Migrate from Aderant Expert Sierra to Odoo CRM

Expert Sierra client records map directly to Odoo res.partner. Client name, address, phone, email, and contact details migrate as partner fields. The Expert Sierra client_id is preserved as x_aderant_client_id on the partner record for traceability and subsequent delta-run synchronization.

Expert Sierra matters become Odoo crm.lead opportunities. Matter name maps to crm.lead.name, matter reference number becomes x_matter_reference custom field, and matter status codes (Open, Closed, On Hold) map to Odoo pipeline stage IDs via a value-mapping table. One matter = one opportunity in Odoo.

Expert Sierra responsible attorney assignments map to Odoo res.users records. Each attorney in Expert Sierra is matched to an Odoo internal user by email or name. The matched user_id is set on the crm.lead as the opportunity owner. Unmatched attorneys are flagged for pre-migration user creation.

Expert Sierra billing records — total billed amount, outstanding balance, last invoice date — have no native Odoo CRM equivalent. We migrate these as custom fields on res.partner: x_total_billed, x_outstanding_balance, x_last_invoice_date. Firms using Odoo Accounting will reconcile these with invoices after migration.

Expert Sierra time entries (hours logged, billable vs. non-billable, rate) are aggregated per matter and stored as custom fields on the corresponding crm.lead: x_total_billable_hours, x_total_non_billable_hours, x_billing_rate. Raw time entry detail is preserved in a JSON payload in x_time_entries_raw for audit purposes.

Expert Sierra trust account balances per client map to res.partner custom fields: x_trust_balance and x_trust_account_number. Odoo has no native trust-accounting model, so these fields serve as reference data for firms planning to implement trust accounting inside Odoo Accounting after migration.

Expert Sierra staff contacts such as billing contacts and administrative staff migrate to res.partner as individual partner records, each with its own x_staff_role custom field. Multiple staff contacts per client are preserved as separate res.partner records linked to the parent client partner.

Expert Sierra notes and document attachments on matters map to Odoo's ir.attachment records linked to the crm.lead. Text notes also generate a mail.message on the opportunity's chatter thread, preserving the original note content and create date. File attachments are re-uploaded to Odoo's filestore.

Expert Sierra matter status codes (Open, In Progress, On Hold, Closed) are mapped value-by-value to Odoo crm.stage stage IDs. The mapping is defined per stage sequence in the destination Odoo pipeline. Stage-entered timestamps from Expert Sierra are preserved as custom datetime fields on the crm.lead.

Expert Sierra practice area tags like Litigation, Corporate, and Real Estate map to a custom pick-list field x_practice_area on res.partner. Odoo CRM has no native practice-area concept, and this custom field enables law firms to maintain practice-area segmentation within their CRM pipeline.