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Custodio Legal

Inside a matter

Custodio Legal

Video tutorials in Spanish

These walkthroughs show the complete flow in the Spanish interface.

The matter file is the whole picture of a matter: its data, its history and what Custodio found in it.

Before you start

  • You need a matter that’s already been created.

Step by step

  1. Open a matter from My matters to see its file.
  2. Look at «Summary»: the description, the status, the priority and who it’s assigned to.

The matter’s summary, with the header, its status and its data

  1. Click «Matter details». Judicial matters allow editing the description and switching between Open and On hold. Extrajudicial matters also allow changes to the name, objective and priority. The practice owner can change the responsible member. Click «Save changes».
  2. From that window, choose «Add a party». Name and role are required. Distinguish practice-entered parties from court-published parties: portal records cannot be edited or deleted with this form.
  3. Go to the «Timeline» tab to see everything that happened, in order: what the court published, what the practice uploaded, and what Custodio inferred from the documents.

The matter’s timeline, with the court’s actions and the practice’s contributions

  1. For an extrajudicial matter, open «Manage milestones» from that tab. The «Expenses» tab handles the engagement’s expenses, as described below.
  2. Go to «Documents and facts» to upload files and review what Custodio found in them.
  3. In Summary, use the log to record a note, call, meeting or document reference. You do not need AI to write a log entry.
  4. When the matter ends, use the closure-with-outcome flow below, not the regular status control.

Recording a party or log entry

  • For a natural person, leave the entity type empty. Email and phone are optional and are not displayed again after saving. When editing contact information, read the warning: leaving it blank removes it rather than silently retaining the old value.
  • In the log, choose a type and enter its required title. Add what happened if useful. The occurrence field is when the event happened; blank uses the current time. Duration is optional and only appears for calls and meetings.
  • Submit the entry and verify it appears. Editing corrects the record; deleting an entry or party requires reviewing its confirmation and cannot be undone from the screen.

Milestones and expenses for an extrajudicial matter

  1. In Timeline, open «Manage milestones». Enter a title and a due date if known; the date may be empty. Click «Add milestone».
  2. Complete it when the work has happened. Marking it pending reverses that status; arrows change its order and Delete removes it. A milestone is not the same as a calculated judicial deadline.
  3. In Expenses, add a description, positive amount and date. Category is optional. Check the currency shown by the matter.
  4. Saving records a pending expense. An authorized person can approve or reject it; Approved does not mean Paid, and approval does not transfer money.
  5. Reopen the tab to verify its status and updated figures.

Closing and reopening without losing history

  1. In «Matter details», click «Close the matter» and review the running deadlines that will be voided, plus the surveillance notice when applicable.
  2. Choose its outcome —Favorable, Adverse, Settled, Withdrawn or Other— and add a short explanation if useful.
  3. Click «Close the matter» and accept the second confirmation only after reviewing the consequences: the matter becomes Closed and frees a plan slot.
  4. Find it in the Archive, under «Closed». Closing a matter worked in Custodio does not turn it into an imported historical case.
  5. To continue working, open its file and «Matter details», then «Reopen the matter». Available quota is required. Reopening restores judicial surveillance when applicable but does not revive voided deadlines.

How you know it worked

The matter’s status changes in the header, and a closed matter shows its outcome instead of the close button.

If something goes wrong

What you see What happened What to do
You cannot close or reopen Its status, access or quota prevents the operation Read the reason and check access; reopening also needs plan quota
The timeline is empty There are no actions, documents or deadlines yet It will fill in on its own with the first update
You don’t see «Ask the file» or «Draft with Custodio» Your plan doesn’t include those features Check your plan to enable them

By country

Colombia also watches the case’s procedural publications — notices and postings — on top of the actions it already tracks. Ecuador watches the file just as closely, but that extra source doesn’t exist in its portal yet. In the Dominican Republic what is watched is not edicts —the Poder Judicial publishes none— but the hearing roll: the schedule the court sets, which is a different thing and arrives through its own channel. Costa Rica is registered and not offered yet; when it opens, what will be watched is the case file: the Poder Judicial de Costa Rica publishes no judicial edicts in a channel Custodio can watch, and its search by name is the Archivo Judicial’s, which is historical.