Clients
Permission required:
client.read
In CaseBright every person or company you deal with is first a contact (see Contacts). A contact becomes a client as soon as it is linked to at least one case. The Clients page lists these clients and is the entry point to each client's profile.
Open Clients from the Practice group in the left sidebar.
1. Who you can see
You see a client when you have access to at least one of their cases. If you open a link to a client you cannot access, CaseBright shows You don't have access to this client; ask a case member or an administrator to add you to one of the client's cases.
2. The Clients list
Finding a client
- Use the All types, Person and Company tabs to show one kind of client.
- Type a name in Search by name... and press Enter (or click the search icon).
- All departments narrows the list to clients with a case in the selected department.
- Sort by a column (Name, Type, Created, Updated or a sortable client field) and choose the Order (A–Z or Z–A).
- If your organization has filterable client fields, a row of field filters appears under the toolbar. Pick a value (or a from/to range) for any field; the Clear filters button (it shows how many are active) resets them.
Columns
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Type | Person or Company |
| Name | The client's display name |
| Client fields | Values of your organization's client fields (only the ones switched on) |
| Source | Manual for records created in CaseBright, or the integration the record came from (for example HubSpot) |
| Portal status | Active when the client has set up a portal account, Pending otherwise |
| Created | Date the record was created |
| Updated | How long ago it last changed |
Use Columns to show, hide and reorder columns, and the Views picker to save your filters and sorting. See Lists, filters and saved views.
Click a row to open the client profile. The bin icon at the end of a row deletes the client after confirmation (requires client.delete).
Adding a client
The New client button (requires client.create) opens the Create new contact form. The new record is a contact; it shows up on the Clients page once you create a case or lead for it. Usually it is quicker to create the client from the case or lead creation flow, or from Contacts.
3. The client profile
The top of the profile always shows the client's name, whether they are an individual or a company, their portal badge (Account active or Invitation pending), and a line with the A-Number, email, phone and Client since date. Click the email or phone to start an email or a call.
Header buttons:
| Button | What it does | Permission |
|---|---|---|
| Send invitation | Invites the client to the client portal (shown until they have portal access) | client.invite |
| Message | Jumps to the Messages tab | – |
| New case | Opens the new case flow with this client selected | case.create |
| More actions (⋮) > Edit client | Opens the edit dialog | client.update |
| More actions (⋮) > Delete | Deletes the client after confirmation | client.delete |
Below the header are the tabs. You only see the tabs your permissions allow.
| Tab | Permission |
|---|---|
| Client profile | client.read |
| Fields | client.read |
| Cases | case.read |
| Forms | case.read |
| Documents | client-document.read |
| Billing | fee.read or invoice.read |
| Activity | admin.audit.read |
| Messages | client.read or client.update |
Client profile tab
- Identity – the biographical details used on immigration forms: given, family and middle name, other names used, name in the native alphabet, date of birth, sex, marital status, nationality (now and at birth), place, city, state/province and country of birth, A-Number, USCIS online account number, SSN, passport number and expiry. A counter shows how many are filled in. The card is read-only; edit it through Edit client (see below).
- Related contacts – people and companies linked to this client, with the relationship (for example Spouse, Child, Employee) and its direction. Click a name to open that record.
- Address book – all addresses of the client. Click Add address to add one, use the pencil to edit, the bin to remove and Set as primary to change the primary address.
- Client information – name, email, phone, type, created and last updated dates, client ID and notes.
- Additional information – extra details stored on the record, such as intake notes or, for records synced from an integration, the provider, external ID and last sync time.
Editing a client
- Click More actions (⋮) > Edit client. The Edit contact dialog opens.
- Contact info tab: change Display name, Type, Email, Phone, Notes, the primary address and free-form Metadata fields (Add field). Click Update contact.
- Identity tab: fill in the identity fields listed above and click Save. These fields are also filled in automatically when someone confirms a value in the document analysis flow.
- Related contacts tab: link another contact under Link contact: choose the contact, pick a Relationship type (family / personal: Spouse, Parent, Child, Sibling, Relative, Emergency contact; business: Employee, Authorized signer, Billing contact, Owner) and click the link button. Existing links are listed below; remove one with its unlink icon.
Fields tab
Shows your organization's client fields (defined by an administrator under Admin > Global fields). Fill in or change the values and click Save.
Cases tab
Lists the client's cases and leads (archived ones are left out) with their status, priority, creation, due and last update times. Click a title to open it. Use Create case or Create lead to start a new one for this client.
Forms tab
Lists the forms assigned to or filled in for this client across its cases, with the case, status (Draft, Submitted, Locked), submitted and updated dates. View form opens the form; this requires form.instance.read.
Documents tab
Client-level documents – such as passports and birth certificates – live here rather than on a single case, so every case of the client can use them. The same document tree is also shown inside each case's Documents tab.
- New collection applies a client document template, which adds a set of document requirements.
- Upload files into a requirement. In the upload dialog, keep Analyze with AI switched on to read identity data from the documents straight after upload; a Review extracted fields dialog then shows what was found and lets you choose where each value goes (an identity field or one of your client fields).
- Open, download or delete files from the tree.
Uploading, applying templates and deleting require client-document.upload. See Documents for the document tree itself.
Billing tab
A Billing summary of all fee items across the client's cases (grand total and totals by status), the Client ledger, and the list of Invoices with their balance. Generate invoice creates an invoice from open fee items. See Invoices and fees.
Activity tab
A history of the changes made to this client record: who changed what and when. Visible to users with admin.audit.read.
Messages tab
Secure conversations with the client through the client portal.
- If the client has not activated the portal yet, messaging is disabled and a Send invitation button is shown.
- Otherwise, write a message and click Start conversation, or pick an existing conversation on the left and reply.
- The tab label shows the number of unread messages.
4. Client portal access
Permission required:
client.invite
- Open the client profile.
- Click Send invitation.
- Check the client name and email and click Send invitation.
The client receives an email with a link to set their password; the link is valid for 24 hours. If the client already has a password, the dialog offers Send reset link instead. Once the client has set up their account, the badge changes to Account active and the Portal status column shows Active.
What clients can do in the portal is described in Client portal.