Introduction to Maatdesk

November 3, 2026

Maatdesk is practice management software for law firms; this article explains the main parts of its interface so you can find your way around: the top bar, the left menu, the main window, search, panels and messages.

Table of contents

Main areas

  1. Top bar: the search bar and shortcuts for conflict checks, time entries, contacts, news, notifications and chat.
  2. Left menu: links to every module, such as Matters, Contacts, Secure Inbox, E-Signatures, Billing and Bank Deposits, and to Settings.
  3. Main window: the content of the module you open. After you sign in, it shows the Dashboard. Click the Maatdesk logo at any time to go back to the Dashboard.
Maatdesk interface with the top bar, the left menu and the main window highlighted
The top bar, the left menu and the main window.

Maatdesk adapts to the screen size, so these areas look slightly different on a tablet or phone.

Top bar buttons

  1. Run Conflict Check starts a conflict of interest check.
  2. The timekeeper (00:00:00) starts a timer for a new time entry. It keeps running while you work in other modules.
  3. Time tracking (clock icon) opens a panel with your time entries for a date range, including the entries you record with the timekeeper.
  4. Phone Book (phone icon) opens a window with the My Contacts and Firm Phone Book tabs, a search box and an Add Contact + button. Under Change Availability, set your status: Available, In a Meeting, Do Not Disturb, Lunch or Away. The colored dot on the icon shows your current availability.
  5. What’s New (gift icon) opens a window with the current version, its release date and the new features grouped by area, such as Billing, Calendar or Documents. Click Take the Tour for a guided tour, or Got it to close the window.
  6. Notifications opens the Notification center.

The last button, Live Chat, opens a chat where you can get help from the Maatdesk team.

Right side of the top bar with Run Conflict Check, the timekeeper, Time tracking, Phone Book, What's New, Notifications and Live Chat highlighted
Buttons on the right side of the top bar.
  1. Click the search bar in the top bar and type a keyword, a name or a matter number.
  2. Matching results appear grouped by type, such as Contacts and Matters. For matters, each result shows a status badge, the number and the title. Click a result to open it. To clear the search, click the X in the search bar.
  3. Click See more… to see more results in a category.
  4. Click Search All categories to open the Search Results page.
Search bar with matching matters, See more and Search All categories highlighted
Search results as you type.

On the Search Results page:

  1. Click a category, Contacts, Documents, Matters or Activities, to see its results in a table. The number next to a category is the number of matches. For example, the Contacts table shows Type, Name, Phone, Email and WebSite.
  2. Use Filter results to narrow the list. Click a result to open it.
Search Results page with the result categories and the Filter results field highlighted
The Search Results page.

Collapse or expand the left menu

  1. Click the menu icon in the upper-left corner. The left menu collapses and shows only the module icons. Click it again to show the module names.
Collapsed left menu showing only icons, with the menu icon highlighted
The left menu collapsed.

Panels, tabs and filters

Forms to add or edit records, the Notification center and the Time Tracking panel open as panels on the right side of the screen. Most panels have these buttons in the upper-right corner:

  1. Help.
  2. Expand, to make the panel fill the window.
  3. Close.
Time Tracking panel with the help, expand and close buttons highlighted
A side panel: Time Tracking.

Tabs group related content in one window, for example the Dashboard, matter and contact dashboards, Billing and Reports. Filters, available in most lists, narrow the results or hide columns. To learn more, read Filtering in Maatdesk.

Confirmation windows and messages

Small windows ask you to confirm an action, for example before you delete a record. Maatdesk also tells you the result of an action or what is missing in a form:

  • Success: a green bar across the top of the screen confirms the action, for example “Matter created successfully.” Click the X to close it.
  • Validation errors: red text under a field tells you what to fix before you can save, for example “Pending Date is required.”
  • Warnings and reminders: other messages can warn you about a problem, such as a lost connection, or remind you of an event or task you scheduled.
Scroll to Top