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1. Overview & System Requirements

The Gravity Forms PracticePanther Integration provides law firms, solo practitioners, and multi-attorney legal enterprises with an automated client intake solution connecting WordPress to PracticePanther Legal Software. By converting online intake questionnaires into organized Contacts, Accounts, and legal Matters in PracticePanther, law firms eliminate administrative bottlenecks, reduce non-billable intake hours, and initiate conflict checks without manual data entry.

Whether your firm handles personal injury litigation, estate planning, family law, criminal defense, immigration, or corporate transactions, this integration ensures that prospect details, case backgrounds, opposing parties, incident dates, and evidentiary document uploads are mapped accurately into your PracticePanther matter management system.

2. Authentication & PracticePanther API Connection

The integration communicates with PracticePanther using secure API token authentication for high reliability, zero middleware overhead, and enterprise data privacy:

Obtaining Your PracticePanther API Credentials

1. Sign in to your PracticePanther account as an Administrator or Managing Partner.
2. Click the gear icon in the top header and select Settings.
3. Scroll down the left navigation panel to Integrations → API.
4. Click Generate New Access Token, specify the application label Gravity Forms Intake, and save.
5. Copy the API access token string securely to your clipboard.

Configuring in WordPress Dashboard

1. In WordPress, navigate to Forms → Settings → PracticePanther.
2. Enter your PracticePanther API Access Token.
3. Click Save Settings. The integration pings PracticePanther to verify credentials and downloads your active matter statuses, attorneys, billing rates, and custom field sets.
4. A green verification badge confirms active authentication status.

3. Feed Configuration & Legal Entity Mapping

PracticePanther separates legal records into Contacts (individuals/entities) and Matters (cases). You can map both simultaneously within a single automated feed:

Contact & Account Mapping

• Contact Classification: Map whether the prospect is a Client, Co-Counsel, Opposing Party, Expert Witness, or Vendor.
• Personal & Corporate Identity: Map First Name, Last Name, Company Name, Social Security Number / Tax ID (if applicable), and Date of Birth.
• Contact Details: Map Email Address, Mobile Phone, Work Phone, and Street Address with city, state, and postal code.
• Conflict Check Information: Pass opposing party names, adverse witnesses, and incident locations directly to expedite preliminary conflict verification.

Matter (Case) Mapping & Pipeline Configuration

• Matter Name Generator: Construct dynamic case titles using merge tags (e.g. {Last Name}, {First Name} - {Practice Area} Intake).
• Practice Area & Case Type: Select from your PracticePanther practice areas (e.g. Family Law, Personal Injury, Commercial Litigation, Criminal Defense, Real Estate Closing).
• Matter Status: Designate the starting case stage (e.g. Intake Pending Review, Consultation Scheduled, Retainer Sent).
• Responsible Attorney Assignment: Automatically assign incoming matters to specific partners, associates, or intake specialists based on department or practice area.
• Statute of Limitations / Key Dates: Map accident date, arrest date, filing deadline, or incident date directly into PracticePanther key calendar milestones.
• Custom Field Synchronization: Dynamically map custom fields such as Insurance Adjuster Name, Policy Limits, Court Docket Number, and Referral Attorney.

4. Advanced Law Firm Automations & Workflows

Maximize law firm productivity and streamline client onboarding with advanced intake orchestration:

• Practice Area Conditional Routing: Use conditional logic to assign personal injury leads to the Litigation department while directing estate planning submissions to the Trusts & Estates team. Each department can have dedicated default billing rates and initial matter checklists.
• Automated Document Attachment: Securely forward client photo evidence, police accident reports, medical discharge papers, and contract PDFs into the PracticePanther matter document vault.
• Automated Task & Checklist Creation: Trigger intake tasks (such as “Execute Conflict Check”, “Draft Retainer Agreement”, and “Schedule Intake Interview”) automatically upon matter creation.
• Deduplication & Conflict Flagging: Perform preliminary checks against existing client names and opposing party records to alert intake attorneys before opening an active case file.

5. Error Handling & Troubleshooting Matrix

Refer to the following troubleshooting table for PracticePanther API response codes:

6. Developer Extensibility & Filter Hooks

Developers can programmatically modify matter attributes, append internal conflict check notes, or dynamically adjust assigned legal staff:

/**
 * Filter: gform_practicepanther_matter_args
 * Purpose: Dynamically adjust matter parameters before transmission to PracticePanther.
 * 
 * @param array $matter_args Structured matter parameters.
 * @param array $form        The Gravity Forms form object.
 * @param array $entry       The submitted entry object.
 * @param array $feed        The feed settings.
 * @return array Modified matter arguments.
 */
add_filter( 'gform_practicepanther_matter_args', function( $matter_args, $form, $entry, $feed ) {
    // Flag urgent statute of limitations for personal injury accidents
    $accident_date = rgar( $entry, '12' );
    if ( ! empty( $accident_date ) ) {
        $matter_args['notes'] .= "nIncident Date: " . sanitize_text_field( $accident_date );
        $matter_args['notes'] .= "nConflict Check: Pending Office Verification";
        $matter_args['statute_of_limitations'] = sanitize_text_field( $accident_date );
    }
    
    // Dynamically assign senior partner if estimated claim exceeds $100,000
    $estimated_damages = floatval( rgar( $entry, '15' ) );
    if ( $estimated_damages > 100000 ) {
        $matter_args['assigned_attorney_id'] = 'attorney_senior_partner_99';
        $matter_args['priority'] = 'High Value Commercial';
    }
    
    return $matter_args;
}, 10, 4 );

/**
 * Action: gform_practicepanther_post_matter_creation
 * Purpose: Trigger external notifications or save matter ID in entry meta.
 */
add_action( 'gform_practicepanther_post_matter_creation', function( $response, $entry, $form ) {
    $matter_id = rgar( $response, 'id' );
    if ( $matter_id ) {
        gform_update_meta( $entry['id'], 'practicepanther_matter_id', $matter_id );
    }
}, 10, 3 );

7. Frequently Asked Questions