Migrate from CosmoLex to Nutshell

CosmoLex clients represent law-firm entities directly tied to matter records. We split this entity across two Nutshell objects: the primary client contact becomes a Nutshell Person record with full contact details preserved, while the client organization (if one exists in CosmoLex) becomes a separate Nutshell Company record. For CosmoLex clients classified as individuals without a linked organization, the record becomes a Person-only entry in Nutshell without a corresponding company link.

CosmoLex address-book contacts transfer directly to Nutshell Person records with all standard fields preserved including name, email, phone, and title. The contact type classification in CosmoLex (Attorney, Paralegal, Client, Vendor, Opposing Counsel, etc.) has no native equivalent in Nutshell's Person object, so we preserve this metadata by storing it as a custom text field on the resulting Nutshell Person record for reference and filtering purposes.

CosmoLex matters map to Nutshell Deals using a transformation approach. The matter name becomes the deal name, while matter status values (Active, Closed, On Hold) map to Nutshell deal stage values through a pre-defined value-mapping table. Matter owner resolves to a Nutshell user by matching email addresses between the two platforms. The original matter create date is preserved as a custom datetime field on the deal since Nutshell's native Deal.createdAt timestamp will reflect the migration execution time rather than the original matter creation date.

CosmoLex custom fields defined on matters — such as Practice Area, Statute of Limitations, Court, Opposing Counsel, and billing method — are pre-staged as Nutshell Deal custom fields before migration begins. Field type mapping is type-aware: single-line text maps to text, drop-down lists map to drop-down, dates map to date, currency amounts map to currency, and numeric values map to number. Nutshell custom fields are created via Settings > Custom Fields before the migration run to ensure the target schema exists.

CosmoLex custom fields applied to contact records — including Bar Number for attorney contacts, Referral Source for tracking client origins, Preferred Contact Method for communication preferences, and other firm-specific contact metadata — transfer to Nutshell as Person custom fields. These fields are created in Nutshell before migration begins using the same type-aware mapping approach as matter custom fields. The field creation checklist includes each custom field's name, type, and applicable drop-down values to ensure accurate schema translation.

CosmoLex billing methods (Hourly, Fixed Fee, Contingency, Flat Fee) represent legal billing structures with no native Nutshell equivalent since Nutshell lacks an accounting module. We create a custom drop-down field named billing_method__c on Nutshell Deals and map each CosmoLex billing method value to its corresponding Nutshell drop-down value one-to-one. Firms that require active billing workflow within Nutshell must implement it through external accounting software or spreadsheet-based tracking since the billing method field is reference-only in the CRM context.

CosmoLex trust account balances are legal compliance records reflecting client fund holdings with no Nutshell equivalent since Nutshell has no accounting module. We preserve the current trust balance amount as a custom currency field named trust_balance__c on the related Nutshell Deal for informational reference. Complete trust ledger history including individual transactions and reconciliation records does not migrate; we recommend exporting comprehensive trust reports from CosmoLex before cutover for archival purposes and ongoing compliance tracking.

CosmoLex accounts receivable balances representing unpaid invoices linked to specific matters map to a two-part structure in Nutshell: the outstanding invoice total becomes the custom currency field ar_balance__c on the Deal, while the matter's estimated value (if tracked in CosmoLex) becomes the Nutshell Deal amount field. Invoice-level detail with line items and payment history does not transfer as granular records; firms requiring detailed invoice reconciliation should perform a separate export from CosmoLex for manual reference and follow-up tracking.

CosmoLex matter notes migrate directly to Nutshell Deal notes with the note body text transferring as-is. The original note creation date is preserved as a custom datetime field on the deal record since Nutshell's native timestamps reflect migration timing. Rich-text formatting present in CosmoLex notes is simplified to plain text during transfer since Nutshell's note model does not support advanced formatting, links, or embedded images.

CosmoLex tasks and calendar events — including timekeeping entries, court deadlines, internal meetings, and client appointments — map to Nutshell Tasks and Events respectively. Original timestamps from CosmoLex are preserved during transfer, and assigned owners resolve to Nutshell users by email match. Nutshell activities are linked to the parent Deal record through Nutshell's standard association mechanism. Activity type classification from CosmoLex (Billable, Administrative, Court Deadline, Internal) is stored as a custom field on the Nutshell activity record for categorization purposes.

CosmoLex matter owners representing attorneys, paralegals, or other staff responsible for matters are resolved to Nutshell users through email address matching as the primary resolution method. Before migration commits, FlitStack AI flags any CosmoLex matter owner email addresses that do not match an existing Nutshell user account. Firms must either invite unmatched owners to Nutshell first to create their user accounts, or designate a fallback owner to receive those matters during migration. Owner resolution accuracy depends on email address consistency between both platforms at migration execution time.

CosmoLex accounts payable vendors and payees stored in the address book migrate to Nutshell as either Person records or Company records depending on whether the vendor is an individual or an organization. Individual vendors map to Nutshell Person records with standard contact fields preserved. Organizational vendors map to Nutshell Company records with company-level details transferred. The vendor contact type classification from CosmoLex is preserved as a custom field on the resulting Nutshell record for vendor categorization and filtering.

CosmoLex matter relations representing conflict-check parties and other individuals linked to a matter are preserved in Nutshell through a two-part approach. For each related party, we create a custom text field named related_parties__c on the Nutshell Deal that lists all related party names in a comma-separated format for quick reference. For parties that exist as separate contact records in CosmoLex, we additionally link the corresponding Nutshell Person record to the Deal via Nutshell's standard Person-to-Deal association, enabling drill-down access to individual party details.

CosmoLex document storage and email thread capture are tightly integrated with the matter record structure but have no Nutshell equivalent since Nutshell does not include a document management module. Document filenames, storage paths, and folder structures are exported as a reference CSV for firms to maintain awareness of their document inventory. Firms requiring document access after migration must either maintain CosmoLex read-only access for document lookup, or migrate documents separately to a dedicated document management system such as SharePoint, NetDocuments, or Dropbox Business.

CosmoLex workflows including conflict-check triggers, matter-opening approval chains, billing-approval rules, and document assembly templates represent legal-specific automation with no direct Nutshell equivalent. Nutshell provides personal email sequences and lead-assignment rules, but lacks matter-level workflow automation capabilities. We export CosmoLex workflow definitions as a structured reference document that firms can use to manually rebuild equivalent automations in Nutshell or document them for handling through a separate legal workflow automation tool.