The operational decision
Make an unacknowledged alert visible to the responsible staff team. Operational urgency determines which firm-approved contact path to try. It does not allow the assistant to calculate a legal deadline, assess danger, promise protection or conclude that an attorney is already handling a matter.
Prepare the workflow
Define who acknowledges the queue item, what counts as acknowledgment and which fallback applies if that state never arrives.
Example wording for approval
“The example inquiry is marked for the firm's approved review queue. Delivery alone does not confirm that a staff member has accepted the task.”
Worked example
A fictional alert reaches the approved inbox, but the assigned staff member is off duty and nobody acknowledges it. Delivery is a transport event; ownership remains unresolved. The workflow should follow the firm's defined backup process and keep the item visible. Record when the fallback was attempted without promising a response to the caller. The test is complete only when staff can distinguish received by a system from accepted by a person responsible for the next action.
Handoff record
Record these task-specific fields: queue label, delivery time, acknowledgment state, fallback owner.
Acceptance check
Deliver a fictional notification but leave it unopened. The workflow should remain unacknowledged and follow its approved follow-up rule.
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