Booking Appointments
Booking appointments with your matters is a key function of your firm that you can streamline and automate with Lawmatics.
Creating Appointment Types
The first step in creating appointments is adding your appointment types. Appointment types label the different kinds of appointments your firm hosts and allow you to trigger different automated workflows based on the type of event that is booked.
These appointment types are internal and will not be visible to your clients.
For example, your appointment types could be:
- Initial Consultation
- Follow-Up Appointment
- Signing Meeting
To create these appointment types:
- Navigate to Settings by clicking the gear icon in the left-side navigation menu.
- Select Appointments/Events.
Learn more about appointment types here.
Adding Firm Addresses
You'll want to add your firm’s address(es) so that you can select them as the location when scheduling an appointment.
To add an address:
- Navigate to Settings > Firm Settings.
- Click Add Address, enter the details, and save.
- You can also create entries for phone or virtual locations.
After adding addresses, go to Add Location, provide a label for the location, and select the appropriate address from the dropdown list.
Booking an Appointment
Once you’ve created your appointment types and locations, you’re ready to book an appointment. You can do this from:
- The Calendar (found in the left-side navigation menu).
- An individual Matter Profile.
- The "Create New" button in the upper-right corner of the screen.
When booking an appointment, fill out the following:
- Display Name (Visible to the attendee)
- Appointment Type (Internal use only)
- Location
- Firm Host(s)
- Matter Attendee
- Description (Optional)
- Date and Time
Calendar Sync & Notifications
- Firm hosts: If the attendee has synced their external calendar, the appointment will automatically appear on their calendar.
- Calendar invites: Click Send Calendar Invite to ensure attendees receive a calendar invitation.
- Reminders: Toggle Send Reminder to automatically notify attendees about their upcoming appointment.
Booking via Availability
You can also book an appointment based on a host's availability using the Use Availability tab.
This will display available times based on:
- The host’s external calendar sync.
- Their availability settings in Calendar Settings.
You can also use our Appointment Requests or Booking Links to invite clients or leads to book their own appointments based on your availability. Appointment requests will be emailed directly to the individual. Booking links on the other hand, can be placed on your website or built into an email template in Lawmatics.
You can also book appointments directly from a custom form. When you are building an internal form, you will see the option to include an Appointment field. Note: this option is ONLY available in internal forms since it does not limit booking based on your calendar availability.
When this object is used in the internal form, your staff will be able to book an appointment while filling out an intake all in one seamless step.
Learn more about using objects in custom forms here.
FAQs
Is there a difference between Appointments and Events?
Yes, appointments refer to an individual booking on the calendar. .
Which firm user should I select as the meeting host?
When an appointment is booked in Lawmatics, it will automatically sync onto the host's external calendar, as long as they have one connected in their calendar settings page. You have the option to add as many hosts as you would like, selecting from any of your Lawmatics users. The appointment will be synced onto the external calendar for all users that you have selected as the host.