Approaches

A First Contact, Not Yet an Engagement

An approach is the enquiry you send to a legal professional you found in the directory. It carries your opening message and the context of what you need help with, and it gives the professional what they need to decide whether they can take the work on. Nothing is agreed at this point.

The Same Page, Two Points of View

The Approaches page serves both sides. If you are planning your own affairs it is headed My approaches and lists the enquiries you have sent, read only, so you can see where each one stands. In the professional view it is headed Approaches and lists the enquiries you have received, with the actions you can take on each.

Approaches move through several stages, and the tabs group those stages so you do not have to track each one individually. The grouping is decided centrally, so both sides see an approach filed under the same tab.

• Pending covers everything still live: newly sent, seen by the professional, first contact made, and enquiries under discussion.
• Accepted is the approach the professional has taken on.
• Declined covers an enquiry turned down by either side, one that was withdrawn, and one that expired without a response.
• Cancelled covers an enquiry called off, whether by you, by the professional, or automatically.
• All shows the lot in one list.

Counts, Search and Pages

Each tab carries a count so you can see where the work is without opening it. The search box narrows the approaches on screen by name, opening message and service category. Longer lists are paged, with the page position shown beneath them.

Accept and Reply

Accepting opens a reply with a quoted fee alongside the message, and starts the engagement letter for the work. The accepted approach then shows the date it was accepted and the fee that was quoted.

Ask a Question First

An enquiry does not have to be accepted or refused straight away. Asking a question keeps the approach live while the scope is worked out, and moves it into the under-discussion stage inside the Pending tab.

Decline

Declining asks for a reason category, which is what tells the person on the other side something useful rather than leaving them guessing. There is also a Decline and block option for enquiries that should not have been sent at all.

Nothing to Show Yet

If your profile is not listed in the public directory, the page says so and points you at your listing settings rather than showing an empty list with no explanation. An unlisted profile cannot be found, so it cannot receive approaches.

My approaches shows each enquiry you have sent with the professional it went to, its current status, a snippet of your message and the date you sent it. The cards are read only, because the next move belongs to the professional.

While an approach is still awaiting a response it also appears in your Conversations list as a connection request, so you do not have to remember to check two places for the same enquiry.

Can I delete an approach I sent?

No. Approaches are not deleted, because both sides need a consistent record of what was asked and what was answered. An enquiry you no longer want to pursue is cancelled rather than removed, and it moves to the Cancelled tab.

Why has my approach not been answered?

Professionals answer enquiries alongside their existing work, so a pending approach is normal for a while. If it goes unanswered long enough it expires and moves out of Pending, at which point you are free to approach someone else.

Am I told if a professional blocks me?

You receive the ordinary decline notification. The block itself is not disclosed.

Does accepting an approach commit me to the fee quoted?

The quoted fee is the professional’s proposal, and the engagement letter is where the terms are set out for you to consider. Read it before agreeing.