Close and archive a finished matter
The finished matter archived out of the team's lists and search, with everything on it kept and back within reach when a question comes in.
Screenshots are taken from the app on every release. Updated 13 October 2026.
The work is done: the deal has closed, the case has settled or the opinion has gone out. The matter still holds the charts, chronologies, boards and documents behind the advice, and the firm needs to keep them. But the team should stop seeing it every day. Archiving the matter takes it out of the lists and the search the team works from, without deleting anything on it.
Two questions decide what you do. Is one matter finished, or a whole client group? And could the work come back, for example a post-closing claim or an appeal?
Archive the matter
On the home page, open the Matters tab. If the matter belongs to a group you work in, you can also use the list of matters on the group's page.
Click More (the three dots) at the end of the matter's row and choose Archive.
The matter leaves the list. Nothing on it is deleted: the structures, timelines, boards, insights and documents stay as they were. Archived matters no longer show in search either.
Archiving takes a manager of the matter, or a manager of the group the matter belongs to. Anyone else gets the message "Only managers of this matter or the group it belongs to can archive it."
Archive and Delete sit next to each other in the same menu. Delete removes the matter from Juristic for everyone. For a finished matter that the firm has to keep, choose Archive.
Archive a whole client group
- When the client relationship itself has ended, open the Groups tab on the home page, click More on the group's row and choose Archive. This archives the group and every matter in it in one step. It takes a manager of the group.
Find an archived matter again
When a question comes in about an old matter, open the Matters tab, click Table settings (the three dots above the list) and tick Include archived. Archived matters show greyed out in the list.
Click the row to open the matter and look something up. It stays archived.
If the work starts again, click More on the row and choose Unarchive. The matter is back in everyone's list and in search.
For an archived group, tick Include archived on the Groups tab and choose Unarchive from its More menu. Unarchiving a group brings back every matter in it, including any that were archived on their own before.
What to do for each situation
| The situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| One matter is finished, the client has other live work | Archive the matter |
| The client relationship has ended | Archive the group, which archives all its matters |
| A question months later | Include archived, open the matter, and leave it archived |
| The matter comes back to life | Unarchive it |
| The matter was opened by mistake and holds nothing to keep | Delete it |
Tips from practice
- Wrap up the work first. Mark boards completed and generate the final closing binder before you archive, so the record on the matter is the final one. See wrap up the board after closing and put together the closing binder.
- Check who has access from outside first. Before you archive, go through what the team has shared with the client and other parties, and end what is no longer needed. See review and end outside access.
- Archiving is your choice; retention is the firm's. If your firm has a retention policy, work on a matter that sits untouched for the retention period is archived or deleted under that policy. Archiving the matter does not change that. To hold on to work that is due to go, see keep a matter that is due for deletion.