Overview
If your firm uses Ethical walls, you can choose who can see a contact's Engage workflows when you first add that contact to Legl. You can give access to named users, to whole departments, or to both. Ethical walls apply to individual contacts only.
There are two ways to do this: when you create a new contact, or when you create an Engage request for a new contact. After the contact is created, only an Admin can change who has access.
Video tutorial
Watch a short walkthrough of both ways to restrict access.
Before you start
An Admin must turn on Ethical walls for your firm in Governance, then Ethical walls, on the Configure tab. See How to turn on Ethical walls and set the default visibility.
To give a department access, your Admin must first add users to departments in Settings, then Team & departments. See How to manage your team & departments.
How to restrict access when you create a contact
Select Contacts in the left-hand navigation, then select Create contact. You can also select Quick action, then Create new contact.
Enter the contact's email address, first name and last name.
Under Who can see this contact's Engage workflows?, choose Firm-wide (all users can view this contact's Engage workflows) or Restricted (only the users or departments you select can view them).
If you chose Restricted, select at least one user or one department from the dropdown menus. You must include either your own department, or yourself.
Select Create contact.
How to restrict access when you create an Engage request for a new contact
Select Quick action, then Create Engage request. You can also go to Engage, then Individuals, and select Create Engage request.
Enter the new contact's details.
Under Who can see this contact's Engage workflows?, choose Firm-wide or Restricted. If you chose Restricted, select the departments and/or users that should have access.
Select Continue. Legl creates the contact.
Complete the workflow information and choose a reviewer (see below).
Create the Engage request as normal.
If you have not included yourself or your department, this warning appears: "You are not in the list of users or departments selected, so you would not be able to raise this request. Either add yourself or your department, or share the contact firm-wide." You cannot continue until you add yourself or your department, or share the contact firm-wide. Admins do not see this warning.
Choosing a reviewer
The reviewer is set to the person creating the Engage request by default.
If you choose a reviewer who does not have access to the contact, a warning appears: "[Reviewer] does not have access to this contact, so this workflow will not be visible to them. Share the contact with the reviewer, or their department, or choose a different reviewer." You can still create the request, but it will not appear for the reviewer until they have access. We recommend asking an Admin to make sure the right people have access.
Give the reviewer access when you set up the contact, so nobody needs to change it later.
ℹ️ Further guidance
What happens next
The contact's Engage workflows can be seen only by the users and departments you selected, and by Admins.
The contact still appears in the contact list for every user, and their contact details can still be seen. Only the Engage workflows are restricted. See Understanding what users can see with Ethical walls.
To see who has access, who gave it and when, hover over the Visibility line on the contact page and select History. See How to change who can access a contact's Engage workflows.
Important information
Ethical walls apply to individual contacts only. Business, trust and vessel contacts are not affected.
An Admin can set a default visibility for new individual contacts in Governance, then Ethical walls, on the Configure tab. When you create an individual contact, Who can see this contact's Engage workflows? is set to that default: Firm-wide, or Restricted to your department. You can change it before you create the contact.
Only Admins can change who has access once the contact has been created.
The setting applies to all of the contact's Engage workflows, including new Engage requests.
Ethical walls apply to Engage workflows only. They do not currently apply to Risk Assessments or payments.
Engage requests created through a practice management system integration start Firm-wide. You can't set restrictions through the integration yet, but an Admin can change them in Legl afterwards.
Ethical walls are not available for firms that use the Consultancy Model.
Troubleshooting
I see a warning that I am not in the users or departments selected
You have not given yourself access to the contact. Add yourself or your own department, or choose Firm-wide. You cannot continue until you do.
I created a contact but cannot see its Engage workflows
You are not one of the users or departments that can see this contact, for example because an Admin has changed who has access. You can still see the contact and its details. Ask an Admin to give you access.
I cannot change who has access to an existing contact
Only Admins can change access after a contact is created. Ask an Admin, or see How to change who can access a contact's Engage workflows.