Add a new matter for them. One person can hold several matters in Acquit, each a single engagement with its own charges, court dates and history, all grouped under the one person.
- Start adding them as you normally would and type their name.
- When Acquit recognises the name, including an archived client or one a colleague shared with you, the duplicate banner shows “Same person, add a new matter”.
- Click it. Acquit opens a fresh matter: a clean slate for charges, court dates and law-list matches, with their contact details (DOB, phone, email) carried across automatically.
The previous matter stays exactly as it was: nothing mixes into the new one, and its old court dates never pollute the new matter’s court monitoring.
Restoring vs adding a new matter
Restoring an archived matter continues that same matter: its old charges, court dates and history all come back. That is the right choice when an old instruction genuinely picks back up. For a brand-new charge, add a new matter instead so the old file stays clean. Acquit reminds you of this when you click Restore.
Switching between matters
A Matters control at the top of any of the person’s matters shows how many they have. Click it to switch between them, active and archived; you only see the matters you have access to.
What stays in sync
Identity and contact details (name, date of birth, phone, email) are shared across all of a person’s matters, so editing them on one applies to the rest automatically. Charges, court dates, notes, value and sharing stay separate to each matter.
Prior history and new entries
A collapsed Previous matters section at the bottom of the Case Timeline lists the person’s other matters and their court dates, without mixing them into the matter you are working on. When you add a court date, event or task for someone with several active matters, a Matter chooser asks which matter(s) it belongs to; see “How do I add a court date, event, or task across several of a person’s matters?”.