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Three Modes of Calendar Conflict Resolution — Pick One Per Firm
When two hearings collide, the firm has to decide which one to honour. The decision is operational, not legal — and it should be encoded in the system.
Conflict resolution between hearings is a policy decision the firm should make once, write down, and then automate. Done well, it eliminates dozens of small arguments per year.
Three common modes
- Senior partner wins — when two hearings conflict, the more senior advocate keeps the date and the junior reschedules
- Earlier-listed wins — whichever matter was scheduled first holds the date
- Client-priority wins — designated VIP clients always hold their dates, others bend
None of these is wrong; they encode different firm values. What matters is consistency, because inconsistency is what makes the conflict painful in the first place.
AssociatesDiary's calendar conflict policy is configurable per tenant. Once set, the system flags conflicts in advance and proposes the resolution automatically — the partners just confirm.