Your first week with Cedent

Getting started with Cedent is not a data-entry project. Once your mailbox is connected, Cedent begins reading your email and organizing it into matters on its own. Your job in the first week is mostly to watch that happen, check its work, and correct it where needed. This page sets expectations for what those first days look like.

Day one: Cedent starts reading

After your firm is connected, Cedent works through your recent email and begins building matters from it. You will see matters appear and fill in — each with a synopsis, a timeline, and the people involved. This takes a little time as Cedent works through the backlog, so a matter may look thin at first and become more complete over the next while. Progress indicators on a matter — for example “Pulling emails from your inbox…” — tell you when one is still coming together.

You do not need to create matters by hand to get started. Cedent proposes them from your email. You stay in control of which ones become real matters.

The first few days: check the picture

As matters fill in, spend a few minutes looking at a handful you know well and asking: does this match reality?

Open a matter and read its synopsis and timeline. They should reflect what is actually going on in the case.
Look at the people on the matter — your client, opposing counsel, experts.
Check your central inbox for anything Cedent was not sure about. These are emails waiting for you to confirm or correct where they belong.

This is the best time to teach Cedent. A correction you make by hand is the strongest signal it has, and it carries forward — fix where an email filed once, and similar mail follows your lead afterward.

Through the week: let drafts and briefs come to you

Once the picture is in place, the day-to-day rhythm takes over:

The daily brief tells you what changed and what needs attention across your matters, so you are not hunting through your inbox. Start your morning there.
Drafts — routine replies and forms — are prepared for your review. You approve, edit, or reject them. Nothing leaves your hands automatically.

What you do not have to do

You do not migrate off your practice management system. Cedent works alongside it.
You do not re-enter clients, matters, or history. Cedent reads them from your email and documents.
You do not let anything go out unreviewed. Cedent is approval-gated by design.

Common questions

How long until my matters are fully built? It depends on how much email and how many documents Cedent is working through. Recent matters take shape quickly; a long backlog fills in over a little while. The progress indicators on each matter show when one is still building.

A matter looks wrong or is missing something — what do I do? Correct it. Move a misfiled email, resolve a flagged fact, or file something waiting in triage. Your corrections are authoritative and teach Cedent for next time. See Correcting an association.

Do I need to do anything to keep matters up to date after the first week? No. Cedent keeps reading new email and documents and updates matters on its own. Your part is reviewing the briefs and approving drafts.