Client texts. Properly on the file.
Your clients would rather get a text than a letter. OrdoLux gives your firm a dedicated text number, sends and receives from inside the matter, and puts every message on the file with time recording built in. No personal phones. No shadow files.
How SMS works in OrdoLux
Your firm gets a dedicated UK text number, which we set up for you. Fee earners text from the matter workspace; replies come back into OrdoLux and are filed themselves.
Text from the matter
Every matter has a text panel next to email. Pick a contact, type, send. The number comes from the matter record and a live counter shows what the message will cost to send.
Replies find the right matter
A reply from a number on one matter links automatically. The same number on several matters is held for a one-click assignment. Unknown numbers go to a firm-level inbox.
Names, not numbers
When a number matches a client, the other side's solicitor or a matter contact, OrdoLux shows the name in the conversation and in the time entry. You always know who you're texting.
Time records itself
An outbound text creates a time entry with the message itself in the description. Per-fee-earner and firm-wide controls, exactly like email time recording. Inbound recording is optional.
Saved to the matter folder
Every message, in and out, is saved to the matter's document folder as a .txt file with the full conversation detail. The file tells the whole story without anyone filing it by hand.
One consistent number
Clients see a single firm number rather than whichever fee earner is on the matter that week. No new apps for clients, no personal phone numbers handed out.
Texting clients the compliant way
Texting clients from personal phones creates exactly the problems the SRA's file management and supervision expectations are about: a record of client communication that isn't on the file, can't be supervised, and leaves with the phone. OrdoLux treats texts like any other client communication.
Record keeping
Every text, inbound and outbound, is saved to the matter with date, time, direction and full content. The record builds itself; it doesn't depend on someone remembering to file it.
Supervision
Partners can see the full text conversation on any matter, not just their own. Client messaging is visible correspondence, not a blind spot.
Data security
Texts live in the matter record and your own SharePoint folder, not on a fee earner's personal phone. Nothing walks out of the firm in a pocket.
Time capture
Client texts are work, and work should be recorded. Automatic time entries with the message in the description recover time that firms have been quietly writing off for years.
OrdoLux is not a law firm and does not provide legal or regulatory advice. For SRA compliance queries, consult your COLP or the SRA directly.
Texting in practice — by area of law
Conveyancing
Chain updates, completion-day logistics, quick questions from buyers who won't answer the phone. Texts go from the matter, and the other side's solicitor can be texted as a matter contact too.
Conveyancing case management →Family law
Clients in sensitive matters often prefer a short text to a formal email. Capture the communication properly without adding ceremony to it.
Private client
Older clients who never check email but always read a text. One consistent firm number keeps the conversation friendly and the file complete.
Immigration and international clients
Clients abroad who don't use WhatsApp still use SMS. Text them from the matter with everything filed and recorded as normal.
Frequently asked questions
Can solicitors text clients from a business number?
Yes — and it's better practice than personal phones. OrdoLux gives your firm a dedicated UK text number and handles the setup for you, so every message is sent and received inside the matter workspace and lands on the file.
How are replies matched to the right matter?
OrdoLux checks the sending number against every matter in the firm. One match links automatically. Several matches are held for a one-click assignment showing the candidate matters, so nothing gets filed to the wrong matter. Unknown numbers go to a firm-level inbox until assigned.
Does texting a client create a time entry?
Outbound texts create a time entry automatically, with the message itself in the description. Each fee earner and the firm can control what gets recorded, exactly like the email time recording toggles. Inbound text recording is optional and off by default.
Where are the messages stored?
Every message is saved to the matter's document folder as a .txt file with timestamp, direction, numbers, contact name and full content, and the conversation is visible in the matter's message history in OrdoLux. Nothing is left on a personal phone.
Do clients need to download anything?
No. Clients receive ordinary text messages on the phones they already have and reply as normal. All the filing, matching and time recording happens on your side.
Ready to get client texts on the file?
OrdoLux is legal case management software built by UK solicitors for UK practice. Text messaging is included in the flat £50 + VAT per user monthly fee — no add-on, no extra contract.
Rolling monthly. No lock-in. Free onboarding. Read the full SMS guide →