Configured self-maintaining rules enable users from source systems to be added to matter team, or removed from matter team, if users meet the rule criteria. Self-maintaining rules can be configured under the Staffing tab of a matter.

Rules can be configured for matters that are 'open' or 'restricted'. In case of open matters, users posting hours on the matter or performing a document activity automatically get added in the client team, if they conform to the set rules. 

You cannot set the rules for matters that are 'restricted by client', 'restricted by client group' or 'restricted by case' at the matter level. If the matter security is changed from 'restricted' to 'restricted by client' or 'restricted by client group', or if the matter is included in a case, the rules are removed and will no longer apply. However, all the users who had access to the matter will automatically add up to the client (or case) staffing. Rules have to be set again if security policy is changed back to 'restricted', or if the matter is moved back out of a case; in both cases, any self-maintaining rules previously applied are not retained. 

If the client or client group is Restricted (Limited to users named under <parent asset> staffing), and the matter is Restricted then only client / client group staffing members that conform to the rule set will get added through self-maintaining rules.  

If users on the restricted or open matter teams do not post hours or perform any document activity for the period(s) defined in the self-maintaining rule(s), they are considered as stale users and are removed from the matter staffing, provided that the period of time that they have been a member of the matter staffing is greater than the (longest) period defined in the rule(s). In the same manner and with corresponding provisos, for open matters, the users also get removed from the client staffing. Removal of users is done based on a set schedule, so the changes may not reflect immediately. 

If users post hours or perform a document activity on a restricted or open matter, they are automatically prevented from accessing an opposing matter. The users need not be on the staffing of the current matter.

When configured, self-maintaining rules are executed daily, at midnight.

1. On the Matter Details page, click the Staffing tab. 
   The Staffing page appears.
   Alternatively,
   On the Matter Details page, in the Overview tab, click View Staffing. 
   The Staffing page appears.

2. Click

   
   . The Self-Maintaining Rules dialog box appears.

   NOTE:

   If there are existing self-maintaining rules, the following icon is displayed:

   

   .

   To remove a self-maintaining rule, in the Self-Maintaining Rules dialog box, click x next to the rule. The rule is removed. If there are no rules set for the matter, then the

   

   icon is displayed in the Matter Details - Staffing page.

3. Before creating a Self-Maintaining Rule, consideration should be given to the availability of billing or document activity data: Self-Maintaining Rules rely on data from the Billing Activity feed and/or the Document Activity feed. You can proceed to create rules without these being enabled, but a warning message will be displayed. A panel is also displayed in the Self-Maintaining Rules dialog box advising of the current billing and document activity period specified in SPM settings. You can nonetheless create a rule specifying a period longer than that of the relevant activity data period if required.
   For information on how to enable, or configure the period of such activity feeds, see Activity Feeds in Settings>General.
4. Automatically Add Users
   1. Set the rules as follows:
      
      1. Enter a value for one, or both, of Time Posted Exceeds (hours and minutes) and Activity Exceeds (number), under Billing Activity or Document Activity, respectively.
         
      2. In the Past period, which you can select from the dropdown menu. The Fixed Date option enables you to specify a date in the past from which to define the beginning of the rule period.

      • All the users that meet the criteria set in the rules are added to the matter team, when the rule executes or when the agent service is restarted. If you want to omit certain users from getting added to the matter through self-maintaining rules, click Omit Users. The Omit Users dialog box appears.

        NOTE:

        You have the option to filter the displayed user list based on name , user type, job title, and/or practice area.

   2. Select the check boxes in the user rows who you want to add to the exclude user list. To select all available users, select the uppermost check box on the left, or, if a user has already been selected, you can also select Select All n Items, where n represents the number of items available for selection. Click OK. The users are added to the list and are displayed in the Automatically Add Users tab of Self-Maintaining Rules dialog box under the Omitted Users section. These users are not added to the matter team even if they meet the rules criteria. 

      NOTE:

      Click Omit Users to add more users to the excluded users list.

      To remove a user from the excluded list, select the check box in the user row. Click Remove Selected Users.

   3. Click OK. The rules criteria is now set for the matter. When the rule executes, all the users meeting the rules criteria and not part of the omitted users list, are automatically added to the matter team. 

      EXAMPLE:

      For example, you can set the rule by entering the desired value in the 'Document Activity - Activity Exceeds' field, say '1000', and selecting the period of access in the 'Activity in the Past' field, say 'One month'.  Now, add users who are to be omitted.

      This implies that all those users who have accessed at least a 1000 documents related to the matter over the past one month, barring those who meet this criteria but have been omitted, are added to the matter team when the rule executes.

      TIP:

      The values you enter for Time Posted Exceeds and Activity Exceeds for this type of 'additive' self-maintaining rule are used as defaults for Billing Activity and Import Activity filters in the User Activity > Custom filter of Staffing > Add Members. The Add Members list can be viewed to quickly assess how the rule will be applied when it executes. If the filter is altered and then Restored, it restores to the corresponding values of the self-maintaining rule.

5. Automatically Remove Users
   1. Set the rules as follows:
      
      1. Enter a value for one, or both, of Time Posted Exceeds (hours and minutes) and Activity Exceeds (number), under Billing Activity or Document Activity, respectively.
      2. In the Past period, which you can select from the dropdown menu. The Fixed Date option enables you to specify a date in the past from which to define the beginning of the rule period.

      • All the users that meet the criteria set in the rules are removed from the matter team, when the rule executes or when the agent service is restarted.

        NOTE:

        Users who have been added to staffing within the (longest) period specified by the rule(s) are not removed. This is to prevent the removal of new team members (for example, those added in the days prior to the rule being created, or recently re-added users).

      • If you want to omit certain users from getting removed from the matter through self-maintaining rules, click Omit Users. The Omit Users dialog box appears. 

        NOTE:

        You have the option to filter the displayed user list based on name , user type, job title, and/or practice area.

   2. Select the check boxes in the user rows who you want to add to the omit user list. To select all available users, select the uppermost check box on the left, or, if a user has already been selected, you can also select Select All n Items, where n represents the number of items available for selection. Click OK. The users are added to the list and are displayed in the Automatically Add Users tab of Self-Maintaining Rules dialog box under the Omitted Users section. These users are not removed from the matter team even if they meet the rules criteria. 

      NOTE:

      Click Omit Users to add more users to the omitted users list.

      To remove a user from the omitted user list, select the check box in the user row. Click Remove Selected Users.

   3. Click OK. The rules criteria is now set for the matter. When the rule executes, all the users meeting the rules criteria and not part of the omitted users list, and not added to the team within the period(s) specified by the rule(s), are automatically removed from the matter team. 

      EXAMPLE:

      For example, you can set the rule by selecting the period of no access in the 'Document Activity - Created no documents in the past' field, say 'One month'. Now, add users who are to be omitted.

      This implies that all those users who have not created any documents for the matter over the past one month, barring those who meet this criteria but have been omitted, and those who were added to the matter team less than one month ago, are removed from the matter team when the rule executes.