Deadlines
Never miss a limitation period, filing cutoff, or court-ordered date.
Overview
Missing a legal deadline is one of the most serious errors an attorney can make — statutes of limitation cannot be revived, filing windows cannot be reopened, and appeals can be lost permanently. The FRITH Deadlines module exists solely to prevent this. It provides a structured, high-visibility record of every legally significant date in your practice: limitation periods, court-ordered filing dates, response deadlines, regulatory filing cutoffs, and any other date that carries legal consequence.
Deadlines in FRITH are fundamentally different from tasks (which represent work to be done) and calendar events (which represent appointments). A deadline represents a legal obligation that must be satisfied by a specific date — with real professional and legal consequences if missed. FRITH treats them accordingly: they receive prominent warnings, appear in multiple views, and generate escalating alerts as the date approaches.
Deadline Types
Statute of Limitations
The hard deadline by which a claim must be filed. FRITH can calculate these automatically based on the cause of action, jurisdiction, and the date of the underlying event.
Court-Ordered Deadline
Dates set by a court order: discovery cutoffs, expert disclosure dates, summary judgment motion deadlines, trial readiness conferences.
Filing Deadline
Deadlines for filing documents with a court or tribunal: pleadings, responses, appeals, and ancillary motions.
Response / Answer Deadline
The date by which an opposing party must respond to filed documents, computed from the date of service plus jurisdictional rules.
Regulatory / Compliance Deadline
Deadlines set by regulatory bodies, licensing authorities, or compliance obligations outside of court.
Custom Deadline
Any other legally significant date specific to a matter — contractual option exercise dates, settlement offer expiry, indemnity notice periods, etc.
Adding a Deadline
Navigate to Deadlines
Click Deadlines in the left sidebar, then click + New Deadline. You can also add a deadline from within a matter — go to the matter's Deadlines tab and click + Add Deadline.
Select the deadline type
Choose from the deadline type list. The type determines which reminder rules apply and how the deadline is categorised in reports.
Link to a matter
Every deadline must be linked to a matter. Search for the matter by name or file number.
Enter the deadline date
Enter the final date by which the obligation must be satisfied. For statutes of limitation, use the Deadline Calculator (see below) to verify the date before entering it.
Set reminder thresholds
Configure when reminders should fire: the default is 30 days, 14 days, 7 days, and 1 day before. For statutes of limitation, consider adding a 90-day reminder to allow sufficient preparation time.
Add a description
Describe the obligation clearly: what must be done, by whom, and any notes on the legal basis for the deadline. This note appears in reminder emails so recipients have full context.
Assign responsibility
Select the attorney responsible for meeting this deadline. They will receive all reminder notifications. Multiple people can be assigned for shared responsibility.
Save
Click Save. The deadline appears on your Deadlines list and on the Calendar as an all-day event on the due date.
The Deadline Calculator
For statutes of limitation and other dates that are computed from a trigger event, FRITH includes a built-in Deadline Calculator. Access it via the Calculate button when adding a deadline, or from the Deadlines module toolbar.
Enter: the jurisdiction, the cause of action (personal injury, contract, professional negligence, etc.), and the trigger date (date of injury, date of breach, date of discovery, etc.). The calculator returns the applicable limitation period based on the statutory rules for that jurisdiction and cause of action, and calculates the final date. This is a decision-support tool — always confirm computed dates against the applicable statute. FRITH is not a substitute for legal judgment.
Deadline Status and Colour Coding
All deadlines are displayed with colour-coded status indicators:
Marking a Deadline as Satisfied
When the legal obligation represented by a deadline has been met — the claim has been filed, the document has been lodged, the notice has been served — mark it as Satisfied rather than deleting it. Satisfied deadlines are retained as a permanent record that the obligation was met and when. To satisfy a deadline: click the deadline, then click Mark Satisfied. Enter a brief completion note (e.g., "Statement of Claim filed with Supreme Court Registry, receipt no. 2025/1234") and the actual completion date. The deadline moves to the Satisfied list and is removed from the active Dashboard widget.
Critical discipline for deadline management
- • Add every limitation period and court-ordered deadline to FRITH at the time you open the matter — not when you remember to.
- • Never rely solely on a single reminder. Use the 30/14/7/1-day reminder stack as the minimum for any statute of limitations.
- • Do not mark a deadline satisfied until the filing or action is confirmed. "Filed" means a receipt or confirmation number has been obtained.
- • Review all deadlines in the 30-day window at your weekly team meeting. Any deadline without a clear owner and next action is a risk.
- • FRITH's calculator is a decision-support tool, not legal advice. Always confirm computed limitation periods against the applicable statute before advising clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I set firm-wide reminder rules for all deadlines of a certain type?
Yes. Administrators can set default reminder thresholds by deadline type under Organisation → Deadline Settings. For example, "all Statute of Limitations deadlines should trigger reminders at 90, 30, 14, 7, and 1 days by default." These defaults apply to all new deadlines of that type unless overridden.
What if a court extends a deadline after it has been created?
Edit the deadline, update the date, and add a note explaining the extension (e.g., "Court extended discovery cutoff by consent order dated 15 Jan 2026"). The audit history retains the original date alongside the change.
How is the Deadlines module different from Tasks?
A Deadline is a legally significant date with real consequences for missing it — a limitation period, a court order, a statutory filing date. A Task is a piece of work to be done. In practice: "File Statement of Claim" is a Task; "Statute of Limitations expires — 3 years from date of injury" is a Deadline. Many deadlines will have associated tasks created to ensure the work is done before the deadline.
Can multiple attorneys be responsible for one deadline?
Yes. You can assign multiple people to a deadline. All assigned attorneys receive the reminder notifications. However, shared responsibility without a named primary owner is a common source of missed deadlines — ensure one person is clearly the lead.