One thread per client
Every client has exactly one conversation with your firm — no scattered email chains. The thread lives in two places:- Console — on the client’s profile, visible to every member of your firm. Any teammate can read the history and reply; messages show who at the firm sent them.
- Client portal — the client sees the same thread from their portal and replies there.
- iPhone app — attorneys and clients can both use the thread in the Lexfill iPhone app. See On iPhone.
Messages Lex drafts
Ask Lex to chase a document or explain a delay and it writes the message for you — in the client’s preferred language, grounded in the actual checklist rather than vaguely, with no placeholders to fill in. The draft arrives as a card with Send, Edit and Dismiss. Edit it until it reads the way you’d say it, then send — it lands in the client’s thread like any other message from your firm. Dismissing closes the draft out. Ask Lex. At the Desk, ask what a client said or who’s waiting on you: “What did Maria last say?”, “who’s waiting on a reply?”. Lex reads the same threads you see here — every conversation with its latest message, its unread count and whether the client sent the last word, or one client’s latest 30 messages with who sent each, when, and the names of any attachments. Reading a thread doesn’t mark anything read, so your unread counts stay exactly as they were.Attachments
Both sides can attach files to messages — the same file types accepted for case documents. Chat attachments are stored securely and stay in the conversation; they don’t automatically become case documents, so the document checklist stays curated by the attorney.Read state and email nudges
Messages are marked read only when they’re actually seen on screen — opening an unrelated page doesn’t clear the unread badge, so counts stay honest. If a message sits unread for 30 minutes, the recipient gets an email nudge:- A client who hasn’t seen the firm’s message is emailed a reminder with a link back to their portal.
- The firm is emailed when a client message goes unseen, so nothing slips during a busy day.
Browser notifications and the unread badge
With browser notifications turned on, a new client message shows up as a desktop notification within seconds, even when Lexfill is in the background. It names the client but never shows the message itself, since notifications can appear on a lock screen or a shared monitor. Several messages from one client collapse into a single notification. Clicking it opens that client’s messages in the Lexfill tab you already have open, or in a new tab if none is open. The 30-minute email still goes out if the message stays unread. While client messages are unread, the Lexfill tab shows the count so you can spot new messages from another tab: the tab title starts with it, for example “(3)”, and the tab’s icon carries a red badge (9+ above nine). If your firm has its own logo, the badge is drawn on the logo. In some setups the browser isn’t allowed to draw on the logo; the tab then keeps your logo without a badge, and the title still shows the count.On iPhone
Clients who use the Lexfill iPhone app have the same thread on its Messages tab:- Your firm speaks as one voice. The client sees your messages under your firm’s name, and their own messages on the other side of the thread.
- Attachments. A client can send up to 10 attachments with a message, taken with the camera, scanned into a PDF, or picked from Photos or Files, and open the files you send them.
- Notifications. When someone at your firm sends a message, the client’s iPhone gets a notification titled “Your legal team” that says “New message from your legal team”. Your firm’s name and the message itself appear only if the client turns on previews for that phone in the app’s Profile tab. Clients’ phones start with previews off, since family members often share a phone. Tapping the notification opens the thread.
- Unread count. The Messages tab and the app icon show how many of your messages the client hasn’t read yet.