Contacts
The firm-wide directory of every person and organisation you work with.
Overview
The Contacts module is FRITH's centralised address book and relationship database. Every person or organisation that your firm interacts with — clients, opposing counsel, expert witnesses, court officers, referral sources, vendors, and staff — can be stored as a Contact. Once created, a contact can be linked to any number of matters, making it easy to track the full history of your relationship with any individual or entity across all files.
Unlike a simple address book, FRITH Contacts are structured records. Each contact stores not just name and email, but also their contact type, linked matters with their role on each matter, communication history, notes, and client portal access status. This structure powers features like conflict checking, client communication, and the referral network.
Contact Types
Every contact in FRITH is assigned one or more types that determine how they appear in search results and matter-linking workflows:
Client (Individual)
A natural person who retains your firm. Eligible for client portal access. Appears in billing and invoicing workflows.
Client (Organisation)
A company, trust, charity, or other legal entity. Supports multiple contact persons within the same organisation.
Opposing Party
The other side in litigation or a transaction. Flagged in conflict checks.
Opposing Counsel
The opposing party's attorney or legal representative. Flagged in conflict checks.
Expert / Witness
Expert witnesses, fact witnesses, forensic accountants, medical experts, and similar third parties.
Court / Tribunal
A court, tribunal, arbitration body, or regulatory authority. Used in docket and filing workflows.
Referral Source
A person or organisation that refers clients to your firm. Tracked in the Referral Network module.
Vendor / Supplier
Service providers your firm uses: process servers, couriers, translation services, etc.
Creating a Contact
Navigate to Contacts
Click Contacts in the left sidebar. Click + New Contact in the top right.
Choose Individual or Organisation
Select whether this is a person or an entity. Individual contacts require first name, last name, and email. Organisation contacts require the legal entity name and at least one contact person.
Enter contact details
Fill in email, phone numbers, address, and any custom fields your firm has configured. For organisations, you can add multiple individuals under the same entity (e.g., multiple directors of a company client).
Assign contact type(s)
A contact can have multiple types simultaneously (e.g., a client who is also a referral source). Select all applicable types. The type selection affects which conflict-check rules apply to this contact.
Add notes and custom fields
The Notes field is for internal observations (e.g., "prefers phone calls, not email", "introduced by John Doe in 2023"). Custom fields configured by your firm administrator appear here as well.
Save
Click Save Contact. The contact is now available to link to matters. If the contact is a client, you can optionally invite them to the Client Portal from the contact's detail view.
Contact Detail View
Opening a contact shows a full profile with tabs for:
| Tab | Contents |
|---|---|
| Profile | All contact fields, custom fields, tags, and notes. |
| Matters | All matters this contact is linked to, with their role on each matter. |
| Activity History | Chronological log of every call, email, meeting, and note recorded against this contact. |
| Documents | Documents shared with or received from this contact across all matters. |
| Billing | For clients: invoice history, outstanding balances, payment records, and trust account balances. |
| Portal Access | For clients: client portal invitation status, login history, and accessible documents. |
Conflict Checking
Before accepting a new client or opening a new matter, professional ethics rules require you to check for conflicts of interest. FRITH automates this through the Contacts database.
When you create a new matter and link parties to it, FRITH automatically runs a conflict check against all existing contacts. If a proposed client is already recorded as an opposing party on another matter, or if an opposing party is a current client, FRITH will surface a conflict warning before the matter is saved. You can proceed with a documented exception or decline the matter. All conflict checks are logged for compliance purposes.
You can also run a manual conflict check at any time from the Contacts list by selecting one or more contacts and choosing Run Conflict Check from the actions menu. The Conflict Register module provides a full audit trail of all checks performed.
Searching and Tagging Contacts
The Contacts list supports full-text search by name, email, phone, and organisation. You can filter by contact type, tags, and whether the contact has any open matters. Tags are free-form labels (e.g., "VIP", "Corporate", "Pro Bono") that you assign to contacts for custom segmentation — they appear in filters and can be used to group contacts for bulk communications.
Client Portal Access
Clients who are stored as contacts in FRITH can be given access to the Client Portal — a secure, read-only view where they can see documents you have shared with them, track matter progress, and message the firm. To invite a client to the portal:
- Open the contact's detail view.
- Go to the Portal Access tab.
- Click Invite to Portal. FRITH sends an invitation email with a secure setup link.
- Once the client accepts, you control which documents and matter information they can see from within each matter's Documents tab.
Best practices
- • Search for an existing contact before creating a new one — duplicate records corrupt conflict checks and billing history.
- • Always record opposing parties and opposing counsel at matter creation, not after the fact. This is the foundation of accurate conflict checking.
- • Use Tags to segment your client base (practice area, geography, industry) — it makes targeted communications and business development reporting far more useful.
- • Keep individual and organisation contacts linked: an individual director should be a sub-contact of the company entity, not a standalone record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I merge duplicate contact records?
Yes. Select both contacts from the Contacts list, then choose Actions → Merge Contacts. FRITH will ask you to designate the "primary" record, then merge all matter links, activity history, and documents from the duplicate into the primary. The duplicate is archived, not deleted.
How do I import contacts from my previous system?
FRITH accepts contact imports via CSV. Use the template available at Organisation → Import Data → Contacts. If you are migrating from Clio, Law 360, or Practice Panther, contact support for a guided migration.
Can a contact be linked to matters at multiple firms if I manage more than one organization in FRITH?
Contacts are scoped to your current organisation. If you switch organisations in FRITH, you see that organisation's contacts. Cross-org contact sharing is not currently supported.
Can I set a contact as confidential so only certain attorneys can see it?
Yes. High-profile or sensitive contacts (e.g., a celebrity client) can be marked Confidential in the contact profile. Only attorneys with explicit permission or the responsible attorney on the linked matter will see the full record. Other users see only the name with a confidentiality indicator.