Client onboarding

Everything you need from a new client,
collected before work begins.

The onboarding sequence editor: the steps in order, the wording the firm can edit, and a live preview of the client's screen

When a matter opens, send the client a sequence: confirm their details, photograph their ID, upload documents, sign the costs agreement and put funds into trust. They do it from a link on their phone, and everything they enter lands on the matter rather than in your inbox.

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Encrypted at rest and in transit Australian data residency Hosted on AWS No lock-in contracts Guided setup available Your data exportable on request

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What is client onboarding software for a law firm?

A guided sequence a firm sends a new client when a matter opens: confirm details, prove identity, upload documents, sign the costs agreement and put funds into trust, from a link on their phone. In MatterFirst every answer is written onto the matter, and finishing creates the client's portal account.

How it works

From matter opened to matter ready

1

Matter opened

2

Link sent

3

Forms, ID and documents

4

Costs agreement signed

5

Matter and portal ready

No login needed to start

Stalled clients are reminded automatically

Sequences are set per matter type, and steps that were never going to apply to a client are never shown to them.

The sequence

Configurable steps, set once per matter type

A sequence is a list of steps: confirm details, proof of identity, document uploads, your own questions, the costs agreement, a trust deposit. Edit the steps, the order and the wording for each matter type, and every new matter of that type sends the right sequence.

  • A step catalogue covering details, identity, documents, questions, signature and payment
  • Sequences per matter type, with an organisation-wide fallback
  • A coverage view showing which matter types would send which sequence
  • Conditional steps, evaluated by the same condition engine as automations: a company client can be asked different questions from an individual

Capability 1 of 4

The right steps for the matter type, every time.

The client experience

A link on their phone, one thing per screen

The client opens an emailed link and works through the sequence one screen at a time, with an honest estimate of the time left. No account, no password, no app. Steps shared between parties are asked once: the second purchaser sees who has already provided a document, not the same request twice.

  • No login to start: the link is the credential, it rotates on every completed step, and only a hash of it is ever stored
  • Built for a phone: one action per screen, large touch targets, and a typed alternative to every drawn signature
  • Time estimates calculated from the steps actually left, not a guess
  • An "I need help with this" link on every screen, which flags the client to your staff

Capability 2 of 4

Designed for a client on a phone, not a lawyer at a desk.

Written back

Every answer lands somewhere real

Onboarding that ends in a PDF is retyping deferred. When a client finishes, everything they entered is written in one transaction: the signed agreement, the deposit, their confirmed details and every question you pointed at a field. If any of it cannot be written, nothing half-lands, and a task tells the firm why.

  • Point any question at a custom matter field, a key date, the contact record or the matter's notes
  • Confirmed details recorded as matter facts, marked as entered by the client
  • A confirmed deposit receipted into your trust account, with its receipt number on the record
  • Completion creates the client's portal account, so they keep a portal after onboarding ends

Capability 3 of 4

One transaction: agreement, deposit, details, answers.

The firm's side

See who is stuck, before they give up

A register shows every onboarding in flight: the stage each client has reached, how long they have been waiting, who has asked for help and who has a blocker. Reminders run themselves, and the analytics tell you which step to fix rather than leaving you to guess.

  • Every onboarding in flight, most urgent first, with stage, waiting time and blockers
  • Escalating reminders, capped, and measured from the client's last action: progress is never punished with a nudge
  • Each reminder carries a fresh link, so the newest email always opens
  • Completion rate and per-step drop-off analytics, separating what clients finished themselves from what staff finished for them

Capability 4 of 4

Progress per client, reminders on autopilot.

MatterFirst is a legal practice management platform for Australian law firms, built by NorthCape Technology, covering matters, documents, trust accounting, billing and a client portal, with data hosted in the AWS region the firm chooses.

This suits firms that open matters for new individual clients week in, week out: conveyancing, family, wills and estates, where identity has to be verified and a costs agreement signed on every new file. A firm acting mostly for a handful of longstanding corporate clients will use it rarely, and a client who will not do this digitally still needs the phone and the front desk: the flow offers them a way out, not a wall.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can we change what a sequence asks?
Yes. Each sequence is edited step by step: add or remove steps, reorder them, rewrite the wording and add your own questions. Sequences are set per matter type with an organisation-wide fallback, and a coverage view shows which matter types would send which sequence. Editing never changes a sequence a client has already started.
What happens when a client stalls?
They get a reminder, then a firmer one, up to a fixed cap of at most five. Reminders are measured from the client's last action, so anyone making progress is never nudged at all, and the final reminder says it is the last one and offers to do it over the phone instead.
Where do the client's answers end up?
On the matter. A question can be pointed at a custom matter field, a key date, the client's contact record or the matter's notes, and the onboarding's record shows what was written where. Confirmed details are also recorded as matter facts marked as entered by the client, so a document extraction that later disagrees raises a dispute rather than quietly overwriting them.
How is proof of identity handled?
The client photographs one document: an Australian passport, a driver licence or a birth certificate. It is stored against the matter, visible only to staff, and a staff member reviews and accepts or rejects it. A rejected verification moves the onboarding into a review queue, and a task tells the firm to look before the matter proceeds.
Where is my data stored?
In the AWS region your firm chooses. Sydney (ap-southeast-2) is the default for Australian firms. Matter data, documents, extraction and matter questions all stay in that region. The one exception is the first step of Document AI, reading the document itself, which runs on Azure AI Document Intelligence in Azure's Australia East region. Both regions are in Australia.
How much does MatterFirst cost?
Pricing is per workspace rather than per seat, starting at $199 per month for Solo. Each plan includes a set number of users, a monthly AI balance in Australian dollars, the client portal and automations. Extra users are billed only past the included seats. Full plan inclusions are on the pricing page.
Can I get my data out if I leave?
Yes. Your matters, contacts, documents and time records are exportable on request, and there is no lock-in contract. We would rather you were able to leave and chose not to.
Is there a free trial?
Yes, a 14 day guided trial on Solo, Practice or Firm. It is guided rather than self-serve because a practice management system tells you very little until it has your real matters in it, and we would rather help you load them than leave you looking at an empty workspace.
Who builds MatterFirst?
NorthCape Technology, a Melbourne-based software company. MatterFirst is built in Australia for Australian legal practice, which is why trust accounting and Xero are first-class rather than regional add-ons, and why PEXA and InfoTrack are on the roadmap rather than absent from it.
Is MatterFirst suitable for a firm of my size?
It is designed for solo practitioners up to firms of roughly twenty seats. Below that, Solo carries the full platform for one user. Above it, the platform works but you should expect to talk to us about migration and rollout rather than signing up online.

Reviewed by Nick Hallam

Co-founder and Operations Director, NorthCape Technology

Aerospace engineer by background, and the one who talks to firms about how they actually run. Reviews the pages that describe how a practice works day to day.

Last reviewed

Ready to stop chasing new clients for paperwork?

Book a demo and we will send you the client's side of an onboarding sequence, so you see exactly what your clients would see, on your own phone.

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