The Client Portal

The Connect portal is the client’s window into their deal: where it stands, what’s coming up, the documents you’ve shared, and any questionnaires to fill in. For your firm it’s fewer “any update?” calls; for the client it’s the difference between waiting in the dark and watching progress.

Everything a client sees is opt-in. Portal access, document sharing, and date visibility are three separate switches, all in your hands.

Granting Access

From the matter’s Contacts section, open the contact’s menu and choose Portal Access. Flip on Enable Portal Access.

Two requirements: the contact needs a primary email address (the toggle is disabled without one), and access is per contact per matter; enabling Jane on her purchase doesn’t show her anything else.

Enabling sends the contact an invitation email with a magic link: a private URL that opens their matter directly, no account or password needed. The invite is logged on the matter as an outbound interaction, so the record shows it was sent.

From the same dialog you can:

• Copy Link to send the magic link yourself.
• See Last accessed, so you know whether the client has actually looked.
• Resend Email with the same link.
• Set Expiration if the link should stop working on a date.
• Toggle access off to revoke it. The client’s link stops working immediately.

One caution: toggling access off and on again generates a new link and kills the old one. If the client says “my link stopped working,” this is the usual reason; just resend.

What the Client Sees

Their matter page shows:

• Status and expected completion date, with business days remaining.
• Your Team: the assignee and responsible lawyer, with email and phone.
• Progress: a step-by-step view of where the deal is, when the workflow has client-facing milestones.
• Key Dates: only events marked “Visible in client portal” appear. Signing appointments and closing dates are visible by default; internal deadlines aren’t.
• Documents: only files explicitly shared with that contact (see Sharing Documents).
• Questionnaires: any intake forms sent to them, with progress and a continue button.

Clients can’t see tasks, notes, trust details, or anything you haven’t shared. They view and download; they don’t edit your file.

Clients can also create a full account with their email. When they do, every matter where they’re a contact (by that email) links up automatically, and they get a home page listing their matters and outstanding questionnaires.

Sharing Documents

Sharing is per file, per contact. On a matter file, choose Share, tick the contacts, and save. There’s a Share with all contacts shortcut for the closing package moment.

Two switches must both be on: the contact needs portal access, and the file must be shared with them. Sharing a file with a contact who has no portal access does nothing visible, and the share dialog warns you when that’s the case.

Tips

Enable the portal at matter open, not at closing. The client who can watch progress from day one is the client who doesn’t phone for updates.

Check “Last accessed” before assuming the client saw something. “Never accessed” means the portal isn’t reaching them; call instead.

Mark dates portal-visible deliberately. The client should see the signing appointment. Whether they should see your internal conditions deadline is a judgment call, and the default keeps it hidden.