CounselLink Answer Center for Clients

User Roles in CounselLink

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This article describes how user roles function in LexisNexis® CounselLink® and how they control access to features and workflow assignments. Roles determine what users can see and do within CounselLink. Because each role grants specific permissions, assigning all roles to one person is not recommended. 

It covers the following:

 

About Roles

User roles control what users can see and do within the application. Each role grants specific permissions tied to system functionality, workflows, and administrative responsibilities.

Because roles determine access to sensitive data and approval workflows, assigning all roles to a single user is not recommended. Instead, roles should be distributed according to job function and business need.

General guidelines on roles:

  • Roles assigned at the corporate level automatically apply to all divisions and offices beneath it unless otherwise restricted.
  • To limit a user’s permissions to a specific office, assign roles only at the office level, not at the corporate level.
  • Only users with the User Administrator role can assign, edit, or remove user roles.
  • Changes to roles may affect workflow routing; ensure required tasks remain assigned.

Roles for Corporate Users

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Each role in CounselLink serves a distinct purpose and provides unique permissions regarding use of the application. The roles in CounselLink are defined below.

Category Role Name Description
Accrual Management Accrual Admin Delete Allows deletion of existing accruals. Must be assigned with another accrual-related role.
  Accrual View Admin View-only access to accruals; cannot create, edit, or delete.
Allocation & Integration Allocation Administrator Creates, modifies, activates, or inactivates allocation contacts and groups. Corporate level only.
API API Administrator Accesses API Administration and configures firewall settings for integrations.
Fee Offers  Approve Fee Offer Approves or declines fee offers submitted by law firms or vendors.
  Fee Change Contact Reviews fee offers and modifies originally specified fees via matter change requests.
  Fee Offer Setup Defines law firm fee structures and establishes fee offers prior to matter assignment.
  View Fee Offer View-only access to fee offers submitted by clients or law firms.
Budgets Budget Contact Receives email notifications for selected budget events. Available at all organizational levels.
  Budget Setup Creates, edits, deletes, and approves or declines submitted budgets.
  Budget Template Administrator Creates and manages budget templates at corporate, division, or office levels.
  Second Budget Approver Provides secondary approval authority for budget amounts.
  Multi-Matter Budget Administrator Creates, views, and edits multi-matter budgets.
Contacts Contact Administrator Manages corporate contact records, subject to source and edit restrictions.
  Contact Setup Adds and manages contact records but cannot modify “Edit Restricted” contacts.
Corporate Administration Corporate Administrator Maintains corporate, division, and office profiles and system configuration settings.
  User Administrator Creates and manages users, assigns roles, resets passwords, and sets invoice authority levels.
Data & Customization Custom Data Change Alert Receives notifications when custom data fields are modified.
  Edit Custom Data Edits custom data collected from law firms.
  Dashboard View Administrator Views configured dashboards for analytics and reporting.
  Email Manager Admin Modifies content of system-generated CounselLink emails.
Documents Document Administrator Attaches and manages documents associated with matters.
  Folder Administrator Uploads documents and creates folder templates.
Intake Create Intake Creates intake forms for new matters.
  Intake Administrator Configures intake workflows, automation rules, and default assignments.
Invoices  Finance Administrator Full accrual permissions except deletion.
  Invoice Administrator Views all invoices, edits notes, copies invoices, and accesses billing data.
  Invoice Contact Acts as billing contact and is visible to law firms.
  Invoice Create Admin Creates invoices for firms or vendors when enabled.
  Invoice Delete Admin Deletes invoices from CounselLink.
  Override Rejected Invoices Views and overrides rejected invoices with audit logging.
  Revenue Contact Receives CounselLink administrative invoices and payment alerts.
  Workflow Administrator Manages invoice workflows, reassignments, and approval routing.
Legal Holds Legal Hold Administrator Manages and views all legal holds at the office level.
  Legal Hold Contact Receives email notifications for assigned legal holds.
  Legal Hold Setup Creates and maintains legal holds.
Legal Requests Legal Request Administrator Views, assigns, and advances legal requests through workflow.
  Legal Request Create Creates legal requests.
  Legal Request Only Allows non-CounselLink users to create and view legal requests.
Matters Matter Assign Assigns outside counsel and vendors to matters.
  Matter Contact Acts as a matter contact and receives law firm notifications.
  Matter Setup Creates and edits matters and matter allocations.
  Matter Change Approval Contact Approves fee and matter change requests.
  Matter Delete Administrator View access to all matters and related data across offices.
  Matter Reopen Reopens previously closed matters.
  Matter View Administrator View-only access to assigned matters across offices.
  Staffing List Approval Contact Approves staffing lists submitted by law firms.
Other Administrative Roles Relationship Administrator Manages related matter structures. Corporate level only.
  Reserve Administrator Enters and views reserve amounts on matters.
  Reserve Payment Administrator Enters and views indemnity payment amounts.
  SSO Admin Accesses Single Sign-On administrative pages.
  Volume Discount Administrator Creates, edits, approves, and activates volume discounts.

Roles for Various Job Titles

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Generally, roles with the following words in their titles have these characteristics:

  • Admin: Rights to view a specific area or item.
  • Contact: Receive email notifications.
  • Setup: Rights to create or modify an item.

See this topic to understand how you can utilize system-based user personas to apply commonly grouped roles for users in LexisNexis® CounselLink®.

The roles in this table are recommendations. It lists common job titles, and each section contains roles that may fit with that title. Those roles with an asterisk (*) may fit another user better, or may be shared depending on your office setup.

Administrative Staff Attorney Office Manager Paralegal
  • Budget Setup
  • Edit Custom Data *
  • Fee Offer Setup
  • Invoice Contact*
  • Matter Assign*
  • Matter Change Approval Contact*
  • Matter Setup
  • Matter Re-open
  • Workflow Tasks 1-26*
  • Fee Change Contact*
  • Invoice Contact*
  • Matter Contact*
  • Staffing List Approval Contact*
  • Workflow Tasks 1-26*
  • Allocation Admin
  • Calendar Administrator
  • Corporate Admin
  • Custom Data Change Alert
  • Document Admin
  • Fee Change Contact*
  • Invoice Admin
  • Matter View Admin
  • Relationship Admin
  • User Admin
  • Workflow Admin
  • Budget Contact
  • Edit Custom Data*
  • Fee Change Contact*
  • Invoice Contact*
  • Matter Assign*
  • Matter Change Approval Contact*
  • Matter Contact*
  • Staffing List Approval Contact*
  • Workflow Tasks 1-26*

Editing User Roles

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If you need to edit a user's roles, it's best practice to make the edits from a user's profile rather than the Assign Roles page.

Before removing roles, confirm that any workflows assigned to the user are reassigned to avoid process interruptions.

  1. Access the Corporate Profile page by one of the following ways:

    • Click the user name on the top bar, then select the Corporate Profile option.

    • Scroll down to the Profiles panel on the homepage and click the Corporate Profile link.

  1. Click on the plus sign (+) for the Division / Office under Corporate Structure and select the office.

  1. Click on the user's name under the User Name column of the staff section. The User Profile page displays.

  1. Click the Roles tab. Here, you can edit roles in different areas

  1. Perform edits as necessary. See the topics below for more information.

Editing Corporate Roles

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You can edit a user's Corporate roles on their User Profile page. You can find it in the Corporate Roles section under the Roles tab.

You must have the User Admin role to edit a user's roles.

  1. Click the Edit Roles button. The Assign Corporate Roles page displays.

  1. Select or deselect check boxes for roles as needed. Use the display options if necessary:

    • Slide the bottom bar to reveal more roles.

  • Select options from the Role Categories filter to reveal or hide roles associated with that category and click Save. By default, all role categories are displayed.

  1. Click Save.

Editing Division Roles

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You can edit a user's Division roles on their User Profile page, including assigning or removing a division. You can do so in the Division Roles section under the Roles tab.

You must have the User Admin role at the division for which you wish to edit.

Adding a Division

  1. Click the +Add button. The Assign Division User page displays.

  2. Select one or more fields from the Available Division section or the Division User Works In section and use the arrows to perform one of the following:

    Once you've selected a division, hold down the Shift key and use the up or down arrows to select multiple divisions.

    Action Description
    Add selected fields selected from Available Division to Division User Works In.
    Add all divisions to the Division User Works In section.
    Remove all divisions from the Division User Works In section.
    Remove selected fields from Division User Works In to Available Division.
  3. Click Save.

Editing Division Roles

  1. Select the Division or Divisions for which you'd like to edit roles.

  2. Click Edit Roles. The Assign User Division Roles page displays.

  1. Select or deselect check boxes for division roles as needed. Use the display options if necessary:

    Select Check All or Uncheck All to add or remove all category roles for the division(s) selected.

  2. Scroll down to reveal all role categories and repeat as necessary.
  3. Click Save.

Editing Office Roles

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You can edit a user's Office roles on their User Profile page, including assigning more or removing them from an office completely. You can perform these actions in the Office Roles section under the Roles tab.

You must have the User Admin role to edit a user's roles.

  1. Select the Office or Offices for which you'd like to edit roles.

    If your organization has the User Personas feature enabled, see this topic for more information.

  1. Select Edit Roles or Remove:
    • Edit Roles

      • The Assign User Office Roles page displays.

  • Select or deselect check boxes for division roles as needed. Use the display options if necessary:

    Select Check All or Uncheck All to add or remove all category roles for the division(s) selected.

  • Scroll down to reveal all role categories and repeat as necessary.
  • Click Save.
  • Remove
    • A confirmation window displays.
    • Click Confirm.
    • The user is removed from the selected office(s).