A family law client portal should give each client a private place to read shared documents, message the firm, see and pay invoices, and check where the matter stands, without the other party or anyone else seeing it. It should show only what the firm has chosen to share, and it should be simple to sign in to under stress.
In LawAOS the firm switches portal areas on per client: Documents (only files explicitly shared, through short-lived download links), Messages, Invoices, Work reports, Matter status with the current stage and next deadline, and Workstreams. Clients sign in with a magic link, so there is no password to forget, and an ask-about-my-matter assistant answers only from what that client can see.
Family law practice management around the portal covers conflict checks across every party, retainers held in trust, engagement letters and e-signatures, and ethical walls when a matter has to be kept away from part of the firm.
Family matters often involve former spouses, new partners, relatives and businesses owned by one party. A conflict search has to check all of them, including maiden names and aliases, because the opposing party may once have consulted the firm.
LawAOS runs fuzzy name matching across contact names and aliases, companies, matter parties, matter names and clients. Results come back Clear, Potential or Flagged, and a search that could not run is shown as could not check and never stored as a clearance. Waivers need a written justification and a permission.
- Retainers in trust
- An evergreen retainer fee arrangement shows the client's trust balance and the top-up due. The database refuses a drawdown larger than the client's cleared balance.
- Flat fees and hybrids
- Uncontested work can be billed as a flat fee, and a hybrid arrangement adds hourly work on top of a base fee.
- Split billing
- Where two people share the fees, one invoice can be allocated across several payers by percentage.
- Built-in e-signatures
- Documents drafted in the editor with a signature block can be sent for signature in order or in parallel, with a certificate of completion appended to the executed PDF.
When a staff member knows a party, or the firm acts in a matter involving someone connected to the firm, an authorized administrator can apply an ethical wall. The database then refuses that member access to the matter's documents, invoices, calendar, docket and tasks, and their conflict search returns only a redacted notice.
Check the parties
Run a conflict check on the client, the other party and connected people before the first meeting.
See the moduleEngage and sign
Send the engagement letter from a firm template for e-signature, with the executed PDF saved to the matter and emailed to every party.
See the moduleTake the retainer
Record the retainer deposit in trust; it starts Uncleared until a person marks it Cleared.
See the moduleShare through the portal
Switch on the portal areas for the client and share the documents they need to read.
See the moduleTrack hearings and deadlines
Record court dates and deadlines on the matter, with daily reminders in-app and by email.
See the module
Stated plainly, so you can decide before you sign up rather than after.
- LawAOS ships no family-law calculators, such as child support or property division, and no court forms library.
- Clients cannot upload documents through the portal; the firm can collect files through an intake form's file upload field instead.
- Signing happens at a separate signing link rather than inside the portal, and only documents created in the editor with a signature block can be sent.
- No court rules ship, so hearing and filing deadlines are recorded and reminded; they are calculated from a trigger only where the firm has set up its own rules.
Anything the list leaves open, our team answers directly.