Key takeaways
- Use one group per matter, with internal and client-facing groups kept apart.
- Direct messages between people are private and are not included in team exports.
- Owners and admins can export group conversations to support a legal hold or production.
- C Chat does not offer retention settings, legal hold automation or eDiscovery tooling.
- Assess auditable encryption against your confidentiality duties before rollout.
Law firms communicate with clients, opposing counsel, experts, courts and each other all day. Email remains the formal channel, but quick questions, scheduling and updates have moved to messaging, often on attorneys’ personal phones. That creates two problems at once: confidential information sits on devices the firm does not manage, and the firm may not be able to produce or preserve those messages when it must. This page explains how C Chat can help and where its limits are.
Communication challenges in law firms
- Confidentiality. Client information demands protection in transit and at rest.
- Records and holds. Firms may need to preserve or produce communications related to a matter.
- Internal vs client communication. Strategy discussions must never be visible to the client or to other parties.
- Personal numbers. Attorneys giving clients their personal number blurs boundaries and complicates departures.
- Lateral moves. When a lawyer leaves, matter communication should stay with the firm.
How law firms teams use C Chat
A conservative setup that many firms find workable:
- Matter groups (internal): partner, associates and paralegals on the matter. Drafting coordination, deadlines, research notes.
- Matter groups (client): the responsible attorney, a paralegal and the client contact invited as a guest. Scheduling, document requests, status updates.
- Practice group channels: know-how, announcements, staffing.
- Direct messages: private one-to-one conversations between colleagues.
Document requests and exchanges work through attachments up to 25 MB. Practical rules for this, including what not to send by chat, are in exchanging documents securely in chat. Final documents belong in your document management system.
Recommended group structure
| Group | Members | Visible to client? | In firm exports? |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Matter] – Internal | Firm team on the matter | No | Yes |
| [Matter] – Client | Attorney, paralegal, client (guest) | Yes | Yes |
| Practice – [area] | Practice group members | No | Yes |
| Direct messages | Two people | No | No, private |
Name groups with your matter number so they are easy to find with search and to match with your matter management system.
Guests: clients, contractors and vendors
Clients, experts, investigators and local counsel can join a single group as guests by invitation. They see only that group. Remove them when the engagement ends. Firms working with accounting firms, real estate teams or healthcare organizations can create a shared group per transaction or matter rather than adding outside professionals to internal groups. Firms advising government contractors should check client-specific communication requirements first.
Security, privacy and audit
C Chat uses auditable encryption: TLS in transit and AES-256 at rest with per-organization keys, with group conversations available to the firm’s owners and admins for audit and export. Direct messages between people are private and are not part of that audit. The platform accesses content only for moderation of reported messages or legal requirements, and that access is logged.
This is a deliberate trade-off. End-to-end encrypted apps prevent the provider from reading content but usually make firm-level records harder. Auditable encryption keeps records available to the firm. Neither is automatically right for every matter.
For preservation, audit and export group conversations explains what can be exported. C Chat has no built-in retention settings or hold automation; see what a legal hold is, legal hold and eDiscovery for business chat and keeping compliant chat records to design a process around exports. This page is not legal advice; confirm your obligations with your counsel and applicable bar rules.
Getting started
Pilot with one practice group’s internal communication before inviting clients. Create a team at getcchat.com/c, define your group naming and a short chat policy, and add client groups once the internal routine and export process are tested.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe for lawyers to text clients?
It depends on the channel, the content and your jurisdiction's professional rules. Consumer texting and personal messaging apps make it hard for the firm to control records. A business messenger with encryption and firm-controlled records reduces that risk, but you should still decide with your ethics counsel what may be discussed by chat.
Is C Chat end-to-end encrypted?
No. C Chat uses TLS in transit and AES-256 encryption at rest with per-organization keys, and the firm's owners and admins can audit and export group conversations. That auditable model supports record-keeping; some firms may prefer an end-to-end encrypted tool for specific matters, and that is a legitimate choice.
Can we place a legal hold on chat messages?
C Chat does not have a built-in legal hold feature. Owners and admins can export group conversations so the firm can preserve them in its own systems. Talk to your litigation support team and counsel about how to integrate exports into your hold process.
Who at C Chat can read our messages?
The platform only accesses content to moderate reported messages or to meet legal requirements, and that access is logged. Within your firm, owners and admins can audit group conversations; direct messages between individuals remain private.