Migrate from Actionstep to Nutshell

Actionstep matters translate to Nutshell deals. Matter name becomes deal name; matter status (Open, Closed, Pending) maps to Nutshell deal stage values via a status-mapping table. Matter create date and last-activity date are preserved as custom datetime fields in Nutshell since deal records only capture insertion timestamps.

Participants with type 'Client' become Nutshell person records. The person record captures name, email, phone, and address from the participant record. A custom field 'Legal_Role__c' stores 'Client' as the value, enabling filtering by original participant type in Nutshell's list views and reports.

Attorney participants map to Nutshell person records representing the firm's contacts on the matter. The 'Legal_Role__c' custom pick‑list field stores 'Attorney' or 'Fee_Earner' based on the source participant type. Additional contact details such as phone or address are preserved when available. These records are linked to the corresponding deal through Nutshell's deal‑person association, enabling role‑based filtering in list views and reports.

Participants representing opposing counsel, experts, witnesses, or other third parties become Nutshell person records with 'Legal_Role__c' set to the specific type from Actionstep. Email addresses are preserved when present; phone and firm name map to standard person fields where applicable.

Each custom data collection defined in Actionstep's Builder translates to a group of Nutshell custom fields on the Deal object. Field types are approximated: text fields become Nutshell text fields, numeric fields become number fields, date fields become date fields, and pick-list fields become Nutshell choice fields. Multi-value pick-lists require custom handling.

Custom data fields attached to participants (e.g., bar number for attorneys, client ID for clients) migrate as Nutshell custom fields on the Person object. Field names are prefixed with 'Legal_' to avoid collisions with future standard fields. The migrated fields retain their original data types—text, number, date, or pick‑list—and appear in the person record’s detail view, allowing role‑specific information to be used in Nutshell reports, list views, and segmentation criteria.

Documents linked to a matter are downloaded from Actionstep and re-uploaded as file attachments on the corresponding Nutshell deal. Large document repositories that rely on Actionstep's version history require separate handling — Nutshell does not track document version history natively.

Actionstep matter steps (e.g., Intake, Discovery, Drafting, Review, Closed) map to Nutshell deal stages via a value-by-value mapping defined during discovery. Firms with multiple matter types may have different step sets — these are consolidated or split into separate Nutshell pipelines per type.

Actionstep users are matched to Nutshell users by email address. Unmatched users are flagged before migration — firms either invite them to Nutshell or reassign their records to a designated fallback user. User-specific matter assignments translate to deal ownership in Nutshell.

When participants have an associated organization (e.g., opposing counsel's law firm, client's employer), that organization migrates as a Nutshell company record. The company record captures name, address, phone, and website where available. The person record is linked to the company via Nutshell's standard person‑company association, allowing users to view all matters and deals associated with that organization in Nutshell's activity timeline.

Actionstep's trust accounting module (IOLTA tracking, client ledger, billing invoices) has no equivalent in Nutshell's CRM model. Financial records must be exported as a separate report and handled outside Nutshell — typically retained in Actionstep in read-only mode or exported to dedicated legal accounting software.

Actionstep workflow rules, automated task generation, and step‑progression triggers do not migrate. These must be rebuilt using Nutshell's automation features—sequences, task rules, or third‑party tools such as Zapier or Make—after the data migration is complete. FlitStack exports a detailed workflow definition file that maps each Actionstep rule to its closest Nutshell counterpart, serving as a rebuild checklist for the firm's Nutshell admin.