Law firms invest substantial sums in client portal technology. Practice management platforms with built-in portals, standalone client collaboration tools, and bespoke portal builds all promise to transform client communication: fewer emails, faster document exchange, real-time matter updates, and reduced inbound call volume.

The reality for many firms is disappointing. Despite a well-configured portal, most clients default to email and phone. The portal sits underused, the firm cannot point to clear return on investment, and the fee earners who were supposed to save time on administration are still managing the same volume of email.

This is an adoption problem, not a technology problem. The portal almost certainly works. Getting clients to use it requires deliberate effort — in how it is introduced, how it is framed, and how consistently the firm uses it. This guide covers the practical strategies that produce genuinely higher adoption rates.

Understanding Why Clients Avoid Portals

Before designing an adoption strategy, understand why clients default to email and phone rather than the portal.

Unfamiliarity creates friction. Using a portal for the first time requires the client to create an account, navigate an unfamiliar interface, and figure out how to do things they already know how to do in email. This friction is small in absolute terms but large relative to the effort of sending an email to a known address.

The habit is already formed. Clients who have been emailing their solicitor for months are unlikely to change their behaviour spontaneously. Habit change requires deliberate prompting.

They do not understand the benefit. “We have a client portal” is not a reason to use a client portal. “You can see exactly where your matter stands at any time, 24 hours a day, without having to call us” is a reason.

The portal sends them to email anyway. Some portals notify clients of new messages via email. If the client can read the message in their email notification, they have no incentive to log in. The portal needs to add value that email does not provide — document storage, matter timeline, approval workflows — to pull clients in.

The fee earner also defaults to email. If the fee earner communicates with the client outside the portal — sending an email directly because it is faster — the message is clear: the portal is not the primary channel. Clients follow the lead of their fee earner.

Introducing the Portal at Onboarding

Adoption is set at the moment of onboarding. Clients who are introduced to the portal in the right way at the start of a matter are significantly more likely to use it throughout.

Make It Part of the Welcome

Include the portal in the onboarding communication as a featured element of your service, not an afterthought. Something like:

“As part of managing your matter, we use a secure client portal where you will be able to see the current status of your case, access all documents relating to your matter, and communicate with us securely. You will receive a separate email with instructions to set up your access. We encourage you to log in and take a look — it gives you a clear picture of where things stand at any time.”

This framing presents the portal as a service feature rather than a technical requirement. The word “encourage” signals that you genuinely want them to use it, without being aggressive.

Set Up Their Account for Them

Where possible, set up the client’s account and send them a direct invite rather than asking them to self-register. Reducing the friction of account creation increases the likelihood they will complete the setup.

A warm invitation from the fee earner personally (“I’ve set up your access to our case portal — you should receive a login email in the next few minutes”) is more effective than an automated system email from the portal provider.

Walk Them Through It

For clients who are less comfortable with technology, or for high-value matters where the relationship investment justifies it, a brief 10-minute introduction call — walking the client through the portal while they have it open on their screen — dramatically increases adoption.

You do not need to show them every feature. Show them three things: where to find the current status of their matter, where to find their documents, and how to send a message. That is enough to get them started.

Making the Portal the Default Channel

The most effective adoption lever is consistency. If the firm consistently communicates through the portal, clients adapt. If the firm uses the portal sometimes and email other times, clients default to email.

Post All Updates to the Portal First

When a fee earner sends a matter update, it should go through the portal rather than direct email. For firms where the portal sends an email notification, the client will still receive an email — but clicking through to the portal to see the full message and the updated matter timeline reinforces the portal as the primary communication channel.

Some firms have a policy: all substantive client communication goes through the portal; direct email is only used for very brief, time-sensitive messages (such as “I need to speak with you today urgently — please call me on…”).

Upload Documents to the Portal, Not Via Email Attachment

Email attachments are convenient for the sender but poor for the recipient: they clutter inboxes, can be hard to find later, and create version control issues. Uploading documents to the portal and notifying the client that a new document is available trains clients to go to the portal to find their files.

Over the course of a matter, a client who has found ten useful documents in their portal has built the habit of checking it. They are far more likely to send documents to the firm via the portal if that is where they have been trained to receive them.

Request Documents Via the Portal

When you need documents from the client — identification, signatures, previous correspondence — make the request through the portal and use the portal’s document request or approval workflow if it has one. Clients who upload documents to the portal have demonstrated engagement; they are more likely to continue using it.

Communicating the Benefits Clearly

Clients adopt new tools when they understand what is in it for them. The benefits of a client portal from the client’s perspective are:

24/7 access to their matter status — they can check at 10pm without having to wait until the morning
Single place for all documents — no digging through email chains to find the draft contract
Faster responses — messages through the portal often receive faster responses than email (this should be true if your firm has set up appropriate notifications)
Security — communications through an encrypted portal are more secure than email

Articulate these benefits explicitly, in client communications and in any client-facing description of the portal. Do not assume clients will infer the benefits — tell them.

Address the Security Concern Proactively

Some clients are wary of logging into a new platform with their personal information. Acknowledge this directly: “The portal uses bank-grade encryption and is more secure than exchanging documents by email. Your information is stored securely and is accessible only to you and the members of our team working on your matter.”

Addressing the security concern before the client raises it removes an objection that would otherwise create friction.

Dealing With Non-Adopters

Despite best efforts, some clients will not use the portal. A client who has been using email for 30 years and finds it perfectly adequate is unlikely to change for a single matter.

The right approach is not to force adoption or to make the client’s experience worse by refusing to communicate by email. It is to continue offering the portal as an option while meeting the client where they are. Forced adoption creates resentment; genuine adoption comes from demonstrated value.

For these clients, maintaining the portal as a document store that the firm populates even if the client does not actively use it still provides value — at matter close, the client has a complete, organised record of their matter in one place.

Track Adoption Rates and Identify Patterns

Review portal adoption rates by fee earner and by practice area. If adoption is consistently higher for one fee earner’s clients, find out what they are doing differently. If adoption is consistently lower in one practice area, consider whether the portal is genuinely adding value for that type of matter, or whether the onboarding process needs adjustment.

A simple adoption metric — percentage of active matters with at least one client login in the past 30 days — gives you a clear baseline to improve against.

Making the Portal Genuinely Useful

The highest adoption rates come in firms where the portal genuinely adds value that cannot be replicated by email. The minimum viable portal for high adoption needs:

Real-time matter status — a timeline that shows completed milestones and upcoming steps, updated promptly as the matter progresses
Document library — all matter documents in one place, clearly named and organised
Secure messaging — with genuine response time advantages over email
Mobile-friendly design — clients checking their matter on a phone should have a good experience

Portals that are primarily a document dump with a basic messaging function get used less than portals with a clear matter timeline. If your portal does not currently show matter status in a clear, client-facing way, this is the most valuable improvement you can make.

Obiter integrates with the communication layer that makes portals genuinely useful — ensuring client messages are read and responded to promptly, matter updates are sent at the right moments, and documents are filed correctly. When the portal is backed by a system that keeps information current and responses fast, clients find it more valuable than email, and adoption follows naturally.

Client Portal Adoption: Tips for Getting Clients to Use It