How to Manage Cases

Cases in eCourtDate hold your court record details, the client attached to the record, the attorneys and judge on the case, uploaded files, comments, and the messages you send about the case. Managing cases keeps your agency's records accurate and gives your team one place to review everything tied to a case number.

![Cases portal view](https://assets.ecourtdate.com/images/articles/cases-portal-view.png)

### Overview

Click **Cases** in the top navigation bar to open the Cases page. The page holds a **Create Case** card, a **Search Cases** card, and a results table listing your cases. An **Assign cases** card below the search filters lets you add or remove attorneys, and set or clear the judge or location, on many cases at once. You see a preview of what will change before anything changes, and you can undo the run afterward.

Click the edit icon in the **EDIT** column to open a single case. The case page holds the case fields (including **Judge**), an **Attorneys** card, an **Assignment history** card, a **Case Files** card, a **Create a Comment** card, a read only list of events matching the case number, an **Attached Client** card, **Portal Subscriptions**, and a **Send Message** form.

The Cases page shares a tab strip with **Bonds**, **Warrants**, **Attorneys**, **Interpreters**, **Interpreter Tasks**, and **Assessments**.

### Prerequisites

- A role with create and update permissions for cases, set under **Admin** > **Users** > **Roles** in the **Enabled Permissions** picker
- At least one location added under **Admin** > **Locations** to use the **Location** field
- At least one case status added under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses** to use the **Status** field
- A comma separated list in **Case Types** under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Cases and Records** to use the **Type** field
- At least one attorney under **Cases** > **Attorneys** to attach attorneys, assign them in bulk, or filter by them
- At least one judge under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Judges** to set a judge on a case, assign judges in bulk, or filter by judge
- The `update_events` permission, the same one that lets you save a case, to use **Assign cases** and to add or detach attorneys on a case. Without it, the **Assign cases** card is hidden and the **Attorneys** card is read only

### How-To Steps

#### How to Create a Case

1. Click **Cases** in the top navigation bar.
2. Enter a value in **Case Number** in the **Create Case** card.
3. Select a **Type**, **Status**, or **Location** if those fields are shown.
4. Click **Create**.

The **Fields** dropdown at the top of the **Create Case** card controls which fields appear in the form and which columns appear in the results table.

If **Auto Generate Case Number** is enabled under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Case Numbers**, a case number is filled in for you and the refresh icon beside the field generates a new one. eCourtDate checks the case number as you type and shows a **Case number already exists** alert if it is already in use.

After the case is created you are taken to the new case page.

#### How to Search for Cases

1. Click **Cases** in the top navigation bar.
2. Enter a case number or keyword in **Search** in the **Search Cases** card.
3. Select a **Location**, **Judge**, **Status**, or **Type** to narrow the results. Select **No location** or **No judge** to find cases that have none.
4. Enter a date in **File Date**, **Arrest Date**, or **Offense Date** if those fields are shown.
5. Click an attorney button to limit results to that attorney's cases, or click **No attorney** to find cases with no attorney. Click **Clear all** to remove the attorney filters.
6. Select **Archived** or **Trashed** to look for cases in those states. Only one of the two can be selected at a time.
7. Click **Search**.
8. Click the edit icon in the **EDIT** column to open a case.

Use the **Search clients** box above the **Create Case** card to limit the results to one client's cases. Click the close button on the **Client** card to clear that filter.

Click **Load more** below the table to load additional results, or use **PDF** and **CSV** above the table to download the current results.

Turn on the **Attorney** and **Judge** columns from the **Fields** dropdown to see every attorney and the judge on each case. The **CSV** download lists attorney, judge, and location names rather than IDs.

#### How to Update a Case

The case form holds these fields:

- Case Number
- Location
- Judge
- Agency
- Status
- Type
- File Date
- Arrest Date
- Offense Date
- Judgment Date
- Arrest Tracking
- Victim Name
- Offender Name
- Codes
- Description
- Offense Type
- Offense Description
- Conditions
- Charge Number
- Warrant Status

1. Open the case from the results table.
2. Change any of the fields above.
3. Click **Save**.

Your agency can rename these labels under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Customize** in the **Custom Fields** section, so the wording you see may differ.

Saving the case never changes its attorneys. Add and detach attorneys from the **Attorneys** card instead.

#### How to Upload and Manage Case Files

1. Open the case you want to add files to.
2. Drag files onto the **Case Files** card, or click the **Drop files here or click to browse** area and pick files.
3. Click **Download** beside a file to open it.
4. Click the trash icon beside a file, then confirm the prompt, to delete it.

Uploaded files are listed below the drop area, with a count in the heading plus the size and upload time for each file.

#### How to Attach a Client to a Case

1. Open the case you want to update.
2. Enter a name or reference in the **Search clients** box on the right side of the case page.
3. Click **Search**.
4. Click **Attach** beside the client you want.

The client is saved to the case straight away. An **Attached Client** card replaces the search box and lists the client name, reference, language, type, group, and status, along with a **View Client** button and the client's contacts. Click **Detach** to remove the client and bring the search box back.

#### How to Add an Attorney to a Case

A case can have several attorneys. Adding an attorney never removes the attorneys already on the case.

1. Open the case from the results table.
2. Select an attorney in **Add attorney** in the **Attorneys** card.
3. Select **Email the attorney** if you want the attorney emailed about the case.
4. Click **Add**.

You can also add the attorney from the attorney record:

1. Click **Cases** in the top navigation bar.
2. Click the **Attorneys** tab.
3. Click the edit icon beside the attorney.
4. Enter the case number in **Search by Case Number** in the **Search Cases** card.
5. Click **Search**.
6. Click **Attach** beside the case you want.

The **Attorneys** card on the case lists each attorney with a link to the attorney record, the firm, bar number, and email, and a line that says when the attorney was attached, by whom, and how. For example: "Attached Oct 6, 2026 2:03 PM by clerk@agency.gov, Assign Cases". An attorney attached before eCourtDate recorded these details shows **Attached on or before** and a date.

The first attorney in the card, the one attached first, is the case's primary attorney. Attorney merge tags such as `[AttorneyName]` in your messages name the primary attorney, so adding co-counsel never changes who a message names. If you detach the primary attorney, the next attorney in the list becomes the primary one.

#### How to Detach an Attorney from a Case

1. Open the case from the results table.
2. Click **Detach** beside the attorney in the **Attorneys** card.
3. Confirm the prompt.

Only that attorney is removed. The **Attorneys** card is read only on an archived or trashed case and says **Restore this case to change its attorneys.**

#### How to Set a Judge on a Case

A case has one judge.

1. Open the case from the results table.
2. Select a judge in **Judge** in the case form. Clear the field to remove the judge.
3. Click **Save**.

Click **Edit judge** below the field to open the judge record. The case keeps a link to the judge record, so renaming the judge does not change the case.

#### How to Review a Case's Assignment History

1. Open the case from the results table.
2. Read the **Assignment history** card.
3. Click **Show more** to load older changes.

The card lists every attorney, judge, and location added to or removed from the case, newest first. Each line says when, who made the change, and how: "on the case", "Assign Cases", "upload", or "undo". For example: "Oct 6, 2026 2:03 PM: Dana Ruiz (Ruiz Law) added as attorney by clerk@agency.gov, Assign Cases".

#### How to Assign Cases in Bulk

**Assign cases** changes the attorneys, judge, or location on many cases at once. It works on the cases you check in the results table. When none are checked, it works on every case that matches your search filters. One run can change at most 2,000 cases.

Assignments never apply to trashed cases. While you view the trash (**Trashed** selected in **Search Cases**), the **Assign cases** card says **Assignments do not apply to trashed cases. Leave the trash to assign cases.** and offers no button, and **Assign** above the table shows the same message. Archived cases can be assigned: select **Archived** in **Search Cases**, click **Search**, then assign them.

1. Click **Cases** in the top navigation bar.
2. Choose the cases:
   - To use your filters, set them in **Search Cases**, click **Search**, then click **Assign cases** in the **Assign cases** card.
   - To use specific cases, select them with the checkboxes in the **SELECT** column, then click **Assign** above the table.
3. Read the first line of the window to confirm which cases the run applies to, for example "Applies to all 340 cases matching the filters."
4. Choose what to do with attorneys, the judge, and the location. The options are in the tables below.
5. Leave **Email me a PDF report when it's done** selected to get a report by email, or clear it.
6. Click **Preview**.
7. Read what would change.
8. Click **Assign** (the button names the number of cases, for example **Assign 212 cases**).
9. Click **Done**, or click **Undo** to reverse the run.

**Attorneys**

| Option | What it does |
|--------|--------------|
| **What to do with attorneys** | **Leave attorneys as they are**, **Assign attorneys**, or **Remove attorneys**. |
| **Attorneys to assign** or **Attorneys to remove** | The attorneys to add or take off. You can pick up to 50. Removing takes off only the attorneys you pick. |
| **When a case already has attorneys** | **Add these alongside them** (the default) keeps the attorneys already on the case. **Replace them** removes the other attorneys. **Skip that case** leaves the case alone. |
| **Give each case** | Shown when you pick two or more attorneys. **All of the chosen attorneys** puts every one on each case. **One of them, spread evenly by caseload** gives each case the attorney with the fewest open cases so far. |
| **Most cases per attorney** | Shown when you spread. A cap on the open cases each attorney has, counting the cases they already have. A case is skipped when every attorney has reached the cap. Leave blank for no limit. |
| **Email each attorney a list of their new cases** | Selected by default. Each attorney gets one email for the run, listing only the cases newly added to them. |

**Judge and location**

| Option | What it does |
|--------|--------------|
| **What to do with the judge** or **What to do with the location** | Leave it as it is, set it, or clear it. |
| **Judges to set** or **Locations to set** | Pick one, or pick two or more to spread the cases evenly by caseload. Each case gets one. |
| **When a case already has a judge** (or **a location**) | **Skip that case** (the default) leaves a case that already has one alone. **Replace it** sets the new one. |
| **Most cases per judge** or **Most cases per location** | Shown when you pick two or more. A cap on the open cases each one has, counting the cases it already has. Leave blank for no limit. |

A caseload counts only open cases: cases that are neither archived nor trashed. Archived cases, including archived cases in the run itself, do not count toward anyone's caseload or cap.

The preview shows how many cases are in scope, how many would change, what would be skipped and why, and how many cases each attorney, judge, or location would gain or lose. Nothing is saved until you click **Assign**. The run uses the same cases, in the same order, as the preview, so the counts match unless someone changes those cases in between.

**Assign** stays unavailable until you preview. The line at the bottom of the window says why, for example **Preview first to see what will change.** If you change any choice after the preview, the window says **The choices changed after this preview. Preview again before assigning.** Changing only the email checkbox does not make you preview again.

The attorney email uses your **Attorney Notification Subject** (or "Cases Assigned" when it is blank) and your **Attorney Notification From Email**, both under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Attorney Notifications**. It lists each new case's number, status, type, and description. An attorney with no valid email address is skipped.

**Email me a PDF report when it's done** is selected by default. After a run that changes at least one case, eCourtDate emails you a PDF report with the subject "Case Assignment Complete: N cases changed". The report lists:

- Who ran the assignment and when
- Which cases it applied to, and the filters you used
- What you asked for
- The totals and the skipped counts
- How many cases each attorney, judge, and location gained or lost
- Every case that changed, with the attorneys added or removed and the judge and location before and after

The result window says "A PDF report is on its way to your email." If the report could not be queued, it says "The report email could not be queued." The assignment is still saved either way. The report goes only to the email address on your user account. Adding or detaching one attorney on a case, and removing an attorney from your agency, never send a report.

#### How to Undo a Bulk Assignment

1. Click **Undo** in the result window, right after the run.
2. Confirm the prompt.

Undo reverses each change the run made that the case still holds. An attorney the run added is removed, an attorney it removed is put back, and a judge or location it set goes back to what the case had before. A case someone changed after the run keeps that change, and the window counts it, for example "Undone: 180 changes reversed. 4 changes were left as they are because the case changed since."

If the run sent you a PDF report, the undo sends one too, with the subject "Case Assignment Undone: N changes reversed". The window then says "A PDF report of the undo is on its way to your email."

**Undo** is offered only in the result window. After you close it, change the cases again with **Assign cases** or from each case page.

#### How to Add a Comment to a Case

1. Open the case you want to comment on.
2. Enter your note in the **Comment** box in the **Create a Comment** card.
3. Click **Create**.

Comments are private and visible only to you and your team. A card below the form shows the comment count and links to all comments for the case number.

#### How to Review Events for a Case

The case page lists events that match the case number. The list is read only.

1. Open the case you want to review.
2. Click the filter icon on the events card to show **Sort**, **Include past events**, **Include archived**, and **Include trashed**.
3. Click **Load more** to show more events, or click an event to open it.
4. Click **View all** to open the Events page filtered to this case number.

To add an event for the case, click **Events** in the top navigation bar and enter the same case number in the create form. The event then appears in this list.

#### How to Send a Message About a Case

1. Open the case you want to message about.
2. Click **Auto Messages** and pick a template to fill the form, or write your own text.
3. Enter a contact in **To** if no client is attached to the case.
4. Enter a **Subject** and a **Message**.
5. Click **Merge Tags** to insert a tag into the message.
6. Enter a **Send Date** and **Send Time** to schedule the message.
7. Select **Simulate** to create the message without delivering it.
8. Click **Send**.

The **To** field is hidden once a client is attached, because the message goes to that client. A link below the form shows how many outbound messages are tied to the case.

#### How to Archive, Trash, or Restore a Case

1. Open the case you want to change.
2. Click **Tools** in the top right of the case page.
3. Click **Archive**, **Trash**, or **Restore**.

**Archive** and **Trash** appear on active cases. **Restore** appears only on cases that are already archived or trashed. **Sync Messages** appears in the same menu on active cases and queues a message sync for the case.

An archived or trashed case shows a banner with the date it was archived or trashed, and the **Save** button in the top button group is hidden until you restore it.

To act on several cases at once, select them with the checkboxes in the **SELECT** column of the results table, click **Archive**, **Trash**, or **Restore** above the table, then click **Confirm**. **Restore** replaces the other two buttons while you are viewing archived or trashed results.

To find these cases again, go to the Cases page and select **Archived** or **Trashed** in **Search Cases**.

### What to Expect

Creating a case takes you straight to the new case page. Saving the case, attaching a client, detaching a client, and adding or detaching an attorney all write to the case immediately and confirm with an on screen alert. Each attorney, judge, or location change is added to the case's **Assignment history**. Archiving, trashing, and restoring take effect right away and update the banner at the top of the case.

**Preview** and **Assign** both run while you wait, with no background job. **Preview** changes nothing. **Assign** saves the changes before the window shows the result, which reads like "212 of 340 cases changed." with the same counts as the preview. The results table reloads when you close the window. **Undo** also takes effect right away. The PDF report is built after the run and arrives in a separate email.

When a file upload names an attorney for a case, it replaces attorneys that an earlier upload set. Attorneys added on the case page, from an attorney record, or with **Assign cases** stay on the case.

**Auto Trash Archived Data** under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Data and Retention** trashes archived records after the number of days you set, and defaults to never. **Auto Delete Trashed Data** in the same section deletes trashed records after the number of days you set, and defaults to 30. When a trashed case is deleted this way, its attorneys, judge, and **Assignment history** are deleted with it.

### Best Practices

- Use the **Fields** dropdown to show only the case fields your team fills in, since the same list controls both the create form and the results table.
- Turn on **Auto Generate Case Number** under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Case Numbers** so every case number follows one format.
- Keep **Case Types** under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Cases and Records** in step with your docket, because the **Type** dropdown is built from that comma separated list.
- Archive rather than trash a case you may need again, and check the retention values under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Data and Retention** so records are not removed sooner than you expect.
- Check the cases you mean to change before you open **Assign cases**. With nothing checked, a run reaches every case that matches your filters, so read the first line of the window and the preview before you click **Assign**.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I attach more than one client to a case?**

A: No. A case holds a single client, and the **Search clients** box disappears once a client is attached. Click **Detach** first if you need to attach a different client.

**Q: Why is the Save button missing at the top of an archived case?**

A: eCourtDate hides the **Save** button in the top button group on archived and trashed cases. Click **Tools** > **Restore** to bring the case back.

**Q: Can I create an event from the case page?**

A: No. The events card on a case is read only, with filters, **Load more**, and **View all**. Create the event on the **Events** page and enter the same case number so it appears in the list.

**Q: Why does the case number field turn red while I type?**

A: eCourtDate checks each case number against your existing cases and shows a **Case number already exists** alert when the number is taken. Enter a different number or click the refresh icon to generate one.

**Q: Where do the Type and Status options come from?**

A: **Type** is built from the comma separated **Case Types** setting under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Cases and Records**. **Status** is built from the case statuses under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses**.

**Q: Can a case have more than one attorney?**

A: Yes. Add as many as you need from the **Attorneys** card on the case or from each attorney record. Adding an attorney never removes the others. A case has one judge and one location.

**Q: Does saving a case change its attorneys?**

A: No. **Save** never adds or removes attorneys. Use **Add** and **Detach** in the **Attorneys** card, or **Assign cases** on the Cases page.

**Q: How many cases can one bulk assignment change?**

A: At most 2,000. Narrow the filters or check fewer cases when the window says the run reaches more than that, and run the rest separately.

**Q: Can I undo a bulk assignment?**

A: Yes. Click **Undo** in the result window right after the run. Undo reverses only the changes the cases still hold, and leaves anything changed since as it is.

**Q: Who gets the PDF report of a bulk assignment?**

A: Only the person who ran it, at the email address on their user account. Clear **Email me a PDF report when it's done** in the **Assign cases** window if you do not want it. When you undo a run that sent a report, the undo sends its own report.

**Q: Where do I see who assigned an attorney or judge to a case?**

A: Open the case and read the **Assignment history** card. Each line shows the date, the person, and whether the change was made on the case, with **Assign cases**, by an upload, or by an undo.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** The **Status** dropdown is missing on the case form.

**Symptoms:** In place of the dropdown you see a **No case statuses found** alert.

**Solution:** Add at least one status of type case under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses**, then click the refresh button inside the alert to reload the list.

**Issue:** A case you created does not appear in the results.

**Symptoms:** Searching by case number returns **No Cases found.**

**Solution:** Select **Archived** or **Trashed** in **Search Cases** and search again, since only one of the two can be active at a time. Also check the **Client** card above the create form and click its close button, because an active client filter limits the table to that client's cases.

**Issue:** **Assign** stays unavailable in the **Assign cases** window.

**Symptoms:** The button is greyed out and the line at the bottom of the window says **Preview first to see what will change.**, **The choices changed after the preview. Preview again.**, or **Nothing would change.**

**Solution:** Click **Preview** after your last change. If the preview says nothing would change, every case in scope already has what you chose or was skipped. Read the skipped lines in the preview, then change **When a case already has attorneys** (or **a judge**, or **a location**) if you meant to replace what the cases have.

**Issue:** The run reaches too many cases.

**Symptoms:** The preview says "This reaches 4,210 cases. A run can change at most 2,000: narrow the filters or check the cases to assign."

**Solution:** Add filters in **Search Cases**, such as **Status** or **Type**, and click **Search** before you open **Assign cases** again. You can also check up to 2,000 cases in the results table and click **Assign** above the table.

**Issue:** Undo did not reverse every change.

**Symptoms:** The result says some changes "were left as they are because the case changed since."

**Solution:** Someone changed those cases after the run, for example by detaching an attorney the run added. Undo leaves those changes in place on purpose. Open each case, read its **Assignment history**, and correct it from the **Attorneys** card or the **Judge** and **Location** fields.

**Issue:** The **Assign cases** card does not appear.

**Symptoms:** The Cases page has no **Assign cases** card, and no **Assign** button appears above the table when you check cases.

**Solution:** Assigning cases needs the `update_events` permission, the same one that saves a case. Ask an administrator to add it to your role under **Admin** > **Users** > **Roles**.

**Issue:** Filtering the Cases list by attorney or judge shows an error.

**Symptoms:** An alert says "This attorney filter matches too many cases to run here. Choose a specific attorney, or clear the filter." or "This judge filter matches too many cases to run here. Choose a specific judge, or clear the filter."

**Solution:** The filter matches more cases than eCourtDate can check in one search. Select a specific attorney or judge rather than **No attorney** or **No judge**. If the error stays, clear the attorney or judge filter and narrow the list with **Status**, **Type**, or a date instead.

### Related Articles

- [How to manage attorneys](/how-to-manage-attorneys)
- [How to Manage Judges](/how-to-manage-judges)
- [How to Notify Attorneys on a Recurring Schedule](/how-to-notify-attorneys-on-a-recurring-schedule)
- [How to Manage Events](/how-to-manage-events)
- [How to Manage Clients](/how-to-manage-clients)
- [How to manage comments](/how-to-manage-comments)
- [How to Send a One-off Message](/how-to-send-a-one-off-message)