How to relate Contacts to Companies and Matters

Note: These are general guidelines. A lot of firms have customized info when dealing with relating Contacts so some of the verbiage may be different at your specific firm. A PDF doc is attached. If you would like a Word doc that can be edited please contact Orion support.

Introduction:

The first step is to see if the Company is already in Orion.

If your answer is yes, use Scenario One if the Contact is already in Orion or Scenario Two if the Contact will be newly added to Orion.

If the company is not in Orion, go directly to Scenario Three.

If you are relating a Contact to a Client-Matter, go to Scenario Four.

- Additionally, here are a few more details to review before you get started 

Consistent Address Abbreviations:

Please make sure you are consistent when entering addresses, and specifically any road designations or suite/apartment should be abbreviated (i.e. Street should be entered as St.).

Link Type Definitions:

Primary – This represents, for a company, who is the primary contact, not just for a single user but the firm as a whole. You can only have one Primary Contact. For many situations, this may not get used. 

Associated – Like the Primary, this type of person 'works for' this company and may or may not share much of the same demographic information. 

Firm – This will be used to link a firm attorney (or staff) to a Contact for marketing functions. See relating Attorneys to Contacts.

Other – This is typically reserved to link a Contact to another Contact using a looser relationship (i.e. either a former employee or someone who doesn't work directly for this company).  

Protocol for Contact Information Differences: 
If you come across a company or contact that is already in Orion, but has different contact information than what you have, please discuss the differences with the related attorney for which you are entering contact information. If the attorney is unsure of the Contact's correct information, please call the Contact and ask them to verify which address, etc. should be used.

Include Contacts in Your Attorney’s Sync List:
After you save a Contact, click Action > Adjust Sync List and then select the appropriate attorney for the Client. This will sync the information for that Contact to the attorney's information. Please ensure your attorney wants all of their Contacts to sync with Orion.

Relating Attorneys to contacts
In Contact find the contact to which you would like to relate the attorney.  Right click, go to New and select Add Related Contact. Find the attorney who is related to this Contact and double click it. Under link type select Firm and under relationship select Employee. Put in any notes and press OK.

SCENARIO ONE

If both the Company and Contact are already in Orion, this is how you build the relationship:

1) Open Orion.

2) Click the Contacts button.
    ** The Contacts button is in the left column.

3) Click anywhere in the 'File As' column in Orion and start typing the company name.

4) Right click on the company, go to New, then left click on “Add Related Contact”.  

5) On the list that appears, click on any name and start typing the last name of the Contact you need to enter. If that Contact is already in Orion, it will appear.
  **Make sure you click the ‘File As’ header first, so all of the Contacts will appear alphabetically

6) Double click on the Contact and a window will open. This box allows you to change the type of Contact and relationship.

7) In the Link Type box, pick Primary, Other, Associated or Firm.

8) In the Relationship box, you will select the Contact's job title. Also, complete the above steps (4-8) for your related attorney(s).

SCENARIO TWO

If the company is in Orion and the contact is not:

1) Click the Contacts button.
    ** The Contacts button is in the left column.

2) Click anywhere in the 'File As' column in Orion and start typing the company name.

3) Right click on the company and go to New then left click on "New Contact Same Company." 

4) Fill out the Link Type (Primary, Associated, Other or Firm) and the Relationship field.  Add any notes you think may be important, and press OK.

5) Fill out the contact information sheet and press Save and Close.

SCENARIO THREE

If the Company is not in Orion, this is how you enter it and then build the relationship:

1) Open Orion.

2) Click the Contacts button.
    ** The Contacts button is in the left column.

3) Go to the New button at the top left area in the tool bar.

4) When the box appears, select Company (not person). Enter the Company name and address.

5) Select ‘Type of Contact’ (**in the right area of the dialog box).

6) Select Save.

If you need to add a Contact to this Company, follow the following steps:

7) Go to New – Add Related Contact (while still in the Company dialog box).  

8) On the list that appears, click on any name and start typing the last name of the Contact you need to enter. If the Contact does appear, follow the steps within Scenario 1. If the Contact does not appear, follow the steps within Scenario 2. 

SCENARIO FOUR

1) Click the Matters button on the left tool bar in Orion.

2) Find the Client-Matter to which you would like to relate a Contact, and right click.

3) Select Add Related Contact.

4) Select the Relationship Type and put in any notes that may be useful on the relationship.  Press OK.

Relating_Contact_Instructions.pdf