Deploy a Client Onboarding Agent and Get Engagement Letters Signed
The Client Onboarding Agent in EngageSuite360 takes new-client onboarding off your paralegals — the people who today, each in their own way, send the engagement letter, wait for the signature, set up the client portal and write a welcome email from scratch. The agent sends the engagement package the moment a matter opens, tracks the signature, sets up portal access and delivers the same welcome to every client, so your paralegals spend their time on the client's matter.
What it takes off your plate
Ask a managing partner about onboarding and you'll hear: "It depends on who handles it." Each attorney's paralegal does it differently. One sends the engagement letter the same day with a warm note; another sends it at the end of the week with no explanation. Engagement letters sit unsigned for weeks while the firm is already working the matter.
Client portal access gets set up by hand, when someone remembers. A new client of one partner receives a welcome packet with contacts and next steps; a client of another receives nothing until the first bill. That inconsistency creates an unprofessional first impression at the moment the client is deciding whether they chose well. The cost is paralegal time on paperwork, work done without a signed engagement, and a client relationship that starts uneven.
What the Client Onboarding Agent does, step by step
The Client Onboarding Agent starts when the matter is opened.
- It sends the engagement package. The engagement letter, fee agreement and any intake forms for that practice area go to the client for electronic signature, with a short note explaining each document.
- It tracks the signature. The agent watches the signature status and follows up with the client by email and text when the package sits unsigned.
- It escalates what is stuck. When a client has a question about the engagement terms or has not signed after the follow-ups your firm sets, the agent tells the responsible attorney.
- It sets up portal access. Once the engagement is signed, the agent creates the client's portal account and sends login instructions.
- It delivers the welcome sequence. Every client receives the firm's standard welcome: who is on their team, how to reach them, what happens next and what to expect in the first weeks of the matter.
- It confirms communication preferences. The agent asks how the client wants to hear from the firm — email, phone or text, and at what times — and records the answer.
- It sets up the matter records. The client, the client organization where there is one, and the matter details are completed in your practice management system, such as Clio.
The attorney handles every question about fees and scope. The agent sends, tracks, sets up and confirms.
Where the work is recorded
Every step is recorded in EngageSuite360. On the client and client organization: the engagement package sent, each follow-up, the signature date, portal access and the communication preferences. On the matter: the signed engagement and the welcome sequence delivered. The next step is written down — "engagement signed, portal active," "client question on fee terms, attorney to call," "second reminder sent."
The signed engagement letter is filed to the matter in Clio and your document management system, such as NetDocuments.
When a paralegal opens EngageSuite360 in the morning, they see which new clients are fully onboarded, which engagements are still unsigned and which clients asked a question. An agent that cannot record its results is only a chatbot; this one leaves a complete onboarding record for every matter.
What your people do instead
Your paralegals spend time with the client on the substance — gathering the documents the matter needs, answering questions and preparing the attorney for the first meeting. Your attorneys start work knowing the engagement is signed.
Clients remember how the first week felt. The EngageSuite360 Client Onboarding Agent keeps the engagement package, the signatures and the welcome moving, so your people give every client the same attentive start.
Onboarding follows intake. Read how firms convert intake follow-up into signed retainers and end intake delays.
One next step
Set up EngageSuite360 for legal — clients, client organizations, matters and intakes shaped for a law firm, with communications and the Client Onboarding Agent built in. Open your next matter and watch the engagement go from sent to signed on one record.
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