# Law Firm Matter Folder Template

A matter-centric structure that holds up across a whole client book. Copy it into
your shared drive, or paste the naming policy into your firm wiki.

## Folder structure

```
Clients/
  {Client-Name}/
    {MatterNumber}_{Matter-Name}/
      01_Pleadings/
      02_Correspondence/
      03_Discovery/
      04_Contracts/
      05_Billing/
      06_Research/
```

Key the matter folder with the matter number first so it stays stable even if the
matter name changes.

## File naming pattern

```
{YYYY-MM-DD}_{MatterNumber}_{DocType}_{Description}.ext
```

Examples:

```
2026-04-22_2026-0148_Motion_to-Dismiss.pdf
2026-04-15_2026-0148_Correspondence_Opposing-Counsel.pdf
2026-03-30_2026-0148_Discovery_Plaintiff-RFP-Set-1.pdf
```

## Rules

- Lead with the ISO date so a folder sorts into a timeline on its own.
- Use the matter number as the second field so files group by matter even when they
  land in a shared intake folder.
- DocType is one of: Pleading, Motion, Correspondence, Discovery, Contract,
  Engagement-Letter, Memo, Order, Billing.
- Hyphens inside a field, underscores between fields. No spaces or slashes.
- Keep privileged and confidential documents on local-only processing.

Generated with Sortio. See https://www.getsortio.com/blog/organize-law-firm-files-by-matter