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Working with files

Everything you need to know about working with files in LawVu

Alina avatar
Written by Alina
Updated over a week ago

In this article :


LawVu is equipped with an in-app file explorer that allows you to easily edit, copy, move, and retrieve files from your local storage, as well as from within LawVu itself.

You can easily drag and drop files within the LawVu files area in order to organize them into folders. Files can be sent via email, as well as previewed in the browser, signed (via one of our signing integrations), or compared (via workshare).


Uploading files

To upload files or folders to a matter or contract in LawVu, open it and navigate to the 'Files' tab and select 'Attach files'. From there you can either click the 'File or Folder upload' button or simply drag and drop the files from your computer into LawVu. When dragging and dropping, you can also drag and drop complete folder structures.

If the file or folder you are looking for is already in LawVu, you can select it from the Matters, Contracts or Knowledge from the left pane as well.

When you select any of these options, you will see the recently worked files and entity-specific work items. For example:

If you select Matters, you should see your recent Matter files and then the most recent Matters underneath the files:

In order to see all the files relating to a particular matter, you’ll need to click on that matter, either from the recent list or after searching matters by name. Alternatively, use the same search bar to search for a file name irrespective of the matter name.

The search and recent files functionality are the same for Contracts. Please note that you will also be able to select a Contract document file in addition to any files in the supplementary files tab for that contact record.

Simply click on the box to the left of the file and the Attach File button at the bottom will turn teal and attach the file or files you have selected. To cancel, select Cancel.

Here is a short animation showing how you can upload a file from a different matter to an existing one :

When selecting a file from Knowledge, you will be able to search across both the Articles and Document index.

You can search for a file by selecting either Articles or Documents and looking through the folders.


Previewing files

To preview a file, just click on its name. If the document can be previewed, a dialog box will appear, displaying the file.


Check this article for more information on previewing files.


Renaming Files

To rename a file, simply click on it to view it in preview mode.

Place your cursor on the title area and begin editing. The changes will be saved automatically. Any document type can be renamed in a similar way.

From the Files tab, you can also click the ellipsis button beside the file name and select Rename. It will automatically open the file to preview mode and place your cursor on the title area to edit it.


Bulk actions

On the left-hand edge of the files grid, you will see checkboxes next to each folder and file. You can use these to select multiple items. When you do, the 'Bulk actions' area will be enabled and you can use it to:

  • send the files via email to yourself or someone else

  • download them locally

  • tag them

  • move them to a different folder

  • bulk delete them


Folder Views

There are three different file view modes that can be utilized.

a. Default view

The regular folders view operates just as you would expect folders to work on a standard desktop application. Folders are listed first at the top, followed by all the files that are not contained within a folder structure. Both the folders and files appear in alphabetical order.

Clicking into folders enables you to use the breadcrumb trail in the top left to navigate your way up and down the folder tree.

b. Files view

This applies a filter that gives you a flat view of all the files in an easy-to-scan list. The folder structure is removed for easy viewing, while the path column denotes the origin folder. The filter is applied to the folder you were in when you initiated the view. Thus it displays all files within that folder, as well as in all subfolders. It will not display files above your current location, i.e., all the way back to the root folder.

c. Email view

This is where you can view all emails on a matter with columns for 'Subject', 'From', 'To', 'Sent / received', 'Attachments'.

Again, the filter is applied to the folder you were in when you initiated the view. Thus it displays all emails within that folder, as well as in all subfolders. It will not display emails above your current location i.e. all the way back to the root folder.

The email view supports .msg as well as .eml files.

Note: Currently, customization of columns (adding or removing) in the file view is not supported. However, you can rearrange and resize the columns temporarily but note that any changes made in this manner will revert back when you navigate away from the file section.


File and Folder actions

If you hover over a file or folder you will see a small ellipsis menu appear and, depending on the integrations you have installed, you should see a menu similar to this :


To learn more about files and folder actions, check this article


Private folders

By default, everyone on a matter or contract has access to all of the files and folders uploaded against it. Currently, you cannot restrict a file, but you can add it to a folder - if you want to restrict a folder you can do this by using the Privacy option.

Once you choose it - you'll be prompted to select whether you want everyone to see the folder or only selected users. You can further restrict the folder so that only specific teams or people have access to it. The folder will not appear for the rest of the people on that matter or contract.

Note that the people picker will only let you select users who are current members of the matter/contract. If they are not, it will indicate that the user is unavailable for selection due to non-membership.

When a folder is marked as private, you'll see this lock icon next to the folder, so you will know it has been restricted.

For more information about private folders, click here.

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