How emails are associated to a matter

When an email arrives in your connected mailbox, Cedent reads it and decides which matter it belongs to, or whether it is not case-related at all. Most emails file themselves. When Cedent is not sure, it asks you instead of guessing. This page explains how that decision is made, so the filing — and the occasional question — makes sense.

What Cedent looks at

Cedent weighs several signals, in roughly this order of trust:

Your client’s email address. The strongest signal. A client is almost always tied to a single matter, so an email to or from a known client address files automatically.
A case or docket number in the subject or body. An exact match to one matter files automatically. A number that matches a different case keeps the email out of the wrong matter.
Both parties’ names in the subject, including an IRMO [Name] caption. Both names present is a strong match; one surname alone is not.
The email thread. Once a conversation is filed to a matter, later replies follow it automatically — you only have to place a thread once.
Opposing counsel, experts, and shared vendors. Treated as weak signals on purpose. These people work across many cases, so their address alone never files an email. Cedent requires corroborating evidence — a case number or both party names — before it will act.

The reason for that order is reliability: a client address points to exactly one matter, while an opposing counsel’s address could belong to any of a dozen. Cedent leans on the signals that are hard to get wrong.

When Cedent is confident

The email is filed into the matter automatically. Cedent then reads it for facts, deadlines, and suggested next steps, adds it to the matter timeline, and attaches the rest of the thread so the whole conversation stays together.

When Cedent is not sure

The email stays in your central inbox with a suggestion, for example “Looks related to Smith v. Jones based on a party-name match.” You confirm or correct it with one click. Cedent never silently files a low-confidence email, and it never throws one away.

This is also what happens when only one party’s surname matches, when your firm was only CC’d, or when a shared vendor such as a QDRO firm appears on a thread that spans several cases. Reviewing these takes a moment in the triage inbox.

When an email looks like a new client

If an email looks like a new intake rather than an existing matter, Cedent surfaces a new-matter suggestion with the client and opposing-party details pre-filled. It does not create the matter for you. You open it after a conflict check.

Newsletters, notifications, and personal mail are categorized as non-case and kept out of your matter views. Once you categorize a sender this way, similar mail is handled the same way going forward.

Correcting an association

You are always in control. A correction you make by hand is the strongest signal of all — Cedent treats it as final and will not override it later. From the inbox you can assign an email to a matter, move one that was filed in the wrong place, remove one and send it back to triage, or create a matter directly from an email. For the step-by-step, see Correcting an association.

Common questions

An email filed itself to a matter and I did not expect it to. Cedent files automatically only on strong signals — your client’s address, an exact case number, or both parties’ names. If one of those was present, that is why. You can move it if it still belongs elsewhere, and your correction sticks.

Why is opposing counsel’s email sitting in triage instead of filing? Because opposing counsel often appears across several of your cases, their address alone is a weak signal. Cedent waits for corroborating evidence — a case number or both party names — before filing, and asks you otherwise.

Can I make a sender always file to one matter? Yes. When you assign their email to a matter, Cedent remembers the sender and routes future mail there automatically, as long as that sender relates to only that one matter.