LAW119 Client User Guide
Use LAW119 with confidence
Learn how to create an account, post a New York legal matter privately, compare attorney responses, communicate, and decide whether to proceed.
For people seeking legal help through LAW119
Current web edition · September 9, 2026
Client cost
Posting a matter is free
Your choice
LAW119 does not rank or select attorneys
Legal relationship
The attorney supplies any engagement agreement
1. Quick start
The client journey moves from a private matter post to your own decision about an attorney.
- 1Create a Client account using an email address you control and a strong password.
- 2Complete the four matter-posting steps and review the privacy-protected summary before submitting.
- 3After platform review, eligible participating attorneys may decide whether to respond.
- 4Compare available responses and select one only if you want to open a LAW119 conversation.
- 5Confirm a consultation only when you are comfortable proceeding. Formal representation is a separate later decision.
No guaranteed response or result
LAW119 cannot guarantee that an attorney will respond, accept your matter, or obtain a particular result.
2. Account and security
Your account keeps your matters, messages, notifications, and support history together.
- 1Choose the Client role when signing up. Attorney and administrator accounts use separate workflows.
- 2Review the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Client Terms before accepting them.
- 3Complete email confirmation when requested and use Forgot password if you lose access.
- 4Never share your password, multifactor code, full payment-card number, or remote access to your device with someone claiming to be LAW119.
Shared device
Sign out when using a public or shared computer and do not let the browser save your password.
3. Post a legal matter
Provide enough information for an attorney to evaluate general fit without exposing unnecessary private details.
- 1Basic information: choose the closest category and enter the New York location information requested.
- 2Timing and cost: state urgency, preferred language, fee preference, optional budget, or whether you seek pro bono help.
- 3Matter details: explain what happened, the current stage, important dates, and the help you want.
- 4For criminal matters, add court, court date, custody status, or case stage only when known. You may opt into courtesy court-date reminders, but must confirm the date independently and must not rely on LAW119 as a legal calendar.
- 5Contact and submit: review the summary, correct mistakes, accept the sharing notice, and select the final Submit button.
- 6Before selecting an attorney or opening the later engagement workflow, you may revise your posted matter. Material revisions are identified for attorneys so they can reconsider or update a response.
- 7You may withdraw a matter before selecting an attorney or starting a conversation or engagement workflow. After that point, use the applicable cancellation or end-workflow option instead.
Saved drafts
For signed-in clients, LAW119 encrypts the draft and makes it available across devices for 30 days. A temporary browser fallback may also remain; clear it before leaving a shared device.
4. Protect your privacy
The initial post is for comparison—not a complete document file or confidential consultation.
- 1Do not include Social Security, bank, passport, immigration identification, or full birth-date information.
- 2Do not place your phone number, email, meeting link, or direct contact information in the description.
- 3Do not put your full legal name or the names of opposing parties in the initial description. Provide minimum conflict-check names later only through the secure form for the attorney you select.
- 4Avoid unnecessary names of minors, victim or witness addresses, signatures, and unredacted court or medical records.
- 5Before consultation confirmation, eligible attorneys receive a privacy-protected summary rather than your direct identity and contact details. The selected attorney receives your full description only after the secure conflict check is complete.
- 6Machine translation is optional and applies only to the privacy-protected matter summary when you consent. LAW119 does not automatically translate attorney proposals or chat messages; confirm important wording with a qualified person.
- 7No online system is risk-free. Follow the selected attorney’s instructions for highly sensitive documents.
Not legal advice
LAW119 is a technology platform, not a law firm. Posting information does not create an attorney-client relationship or guarantee privilege.
5. Compare attorney responses
LAW119 organizes information so you can decide; it does not recommend a particular attorney.
- 1Open your matter from My Cases when a response notification arrives.
- 2Select up to three available responses for side-by-side comparison.
- 3Review the written response, proposed scope, fee estimate, timing, languages, and other limited information displayed.
- 4Review the responding attorney's professional identity, firm, New York registration details, verification date, and official public-record link before deciding whether to communicate.
- 5Responses appear in neutral chronological order by default. You may personally reorder them by newest, oldest, or estimated price; that private view is not a LAW119 ranking or recommendation.
- 6Before selecting, acknowledge that direct communication is your choice, LAW119 is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice, and selection or chat alone does not create an attorney-client relationship.
- 7Select a response only to open communication. Selection alone is not an agreement to hire the attorney.
Evaluate independently
A fast response, low estimate, profile statement, or verification indicator does not guarantee suitability, service quality, final cost, or results.
6. Messages and consultation
Use the platform conversation to clarify fit before sharing direct contact information.
- 1Selecting a response creates a conversation with that responding attorney.
- 2Ask about relevant experience, availability, consultation format, scope, language support, and how fees would be determined.
- 3Use Consultation scheduling to propose up to five times. Check the displayed timezone before sending; a time becomes confirmed only when the other participant selects it.
- 4For a confirmed time, download the .ics calendar file. LAW119 sends reminders and lets either side propose a replacement or cancel with a reason.
- 5Before either side can confirm, use the separate encrypted conflict-check form to give the selected attorney only the names reasonably needed for a conflict check. Do not put those names in chat, and never enter Social Security, bank, passport, immigration ID, medical-record, or full birth-date information there.
- 6The secure conflict disclosure is available only to you and the selected attorney in the consultation workflow. It is not published to other attorneys or included in ordinary chat.
- 7Direct contact details, meeting links, and limited document sharing remain locked until both sides confirm the consultation and the attorney certifies completion of the conflict check.
- 8Confirm your side only when you are comfortable proceeding to a live consultation.
- 9After mutual consultation confirmation, review the Zoom, Webex, Teams, phone, or office details supplied by the attorney. LAW119 does not host or record third-party calls.
- 10After the consultation, privately record whether you retained the attorney outside LAW119, are still deciding, or want to find another attorney. Finding another attorney reopens the matter and closes only the current LAW119 workflow.
Consultation is not representation
Consultation confirmation unlocks limited workflow features. Formal representation requires a separate agreement addressing conflicts, scope, and fees.
7. Representation, fees, and documents
The legal-services relationship is between you and the independent attorney you choose.
- 1Discuss conflicts, final scope, exclusions, legal fees, expenses, timing, and responsibilities directly with the attorney.
- 2Review and sign a separate engagement or representation agreement supplied and controlled by the attorney before assuming the attorney represents you. LAW119 does not draft, review, approve, or recommend that agreement.
- 3The attorney may route the agreement through LAW119’s optional electronic-signature workflow or upload a copy signed outside LAW119. Download and keep the completed agreement; a platform status or receipt confirmation does not validate its legal effect.
- 4Legal fees, retainers, trust funds, expenses, invoices, and refunds are always handled directly with the attorney outside LAW119.
- 5LAW119 does not collect legal fees, hold client funds, act as escrow, provide milestone billing, pay attorneys, issue client legal-fee refunds, or take a percentage of legal fees.
- 6Share sensitive documents only after the feature is unlocked and through a channel the attorney confirms is appropriate.
8. Dashboard, notifications, and Help
Use the signed-in areas to understand status and see what needs your attention.
- 1Dashboard and My Cases show submitted matters, responses, selections, consultation status, and next actions.
- 2If no attorney responds, use the recovery choices to extend the deadline, update the matter, ask LAW119 Support, or withdraw it. LAW119 never assigns an attorney automatically.
- 3From a matter's detail page, download a JSON record of the matter, attorney responses, platform messages, consultation schedule, and engagement workflow. Download attached files separately.
- 4Messages contains conversations created after you select an attorney response.
- 5Notifications alerts you to case, message, consultation, and support updates.
- 6Mobile push notifications are optional. You may change LAW119 notification preferences and disable push notifications in your device settings.
- 7Open Settings to choose routine email and mobile alerts for attorney responses, secure messages, workflow reminders, and the daily digest. Essential security, identity, legal, and account notices cannot be disabled.
- 8Use Help Requests for account, technical, billing, or general workflow questions. Use an Issue Report when LAW119 must review an attorney interaction or platform concern.
- 9Use Account Security to verify your phone when requested or initiate account deletion. Deletion removes sign-in access and the active profile immediately and opens a verified review of associated records, files, and service providers.
- 10Use the public Privacy Request Center for access, export, correction, or deletion requests—including if you can no longer sign in. LAW119 identifies any limited information retained, the reason, and its next review date.
- 11LAW119 is not an emergency service. For immediate danger call 911; do not rely only on the platform for urgent deadlines or detention matters.
When Help says “Waiting on you”
Open the item and respond promptly so LAW119 can continue reviewing it.
Need help?
Use LAW119 Help for account, technical, billing, verification, or workflow questions. Do not include passwords, verification codes, or unnecessary sensitive information.