Tip #126 - Utilizing the “Retain” Button

For the most part, you will need to enter the retainer information for cases in SmartAdvocate. This information is entered on the Retainer/Referral Screen.
There are three ways in which a case can be marked ‘Retained’:  

1. Enter the retainer information on the Retainer/Referral Page (the Retainer Received date triggers whether the case has been ‘Retained’).

2. Scan or attach the retainer document to the case with the document category ‘Plaintiff’ and the document sub-category ‘Retainer Agreement’.

3. Click the ‘Retain’ button on the quick action tool bar.

For options 2 and 3, see further discussions below.
From the Retainer/Referral Page with ‘Retainer Received’ date entered:

Document Scanned or Attached to the case with category ‘Plaintiff’ and sub-category ‘Retainer Agreement’ will flag the case as ‘Retained’.

‘Retain’ button available on the quick add tool bar (notice Retainer Date missing and ‘Retain’ button not greyed out) means the case has not been marked retained:

There are some settings that must be made in System Parameters (configured by your SmartAdvocate Systems Administrator) for the scanned or attached document or the ‘Retain’ button to trigger the Retained status.

In the screenshot above, the ‘Retain’ button is set to change the status of a case to “Pre-Lit 01 – PI New Case – Initial Letters to be Sent.” Here, if the ‘Retain’ button is clicked on the Quick Action Tool Bar, it will display a dialog box with the Retained date defaulted to the current date (the user can accept the default date or enter a different date if desired), and, when saved, the ‘status’ of the case will be changed to retained with the retainer date as entered.

If a document is scanned or attached to the case with the document category ‘Plaintiff’ and sub-category ‘Retainer Agreement,’ it will change the case to Retained and the Retained date will be the date the document is scanned or attached.

The third item ‘Critical Alert for Retainer’ shown in the screenshot above, is the alert/popup that is activated if a case is changed to one of the Litigation Statuses and there is no retainer entered in the case as explained herein. This critical alert is displayed whenever you access the case. If activated, clicking the ‘OK’ button will close the critical alert dialog box temporarily.

Please note that “Retained,” “Not Retained,” “Retained From” and “Retained To” are filters available in Case Browse that will allow you to select lists of cases that satisfy any of the foregoing search criteria.