment, then click "Add Staff." Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Add/Remove Tags: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown in which tags can be muti-selected and then chosen to be added or removed from the case.
- Add to Review List and Open First: Opens a new tab where the selected case can be viewed in sequence by using the arrows in the top left hand corner of the quick add toolbar.
- Add WorkPlan: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown labeled "WorkPlan." To add a WorkPlan to all selected cases, choose the desired WorkPlan from the dropdown, then click "Add Staff." Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Change/Remove Status: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown labeled "Status Type:" (with "Status" chosen by default); a pair of radio buttons and a dropdown collectively labeled "Current Status:", with the radio buttons individually labeled "Select Status" and "All Statuses," and the dropdown greyed out if "All Statuses" is selected (which is the default); a dropdown labeled "New Status:", and two buttons labeled "Change Status" and "Cancel." To change the status of the selected cases, choose a new status, and optionally select a current status (doing so will prevent the status change from taking effect unless the current status of the case is the one chosen), a default comment stating "Bulk Change", which you can remove and/or change, and then click "Change Status." Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Export: Opens the Import/Export Cases tab with the selected cases pre-filled for export.
- Generate Document: Opens up the Mass Mailing tool with the selected case numbers already entered. See Mass Mailing for more details.
- Generate Email: Opens up the Mass Emailing tool with the selected case numbers already entered. See Mass Emailing for more details.
- Generate Text: Opens up the Mass Texting tool with the selected case numbers already entered. See Mass Texting for more details.
- Invite to Client Portal: Opens mass email function with the template "Invite Client Portal" pre-filled.
- Reassign Adjuster: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown labeled "From:", a dropdown labeled "To:", and two buttons labeled "Reassign Adjuster" and "Cancel." To replace a particular adjuster on the selected cases with a new adjuster, choose the current adjuster in the "From:" dropdown and the new adjuster in the "To:" dropdown, then click "Reassign Adjuster." Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Reassign Judge: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown labeled "From:", a dropdown labeled "To:", and two buttons labeled "Reassign Judge" and "Cancel." To replace a particular judge on the selected cases with a new judge, choose the current judge in the "From:" dropdown and the new judge in the "To:" dropdown, then click "Reassign Judge." Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Reassign Role: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown labeled "Staff:"; a pair of radio buttons and a dropdown collectively labeled "Current Role:", with the radio buttons individually labeled "Select Role" and "All Roles," and the dropdown greyed out if "All Roles" is selected ("Select Role" is the default); a dropdown labeled "New Role:", and two buttons labeled "Reassign Role" and "Cancel." To reassign a staff member on the selected cases to a different role, choose a staff member and a new role, optionally select the current role (doing so will prevent the role change from taking effect unless the current role of the staff member is the one chosen), then click "Reassign Role." Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Reassign Staff: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown labeled "From:", a dropdown labeled "To:", an input field labeled "Comments:", three checkboxes labeled "Reassign Tasks", "Reassign Appointments," and "Reassign Medical Records Requests," and two buttons labeled "Reassign Staff" and "Cancel." To replace a particular staff member on the selected cases with a new staff member, choose the current staff member in the "From:" dropdown and the new staff member in the "To:" dropdown, optionally change the comment on the staff assignment (which is "Bulk change" by default), optionally include a reassignment of tasks and/or appointments and/or Medical Records Requests from the selected cases by selecting or deselecting the respective checkboxes, then click "Reassign Staff." Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Remove Contacts from Mailing List: Brings up a small panel. At the top are several buttons that allow you to choose which types of case contacts will be removed from the mailing list. Then either select an existing mailing list or click on the button labeled "Remove From All". Then click "Remove Contacts". Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Remove Staff: Brings up a small panel with a dropdown labeled "Staff:"; a pair of radio buttons and a dropdown collectively labeled "Current Role:", with the radio buttons individually labeled "Select Role" and "All Roles," and the dropdown greyed out if "All Roles" is selected ("Select Role" is the default); and two buttons labeled "Reassign Role" and "Cancel." To remove a staff member from the selected cases, choose a staff member, optionally select the current role (doing so will prevent the role change from taking effect unless the current role of the staff member is the one chosen), then click "Remove Staff." Clicking "Cancel" will discard anything you've entered into the form and close the panel.
- Show on Map: Opens up a new tab with a map of the United States and Canada. Red pins are visible, reflecting the primary address of the primary plaintiff in each chosen case. Clicking on any of the pins opens a small panel with the following information: Case number, Case name, date case opened, primary plaintiff's name, Case Status, Case Type, Referral source, and ZIP code of the primary plaintiff's primary address.
Pinned Columns
If you wish to keep some columns on the screen as you scroll to the right, you may click the pin icon ( ) to the left of the column name you wish to keep on the screen. Columns that are not pinned in this way will have pin icons that point to the left, as shown above, and the data in the columns will have no background; columns that are pinned will have pin icons that point down, and the data in the columns will have a light blue background. Pinned columns will always be the left most visible columns (except for the selector column). By default, Case No and Case Name are initially pinned. Pinned columns cannot be placed to the right of unpinned columns; however, you can change the order of the pinned columns the same way as you change the order of unpinned columns.
Other Features
The search results page includes a summary at the bottom left of the screen, which lists all of the conditions that comprise the current search. This summary is nearly identical to the one shown on the Case Browse screen itself before you perform the search.
In addition to the usual export options, you have the option of emailing an exported file directly through SmartAdvocate. To do so, click the desired export icon listed after the text "Export and Email." This will generate the exported file, then bring up a panel allowing you to create an email to which the file is automatically attached.