How Engagements Work

The Recorded Origin

A matter is created for every professional and client relationship, and its origin is recorded once, when the matter is created. Where the platform witnessed the event itself, for example a marketplace introduction, an invitation you sent or a document a client created here, the origin is derived from that event and cannot be relabelled afterwards. Only the two own-client origins are declared by you, because no platform event exists to derive them from.

The origin appears on the client record so that you, and anyone reviewing the matter later, can see whose relationship it is without reading back through the history.

• Introduced by Orchard72: the client came to you through the marketplace, for example an enquiry, a direct approach or a jurisdiction referral
• Referred by another professional: another professional on the platform passed the matter to you, or subcontracted part of it to you
• Invited by you to join the platform: you invited the client and they accepted, so the invitation record is the origin
• An existing client of yours: you already acted for this person before the platform was involved. You declare this one, and it carries no platform commission
• Imported from your existing client records: the client came across in a bulk import from your own systems. You declare this one too, and it also carries no platform commission
• Arose from a document created on Orchard72: the relationship began with a document the client made here, for example a will they then asked you to review or hold
• Recorded before origin was tracked: a historic record created before origins existed. Nothing new is created with this origin

Before the Client Signs

Until the client has signed an engagement letter for the matter, the platform will not do any of the following. You can still talk to the client, and the platform does not restrict who talks to whom.

• Release their data: full contact details and personal data stay withheld, and only the limited details the client consented to share are visible
• Invoice or take payment: an invoice for the matter cannot be sent, and a payment cannot be recorded against it
• Take custody of documents: a document you supply for the client will not be accepted into the vault
• Enter a will in the registry: the platform will not record you as custodian of a will for that client
• Grant executor access: executor access follows custody, so a matter that never reached custody has nothing to release later
• Send intake questions: structured question packs are sent from the matter, and the matter has to be on the rails first

Where one of these is blocked, the client record shows the reason, so you can see what is outstanding rather than guessing at a silent refusal.

Clients You Bring With You

Matters you declare as your own client, whether recorded individually or imported from your own records, are treated no differently. A zero-fee data handling letter, or an externally drafted document letter where that is the shape of the work, still has to be signed before the platform will unlock data, take custody or enter a registry record. There is no platform commission on those matters; the process obligations are the same as on any other.

Choosing a Purpose

• Standard engagement: you carry out the work and produce the document, with the scope and the fee stated in the letter
• Zero-fee data handling: no fee is charged, and the letter exists so that the client can consent to you holding and handling their data on the matter
• Independent second opinion: a limited review of work someone else produced, without taking over the matter
• Advice only (no document produced): you advise and no document is created. The letter says so explicitly, so the client is not left expecting a deliverable that was never in scope
• Externally drafted document: you draft in your own systems and supply the finished document. The letter states that the document is yours, and what the platform does with it once it arrives, which is custody, registry entry and executor access later on

Advice-only and externally drafted matters are the two that older help material never described, and they are the two most often run off the record elsewhere. Both are first-class here: they get a letter, a matter and the same gates as any other engagement.

Who Contracts With Whom

The client contracts directly with you. Orchard72 introduces, hosts the paperwork and the data, and runs the payment rail; it does not become the contracting party for your advice and does not supervise how you do the work. Your professional obligations to your client and to your regulator are unchanged by anything on this page.

How Fees Are Presented

• Your fee is yours: you set it, it is stated in the engagement letter, and the client sees it as your fee
• The platform fee is separate: the marketplace facilitation fee is charged and shown as its own amount, never rolled into or netted against your fee
• Own-client matters carry no commission: matters you declare as your own client are charged no platform commission, and the fee line simply does not appear
• Payment runs through the platform: invoicing and settlement for a matter go through the platform, which is what allows the letter, the invoice and the payment to be one auditable record
• Deviating from the letter needs approval: where an invoice does not match the fee the client signed up to, the client is asked to approve the difference before payment

Cancellation and refund rights may apply to a client's engagement depending on how and where it was entered into. The cancellations guide describes how the platform handles a cancellation, and your own regulatory requirements sit alongside it.

Referral or Subcontract

When a matter moves between two professionals, the platform asks which of the two arrangements it is, because they put different people on the record. On a referral the matter passes over and the receiving professional is on the record. On a subcontract the referring professional stays on the record and instructs the other.

• Terms are signed by both: scope, fee basis and split, how much data is shared, the conflict position and who is on the record are recorded and signed by each professional
• Signed terms are fixed: the terms can be edited freely while unsigned, and are locked to editing and deletion the moment either professional signs
• The receiving professional is conflict-checked: the check runs at referral time, and a conflict refuses the referral without disclosing whose matter caused it
• The client consents separately: the instrument between the professionals does not replace the client's own consent to the referral
• Referral fees settle through the platform: off-platform settlement is available only where the jurisdiction policy for the matter says platform intermediation is unavailable, and it then needs evidence of the payment plus an attestation from both professionals

Scope of This Guide

This guide describes how engagements are recorded and gated on Orchard72. It is general information about the platform, not legal, tax or regulatory advice, and it does not tell you what your own obligations are in any particular matter or jurisdiction. Those may differ, and your regulator's rules and your own professional judgement take precedence. The Professional Terms and Conditions are the contractual position between you and the platform.