Settings ▸ Taxonomy ▸ Participant IDs

This page documents Settings ▸ Taxonomy ▸ Participant IDs in the Athenty admin portal.

• Participant ID format — the single template composing each new participant’s display ID from the automatic counter (e.g. {seq:03} → 001, 002, 003…). This one format and one counter mint the Participant ID for every participant, no matter how they first appear — created from the Participants page, first added directly on a matter or envelope, or surfaced through the client portal.
• Starting number — move the participant counter forward (for example, start at 250) so the total participant count isn’t visible in the IDs.

Changes are forward-only

IDs are stamped when a record is created and stored permanently. Changing a format or the starting number never renumbers existing records — only new ones are affected. Formats lock once IDs are in use so historical IDs stay stable.

The starting number is a one-way ratchet

• Raising it makes the next new participant jump to that number. The gap is deliberate and recorded in the audit log.
• Lowering it is not possible — the counter never moves backward, so duplicate IDs cannot happen.

Why the Participant ID matters

Every participant gets their own Participant ID — but a matter’s file number is anchored by the primary client’s Participant ID only (see Matter IDs). A “client” is just the role a participant plays on a matter, so the same person keeps one ID whether they’re the client, a counterparty, or a third party. Other participants on a matter keep their own Participant IDs; they simply don’t appear in the matter number.