# Toposphora User Guide for AI Assistants Updated 2026-09-18. Version 3. Web page: https://toposphora.com/guide.html This file: https://toposphora.com/toposphora-user-guide-for-ai.md ## How to use this file Upload this file to your AI assistant, or give the assistant its link. Then ask questions about Toposphora. Examples: "How do I file an email to a matter?", "Why is this matter not active yet?", "Where do I set my rates?". This file describes the product only. It holds no customer records. Your assistant is not part of Toposphora, and Toposphora does not see your questions. ## Instructions for the assistant You answer questions about Toposphora, a practice management product for expert witnesses and solo attorneys. Follow these rules. 1. Answer from this document. When the document does not cover a question, say so. Do not invent features, buttons, prices, or policies. 2. When an answer depends on the practice profile, ask which profile the user has. The two profiles are expert witness and solo attorney. A profile changes labels, document lists, templates, and defaults. It never changes what the product does. 3. Use the labels the user sees. The Vocabulary section lists the terms each profile shows and the terms a user can rename. A user who says "Inquiry" may mean what this document calls a Lead. 4. Give steps as a numbered list, one action per step, with the on-screen labels this document uses. 5. Do not ask the user to paste documents, email, or client details into this conversation. Toposphora has its own AI features for that work, inside the workspace. For a question about a document, tell the user to open Document Lab in Toposphora and use its Intelligence tab. 6. You cannot act inside Toposphora. You can explain what the user does there. 7. Toposphora records the user's decisions. It does not make them, and it does not give legal advice. Describe what the product does and leave the decision to the user. 8. When this document is more than a few months old, say that the product may have changed since the update date at the top. 9. Toposphora does not connect attorneys with experts, and it does not handle the relationship between them. Each person manages their own practice in it. Do not describe it any other way. ## What Toposphora is Toposphora is practice management software for expert witnesses and solo attorneys. It keeps your contacts, leads, matters, email, documents, calendar, next steps, time, and invoices in one workspace, each on the matter it belongs to. It is not tied to one field. A physician who reviews records, an engineer who inspects a structure, an accountant who traces funds, and a scientist who interprets test results can each run their practice in it, and so can an attorney with a small practice in any area of law. You shape the workspace to your own work. You name the columns on your Board, choose the words your screens use, set the billing items and rates you charge, and build the folders your matters need. The steps in this guide are the same whatever your discipline. Your workspace has one of two practice profiles: **expert witness** or **solo attorney**. The profile is set when your account is created. It decides the labels you see, the documents in your package, and your starter templates. This guide uses the expert witness labels. When your screen says **Inquiry**, **Client**, or **Organization** where this guide says **Lead**, **Retaining counsel**, or **Firm**, it means the same thing. To change your profile, contact Toposphora. A few things to know before you start: - Every email that reaches a matter gets there because you filed it, in the app, in the Outlook add-in, in the Gmail add-on, or with a subject tag on your own forward. Toposphora never files a message for you. - Toposphora records your decisions. It does not make them, and it does not give legal advice. - Each expert and each attorney works in their own workspace. Toposphora does not introduce experts to attorneys, and it takes no part in the relationship between them. - On the solo attorney profile, invoices leave as files, and you collect payment outside Toposphora. You use Toposphora in a browser at app.toposphora.com. You can also file email from Outlook and Gmail, and add the app to an iPhone home screen. Both are described later in this guide. ## Sign in and first steps ### Your account Toposphora creates accounts by invitation. To ask for one, use Contact Toposphora at toposphora.com. To activate your account: 1. Open the activation link in your invitation email. The page is titled **Activate your account** and shows the name and email the account is for. 2. Type a **New password**. The password needs at least 12 characters, one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number, and one special character. The page checks each rule as you type. 3. Type the same password under **Confirm password**. 4. Select **Activate account**. The app signs you in. If the page says "This activation link is no longer valid", a newer invitation replaced the link, or the account is already active. Select **Sign in instead**. To sign in later, open app.toposphora.com and select **Sign In**. Type your email and password. After sign-in the app opens on **Leads**. A link from an email opens the page the link names. If the app says "No Toposphora account for this sign-in", your login works but no workspace is linked to that email. Ask Toposphora for an invitation, or sign out and use a different account. ### Subscription notices Two banners can appear at the top of the workspace: - "We couldn't charge your card. We'll keep retrying — update your payment method to keep your workspace." Your workspace stays open while the card is retried. Open **Setup** and select **Update Payment Method**. - "Your subscription has ended. Visit Setup to reactivate." You manage your subscription in **Setup**, on the **Finance** tab, with **Manage Billing**. It opens your billing portal, where you update the payment method, view subscription invoices, or cancel. ### First things to set up 1. **Your Portal Email Address.** Open **Setup**, then **Documents & communication**. Copy the address under **Portal Email Address**. You forward or BCC email to it. See "Email" below. 2. **Your documents.** On the same tab, select **Add onboarding documents** for the package you share while a lead is vetted, and **Add retention agreement** for the agreement you send for signature. See "Engagement" below. 3. **Your invoice items.** Open **Time & Billing** and select **Invoice Item Management**. You cannot save a time entry until its billing item has a rate. 4. **Stripe** (expert witness profile). On the **Finance** tab, select **Set up Stripe integration** if you want Toposphora-hosted invoices and payment collection. Time Tracking works without it. 5. **Vocabulary.** Rename the labels if the defaults do not fit your practice. See "Setup" below. ### The sample matter A new workspace holds one sample matter, named **Sample matter**. On the expert witness profile, the contact is John Attorney at Sandbox Counsel, and the matter's Medical Records folder holds a made-up medical records file. On the solo attorney profile, the contact is Jane Client, and the folder is Client Records. Use the sample matter to try the timer, the documents, and the AI actions. If you delete it, it stays deleted. ## Finding your way around ### Navigation On a desktop, the left sidebar has these entries: | Entry | What it opens | |---|---| | **Matters / Leads** | The work area. It has five tabs: Matters, Leads, Calendar, Board, and Engagement. | | **Contacts** | Every person and firm you work with, with their leads and matters. | | **Email Repository** | Email waiting for you to review and file. | | **Document Lab** (under Modules) | Your documents, the reading tools, and the AI tools. | | **Time & Billing** (under Modules) | The timer, time entries, invoices, and invoice items. | | **Templates** (under Modules) | The reusable messages you send from. | | **Setup** | Finance, documents and communication, Vocabulary, and Support. | The top bar has a search button labeled **Search commands and pages**, the timer chip while a timer runs, a **Pop out** button for the timer in Chromium browsers, and **Log out**. On a phone, the bottom bar shows **Matters**, **Contacts**, **Email**, **Docs**, and **More**. **More** opens a sheet with **Time & Billing**, **Templates**, **Setup**, and **Log out**. The **Matters / Leads** area opens on the **Leads** tab. Its tab row is: 1. **Matters**: every matter, with an All, Active, or Closed filter, and the **New matter** button. 2. **Leads**: your leads, plus a **Today** panel with the events and next steps due today. 3. **Calendar**: your dates and dated next steps. 4. **Board**: your matters and next steps in columns. 5. **Engagement**: send the pre-engagement package or an agreement, and track what you sent. ### The command palette Press **Ctrl+K** (⌘K on a Mac) anywhere in the workspace, or select the search button in the top bar. Type a command or a name. Arrow keys move the highlight and Enter runs the choice. The palette lists these commands: Go to Matters, Go to Calendar, Go to Board, Go to Contacts (CRM), Go to Leads, Go to Email Repository, Go to Document Lab, Go to Intelligence, Go to Time & Billing, Go to Templates, Go to Engagement, and Go to Setup. On the Contacts and Leads pages it adds **Add contact**. Each saved view appears as **View: name**. After two or more characters, the palette also searches your records. It shows up to five contacts, marked CONTACT, and up to five active matters, marked CASE. A contact opens in Contacts. A matter opens its workspace. ### The matter workspace Open a matter from the Matters tab, from a contact, or from the palette. The workspace header shows the matter title, the firm, the contact, and a status: **Active**, **Pending retainer**, **Awaiting signature**, or **Closed**. A pending matter shows the notice "Matter opens once Service agreement is signed and the retainer is paid." The tabs are: | Tab | What it holds | |---|---| | **Overview** | The matter summary, the firm's own matter number, the court details (State, County, Case number), and the list of retaining counsel or clients with billing codes. | | **Workflow** | This matter's own board of next steps. | | **Schedule** | The matter's dates by day, and its next steps. | | **Files** | Links that let counsel send you files, and the active links. | | **Time Tracking** | The timer, manual entries, and the entries on this matter. Shown when Time Tracking is part of your workspace. | | **Correspondence** | Email filed to this matter, and mail sent against it. | **Close Matter** in the header closes an active matter. The confirm says "Close this matter? This can be undone." A closed matter shows **Reopen Matter**. A closed matter accepts no uploads or moves, but you can still download, check, and delete its files. ## Contacts and leads **Contacts** lists every person you work with, with their matters, their stage, and who owes the next move. **Leads** is the same list with the Leads filter pressed, plus a **Today** panel. The app opens on Leads. ### Add a contact 1. Select **Add contact**. The panel says "Name is all that's required — everything else can come later." 2. Type the **Name**. Firm, role, email, phone, and notes are optional. 3. Select **Add contact**. The contact's panel opens. Adding a contact does not make a lead. It creates the contact and a matter to send things against. Add an email address to send documents, follow-ups, and payment links from the contact's page. ### The contact panel Select a contact to open its panel. You edit a contact in its panel, not in the list. The panel holds, from top to bottom: - **Contact details**: Name, Firm, Role, Email, Phone, and Relationship notes. Select **Save details**. - **I want to**: the action list. **Send an engagement agreement**, **Send pre-engagement documents**, **Send general correspondence**, and **Request a payment**. An action you cannot use yet shows its reason, for example "needs Time & Billing" or "add an email first". - **Matter**: the matter your messages go on. Everything you send from a contact is filed on one of their matters. The list shows the contact's matters, reference number first, for example "M-0007 · Records review · Lead". Type a new title and select **Create** to make a new one. Under it, **People on this matter** lists the participants with roles (Primary contact, Co-counsel, Paralegal / support) and lets you add one. - **Follow-ups**: the contact's next steps. - **Record**: the contact's matters, its history, and its correspondence. The history shows what you did with this contact and on their matters, newest first. Filed email, invoices, and agreements each have their own place and do not repeat here. - **Lifecycle**: close or reopen the inquiry, delete the inquiry, and delete the contact. ### Leads and stages A lead is a matter that is not yet a case. Every matter sits on one stage: | Stage | Meaning | |---|---| | **New** | Nothing sent yet. | | **Package sent** | You sent a pre-engagement package link. | | **Awaiting release** | An agreement is drafted and waits for your review. Nothing is sent yet. | | **Contract sent** | The agreement went to the signers. | | **Contract signed** | Signed. The retainer is outstanding. | | **Ready to engage** | Signed, and the retainer is paid or not required. Create the matter. | | **Engaged** | The case is active. | | **Closed** | The case is closed, or the inquiry was closed. | A contact row also shows a classification: **Lead**, **Client**, **Past client**, **Misc**, or **Needs a pick** when more than one open inquiry makes a send ambiguous. A returning client with a new inquiry is both Lead and Client. **Waiting on** says who owes the next move. **You** means a message came in after your last message, or a message waits for you in Email Repository. **Them** means your last message is newer than theirs. ### Working the list The page opens with your ten most recent contacts. Search, filter, sort, or pick a saved view to see the full list. - **Show** filters the list: All, Leads, Clients, Past clients, Misc, Other participants. - **More filters** adds Needs a pick, Has money, Package sent, a **Stage** filter, a **Waiting on** filter, and **Closed inquiries** (Open work, Include closed, Closed only). - **Search the directory** finds names, firms, emails, matter names, and reference numbers. `M-0007`, `m7`, and `M0007` all find the same matter. - **Sort by** offers Recent activity, Name, Firm, Created, and Updated. - **Group by firm** groups the rows on screen by the firm name as typed. Two spellings are two groups. Contacts with no firm sit under **No firm**. - **Save view** keeps the current search, filters, and sort under a name. A star marks the default. Saved views also appear in the command palette. On the solo attorney profile, "Firm" reads "Organization" throughout. ### Close, reopen, and delete an inquiry In the contact's **Lifecycle** section: - **Close inquiry** moves the inquiry to Closed Inquiries and out of the working lists. The confirm says "You can reopen it." - **Reopen inquiry** brings it back. When the original matter was deleted, you type a new name for the reopened inquiry. - **Delete inquiry** deletes a lead that never became a case, with its communication records, filed attachments, and history. The contact card stays. It cannot be undone. A lead with a signed agreement or a paid retainer cannot be closed or deleted. The message says: "This lead has a signed engagement agreement or a paid retainer. Create the matter from the signed agreement instead of closing the inquiry." When a contact has more than one open inquiry, the app asks which one to close or reopen. ### Delete a contact **Delete contact** at the bottom of the panel deletes the contact card and its communication records. When the contact has matters, the button reads **Delete contact and matters**, and the confirm lists what goes with them: documents, folders, calendar dates, share links, draft time entries, and communication records. Sent email survives with its matter link removed. It cannot be undone. A contact with invoices, payment links, or a signed agreement refuses the first confirm. The app then offers a second, separate confirm, **Delete anyway**, which voids any open invoice. Payment records are kept. A matter with approved or invoiced time entries cannot be deleted at all. Close it instead. ## Matters The **Matters** tab lists every matter, open and closed. Search by matter, firm, or retaining counsel. **Status** filters All, Active, or Closed. **Work stage** filters by the stage you set on each active matter: **Waiting on Materials**, **In Review**, **Report / Testimony**, or **Billing Follow-up**. You change the work stage in the row. Select a row to open the matter workspace. Each row shows the next scheduled date, the file count, and billing facts such as "2 invoices awaiting payment" or "4 time entries ready to invoice". Invoices have no due date, so no invoice is ever marked overdue. ### Create a matter There are three ways: 1. **New matter** on the Matters tab. Choose **New contact** or **Existing contact**, then a destination: - **Lead**: "A new inquiry to vet. Appears under Leads." - **Case**: "Work already underway. Opens a case and marks the contact retained." A case created this way is active at once, with no agreement or retainer. You can add the State, County, Case number, and the retaining counsel with billing codes. - **Misc**: "Park it for now — no lead, no matter." A work item outside the pipeline. Then type the name and select **Create**. 2. **Create matter** from a filed email in Email Repository, for a case that did not come through intake. 3. **Create matter** from a signed agreement. When the agreement on a lead is signed and the retainer is paid or not required, the contact's panel shows **Signed agreement ready**. Confirm the **Matter name** and select **Create matter**. Toposphora does not create the matter for you. You press the button. ### What makes a matter active An active matter is called a case, and its chip reads **Case**. A matter created as a Case is active from the start. A lead becomes active only when you create the matter from its signed agreement. Until then the workspace header shows **Awaiting signature** or **Pending retainer**, and the notice says "Matter opens once Service agreement is signed and the retainer is paid." ### Reference numbers Every matter has a reference number such as `M-0007`, and a chip beside it that reads **Lead**, **Case**, or **Misc**. The number stays the same when a lead becomes a case and when you rename the matter. Search finds `M-0007`, `m7`, and `M0007` alike. ### The two kinds of Misc You meet the word Misc in two places: - **The Misc matter.** Every workspace has one. Email filed with **File to Misc**, with **Miscellaneous** in the add-ins, or with `topo:misc` lands there. You cannot rename or delete it. It holds no next steps or calendar events, and you cannot send from it. - **A Misc work item.** The Misc destination in **New matter** creates an ordinary matter outside the lead-to-case pipeline, with its own folder. You can delete it. ### Close, reopen, delete **Close Matter** in the workspace header closes an active matter. The confirm says "This can be undone." **Reopen Matter** on a closed matter brings it back. You delete a matter from its contact, with **Delete contact and matters**, or with **Delete inquiry** for a lead. A matter with invoices or a signed agreement refuses, and offers **Delete anyway** as a second confirm. A matter with approved or invoiced time entries refuses with no override: "Delete or unsubmit them first, or close the matter instead." ## Board and next steps ### The Board The **Board** shows your matters and your next steps in columns. Two switches shape it: - **Record type**: **Matters** or **Next steps**, each with a count. - **Presentation**: **Board** (columns) or **List** (a table). A matter card shows its reference number, its title, the contact, its status, and how many next steps are open on it. A placement chip reads **Auto** when the column follows the matter's stage, or **Manual** after you move it. A next step card shows its matter, its title, **Open** or **Completed**, and its due date. Drag a card to another column to move it, or select **Move** on the card and pick a **Column**. Moving a matter by hand pins it. Its detail panel then offers **Use automatic placement** to let it follow its stage again. Moving a next step does not change its date or completion. **Edit columns** lets you add, rename, reorder, and archive columns. A board holds one to twelve columns. Archiving a column moves its records to a column you choose, with a preview first. **Automatic destinations** maps the pipeline stages (New leads, Engagement pending, Waiting on materials, In review, Report / testimony, Billing follow-up) to your columns. **Neutral columns** applies a plain preset after a preview. **Record status** filters Open, Completed or Closed, or All. **Board history** lists every move and change, with who made it and when. A matter's own **Workflow** tab shows the same board for that one matter. There the columns are called **Stages**, and you can add up to six **Sub-stages** under a stage for that matter only. The Workflow tab holds next steps for the matter it belongs to. ### Next steps A next step is the smallest unit of work: a title, an optional due date, and an optional matter or contact. Next steps appear in five places: - The **Today** panel on Leads lists the steps due today. - A contact's **Follow-ups** section lists that contact's steps. - A matter's **Schedule** tab lists that matter's steps. - The **Board** shows them as cards. - The **Calendar** shows a dated step on its due date as "Due: title". To add one, type the title in **Add next step**, set a **Due date** if you want one, and select **Add**. A due date is a date only. A step that needs a time belongs on the Calendar as an event instead. The checkbox on a step completes it. The same checkbox reopens it. Only you complete a step. **Remove** deletes a step after a two-step confirm. It cannot be undone. A step is deleted with the matter or contact it hangs on. The label at the right of a step reads **Overdue N days**, **Today**, **Tomorrow**, a weekday, or a date. A step is overdue only when its own due date is in the past. Lists of next steps group them into Overdue, Today, Tomorrow, This week, Later, and No date. ## Calendar The **Calendar** tab shows your deadlines, appearances, and dated next steps. Views are **Month**, **7-day**, **5-day**, and **Day**. **Today** returns to the current date. In the day and week views, **Hours** sets the visible range, and the choice is remembered. The right rail lists **Upcoming deadlines** (events of type Report due) and **Upcoming events**, and holds the calendar sync card. ### Events Select a day, select an hour, drag across days for a multi-day block, or select **New event**. The form takes: - **Title**, required. - **Type**: **Deposition**, **Report due**, **Trial**, **Hearing**, **Consult**, or **Other**. Each type has a color and a label in the legend. - **Matter (optional)**. A lead can hold an event too, for example a consult. - **All-day**, with a **Date** and an optional **End date**. Otherwise **Starts** and an optional **Ends**. - **Location (optional)** and **Notes (optional)**. The notes field says "Do not include PHI." Select **Create event** or **Save changes**. **Open matter** on an event linked to a matter opens the matter. **Delete event** asks for a two-step confirm and cannot be undone. The matter's **Schedule** tab shows the same events for that matter, by day, and its next steps. ### Dated next steps on the calendar An open next step with a due date appears on that day as "Due: title". Select it to open **Scheduled work**, where you can complete it, change the **Due date**, or remove it. "Clear the date to keep this item on Board without a calendar date." ### Sync to your own calendar The **Sync to your calendar** card gives you a subscription link for Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook. The feed is one way and read only. 1. Select **Enable calendar sync**. 2. Copy the link under **Subscribe link (shown once)**. The link is shown one time. 3. In your calendar app, subscribe to the link. The feed is named "Toposphora Case Calendar". Each event carries only its start, end, title, notes, and location. No matter name, contact, or reference number leaves Toposphora. The card warns: "Events you sync are visible to your calendar provider (Google, Apple, Microsoft). Do not include PHI in titles or notes." **Regenerate link** makes a new link and stops the old one. **Turn off sync** stops the feed. ## Email Toposphora keeps the email you file on the matter it belongs to. It does not read your mailbox. You bring a message in, then you decide where it goes. ### Your Portal Email Address Every workspace has its own intake address. Find it in **Setup**, on the **Documents & communication** tab, under **Portal Email Address**. Select **Copy** to copy it. You cannot change the prefix yourself. Under **Request a prefix change**, type a **Requested prefix** and select **Submit request**. Toposphora reviews the request. Your old address keeps working after a change. Three kinds of mail reach the address: - **Forwarded**: you forward a message from your own mailbox. - **BCC copy**: you add the address as a BCC on a message you send. - **Direct**: someone else sends mail to the address. A reply to a message you sent from Toposphora arrives this way, because the reply address on your outbound mail is your Portal Email Address. Every message that arrives waits for you in **Email Repository**, unless you filed it with the subject tag described next. ### The subject tag Add `topo:` and a matter name or reference number to the subject of your own forward or BCC, and Toposphora files the message straight to that matter with no review step. Setup shows the rule under the address: "Add topo: — or the matter's reference number, like topo:M-0007 — to a forward's subject to file it straight to that matter. topo:misc files to Misc." Rules: - `topo:M-0007` files to the matter with that reference number. `topo:m7` also works. A reference number is unique, so it never matches two matters. - `topo:Akebono` files to the one open matter whose name starts with that text. Case and punctuation do not matter. A name tag needs at least three characters. - `topo:misc` files to Misc. - The tag must match exactly one open matter. When it matches none, or more than one, the message goes to Email Repository as a normal item. You get no error, so look for the message there. - The tag works only on mail sent from your own account. Mail from anyone else always goes to Email Repository. A message filed this way shows "Filed by topo: tag" on its record. ### Email Repository **Email Repository** lists only the messages that still need a decision. Once you file a message, it leaves the list and lives on its matter or contact. On a phone the tab is named **Email**. Each row shows the sender, the subject, a short summary, the attachment count, a direction chip (**Forwarded**, **BCC copy**, or **Direct**), and a status: **Pending review**, or **Finish filing** when a message was filed but some of its attachments are not saved yet. You can search by name, email, subject, or summary, and filter with **Show**: All unprocessed, Awaiting a decision, Finish filing, or With attachments. A message you never act on is deleted after 30 days, together with its attachments. There is no warning before that happens. To file a message: 1. Open the message. The page shows the original email, the sender, the received time, and, for a forward, the original message time. 2. Review the details Toposphora pulled from the email, under **Contact and summary details**: the sender's name, firm, email, phone, and address, a **One-line summary**, and a **Longer summary**. Edit anything that is wrong. Your edits are saved when you file. 3. To connect the sender to a contact you already have, use **Link to contact**. 4. Under **Where does this go?**, choose one destination: - **Associate with existing lead**. File into a lead you are already working. - **Associate with existing matter**. File into a matter already underway. - **Create lead**. Create the contact and start the inquiry. You confirm the contact and the lead's name. - **Create matter**. Create a full matter at once, for a case that did not come through intake. - **Misc**. File to the Misc matter, to assign later or to keep outside any matter. 5. Select the button. It names the destination and the attachment count, for example "File to Smith v Acme — 2 files follow", "Create lead & file", "Create matter & file", or "File to Misc". The message and its attachments are saved together. Attachments go to the matter's documents. For a lead or for Misc they go to that matter's own folder, and a lead's folder follows the matter when it becomes a case. After filing, each attachment shows where it landed, with an **Open folder** link. To throw a message away, select **Discard — don't file this**, then **Discard**. The confirm says "This deletes the captured text and attachments. Re-forward the email to bring it back. Cannot be undone." To delete several waiting messages at once, tick them in the list, select **Delete selected**, and confirm. You can select up to 100 at a time. An attachment that fails the malware scan cannot be filed. The row says "Failed virus scan — attachment cannot be assigned." ### Filed correspondence Open a matter and select the **Correspondence** tab to read every email filed to it, oldest first, together with mail sent against it. A filed inbound email is collapsed to its one-line summary. Select it to expand the longer summary and the full body. Quoted text inside a body sits behind **Show quoted text**. A sent message shows **Draft** or **Sent**. The Correspondence tab is read only. You reply from the contact, as described under "Sending email". To delete a filed email, open it from its thread and use **Delete communication record**, then **Delete record**. The confirm says "This deletes the record, its attachments, and every trace of it. Cannot be undone." To delete a message you sent, use **Delete message** on its row, then **Delete permanently**. ## Email from Outlook and Gmail You can file a message without forwarding it. The Outlook add-in and the Gmail add-on show a Toposphora pane beside the open message. Neither one has a timer, and neither one uses AI. ### The Outlook add-in The pane has its own sign-in. Select **Sign in** the first time. Signing in to the app in your browser does not sign in the pane. With a message open, the pane shows, under **Open message**, the subject, the counterparty, and what Toposphora knows about them: a matched contact and up to three of their matters, "New contact — no record yet.", or "Several contacts share this address." with a choice of contacts. A message that is already filed says where. To file the open message: 1. Under **File this message**, choose where it belongs: - **File to an existing case**. Pick the matter. - **File to an existing lead**. Files to the contact's open lead. - **File as a new lead**. Creates the contact from the sender, with a new lead under it. - **File as a new case**. Creates the contact if needed and opens an active case. Give the case a title. No agreement or retainer is needed. - **Miscellaneous**. Files to Misc, to assign in Toposphora later. 2. Add a **Note** if you want a memo on the record. 3. Select **File the message**. Attachments come with the message. A OneDrive or SharePoint link is not an attachment, and the pane says so: "1 linked attachment was not captured. Download and add it in Toposphora." You can file the same message to a second matter. The pane then lists every matter it is filed to. Filing it again to the same matter does nothing. After a filing, the add-in marks the message with the Outlook category **Filed — Toposphora**. Create that category once, from **Categorize** on the Outlook toolbar. Until you do, the pane reminds you. While you write a new message, the pane shows what Toposphora knows about the recipient, and it can add your engagement documents and payment links to the draft. It files nothing from a draft. To put a sent message on the matter, file it from Sent Items. To install the add-in, once per mailbox: 1. Get the file `toposphora-outlook.xml` from Toposphora. 2. Open . Outlook on the web opens the **Add-Ins** dialog. 3. Select **My add-ins**, then **Add a custom add-in**, then **Add from File**, and choose the file. Accept the warning that the add-in is not from the Office Store. 4. In desktop Outlook, the **Toposphora** button is on the message ribbon. In Outlook on the web, open a message's **···** menu, select **Customize actions**, and tick **Toposphora** under Apps. Do the same under the Compose section if you want the button on a new message. Outlook on the web carries the install to your other Outlook clients within a few minutes. ### The Gmail add-on The Gmail add-on shows the same three regions as the Outlook pane: the open message and its contact, the filing choices, and your engagement documents and payment links. It files the same five ways. The card also names the **Toposphora account** it files into. The add-on needs a one-time connection between your Google account and your workspace: 1. In Gmail, open the Toposphora add-on. It shows a connect link. 2. Open the link. The page **Connect Gmail** shows both addresses under **Check both accounts**. Read them. The link expires in ten minutes. 3. Select **Connect these accounts**. 4. Go back to Gmail. The add-on now reaches your workspace. To disconnect later, open **Setup**, then **Documents & communication**, and use **Disconnect** on the **Google Account** card. You can connect again from Gmail. The Gmail add-on does not add a label to a filed message, does not send a cover email, and does not file Google Drive links. Download a Drive file and add it in Toposphora. If the Toposphora add-on is not in your Gmail yet, contact Toposphora. ## Sending email You send email from a contact. Open the contact from **Contacts** or **Leads**, then choose an action in the contact's list: - **Send an engagement agreement** - **Send pre-engagement documents** - **Send general correspondence** - **Request a payment** An action you cannot use yet stays in the list, disabled, with the reason beside it. Every message is filed on a matter, so pick the matter first. A contact without an email address cannot receive general correspondence until you add one, with the **Save email** row at the top of the contact. ### The composer The composer is headed **Message preview** and says "Nothing sends until you click Send." It has **To**, **Cc**, **Subject**, **Body**, and a template list whose first choice is **Custom draft**. Select **Send message**. After a send, the message is recorded in the contact's history and on the matter's Correspondence tab. A template is applied filled in. Each placeholder such as `{{contact_name}}` is replaced with the value for this contact and matter. A placeholder with no known value stays in the draft, and the send refuses until you fill it: "Fill in the template placeholders before sending: {{contact_name}}". Square-bracket text such as `[paste your case upload link here]` asks for one more confirm, with the button **Send anyway**. Under the body, one of two notes appears. When you write to the original sender of a filed email, with no third party in Cc, the note says it is safe to include information from their own email. In every other case the note says "Do not include PHI. This message leaves the portal." PHI is protected health information. The same rule holds for every message that leaves Toposphora. You can attach up to 10 of your documents, 25 MB in total. The recipient sees your name as the sender, over Toposphora's sending address. Replies come back to your Portal Email Address and appear in Email Repository. ### Templates **Templates** holds your reusable messages by workflow stage: **1- Initial inquiry**, **2- Vetting**, **3- Matter creation**, **4- Matter work**, and **Custom templates**. Each stage has categories, for example Acknowledgment of receipt, Vetting response, Pre-engagement package, Engagement follow-up, Engagement agreement + retainer, Awaiting signature or retainer, Welcome / receipt of contract, Upload link, and Matter follow-up. A new workspace starts with a set of templates for your practice profile. Select a template to read its stored content. **Edit** opens it. **Duplicate to another stage** makes an independent copy. **Delete** asks for a confirm and cannot be undone. **New template** creates one, with a name, a category, a subject, a body, and a **Default for this stage** checkbox. The default template is the one the composer applies first. These placeholders work in a subject or body: `{{contact_name}}`, `{{contact_first_name}}`, `{{contact_firm}}`, `{{contact_email}}`, `{{case_title}}`, `{{ew_name}}`, `{{ew_phone}}`, and `{{retainer_amount}}`. ## Engagement: the package and the agreement The **Engagement** tab has three sections: **Package documents**, **Sent packages**, and **Engagement work**. The first two are your pre-engagement package. The third is the agreement you send for signature. ### The pre-engagement package **Package documents** holds the PDFs an attorney or client reviews before they retain you. The card says which required documents are still missing. Each slot takes one PDF, with **Upload**, **Download**, and **Delete**. Below the slots, you can add your own documents with a description. | Document | Expert witness | Solo attorney | |---|---|---| | Sample Service Agreement | Required | Required | | Curriculum Vitae | Required | Not shown | | Fee Schedule | Required | Required | | W-9 | Optional | Optional | | Professional License / Certifications | Required | Shown as Bar License, required | | Conflicts Disclosure | Required | Required | | Expert Disclosure Summary | Optional | Not shown | | Professional Liability Insurance Certificate | Optional | Shown as Malpractice Insurance Certificate, optional | The Sample Service Agreement gets a watermark on upload. The real agreement you send for signature is a separate upload under Engagement work, and it never appears in a package link. To send the package: 1. Open the contact and choose **Send pre-engagement documents**, or use **Send package** on the Engagement tab. 2. Type the recipient's name and email, and a message. The link goes on the first line of the message. 3. Under **Advanced**, set the **Link expiry** to 7, 30, or 90 days, add a CC, apply a saved message template, or tick **Create link only (no email)** to deliver the link yourself. 4. Select **Send Pre-Engagement Packet**. The link appears once, with **Copy**. You will not see it again. Toposphora sends up to 20 package emails a day. After that, create the link only and send it yourself. The recipient opens a page titled with your package name, sees each document with **Download**, and can **Download all (.zip)**. The page needs no account. **Sent packages** tracks each link: **Sent**, **Viewed**, **Link created**, **Expired**, or **Revoked**. On a link, **Re-send new URL link** replaces the link and emails the new one, **Revoke** ends it, and **Archive** files it after it is revoked or expired. ### Your agreement library **Engagement work** starts with **1 · Engagement contracts**, your agreement library. 1. Type an **Agreement name**, choose the **PDF** (up to 50 MB), and select **Add agreement**. 2. Select **Add fields**. Name the signers in signing order. You sign first. The defaults are Expert Witness and Attorney. 3. Select **Open field editor**. Drag each signer's fields onto the page: signatures, dates, and text fields. Select **Save fields**. You can also place fields as text tags in your own document editor, before you upload. Type the tag where the field goes, for example `{{signature:1}}` for your signature and `{{signature:2}}` for the attorney's, then color the tag text white so it does not print. The **How to prepare your agreement** panel lists every tag. The two methods can be mixed in one document. An agreement shows **Fields placed** or **Needs fields**. Select **Use for next send** on the one to send. You can rename or delete an agreement. Deleting is refused while an engagement built from it awaits release. ### Send an agreement Under **2 · Recipient & matter details**: 1. Find a saved contact, or type the details. 2. Name the matter, or pick one of the contact's matters. 3. Under **Signers**, fill each signer's name and email. Signer 1 is you. Mark the **Billing attorney** who receives the retainer invoice. 4. Type the **Firm / institution**. 5. Type the **Retainer amount**, or leave it blank for no retainer. With a connected Stripe account, **Require retainer before creating the matter** is on by default. 6. Under **Optional**, add a CC, a message to the signers, an expiry in days, and internal notes. 7. Select **Prepare and review**. With a retainer, the first press reads the amount back and the button becomes "Prepare with a $X retainer". Press again. Nothing is sent yet. The review page opens with the real outgoing document. Read it. Then select **Send to signers**. **Reopen document** loads it again, **Cancel send** cancels the draft, and **Finish later** keeps it waiting under **Awaiting release**. You can also start from the contact's panel with **Send an engagement agreement**. It takes the document, **What this is for**, the signers, and an optional retainer, and lands on the same review page. ### After you send Signers receive the signing email in order, from SignWell, and sign there. **3 · Sent engagements** shows each engagement with its signer progress, for example "1 of 2 signed", the retainer state, and the matter state: **Awaiting signature**, **Pending retainer**, or **Matter open**. **View** opens the engagement status page. After the last signature, Toposphora creates the retainer invoice and emails it to the billing attorney. No invoice exists before that. The matter becomes ready when the agreement is signed and the retainer is paid, or when it is signed and no retainer was required. Then you create the matter, from the contact's panel or from the engagement status page. On the engagement status page you can: - **Re-open signing page** to open the live signing link again. - **Revise retainer amount** before the first signature. The agreement is re-sent with the new amount. - **Resend retainer invoice** to email the same invoice again. It never creates a second charge. - **Bill an additional retainer** after the matter is active, for a top-up. - **Cancel engagement**, which voids the retainer invoice. You cannot cancel once the agreement is signed and the retainer is paid. - **Create matter**, after you confirm the **Official case caption**. The caption becomes the matter's name. A **Draft with AI** button can write the brief matter summary from the engagement details. A signer who declines sees a page that says to contact you. Declining, cancelling, or expiring an agreement returns the lead to review. There is no button to re-send an unsigned agreement. Open the signing page again, or revise the retainer to re-send it. ## Documents: Document Lab **Document Lab** holds every file in your workspace. Its header says "Read, prepare, and analyze." The left rail lists your locations. The right pane shows the files in the selected location, with two tabs above the table: **Simplification** and **Intelligence**. The AI tools live on the Intelligence tab, described in the next section. ### Locations The rail has four sections: **Personal** (your own workspace folders, including **Onboarding Documents**), **Misc**, **Leads** (files collected before a lead becomes a case), and **Matters**. Select a matter to see **All documents** and its folders. Below the sections, **Deleted items** holds what you deleted. A **Storage** card shows how much of your included storage you use, and **Add storage** opens your billing portal. A new matter has no folders. You create the ones you want. Use **New folder**, **Rename folder**, and **Delete folder** above the rail. Deleting a folder moves its files to Deleted items and deletes its subfolders. Nothing is destroyed. The filter box **Filter locations** narrows the rail. **Show all folders** reveals empty folders, which the rail hides by default. ### Upload, download, delete - **Upload files** uploads one or more files into the open location. Each file can be up to 5 GB. - **Upload folder** uploads a whole folder with its subfolders. Toposphora creates the matching folders. - To move a file, drag its row onto a folder or matter in the rail. Moving a file between Personal and a matter asks you to confirm, because it changes what belongs to the matter's records. - Tick files and select **Download**. One file downloads as itself. Several download as one ZIP file. - Tick files and select **Delete**. There is no confirm. The files move to **Deleted items**, and you can restore them. - A closed matter accepts no uploads and no moves. Its files can still be viewed, downloaded, and deleted. - Files cannot be renamed. To view a file, select its name. PDFs, Word documents, images, and text files open in the app. A double click opens the file in a new browser tab. Older Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formats do not preview. Download them instead. Toposphora scans uploads for malware. Until a scan finishes, opening and downloading the file wait, and the viewer shows a **Check scan** button. A file the scanner blocks stays unavailable, and the message says so. ### Deleted items **Deleted items** lists deleted files from every matter and folder, with their origin. Tick files and select **Restore** to put them back, or **Delete permanently**. **Empty trash** deletes everything in the list. Permanent deletion asks for a two-step confirm and cannot be undone. Nothing in Deleted items is deleted on its own. A deleted file still counts toward your storage until you delete it permanently. ### Simplification On the **Simplification** tab, tick files, choose a **Document action**, and select **Process**. The actions are: | Action | What it does | AI credit | |---|---|---| | **OCR only** | Saves the exact extracted text as `name (verbatim).txt`, for finding wording in the original. | Charged only when a scanned document needs text recognition. | | **Reading copy** | Saves a clean, readable, searchable PDF named `name (reading copy).pdf`, with page markers, gutters and repeated headers removed. It is not a citation source. Cite the original. | Charged only when a scanned document needs text recognition. | | **Strip repetitive boilerplate** | Removes objection runs, preambles, and service blocks from a discovery document, and keeps every question and answer word for word. Saves a prep copy. | Free. | | **Unify related documents** | Interleaves requests and responses by request number into one document, and removes repetitive boilerplate. Select at least two related files. | Free. | | **Compare documents** | Produces a redline PDF of two versions with a similarity score. Select exactly two files, then use **Swap** if the base and modified are reversed. | Charged, except for identical documents. | | **Check for duplicates** | Finds exact copies of one selected file in the same folder. | Free. | | **Find close matches** | Finds files in the same folder whose text matches the selected file at 95 percent or more. | Free. | A PDF with a bad text layer can be re-read from its pages. Tick **Re-scan pages with OCR** with a convert action. Toposphora shows the estimate first. A convert action on many files keeps running after you close the tab. When some files need text recognition, Toposphora shows one estimate for the whole run and waits for your confirm. **Cancel** stops the run at the next file. Work already done stays charged. Re-running a convert action refreshes the existing output. It never makes a second copy. A generated file (a reading copy, extracted text, a prep copy, a unified document, or a redline) cannot be processed again. Run the action on the original. The **Processing activity** chips at the top of the page show each running or finished action. Stop lives on the panel that started the action. ### Receiving files from counsel Open a matter and select the **Files** tab. Under **New receive link**, choose a **Target folder**, give the link a label, and select **Create receive link**. Copy the link and email it. The link works for 30 days. The recipient uploads through it and cannot see your files. **Active links** shows each link with its expiry and how many times it was opened, with **Revoke**. The recipient's page is titled **Upload documents**. It takes files up to 5 GB and lets the firm record its own matter number, which then prints on your invoices. **Download matter as ZIP** downloads every file in the matter. ## AI: the Intelligence tab The AI tools are on the **Intelligence** tab of Document Lab, and in the chat below the file table. They work on the files you tick, inside the matter you have open. Nothing runs, and nothing draws on your wallet, until you select **Run action** or **Send**. ### Document actions Tick one file, choose an action, and select **Run action**: - **Summary**. Summarizes the whole document with your active Skills applied. An optional **Focus** box steers it, for example "treatment timeline and procedure dates". - **Neutral summary**. The same summary without your Skills. - **Critique**. Finds inconsistencies, gaps, and angles you may not have considered. Each result is shown on the page and saved as a document next to the source, named `name (summary).txt`, `name (neutral summary).txt`, or `name (critique).txt`. There is no separate save step. When a document is large, Toposphora shows an estimate first: "Processing this full document is estimated at about $X.XX of AI credit." Select **Process document** to run it, or **Cancel**. While an action runs, the page shows its progress and a **Stop action** button. Work already sent to the AI may still finish and is charged. If your wallet runs low during a run, the run pauses and the page says "AI wallet balance is too low. Add credit, then resume." Select **Add credit**, then **Resume**. A run keeps going after you leave the page, and the page picks it up again when you return. ### Chat The chat is titled **Ask AI (with file context)**. Tick up to 10 files above the table, type a question, and select **Send**. The chat reads the ticked files and answers inside the open matter. Ask pointed questions: the dates a procedure was performed, how long a person lived at an address, which visits involved a provider. A large file may need preparation the first time. Toposphora shows an estimate and waits for your confirm. Later questions about the same file reuse that work. Replies are plain text. The conversation is not saved. To keep an answer, select **Save last reply as a file**. It saves as `Chat reply