Status & Sub-Status Architecture

7.1 What these statuses are

Eliminated is used when a lead is effectively dead from the User’s or client’s perspective, typically because the price is considered too high, the client has stopped responding despite appropriate follow‑up, the User cannot assist with the matter, or the client has chosen another lawyer or service provider.

When a User sets a client record to Eliminated, the platform automatically opens the Elimination Wizard, a mandatory multi‑step dialog where the User must confirm the decision, select or enter a specific elimination reason, and complete any required classification questions before the status change is saved.

Rejected is an Admin‑level review status applied after a lead has been moved to Eliminated, used internally to record that the lead will not be pursued and to decide whether a post‑enquiry survey (for example, “Why did you not proceed?”) should be sent.

Unsuitable Enquiry is used where the “lead” is not a valid commercial opportunity at all, for example spam submissions, enquiries for the wrong jurisdiction, or matters clearly outside the scope of services that Advocate Abroad and the network provide.

7.2 When each status should be used

Use Eliminated whenever there was a real enquiry and some possibility of work, but it has become clear that the client will not proceed with the User (for example, the client goes with another lawyer, refuses to pay realistic fees, or repeatedly ignores chasers and reminders); the Elimination Wizard must be completed in full before the record is actually marked as Eliminated.

Use Rejected only from Admin side, after reviewing an Eliminated lead, to mark that it is definitively closed from a marketing perspective and to control whether a satisfaction or “why did you not proceed?” survey is sent to the client; Admin can also adjust the elimination reason or category during this review step if the User’s selections in the Elimination Wizard were incomplete or inaccurate.

Use Unsuitable Enquiry where proceeding would not make sense regardless of price or follow‑up, such as enquiries in a location where the network has no coverage, obvious non‑legal or non‑serious requests, or repeated problematic contacts that have already been blocked.

7.3 Main behavioural effects in the CRM

Moving any client record to Eliminated launches the Elimination Wizard and, once completed, stores the selected reason and any structured fields for reporting, quality assurance and optimisation of marketing, pricing and assignment strategies.

Once a record is in Eliminated, all automated follow‑up mechanisms for that enquiry stop, including chaser emails, “Didn’t Answer” non‑responsive sequences, operator prompts and internal Admin reminder emails.

For Direct Service enquiries, setting the status to Eliminated stops all Direct Service follow‑ups for that lead but does not clear the internal isdirectservice flag, so the enquiry can still be correctly categorised in reports and dashboards.

Enquiries in Eliminated, Rejected or Unsuitable status are excluded from “Current Clients” and similar active‑pipeline views, and are subject to GDPR‑driven anonymisation or deletion according to the platform’s data‑retention rules once the relevant retention period has expired.

7.4 Sub-statuses and NPD linkage

The NPD (Client Not Proceeding) flag is applied where a client declines to proceed before a proper assignment or paid engagement has been created, typically after receiving a quote or initial explanation of services.

When NPD – Client Not Proceeding is selected (either directly or via the Elimination Wizard), the client record’s status is automatically set to Eliminated, while the NPD flag itself is retained separately so that Advocate Abroad can report on volumes and reasons for non‑conversion at this stage.

NPD records behave like other Eliminated leads for operational purposes (no further follow‑ups, excluded from active lists, subject to retention or anonymisation) but can be filtered and analysed as a distinct subset for business‑intelligence and process‑improvement work.

Note: NPD (Client Not Proceeding) should not be confused with NPD (Next Progress Date) – see the Next Progress Date section for rules on scheduling and expiry

7.5 Common misunderstandings and notes

Users sometimes confuse Unsuitable Enquiry with Eliminated when a client simply decides not to pay or chooses another lawyer; in such cases the enquiry was suitable, so the correct status is Eliminated (optionally with NPD selected in the Elimination Wizard to capture the conversion failure accurately.

Admin may later change an Eliminated enquiry to Rejected for survey and reporting purposes, but this does not reactivate follow‑ups or change historical activity; it only affects internal analytics, post‑enquiry communication rules, and how the original Elimination Wizard data is grouped in dashboards.

8.1 What they are / when used

• NPD – Awaiting Assignment: initial intake state where no professional has yet been assigned to the enquiry, either because assignment is pending, an automatic assignment rule did not find a suitable match, or the lead has just been created by an operator and is waiting in the assignment queue.
• NPD – Unassigned: the enquiry previously had a designated professional, but that link has been removed (for example, the lawyer left the network, the Enquiry Type or location changed, capacity rules forced de‑assignment, or Admin manually removed the user) and the client now requires reassignment.
• NPD – Client Not Proceeding: the client has explicitly or implicitly declined to proceed at the pre‑assignment or early‑contact stage (for example, by rejecting fees, choosing another provider, or confirming loss of interest); the client record’s main status is automatically set to Eliminated, but the NPD flag and reason are retained for non‑conversion reporting.

8.2 Main behavioural effects

• All NPD states display an orange NPD badge in list views plus a prominent red “No professional designated” banner at the top of the client record, signalling that the matter is not yet owned by any User and must not be treated as an active assigned client.
• From the NPD banner, Admin (and any roles with assignment permissions) can take two primary actions: Assign User (open the assignment dialog, select a professional and convert the record out of NPD) or Mark Not Proceeding (set NPD – Client Not Proceeding and move the record to Eliminated while capturing a reason).
• NPD – Awaiting Assignment that remains unresolved for 72 hours (or the configured SLA) automatically acquires an Expired badge and appears in the “Expired Clients” / expired NPD views, highlighting it as a priority for Admin triage; the status itself does not auto‑change, and no professional is assigned until an explicit assignment action is taken.
• Records in NPD – Awaiting Assignment or NPD – Unassigned do not trigger lawyer‑side follow‑up automations (no lawyer reminder emails, no “Didn’t Answer” sequences) because there is no responsible User, but they may trigger Admin‑level alerts or dashboards to prevent leads remaining unallocated.
• Records in NPD – Client Not Proceeding behave operationally like other Eliminated leads (no further client follow‑ups, excluded from active client lists, subject to standard data‑retention and anonymisation rules) while remaining filterable as a specific NPD segment for conversion analysis.

9.1 What it is / when used

The Freeze function is a temporary on‑hold mechanism that pauses reminder emails, automatic status checks, and unassignment rules for a specific client record without treating the enquiry as Eliminated or Completed.

It is used when a client explicitly asks to “wait” or “come back later” (for example, while waiting for documents, funds, travel, or a decision), or when the User cannot realistically progress the matter for a short, defined period but expects the enquiry to remain active afterwards.

9.2 Who can freeze and how

Users can request a freeze in 2 ways:

• Simply messaging Admin, (for example, “Can we freeze it until tomorrow at 12:00 Spanish time?”) or
• In the 'All Actions' > 'Yes' > 'The Call was Rescheduled by Client' or 'Waiting to Receive Documentation'.

If the 2nd option is used, the system will notify the User that the client will receive an email notification that a call has been scheduled for the expiry date that they set (this avoids the Users abusing this functionality to set a Freeze Expiry date in 2040 and effectively remove the client record from their list with no need to contact the client further or do updates)

Admin can also apply freezing proactively, for example where a client will be unavailable for calls due to time‑zone differences, holidays, or health, or where an automatic unassignment or auto‑elimination would otherwise trigger while the lawyer and client have agreed to pause.

9.3 Main behavioural effects

• While frozen, the client record remains in its underlying workflow status (usually Created ) and is still visible in the User’s client list, but automatic chaser emails, “Didn’t Answer” sequences, and expiry‑based auto‑elimination rules are suspended until the freeze period ends.
• The Next Progress Date is set to a future date that reflects the agreed “unfreeze” point; until that date passes, the record will not appear as Expired and will not be unassigned or auto‑eliminated for inactivity, even if it would normally do so under standard SLA rules.
• Freezing does not interfere with manual actions: Users can still call or email the client, add Updates, change status to Completed or Eliminated, or adjust the Next Progress Date earlier than planned if the client re‑engages sooner than expected.

9.4 Interaction with existing statuses

• For newly created or Created enquiries where the client cannot be contacted immediately (for example, large time‑zone gap or client travelling), freezing prevents the record from being unassigned or auto‑eliminated when the initial contact SLA expires, while keeping it in Created until the agreed call window.
• There is no need to Freeze an Ongoing status client since these just require the User to set the NPD to an appropriate future date to avoid receiving notifications - there are no automatic client notifications sent while in Ongoing status 
• A frozen record is never a substitute for long‑term parking statuses such as Hibernated; where a service is cyclical (for example, annual tax filing), the correct medium‑to‑long‑term status is Hibernated with its own reminder cycle, while freezing is reserved for short, exceptional pauses inside an otherwise active cycle.

9.5 Common usage patterns

• Short deferral for contact logistics: client and User agree to speak the next day or after a weekend due to time‑zone differences or prior commitments; Admin freezes until the agreed date so automatic “no contact” workflows do not fire prematurely.
• Client‑initiated temporary hold: client indicates they may proceed “in a few weeks” or “next month” but has not definitively declined; Admin or User arranges a freeze until a specific date, after which the matter is treated again as active and follow‑ups resume (or it is moved to Eliminated if there is still no response).
• Payment‑dependent work: User does not wish to provide further services until overdue fees are paid, and requests freezing “meanwhile” so that reminders and auto‑elimination do not misrepresent the situation while payment is being chased.

What the Next Progress Date is

The Next Progress Date is a scheduling field in the Updates tab that records the next calendar date on which the User expects to take action or review progress on a specific client enquiry.

It functions as the primary follow-up reminder mechanism in the CRM, ensuring that each active client record has a clear “next touchpoint” and is not forgotten once initial contact has been made.

How it works in the CRM

For most new enquiries, the system sets an initial Next Progress Date automatically when the record is created or when certain actions occur (for example, after sending an offer email or recording a call result).

Users must then manually update the Next Progress Date each time there is a relevant change in the case (such as a client call, document request, or waiting period for an external decision) so that the follow-up schedule remains accurate.

When the Next Progress Date passes without being updated, the record moves into an “expired” or “needs attention” state in the interface, making it visible to the User and Admin as requiring review and either a new action or a change of status (for example to Eliminated, Hibernated or Completed).

Usage rules and good practice

Whenever a User sets a Next Progress Date more than two weeks in the future, they should add a brief comment in the Updates Record explaining the reason for the delay (for example, “waiting for court date,” “client to return to Spain in three months,” or “awaiting bank decision”). This ensures that Users don't simply set a Next Progress Date of February 1st 2029 and thereby avoid having to ever manually update the client record.

Users are expected to review their client list regularly, paying particular attention to records whose Next Progress Date has expired, and either contact the client, update the date, or decide to close or eliminate the enquiry based on the latest information.

Keeping the Next Progress Date and Updates Record aligned is mandatory for proper client management, internal monitoring and to avoid unnecessary reminder emails or unintended auto-elimination of enquiries that are in fact still active.

Relationship to statuses and automation

The Next Progress Date acts as a trigger point for several background processes, including lists of “expired” files, Admin review workflows and, in some cases, automated messages prompting Users to update or close old enquiries.

For genuinely ongoing files, the User should always push the Next Progress Date into the future rather than allowing it to lapse; for files that will go dormant but may return seasonally or annually (for example, recurring tax clients), it is usually combined with the Hibernated status so that the system can “wake” the record at the appropriate time.

What “Expired” means

The Expired status (or “expired clients” category) indicates that the Next Progress Date on a client record has passed without being updated, so the file is overdue for review and follow-up even though its main workflow status may still be Ongoing.

It is a system-driven flag that groups together all active client records where the scheduled follow-up date is in the past, allowing Users and Admin to see at a glance which matters risk being neglected.

How a record becomes Expired

When the calendar date moves beyond the stored Next Progress Date and no new date is set, the CRM automatically moves that record into the expired-clients view while preserving its underlying workflow status (for example, Ongoing, Hibernated, or Pending).

In some configurations, if a record remains expired for longer than a defined grace period, additional automated processes may run, such as eligibility for auto-elimination routines, reminder emails, or admin alerts.

How to use the Expired list

Users should regularly review their expired list, contact or attempt to contact the client where appropriate, add a short status comment in the Updates Record, and then either update the Next Progress Date, close the file (CompletedClosed), or change it to Eliminated if the client is clearly not proceeding.

A client record should not be left indefinitely in Expired status; once reviewed, it must always be moved out of the expired list either by setting a new future Next Progress Date or by changing the workflow status so that the record is no longer treated as an unattended active enquiry.

Relationship to other statuses

Expired is not a final outcome like Completed, Closed, Eliminated, Rejected or Hibernated; it is a temporary attention state that can coexist with an underlying Ongoing status until the User decides what should happen next.

Good practice is to ensure that genuinely active clients remain Ongoing with a future Next Progress Date, recurring clients are set to Hibernated with system wake-up dates, and only files that are truly finished or abandoned are moved out of the active pipeline, so that the expired list reflects genuine follow-up failures rather than normal long-running cases.