Deadline control
Deadline control monitors court and contractual deadlines with advance warning; for a law firm it is not a convenience but liability protection, because a missed appeal deadline generally cannot be cured.
Definition
Court deadlines run regardless of holidays and illness, and their restoration is tied to narrow conditions. Whoever misses a deadline does not lose a case — they are liable for it, which is why the control is kept twice over.
In practice that requires three things: the deadline on the file rather than in one person’s calendar, a warning with enough lead time, and confirmation that the act was performed. It is the third that turns the control into a control.
Where to read it
What the software must be able to do
Check: deadlines on the file with an owner and a warning, a second recipient for the alert, a completion confirmation, and a list of open deadlines across all files. A calendar entry does none of this.
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Mandates and professional duties: Conflict-of-interest check Fiduciary / trustee Multi-client capability