Briefing a barrister, without opening the whole firm
Counsel is a login for briefed barristers — regular or outsourced. They reach only the matters you brief them on, read-only, and nothing else in the firm. Here's how each state looks on both sides of the screen.
A lawyer or admin opens the same matter with everything: the full navigation, engagement documents, invoicing, the briefing panel, and message sending. The firm only tags mark what a briefed barrister never sees.
Lawyers of Preston
Leads
Matters
Clients
Bookings
Marketplace
Reports
Settings
Jasmin S lawyer
TEST-0001openAssigned: Jasmin S
Smith v Jones — directions hearing · Client: J. Smith
Engagement
firm only
Costs AgreementPreview · Send · Sign in office
Invoices
firm only
$3,850 · Legal servicesCreate & send
Counsel
firm manages
Briefed counselBrief a barrister
Documents
Brief-to-counsel.pdfdownloadDelete
Messages
send: firm only
Type an SMS…
The barrister's view — the same matter, walled
One nav item. They land on their briefs and open the file — matter, client, documents, correspondence, activity. Everything tagged firm only above is simply gone.
Lawyers of Preston
My briefs
Test Barrister counsel
TEST-0001openread-only brief
Smith v Jones — directions hearing · Client: J. Smith
Documents
Brief-to-counsel.pdfdownload
Upload advice / court ordersallowed
Messages
Opposition letter re directions hearing ← inbound · read-only, no reply box
The firm's control — four states
On the matter page, staff brief and un-brief counsel. Every grant and revoke is written to the matter's activity log.
ACTIVEbriefed
TB
ActiveTest Barrister
barrister@chambers.example · until 12 Aug 2026
Brief a barrister
Select counsel…
Access until
EMPTYnone yet
No barrister briefed on this matter yet.
No counsel on file. Add the barrister as a Counsel user (Settings → add user) with their chambers email, then brief them here.
EXPIREDtime-box lapsed
TB
ExpiredTest Barrister
until 20 Jul 2026 · “Briefed for directions hearing”
Access already cut off at the expiry date — the row stays so you can see it lapsed. They're free to re-brief.
REVOKEDaccess ended
TB
EndedTest Barrister
access ended 22 Jul 2026 · logged to activity
Row removed from the list. Their login stays, but this matter returns “not found” the instant you revoke.
How the wall holds
Matter-scoped
Counsel see only matters they hold an active grant on. Everything else returns “not found”.
Read, add, never remove
View and download the file, upload advice and court orders — but never delete a document.
Time-boxed
Set an access-until date for a single hearing; it lapses on its own, or revoke in one click.
Audited
Every brief and revoke is stamped into the matter's activity log — server-enforced, not just UI.
Lawyers of Prestonrole: counselread-only · matter-scopedclient portal