Delete Cases

LegalServer administrators cannot delete cases. The most common method to remove cases is to reject them, optionally using a custom Rejection Reason lookup value. For example, if a case was created in error, you might create a Rejection Reason called "Case created in error."

LegalServer Support can delete cases by request. Deleting cases also deletes related information including documents linked to the cases, but much more. See Information Deleted below. We can also delete timeslips and/or service/phase records linked to the cases if desired.

The typical cost for this is $1,200 for under 10,000 cases, but it depends on the size of your site's database, how many cases you want to delete, and whether you want the cases deleted from a refreshed demo site first.

In this article:

• The Process
• Information Deleted
• Important Notes

The Process

1. Create a report that contains the case numbers (Matter/Case ID) of the cases you want to delete.
   1. The report can contain other columns if needed for filtering or client identification, but should not contain extraneous columns. Delete any columns like Case Count for Totals that use the case Database ID column.
   2. The Unique Count of the case number column (click the "U" at the bottom of the column) must match the row count of the report.
   3. You may want your report to show a limited set of additional columns like client name, date of birth, etc. and export it to Excel or CSV for historical purposes.
   4. The default filters on the report must produce the list of cases.
2. File a Support Request from your site (Help menu > Support Request) and include a link to your report. Specify in your Support Request whether you also want linked timeslips and/or service/phase records deleted, and if you want to skip the demo site refresh.
3. LegalServer will provide a quote of the cost for deleting those records.
4. If you approve the quote, we will send an order form, upon approval send an invoice, and upon payment, start work.
5. Unless you stated you want to skip the demo site refresh and additional steps, we will:
   1. Refresh your demo site from your live site.  See this article for the effects of having your live site copied to the demo site.
   2. Delete the cases in your report on the demo site and notify you.
   3. We will wait for you to let us know you are ready to have the cases deleted from your live site.
6. We will notify you when the cases have been deleted from the live site.

Information Deleted

The process deletes a matter record and a comprehensive set of related data.

• Matter Record: The primary entry in the matter table.
• Documents: Records in the document table (found via document_module_cascaded). The script calls the delete() method for each, which further removes:
  • Physical Files: Purges the actual files from storage.
  • Versions & Fields: document_version, document_fields, and document_related.
  • Actors & Assignments: document_actor, document_sub_actor, and actor-specific metadata (addresses, employment, etc.).
  • Dynamic Forms: Any dynamic_form and dynamic_process entries associated with the document.
• Person records: The client, adverse parties, family members, and case contacts.
• Matter Discovery: All records in the matter_discovery table for that matter.
• Timeslips (Optional)
• Leave Logs (Optional)
• Services/Phases (Optional)
• Case History & Status: case_status_history, matter_status_update, matter_status_update_log, matter_disposition_log.
• Financial Data: matter_income, matter_expense, matter_billing_transaction, matter_case_credit, funding_code_transaction.
• Conflicts & Parties: party, litigation, litigation_contact, common_party_matters.
• Activities & Tasks: activity, todo, timer, event_cases.
• Notes & Alerts: matter_alert, matter_alert_users, matter_restricted_note, matter_social_service_note.
• Specialized Legal Data: matter_charge, matter_arrest, matter_sentence, matter_custodial_status, matter_issue, matter_level_of_service, matter_litc, matter_mlp_info.
• Immigration Forms
• Custom Fields: Any custom field data.
• Communication Logs: sms_log_matter, communication_matter, telephony_voicemail.

Important Notes