Professional Features Explained

Attendance Notes & Capacity Records

Tools to create and maintain detailed file attendance notes documenting every client interaction: who was present, what was discussed, and what instructions were given. Capacity records help you assess and document whether a client has the mental capacity to make a valid will (testamentary capacity).

• Record the date, time, and content of every client meeting
• Document client instructions and any changes to those instructions over time
• Record your assessment of the client's testamentary capacity at the time of instruction
• Generate structured records that can be used to defend the will if challenged

Conflict Checks

Screen new clients against your existing cases to identify potential conflicts of interest before you accept an engagement. The system flags matches on names, addresses, and connected parties so you can assess and manage any conflicts early.

Vulnerability Assessments

Structured tools to help you identify clients who may need enhanced protections during the will-writing process. The assessment covers factors such as advanced age, cognitive difficulties, language barriers, undue influence risk, and emotional distress.

• Guided assessment questionnaire for each new client
• Risk flags and recommended safeguards for each vulnerability factor
• Documented assessment stored alongside the client file for audit purposes

Recording Consent Tracking

Before recording any client consultation, the platform requires and tracks explicit client consent. A full audit trail records when consent was given, by whom, and for which recording, helping you meet your data protection obligations.

How the Client Portal Works

• Each client receives a secure login with their own private dashboard
• Clients complete will questionnaires, upload supporting documents, and track the progress of their will
• You can request specific documents from a client, and the portal tracks which requests are still outstanding
• You can view and manage all client activity from your professional dashboard

Auto-Fill from Client Data

Data entered by clients in the portal automatically populates the will draft. This reduces manual data entry, minimises transcription errors, and speeds up the will-writing process for both you and your client.

E-Signatures

Collect legally recognised electronic signatures from clients in jurisdictions that accept them. The platform tracks signature timestamps and IP addresses for a complete audit trail. Note that physical signatures are still required in most jurisdictions for the will itself, though this is changing as more countries adopt digital will legislation. E-signatures are primarily used for engagement letters, instructions, and consent forms.

Platform Templates

Every professional plan, including Pro Free, includes access to Orchard72's built-in will templates. These cover common scenarios across all supported jurisdictions and are maintained by our legal content team.

Custom Will Templates (Pro Starter+)

From Pro Starter upwards, you can create and manage your own will templates tailored to your practice. Custom templates sit alongside platform-provided ones, giving you full flexibility over the documents you generate for clients.

• Create templates that reflect your preferred structure and wording
• Tailor templates to specific jurisdictions or client types
• Platform templates remain available alongside your custom ones

Custom Template Clauses (Pro Starter+)

Add your own clauses to will templates: standard wording you trust for specific client situations. Custom clauses let you maintain consistency across wills while adapting to individual client needs.

• Define reusable clauses for common provisions
• Insert your custom clauses into any template during will generation
• Keep your clause library organised and up to date

Included Seats by Plan

• Pro Free: 1 seat (solo practitioner)
• Pro Starter: 2 seats
• Pro Growth: 5 seats included
• Pro Enterprise: Unlimited seats

Purchasing Additional Seats (Pro Starter & Pro Growth)

Pro Starter and Pro Growth subscribers can purchase extra seats as monthly add-ons. Three packs are available:

• Extra Team Seat (1): £10/month (£99.99/year) +tax
• Extra Team Seats (3): £25/month (£249.99/year) +tax
• Extra Team Seats (5): £39.99/month (£399.99/year) +tax

All seat add-ons can be cancelled at any time. Annual billing is available at a discount. Use the Practice Cost Calculator on the pricing page to estimate your total practice cost including add-ons.

What Each Team Member Gets

• Their own professional login and dashboard
• Access to assigned clients, cases, and bookings
• Personal estate planning features included with the plan
• Their own booking page and calendar availability
• Consultation recording and compliance tools

Team Permissions

Plans with multiple seats include role-based access to control what each team member can see and do:

• Pro Starter & Pro Growth: Owner and Staff roles. Staff members can manage their assigned clients and view booking analytics but cannot access billing, subscription settings, or entity management
• Pro Enterprise: Granular custom roles with per-entity permissions: Owner, Admin, Staff, Read-only, and bespoke roles tailored to your organisation

What Happens When You Cancel a Seat Add-On

If you cancel an extra seat add-on, the additional seats remain active until the end of your current billing period. After that, the seat limit returns to your plan's included count. You will receive a notification so you can reassign or remove team members before the change takes effect.

Default Workflows (all plans, including Pro Free)

Every professional account starts with 6 pre-configured steps built around the appointment itself:

• Reconfirmation email 48 hours before the appointment
• Reminder email 24 hours before the appointment
• Reminder SMS 1 hour before the appointment
• Follow-up email 1 hour after the appointment
• Follow-up nudge email 3 days after the appointment
• Re-engagement email when an appointment is cancelled

Customising Workflows (Pro Starter and above)

From Pro Starter upwards you can change the steps rather than just use them as they come. Steps fire relative to an appointment, so the timing you choose is an offset from the appointment, not a calendar date.

• Add steps that trigger before an appointment, after it, on cancellation, or on reschedule
• Choose the delay from the offered offsets, from immediately up to one week
• Send by email or SMS
• Write your own message to replace the system template for a step
• Turn individual steps off, or reorder them

Video Calls

• Start a video call directly from any client's case page
• Clients join via a secure link, with no account or software download required
• Pro Free includes 5 hours per month, Pro Starter 20 hours, Pro Growth 30 hours, and Enterprise offers unlimited video time
• Pro Free, Pro Starter, and Pro Growth subscribers can purchase extra video hours as a monthly add-on starting at £2.99/mo +tax

Recording & Transcription

Record client consultations (with consent) for accuracy and compliance. Recordings are stored securely in your document vault and retained for 7 years on every professional tier.

• Recording requires explicit client consent (tracked automatically)
• AI transcription (Pro Growth and Pro Enterprise) converts recordings of English-language consultations to searchable text transcripts
• Transcription runs on our own servers: recordings are never sent to an outside transcription service, even when our own service is busy or unavailable
• Transcripts are linked to the client file for easy reference
• Recordings are retained for 7 years on every professional tier, because will-writing disputes can surface years after instruction, so retention does not depend on plan

AI Transcription (Pro Growth) & Summaries (Pro Enterprise)

Pro Growth and Pro Enterprise users get AI-powered transcription of consultation recordings, converted to searchable text transcripts for your compliance records. Pro Enterprise additionally includes AI consultation summaries, which generate structured notes from your recordings or transcripts, highlighting key decisions made, action items for you and the client, and recommended follow-ups. Both features save significant time on post-consultation administration.

Why Use Built-In Video?

You can always use external tools like Zoom or Teams for client calls. Our built-in video is designed specifically for legal consultations and offers several advantages:

• No extra cost: it is included in every Pro plan, saving you separate video conferencing subscriptions
• Clients join via a browser link, with no app downloads or accounts needed
• Recordings attach directly to the client's case file for compliance
• Consent tracking is automatic, with no separate consent forms to manage
• All data stored encrypted in UK/EU data centres, not US-based cloud servers
• Full audit trail for regulatory compliance

Complaints Register

Log each client complaint in one register and track it as it moves on: submitted, acknowledged, under investigation, and then resolved, escalated or closed. The history stays with the complaint, so you can see when each step happened.

Time Entries & Matter Tasks

Record time against a matter as you work. Each entry takes its hourly rate from your rate card or from a rate agreed for that matter, and records which one applied. An entry stays unbilled until you bill it or write it off. Each matter can also carry its own task list.

Team Booking

A booking link can belong to your team rather than to one person. With round-robin turned on, new bookings rotate across the colleagues in the team in turn.

Mobile Apps

Native iOS and Android apps for professionals are built, covering consultation recording, visit notes, conflict checks, billing and compliance. Their App Store and Google Play listings are being prepared; until they are live, use the website, which carries every feature on this page.

REST API Access (Pro Growth and Pro Enterprise)

Read access to your profile, appointments, approaches, matters and engagement letters, so you can sync them into your existing systems or build a dashboard of your own. The surface is read-only: anything that changes data is still done here.

Webhooks (Pro Enterprise)

Receive notifications in your own systems when something happens on the platform. Professional events can be subscribed to across your practice: an appointment being created, rescheduled or cancelled, an engagement letter being signed, a new approach arriving, a message being received, a client being added or withdrawing, a will changing status or being sent for review, an invoice being issued or paid, a complaint being opened, a matter task falling due, and a partner referral starting or completing a will.

• Configure webhook endpoints in the Developer section of your professional dashboard
• Select which events trigger notifications
• Payloads carry identifiers and status only, so your system fetches the detail it needs through the API

Custom Integrations (Enterprise)

For Enterprise customers, our team builds bespoke connections to your existing systems. Whether it's a case management platform, accounting software, or internal CRM, we handle the integration so your data flows seamlessly.