Using the client portal as a client

This article describes the portal from the client's side, so a lawyer can answer a client's question or send them the right part. How the firm runs the portal is in The client portal. A client sees only what the firm has shared, and only the matters they were given access to.

Getting in

1. The client is sent an invitation by email, or by text if they have no email. Its link opens Set up your portal access: they choose a password. The link stays open for a limited time; if it lapses they ask the firm to send a new one. Someone who already has a portal account for another client signs in with their password to be shown the new client's matters.
2. They sign in with their Email or phone and Password. If they forget it, Forgot your password? sends a six digit code to their email or phone so they can set a new one.
3. On a device the portal does not yet trust, or every time if the firm asks, a second step follows: a six digit code emailed or texted to them, or the code from their authenticator app. If they lose the phone with the app, one of the ten recovery codes they saved works once.

Repeated wrong attempts lock the account for a while. The firm can see each attempt under Portal sign-ins.

What is there

The portal's menu has Home, Matters, Messages, Documents, Calendar and Billing.

• Home opens with Needs your attention, what the firm is waiting on from the client, soonest first. Below it are their matters and who leads each, Coming up (dates the firm shared) and Latest updates from the firm.
• Matters opens a matter: its progress in the stages the firm has worded for clients, the dates shared, what the work has cost where the firm shows it, and Details we need where the firm has asked for any.
• Messages keeps the conversations with the firm. New message writes to the firm about one matter; the conversation is filed on the matter too.
• Calendar lists the dates shared and the meetings asked for. Ask to meet offers up to three times the lawyer is free; the firm confirms one.

Details we need

Where the firm needs facts from the client, the matter's page shows Details we need. It says how many are still outstanding, such as "The firm needs 2 more details from you.", or, once all are given, "What you have told the firm for this matter." Each detail is listed with what the firm holds, or "Not given yet". Only a person given the Forms capability sees it.

1. Choose Give details. Once every detail is given, the same button reads Change.
2. On the Details we need page, answer what you can. The page says "Answer what you can; you may come back to the rest." The details of the matter sit under About the matter, and details about the client that the firm keeps on file under About you.
3. Choose Send to the firm. The portal says "Details sent to the firm" and returns to the matter.

A detail the firm asks for only in some cases appears only when it applies. The client can give only the details the firm asked for. The responsible lawyer is told when they are sent. On a closed matter the details can be read but no longer given or changed.

Documents

Documents has five tabs:

• Shared with you: documents the firm chose to show. Some can be downloaded and some only read. Where the firm asks, the client confirms they have read one.
• Asked of you: the lists of papers the firm asked for (see Ask a client for files). The client uploads against each item.
• To sign: documents sent for signature. They open the signing page, read the document, sign by Draw it (with a finger on a phone or with the mouse) or Upload an image of their signature, type their full name as they sign it, and agree to sign electronically. They can instead Decline to sign, giving a reason, and the firm is told. A document with several signatories waits its turn. See Electronic signature.
• Questionnaires: forms the firm sent. Answering asks for a fresh code and opens the same questionnaire as the emailed link (see Sending a questionnaire).
• Closed files: before the firm destroys a closed file, it is offered back to the client here.

Billing

Billing has the tabs Bills, To review, Payments, Statement, Year summary, Requests, Payment plans and Funds held.

• Bills are the bills shared with the client. Each can be paid from its page: the client chooses card or mobile money, or pays by bank transfer into the firm's account using the reference shown. Paying asks for a fresh code first and opens the same page as the payment link in the bill. The page says Paid. Thank you. once it is done, and the firm sends a receipt.
• To review holds fee notes: bills the firm asks the client to look at before it issues them. The client can comment on a line or on the whole fee note, and the firm answers before it issues the bill.
• Requests lists the firm's requests for money on account, each with its pay link. A client who agreed to let the firm collect by card or wallet gives that authority on a page of its own, Give the authority, which shows what it covers and asks for a code sent by text. See Take payments online.
• Statement and Year summary show what has been billed and paid, and download as a PDF on the firm's letterhead.
• Payment plans shows a bill being paid in instalments. Funds held shows money the firm holds for the client, kept apart from the firm's own.

The client's own account

The account page lets each person change their photo, choose which portal emails they receive, and change their password. Security turns on an authenticator app and shows the recovery codes. Sessions lists the devices signed in. The bell at the top opens the latest notices. A change to their name, email or phone is asked for here and approved by the firm.