Timekeeper Restrictions gives administrators control over who can view and bill to sensitive matters in Laurel. Whether you need to maintain ethical boundaries, protect confidential client information, or comply with conflict-of-interest requirements, this feature lets you restrict access at both the individual timekeeper and user group level. You can also view restrictions imported from external systems —all in one unified table.

Understanding how Timekeeper Restrictions works helps you enforce ethical boundaries while giving your team appropriate access to the matters they need.

What are Timekeeper Restrictions?

Timekeeper Restrictions is a comprehensive solution for controlling matter access in Laurel. Administrators can create manual restrictions directly in Laurel or view restrictions that have been synced from external systems like Intapp Walls. When a timekeeper is restricted from a matter, it automatically disappears from their search results in the Laurel timekeeping web app, preventing accidental viewing of or billing to those matters.

Why are Timekeeper Restrictions important?

Timekeeper Restrictions help firms maintain ethical boundaries. Instead of relying on timekeepers to remember which matters they shouldn't access, the system provides passive enforcement by automatically hiding restricted matters.

For firms without an ethical walls tool, this feature provides a built-in way to manage sensitive matter access. For firms that manage ethical boundaries outside of Laurel, it provides visibility.

How it works

Creating restrictions in Laurel

Administrators can add timekeeper restrictions directly in Laurel for immediate effect. To access Timekeeper Restrictions:

1. Navigate to Customer Settings > Matter Management

2. Select any matter from the list

3. Scroll down, then click the Timekeeper Restrictions tab

From here, you can add restrictions at two levels:

Individual timekeepers: Restrict or grant access to specific people.
User groups: Grant access to entire groups at once (like practice groups or departments).

Restrictions take effect immediately. Once added, restricted timekeepers will no longer see those matters when searching in their timesheet.

If you’re unfamiliar with user groups, follow these steps to create a user group in Laurel:

Navigate to Customer Settings, then click on the “User Groups” tab.
Create your user group by naming it and adding an external ID (if you are not importing a user group from an external system, just use the name you selected for your user group as the external ID – it’s fine to repeat it).
Once you’ve created your user group, it will appear on the list of user groups in the list view. Click on the icon that looks like people to start adding users to the group.

Note: Only Super Customer administrators can create user groups.

Viewing restrictions synced from external systems

If your firm uses external systems (like Intapp Walls) to manage restrictions, those restrictions automatically appear in Laurel alongside any restrictions manually added in Laurel. External restrictions are displayed with a lock icon indicating they're read-only.

You cannot edit or remove externally-synced restrictions in Laurel—they must be managed in the source system. When changes are made in the external system, they apply in Laurel when the next sync occurs.

Understanding the unified view

The table at the bottom of the Timekeeper Restrictions view shows your complete access control picture for each matter.

In the Groups tab, you’ll see the list of user groups that have permissions set for the matter. If the user group was added in Laurel, you will also be able to remove a group from having access to the matter. Group-level restrictions synced from another system are not able to be edited directly in Laurel.

In the Timekeepers tab, you’ll see a list of individual timekeepers and the following information:

Whether they're part of any user group restrictions.
Whether they have individual Laurel restrictions.
Whether they have external restrictions from other external systems.
Whether they ultimately have access to the matter based on all rules.

This unified view ensures you always know who can see what and why, regardless of which system is controlling the restriction.

Types of access restrictions

There are two types of access restrictions you can create in Laurel:

Allow lists

Only timekeepers added to the allow list can see the matter—everyone else is restricted. This is useful when you want to limit access to a very small group for highly sensitive matters. Both individual timekeepers and user groups can be added to allow lists.

Deny lists

Only timekeepers added to the deny list cannot see the matter—everyone else has access. This is useful when you need to restrict specific individuals from a matter while keeping it visible to the rest of the firm. Only individual timekeepers can be added to deny lists (user groups only support allow listing in Laurel at this time).

Examples and use cases

Example 1: Confidential M&A matter

Your firm is representing a client in a confidential merger. You need to restrict access to only the deal team working on the transaction. You navigate to the matter's Timekeeper Restrictions and create an allow list with the five attorneys and two paralegals on the deal team. The matter immediately disappears from search results for everyone else in the firm, preventing accidental time entries or information leaks.

Example 2: Ethical wall visibility

Your firm uses your PMS to manage formal ethical barriers. A new partner joins and you want to verify they can't access matters where conflicts exist. You navigate to Timekeeper Restrictions for those matters and see the partner listed with "[PMS name]" as the source and "No Access" in the status column, confirming Laurel is honoring the ethical wall.

Important considerations

Things to keep in mind:

Restrictions take effect immediately—there's no delay or approval process.
Restricted timekeepers won't receive a notification if they search for a matter; the matter simply won't appear in their search results.
External restrictions cannot be removed or edited from Laurel; they must be managed in the source system.
User groups can only be allow-listed, not deny-listed.