What clients actually open in a client portal

What gets opened

We looked at how clients use the Filebird client portal at firms of different sizes, and the pattern is consistent. Clients do not browse. They arrive from a notification, do one thing and leave, usually within a couple of minutes.

1. Invoices, usually within a day of the email, most often to pay by card.

2. Documents waiting for their signature or approval.

3. Updates on the next key date, such as a settlement (closing) or hearing.

4. Documents they uploaded themselves, opened again to check they arrived.

Almost nobody opens the full document library or reads back through old correspondence. That matters, because many firms set up their portal as a mirror of the whole file. The two or three documents the client actually needs end up buried under fifty they will never read.

The pattern holds across practice areas. Conveyancing clients open status updates most, family law clients open documents to sign, and commercial clients mostly open invoices. In every case, the client arrives with one task in mind.

Set it up around actions

When I was a conveyancer, the calls I took most were “Has the other side signed yet?” and “When do I need to transfer the deposit?” A portal answers both if it puts the next action and the next date first.

• Share the documents a client needs to act on, not every draft.

• Post a short status update whenever a key date moves.

• Send invoices through the portal, so the payment link sits next to the matter.

• Ask clients to upload ID and documents there instead of emailing them.

This is also what clients mean when they say a firm is easy to deal with. They rarely mean the portal looks good. They mean they always knew what was happening and what they had to do next, without having to ask.

What to leave out

A portal that shows everything shows nothing. Leave out anything the client does not need to act on or keep.

• Internal file notes and drafts that have not been settled.

• Correspondence with the other side, unless the client needs to see it to give instructions.

• Every superseded version of a document. Share the current one and keep the history on the matter.

• Long lists of past invoices once they are paid. A summary is enough.

If a client asks for something that is not there, share it. That is a better experience than a library they have to search.

Think of the portal as a counter, not a filing room. The client comes to it for something specific, and it should be on the counter when they arrive.

Write the notification first

Because clients arrive from notifications, the wording of the email matters more than the layout of the portal. Say what the client needs to do and by when. “Please sign the contract of sale by Thursday” gets acted on, while “A new document is available” often does not.

Send one notification per action and avoid bundling unrelated updates together. Once a client learns that every portal email means a task, they open every one.

Keep subject lines specific as well. “Contract ready to sign: 14 Harbour Street” is easy to find in an inbox a week later. “Update from your lawyer” is not.

Timing matters too. A notification sent at 8am is opened far more often than one sent at 11pm, and a reminder the day before a deadline is more useful than three reminders in the week before.

What changes for the firm

For the firm, the gain is fewer status calls and fewer documents emailed to the wrong person. Documents uploaded through the portal land on the matter, so nobody forwards them from a shared inbox. The effect shows up quickly at the front desk.

Our conveyancing clients get an update at each milestone. The ‘where are we up to’ calls dropped enough that reception noticed within a month.

Jess Moreno, Practice Manager, Fairlie & Co.

Keep updates short and factual. A portal update is not the place for advice that belongs in a letter, and anything you post there becomes part of the record.

The other gain is a record. Every document shared, every signature and every update sits on the matter with a date, so when a client says they were never told, the file shows what they were sent and when.

Getting clients to use it

Clients use a portal when the first experience is useful. Invite them at the start of the matter, with a short explanation of what they will find there, and make the first thing they do something they need: signing the engagement letter or uploading their ID.

1. Mention the portal on the first call, so the invitation email is expected.

2. Send the engagement letter through the portal, not as an attachment.

3. When a client emails a document, file it, then point them to the portal for the next one.

4. Ask for feedback at the end of the matter, and change the setup if something confused them.

Some clients will always prefer email, and that is fine. The portal works best as the place where actions happen, not as the only way to reach the firm.

Privacy and access

A portal holds confidential information, so treat access with the same care as the file. Invite only the people who give instructions, remove access when a matter closes or a relationship ends, and check who can see what on joint matters. Where clients are separating or in dispute, give each of them their own access, and never assume one can see the other’s documents.