How to run a weekly matter review (with a 20-minute agenda)

What is a weekly matter review and why do it?

A weekly matter review is a short, fixed-time check across your whole caseload to find what is overdue, blocked or forgotten. It exists because the matters that cause trouble are rarely the ones you are working on; they are the ones nobody looked at.

Solo lawyers do it alone; small firms run it with the team. The format is the same.

What is the 20-minute agenda?

Keep the time boxes strict. If a matter needs a real discussion, create an action to discuss it and move on.

Which views make the review fast?

The review is only fast if the views exist. Build five and save them to a single dashboard page:

• Overdue actions across all matters.
• Deadlines in the next 14 days, grouped by matter.
• Matters in Waiting, sorted by days waiting.
• Active matters with no open action (the 'no next step' gap).
• Matters whose last client update is older than your cadence.

• Legal task and deadline management
• Weekly and monthly practice review

What do you ask of each matter?

For any matter that surfaces in a view, ask the same four questions:

1. What is the next step?
2. Who owns it?
3. By when?
4. Does the client know?

If the answer to any of the four is unclear, write the missing piece as an action before moving on. The goal is not discussion; it is that no matter leaves the review without an owner, a date and a communication plan.

How do you run it as a solo or with a team?

Skip matters that are healthy: the review is about exceptions. A matter with a next step, an owner and a recent client update needs no discussion.

What should you log afterwards?

Record the review in a small database: date, matters touched, actions created, and anything you decided to stop doing. After a few weeks, patterns appear (the same matter always waiting on the same third party), which feeds the monthly review.

A monthly version adds time against matters and conversion of new enquiries. See our KPI guide for which numbers are worth tracking.

• Law firm KPIs in Notion

Where does MatterOS fit?

MatterOS includes a practice dashboard and the saved views used above, plus a weekly review routine in the Matter Method playbook, so you open the dashboard and start rather than building the views first.

• MatterOS overview
• Pricing

Frequently asked questions

How often should a lawyer review their matters?

Weekly across all matters is a practical default, with a deeper monthly review of time and outcomes. High-risk matters near a deadline need checking daily; the weekly review covers everything else.

How long should a weekly matter review take?

Twenty minutes is realistic when your views are set up and you review exceptions only. If it regularly takes an hour, your data is incomplete or you are discussing matters instead of assigning actions.

What is a weekly matter review agenda?

A fixed running order: deadlines and overdue items, matters waiting on others, active matters with no next step, client updates due, and next week's priorities. Each item has a saved view so the review runs from data, not memory.

Do solo lawyers need a matter review?

Yes, arguably more than teams, because there is nobody else to notice a stalled matter. A solo review is a calendar slot, five views and the discipline to turn every finding into a dated action.

What if I find too many problems in the first review?

That is normal; the first review exposes accumulated gaps. Triage by consequence: deadlines first, then client communication, then housekeeping. Within a few weeks the backlog clears and reviews shrink.