Cases

Permission required: case.read

Cases are the central unit of work in CaseBright. Every client matter — a visa application, green card petition, or any other legal service — is tracked as a case. Cases contain all the steps, documents, communications, fees, and history for that matter.

Navigate to Cases in the left sidebar.

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1. Understanding Case Structure

Every case has:

• A client it belongs to
• A workflow that defines the steps to complete
• A status, priority, and progress state
• A team of assigned staff members with defined roles
• Steps (task, document, e-signature, form, payment, submission, etc.)
• Custom fields defined by the workflow
• Documents, fee items, and contracts

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2. Case Statuses and Priority

Status

Status	Meaning
In Progress	Actively being worked on
On Hold	Temporarily paused
Submitted	Filed with a government agency or external body
Completed	All work is done; the case is closed
Cancelled	The case was cancelled before completion

Progress

For cases involving government processing:

Progress	Meaning
Not Submitted	Has not yet been filed (default)
Being Processed	Filed and awaiting a decision
Approved	Application approved
Denied	Application denied
RFE	Request for Evidence received
NOID	Notice of Intent to Deny received
NOIR	Notice of Intent to Revoke received
Biometrics Appointment	Biometrics scheduled or completed
Rejected	Application rejected without decision
Refused	Application refused (consular context)

Priority

Priority	When to use
Low	Non-urgent, no immediate deadline
Normal	Standard cases (default)
High	Approaching deadlines
Urgent	Critical deadline or urgent client need

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3. Creating a Case

1. Navigate to Cases.
2. Click New Case.
3. Fill in:
   • Client — select an existing client or create a new one
   • Case title — a descriptive name (e.g., "John Doe / EB-2 NIW")
   • Workflow — select the workflow that matches this case type
   • Priority — set initial priority
   • Due date — the overall case deadline (optional; individual steps can have their own)
4. Click Create.

CaseBright will generate all the workflow steps automatically on the new case.

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4. Case Overview

Opening a case shows the following sections:

Header

• Case title, client name, status badges, priority, due date
• Quick action buttons (edit, archive, etc.)

Case Members

The team of staff assigned to this case. Each member has a case role:

Case Role	Typical Responsibility
Case Manager	Day-to-day management and coordination
Attorney	Legal strategy and client advice
Paralegal	Document preparation and filing support
Team Lead	Oversight and escalation

To add a case member:

1. Click Add Member.
2. Select the team member.
3. Select their case role.
4. Click Add.

Custom Fields

Values specific to this case (defined by the workflow). Fill these in as information is gathered.

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5. Working with Steps

The Steps panel shows all the steps in the case's workflow.

Step statuses

Status	Meaning
Not Started	Work has not begun
In Progress	Actively being worked on
Pending	Waiting on the client or a third party
Done	Completed
Cancelled	Step will not be completed

Updating a step

1. Click on the step name to expand it.
2. Change the status using the dropdown.
3. Add a note if needed to document what was done.
4. The step is automatically assigned to the case member whose role matches the step's role assignment.

Due dates on steps

If the workflow has due date automation configured, the step's due date is calculated automatically. You can also override it manually:

1. Click the due date area on the step.
2. Select a date.
3. If you want to reset to the automated rule later, click Recalculate in the scheduling config.

Step scheduling config

Click the calendar icon on a step to open the full scheduling configuration (Manual, Automated, or Recurring). See the Workflows chapter for details.

Step assignments

Each step can be assigned to a specific team member. By default, assignment follows the role configuration in the workflow. To manually reassign:

1. Click the assignee avatar or the Assign button on the step.
2. Select a team member.

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6. Documents

The Documents tab on a case shows all files associated with the case.

Uploading a document

1. Go to the Documents tab.
2. Click Upload.
3. Select the file from your computer.
4. Optionally tag the document with a type or description.

Generated contracts

If you've generated a contract from a template (see Templates), it appears here as a PDF.

Document collection

When a workflow has a Document Collection step, the client is prompted in their portal to upload the requested files. The uploaded files appear here automatically.

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7. Fee Items

The Fees tab shows all fee items attached to the case (service fees, filing fees, etc.).

Adding a fee item

1. Go to the Fees tab.
2. Click Add Fee.
3. Enter the amount, description, and fee type.
4. Click Save.

Fee statuses

Status	Meaning
Pending	Not yet paid
Paid	Payment received
Waived	Fee was waived for this client
Cancelled	Fee was removed from the case

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8. Case Filters and Custom Columns

On the Cases list page you can filter and sort by:

Filter	Description
Search	Free-text search by case title or client name
Status	Filter by In Progress, On Hold, etc.
Priority	Filter by Low / Normal / High / Urgent
Assigned to	Filter by case manager or assigned member
Client	Filter to a specific client's cases
Due date range	Cases due within a specific window
Created date range	Cases created within a specific window
Custom field filters	Filter by any custom field on the workflow
Include Archived	Show archived/completed cases

Custom columns

You can configure which columns appear in the case list table:

1. Click the Columns button (column settings icon).
2. Toggle columns on or off.
3. Custom fields from your workflows can be added as columns.

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9. Batch Ownership Transfer

When a team member leaves or changes roles, you may need to transfer their case assignments in bulk.

1. Navigate to Cases.
2. Click Batch Transfer (ellipsis menu or admin action).
3. Select the source role and source account (who is losing the cases).
4. Select the destination account (who will take over).
5. Choose Replace mode to transfer and clear the previous person's assignments.
6. Review and confirm.

This will update case member assignments and any step assignments held by the previous member.

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10. Archiving and Closing Cases

When a case is complete:

1. Change the status to Completed (or Cancelled if applicable).
2. Optionally Archive the case to move it out of the active view.

Archived cases are still searchable and accessible; they just don't appear in the default list view.