Creating Automations

FluentCase automations help you automate repetitive tasks by automatically creating tasks and events based on triggers.

Before You Start

Review Automation Overview to understand:

• How automations work
• Trigger types
• Action types
• Limitations

Creating an Automation

Basic Steps

1. Go to Settings → Automations
2. Click + New Automation
3. Fill in automation details:
   • Name - Descriptive name
   • Trigger Type - What triggers it
   • Actions - What it does
4. Click Save

Automation Name

Choose a clear, descriptive name:

Good names:

• “Create MSC prep task when MSC scheduled”
• “Create follow-up task when demand sent”
• “Schedule status call 30 days after intake”

Poor names:

• “Automation 1”
• “Task creator”
• “Auto”

Trigger Types

Tag-Based Triggers

Automation runs when a specific tag is added to a matter.

Configuration:

1. Select Trigger Type: Tag
2. Select Tag: Choose the tag
3. Example: Tag “Demand Sent”

Use cases:

• Tag “MSC Scheduled” → Create prep tasks
• Tag “Settlement Reached” → Create closing tasks
• Tag “New Client” → Create intake tasks

Description-Based Triggers

Automation runs when specific text appears in an activity description.

Configuration:

1. Select Trigger Type: Description
2. Enter Description Pattern: Text to look for
3. Example: “demand letter sent”

Use cases:

• “deposition scheduled” → Create prep tasks
• “medical records received” → Create review task
• “settlement offer” → Create review task

Matching rules:

• Case-insensitive (matches “Demand” and “demand”)
• Partial match (matches “demand letter sent to insurance”)
• Exact phrase match

The pattern is a “contains” match, not an exact match of the whole description. A broad pattern such as “records” fires on every activity whose description contains that word, so it can start several automations at once. Use a specific phrase or a unique tag to limit which automation fires.

Combining Triggers (AND Logic)

When an automation has more than one trigger, all of its triggers must match the same activity before it runs. For example, an automation with a Tag trigger and a Description trigger runs only when the activity has that tag and its description contains the pattern.

To run the same actions when either condition is met (OR logic), create a separate automation for each trigger.

Example: Tasks for Documents You Process

To get a review task for each document you link to a matter (for example, after a batch scan):

1. Create a tag such as “Needs Review”
2. Create an automation with a Tag trigger for that tag
3. Add a Create Task action and assign it to yourself with Select User
4. Apply the tag when you link each document to its matter

Each tagged document then creates a review task on its matter.

Actions

Create Task Action

Automatically create a task when triggered.

Configuration:

1. Click + Add Action
2. Select Create Task
3. Fill in task details:
   • Task Title - Task name
   • Description - Task description
   • Assigned To - Who gets the task
   • Due Date - When it’s due
   • Priority - Task priority
4. Click Save

Task Title: Use descriptive titles:

• “Prepare for MSC”
• “Review medical records”
• “Follow up on settlement offer”

Assigned To options:

• Attorney Responsible - Lead attorney
• Attorney Handling - Handling attorney
• Paralegal Handling - Assigned paralegal
• Specific User - Specific person
• Unassigned - No one (team can claim)

Staff role options are the built-in matter staff roles. Custom staff roles cannot be created.

Due Date options:

• Same Day - Day of trigger
• 1 Day After - Next day
• 3 Days After - 3 days later
• 1 Week After - 7 days later
• 2 Weeks After - 14 days later
• 1 Month After - 30 days later
• Custom - Specific number of days

Create Event Action

Automatically create a calendar event when triggered.

Configuration:

1. Click + Add Action
2. Select Create Event
3. Fill in event details:
   • Event Title - Event name
   • Description - Event description
   • Calendar Category - Category of event
   • Date - When it occurs
   • Duration - How long
   • Attendees - Who attends
4. Click Save

Event Title:

• “Status call with client”
• “Internal case review”
• “Deadline reminder”

Date options:

• Same Day - Day of trigger
• Days After - X days after trigger
• Specific Date - Exact date

Multiple Actions

Add multiple actions to one automation:

1. Click + Add Action again
2. Configure second action
3. Repeat as needed

Example: Trigger: Tag “MSC Scheduled” Actions:

1. Create task “Prepare MSC brief” (7 days before)
2. Create task “Prepare client for MSC” (3 days before)
3. Create event “MSC preparation meeting” (2 days before)

Automation Scope

All automations are firm-wide. An active automation runs on every matter in the firm when its trigger occurs.

Testing Automations

Test Before Activating

Always test new automations:

1. Create automation
2. Set to Inactive
3. Create test matter
4. Trigger the automation manually
5. Verify actions occur correctly
6. Activate automation

Manual Trigger

Test without waiting for real trigger:

1. Open a matter
2. Go to Automations tab
3. Click Run Automation
4. Select automation to test
5. Click Run
6. Check that actions occurred

Managing Automations

Editing Automations

1. Go to Settings → Automations
2. Click on automation
3. Click Edit
4. Make changes
5. Click Save

Note: Changes apply to future triggers only, not past actions.

Activating/Deactivating

Turn automations on or off:

1. Go to Settings → Automations
2. Find automation
3. Toggle Active switch
4. Inactive automations don’t run

Deleting Automations

1. Go to Settings → Automations
2. Click on automation
3. Click Delete
4. Confirm deletion

Note: Deleting automation doesn’t delete tasks/events it created.

Automation Examples

See Automation Examples for detailed examples of common automations.

Best Practices

Naming

• Descriptive names - Explain what it does
• Include trigger - Mention what triggers it
• Include action - Mention what it creates

Triggers

• Specific tags - Use specific, unique tags
• Unique phrases - Use distinctive text for description triggers
• Avoid common words - Don’t trigger on “the” or “and”

Actions

• Realistic due dates - Give enough time
• Appropriate assignment - Right person for the task
• Clear descriptions - Explain what needs to be done
• Useful priorities - Mark urgent tasks as high priority

Testing

• Test first - Always test before activating
• Monitor initially - Watch for issues after activation
• Adjust as needed - Refine based on results
• Get feedback - Ask team if automations are helpful

Maintenance

• Review regularly - Quarterly review of all automations
• Remove unused - Delete automations no longer needed
• Update for changes - Adjust when workflows change
• Document purpose - Note why automation exists

Troubleshooting

Automation Not Triggering

Possible causes:

• Automation inactive
• Wrong trigger text
• Missing tag
• Not all triggers match
• Recursion prevention

Solutions:

1. Verify automation is active
2. Check trigger configuration
3. For a Description trigger, confirm the pattern appears in the activity’s description. For a Document Name trigger, confirm it appears in the document’s name.
4. For a Tag trigger, confirm the activity has the selected tag. A different tag, such as a default Note tag, does not trigger it.
5. If the automation has several triggers, confirm the activity matches all of them. See Combining Triggers.
6. Check if automation already ran. Each automation runs only once per activity.

Wrong Actions Created

Possible causes:

• Incorrect action configuration
• Wrong assignment
• Wrong due date calculation

Solutions:

1. Review action configuration
2. Test with sample matter
3. Adjust settings
4. Delete incorrect tasks/events