Setting Up and Granting User Access to Client Portal

In this article:

• Setting Up the Client Portal
• Granting Access to the Client Portal

The Client Portal is a secure way for firms using Practice Management to share documents and messages with external parties. To use it, you must enable it for the matter types where you might want to use it.

Setting Up the Client Portal

To use the Client Portal for a specific matter type, you must first choose which types of users will be able to access it as well as define which folders they can access and what kinds of permissions they will have to interacting with it. 

To do this:

1. In Practice Management, go to Admin > Matter types. The Matter Types page appears.
2. Click Settings for the matter type where you want to enable Client Portal.
3. Click Edit next to Matter type settings. The Edit Matter Type page appears.
4. In the Client Portal section, click Add row. A row of fields is added to the table. 
5. Click the Participant Type drop-down list and choose the participant type that should have access to Client Portal. For example, to allow client access, you would select Client from this list. 
6. Click the Folder drop-down list and choose which folder on the Matter Documents page you want to give the participant type access to. 
   NOTE:  You can define your document folders by going to Admin > Matter types > [specific matter type] > Folders. You might consider creating a folder named something like Client Documents that is specifically for client-accessible files. 
7. Using the checkboxes, select the levels of access you want to give the Client Portal participant:
   Your options include:
   • Full, which allows you to toggle all portal permissions on or off for a particular folder.
   • List, which enables users to view documents within the folder.
   • Read, which allows users to download and view documents.
   • Create, which lets users upload new documents to the folder.
   • Update, which allows users to replace existing documents.
   • Delete, which allows users to remove documents from the folder.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 for each additional role you want to give access to. 
9. When you are finished, click Save to save your changes.
10. Proceed to the next section, "Granting Access to the Client Portal."

NOTE:  Once you select a folder for use in the Client Portal, when you view the folder on the matter's Documents page, it shows a special icon:

Granting Access to the Client Portal

Once you've defined which types of users can access your Client Portal and defined their levels of access, you can invite your users to begin using it. 

To do this:

1. Make sure you've set up the client portal for your matter type. (See "Setting Up the Client Portal" for instructions.)
2. In Practice Management, view the matter where you want to enable the Client Portal. (See Editing a Matter for help.)
3. Click the Portal menu icon and choose Overview. The Portal page appears.
   
4. In the Portal Parties list on the left, click the tab for the user you want to grant access to.
5. Under Portal Access, select the checkbox next to the role and verify or enter that user's email address. (When you save your changes, an invitation to the Client Portal will be emailed to this address.)
6. Review the Folder the user will have access to as well as the Document Permissions. If you need to change these, follow the instructions in the previous section.
   
7. Click Save. 

When you save your changes, an email invitation is sent to the user.

The user can then use the Portal options to set up their access (including choosing their password). (Please note, this invitation will expire after a short time. When it expires, you will need to reenable the user and resend the invitation.)

The user's access to the portal may look something like this: