Document chasing
A boutique estate-planning firm opens a new trust matter. Drafting can't start until the client provides an asset list, a copy of the current deed, and beneficiary details. In most firms this becomes weeks of paralegal follow-up — the matter isn't stuck on legal work, it's stuck on paperwork nobody enjoys chasing.
What does this demonstration show?
This demonstration follows a trust matter at a boutique estate-planning firm from engagement to a complete file. Deptly requests the three needed documents up front through the firm's own secure portal, checks items off as they arrive, reminds gently on the firm's cadence, and routes a legal question straight to the attorney rather than answering it. Closure is a file that's actually ready to draft.
The workflow, step by step
Real product behavior with example names and details. The notes beside each step explain what is happening — including where Deptly asks instead of acting.
Day 0
Deptly
New matter opened: revocable trust package. Required-documents checklist attached: asset list, current deed copy, beneficiary details.
On engagement, Deptly attaches the firm's own checklist to the matter and starts tracking what's outstanding. The checklist is the firm's — Deptly doesn't decide what a trust package requires.
Day 1, 9:00 AM
Deptly
Welcome aboard. To draft your trust, we'll need three things: your asset list, a copy of your current deed, and beneficiary details. Here's your secure upload link — reply here with any questions.
One clear list up front beats a drip of surprise requests. The upload link goes to the firm's existing secure portal — client documents never route through channels the firm hasn't approved.
Day 4
Client
Deed copy uploaded to the portal.
Deptly checks the item off and confirms the upload is readable and matches what was requested — a deed, not a blank page or the wrong document. Anything ambiguous goes to the paralegal to verify, not back to the client for a second ask.
Day 8
Deptly
Gentle reminder — two items left for your trust: the asset list and beneficiary details. A rough asset list is absolutely fine to start with.
Reminders follow the firm's cadence and stop rules. Matters with legal deadlines carry the attorney's own rules for timing and urgency — Deptly never decides how hard to push on a deadline it doesn't own.
Day 9
Client
Honestly, I'm not sure what counts as an asset for this. Does the lake cabin my brother and I co-own go on the list?
This is a legal question, and Deptly recognizes the boundary. What belongs in a trust is advice — it is never answered by Deptly, under any phrasing.
12 minutes later
Deptly
Great question — that one deserves the attorney's answer, so I've asked them to reply to you directly. In the meantime, here's the intake sheet many clients find helpful for listing what they own.
The client is told a human is coming, so nobody feels handed off to a machine. The escalation carries the full thread, and the intake sheet is the firm's existing material, not something Deptly wrote.
Day 10
Deptly
Status for the trust matter: deed received and verified. Client asked what counts as an asset — needs your reply. Beneficiary details still outstanding.
The attorney and paralegal see one clean status instead of reconstructing it from an inbox. The open legal question sits at the top because it's the item only a human can move.
Day 12
Client
Asset list and beneficiary details uploaded — thanks for the call yesterday, that cleared everything up.
The attorney's short call unblocked the client, and the remaining documents arrive together. The chase workflow and the human advice worked side by side, each doing the part it should.
20 minutes later
Deptly
All three items received and verified. Matter marked ready to draft — drafting task created and assigned.
Closure is a complete, verified file with a created task — the matter can move without anyone re-checking what's missing. No document, no draft; and now, no chasing either.
What the owner brief says
You don't watch this workflow run. It rolls up into your weekly brief alongside everything else that was handled — what closed on its own, and the few things waiting on you.
A full sample brief lives on the proof and examples page.
Your weekly brief
deptly · weekly summary
- Trust matter: all three required documents received and verified by day 12; the matter is marked ready to draft with the drafting task assigned.
- One legal question — what counts as an asset — was routed to you on day 9 and resolved with a short call; it was never answered on the firm's behalf.
- The deed was verified on upload; nothing needed a second request to the client.
- Two other open matters have documents in cadence — one is fully current, one has its next gentle reminder scheduled for Monday.
Example — how this workflow appears in your weekly brief
Verified closure
All three required documents were received, verified, and checked off, the one legal question was answered by the attorney, and the matter moved to ready-to-draft with a created task — a complete file, verified rather than assumed.
Closure means the loop is confirmed done — not that a message was merely sent. That standard, and everything behind it, is explained on trust and control.
The boundary this workflow ran inside
The steps above where Deptly asked instead of acting are the point, not a limitation. Every workflow runs within rules you approve — anything outside them waits for you.
Deptly handles
- Routine steps like the ones above — replies, follow-ups, reminders, status updates, scheduling holds
- Logging every action so the weekly brief writes itself
- Chasing the open loop until it verifiably closes
Deptly asks first
- Anything that touches price, scope, or an exception to your rules
- Messages that fall outside the wording you approved
- Situations the rules don't cover — flagged to you, not guessed at
Always human
- Pricing, hiring, and how the work gets done
- Sensitive customer conversations
- Final say on anything Deptly flags
How those rules get set up in your first weeks is on how it works.
See this loop in context
Questions owners ask
No — through your existing secure portal or whichever channels your firm has approved. Deptly works within your confidentiality rules and never routes client documents through channels you haven't sanctioned. How your specific setup connects is confirmed during discovery.
It's recognized as attorney-only territory and escalated immediately with the full thread, and the client is told a qualified person will reply. Deptly never gives legal advice, no matter how the question is phrased — that boundary is absolute, not configurable.
It checks that the upload is readable and matches the requested item — a deed rather than a blank scan or an unrelated file. Anything ambiguous goes to your staff to verify instead of bouncing back to the client, so clients aren't asked twice for something they already sent.
The reminder cadence, tone, and stop rules are set by the firm, and matters with legal deadlines follow the attorney's own urgency rules. Anything touching advice, scope, or fees always goes to a human. Routine reminders and check-offs run on their own once you've approved how they work.
No — the same chase-verify-close pattern fits any business blocked by missing paperwork: insurance documentation for restoration jobs, intake forms for home care, patient paperwork before appointments, vaccination records before boarding. The boundary rules adapt to each industry's sensitivities.
Your workflows next
What would this look like in your business?
Answer a few questions about where work waits in your week and get an honest read on which loop Deptly should close first.