Client Portal
The Client Portal is the part of CaseBright your clients use. There they follow their cases, fill in forms, answer government form questions, upload documents, sign contracts, pay invoices and message your team.
This chapter is written for staff. It explains what clients see, so you can guide them, and which actions on your side make things appear in their portal.
1. Giving a client portal access
Permission required:
client.invite
Creating a client does not send anything to the client. You invite them when you are ready.
- Open the client profile.
- Next to the client's name, the badge shows Invitation pending until the client has set a password, and Account active afterwards.
- Click Send invitation.
- Check the client name and email in the dialog, then click Send invitation again to send it.
The client receives an email with a link to set their password. The link is valid for 24 hours. If it expires before the client uses it, send the invitation again from the same place.
Once the client has set a password, the Send invitation button disappears. From then on, a client who loses their password resets it themselves from the sign-in page (see section 2).
You can also send the invitation from the client's Messages tab. Messaging with the client stays disabled until they have set up their portal account.
2. Signing in
Clients sign in on the Client Portal Sign In page with their Email and Password, then click Login.
Forgotten password
- On the sign-in page, the client clicks Forgot your password?
- They enter their email and click Send reset link.
- If an account exists for that email, they receive a password reset link. If the email does not arrive, they should check their spam folder.
3. Finding your way around
The portal menu on the left has:
| Menu item | What the client does there |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Sees everything waiting on them. |
| My Cases | Follows case progress. |
| Documents | Uploads requested documents. |
| Forms | Fills in questionnaires. |
| Government Forms | Answers the lines your team asked for on government forms. |
| E-Signature | Reviews and signs contracts. |
| Payments | Views invoices, pays online and sees payment history. |
| My Tasks | Works through to-dos assigned to them. |
| Calendar | Sees due dates of their steps and tasks. |
| Messages | Writes to your team. |
The header has shortcuts to Messages and notifications, a theme switch, and a language switch; the chosen language is saved to the client's profile. The account menu opens Profile settings and Notifications, and has Log out. The portal shows your firm's name at the top of the menu.
4. Dashboard
The Dashboard is the client's starting point. It has four summary cards, Forms, Contracts, Documents and Invoices, each showing how many items are waiting and how many are done.
Below them, Needs Your Action lists what the client should do next:
- Forms to Complete
- Contracts to Sign
- Documents to Upload/Revise
- Invoices to Pay
When nothing is waiting, the dashboard says You are all caught up. Point new clients here first.
5. My Cases
My Cases lists the client's cases in two tabs, Active Cases and Completed Cases. Each case shows its status, progress (for example "3 / 8 steps"), due date and last update. View Details opens the case.
The case page shows:
- Case Progress: the case's steps, their status and due dates.
- The case's document requests.
- My Case Assignments: the steps assigned to the client.
Which steps the client sees
A client only sees steps that are:
- set to Client visible in Step visibility (on the workflow or on the case step), or
- assigned to the client. In a step's assignment dialog you can assign team members, departments or clients.
Steps set to Internal only and not assigned to the client stay hidden. Visible steps that are not assigned to the client are marked View Only.
6. Documents
Documents lists what your team has asked the client to provide, grouped by case. Each request shows whether it is Required and its status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Upload Required | Nothing uploaded yet. |
| Uploaded | Files are waiting for your team's review. |
| Needs Revision | Your team asked for a new or corrected file. |
| Accepted | Your team accepted the files. |
To upload:
- The client clicks Upload on the request.
- They drag files into the box or click to browse. Supported formats are PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF, DOC, DOCX and TXT, up to 50 MB each.
- They click Upload All.
Uploaded files appear on the case straight away for your team to review. Document requests are set up on the case (see Documents and Cases).
7. Forms
Forms lists the questionnaires assigned to the client, by case. Each form shows one of these states:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Action Required | The client still needs to complete and submit it. The button reads Continue. |
| Submitted | Sent to your team. The button reads View. |
| Locked | The form cannot be edited. |
To fill in a form:
- The client opens it and answers each section, moving with Next and Previous. Answers are saved as they go, so they can stop and continue later.
- On the last section they click Submit and confirm.
After submitting, the client can no longer change the answers. Some sections may be hidden by the form's conditional logic. Forms are set up and sent from your side (see Forms).
8. Government Forms
Government Forms is where clients answer questions your team asks about official forms (for example a USCIS form). The client does not see the whole form, only the lines you picked when you used Ask the client on the case (see Government Forms).
The list has two parts: Needs your answers and Sent and approved. Each form shows how many lines are answered and its status:
| Status the client sees | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Needs your answers | Your team is waiting for the client's answers. |
| With your legal team | The client sent the answers; your team is reviewing them. |
| Approved | Your team accepted the answers. |
To answer:
- The client opens the form and fills in the lines. A counter shows how many required answers are done.
- They can click Save to keep their progress, and add a Note (optional) for your team.
- When everything required is filled in, they click Send to my legal team.
If your team needs more, you can send the form back to the client with new lines, and it returns to Needs your answers.
9. E-Signature
The E-Signature page (titled Documents to Sign) lists contracts sent to the client, grouped into Action Required, Completed and Other Documents. Contract statuses are Pending Signature, Signed, Expired, Voided and Declined.
To sign:
- The client clicks Sign Now and reviews the contract, using View Document PDF if they want the full document.
- They tick the box confirming they have read the document and agree to be bound by its terms.
- They click Sign Document, draw their signature with the mouse or a finger, and click Save signature. Clear starts the signature again.
Once signed, the page confirms the signing date and offers Download Signed Document. A contract past its expiry date can no longer be signed. Contracts reach the client when your team publishes them from the case's e-signature step (see Cases).
10. Payments
Payments has summary cards (Total Paid, Pending Payments, Last Payment) and two tabs.
Invoices
Each invoice shows its number, status, issue date, due date and balance. From an invoice the client can:
- Export PDF to download it.
- Pay online with Pay (on the list) or Pay Invoice (on the invoice page). They are taken to Stripe Checkout to pay the balance. When the payment succeeds, it is recorded on the invoice automatically.
- See the invoice's line items and payment history, and open a Receipt for successful payments.
Online payment only works if your firm has connected Stripe. Otherwise the client sees Online payment is not available yet.
Invoices appear in the portal as soon as your team generates them, including while they are still Draft. See Invoices & Fees.
Payment History
Lists the client's payments under Recent Payments, Pending Payments and Failed Payments, with the method, reference and a Receipt link where available.
11. My Tasks
My Tasks lists to-dos your team assigned to the client, grouped into Overdue Tasks, Active Tasks and Completed Tasks. Opening a task shows its description, due date, linked case and estimated time. The client can update it with Change Status: To Do, In Progress, Done or Cancelled.
To give a client a to-do, create the to-do on the case and choose Assign to case client (see Tasks & To-dos).
12. Calendar
The Calendar is read-only. It shows the due dates of steps and tasks assigned to the client, month by month. Show: filters between All, Steps and Tasks, and Today jumps back to the current month.
13. Messages
In Messages the client writes to your team about a case:
- They choose a case under Select a case, write the message and click Start Conversation.
- They can reopen a conversation from Conversations and keep writing in it.
An unread count appears next to Messages in the menu. Your team reads and answers these messages from the client profile's Messages tab or the case's Communications tab (see Clients).
14. Notifications and profile
- Notifications shows updates from your team and case activity, with Unread and All tabs and Mark all as read.
- Profile shows the client's details from their client record: Display Name, Email, Phone, Client Type, Created and Last Updated. Clients cannot edit these in the portal; if something is wrong, they should ask your team to update their client record.
15. Helping a client get started
- Send the invitation and ask the client to set their password within 24 hours.
- Once they sign in, point them to the Dashboard and its Needs Your Action list.
- Make sure the steps they should see are Client visible or assigned to them.
- If they cannot sign in, ask them to use Forgot your password? on the sign-in page. If they never set a password and the invitation link has expired, send the invitation again.