# Contracts and legal agencies

Read the contracts the firm prepares for you, accept one by signing it on the portal, print it, and check the legal agencies in which you are a principal, with their agents and their release and expiry dates.

You accept the firm's contracts by signing them on the portal, and you check there the legal agencies (powers of attorney) in which you are a principal.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- You need a portal account, sent by the firm as [Give a client portal access](give-a-client-portal-access) shows.
- Contracts show when you, as a contact, are their client; agencies, when you are their principal or one of their other principals. [Choose what a client sees](choose-what-a-client-sees) has the details.

## Your contracts {#contracts}

On the portal home, click **Contracts**. The list shows each contract's name under **Sequence**, its **Start**, **End**, **Amount** and **Status**. **Filter By** keeps **Draft**, **Valid**, **Expired**, **Closed** or **Cancelled**, **Sort By** orders by **Newest**, **End Date** or **Sequence**, and **Group By** groups by **State**. On a phone, these controls sit behind the ☰ button.

A contract reaches the list as **Draft** once the firm has finished drafting it, and waits there for the signatures. The firm's e-mail about a contract also carries a button that opens it here.

![Your contracts with their start and end dates, amount and status; a Draft contract waits for the signatures.](https://jaah.app/web/image/16580-2ffbb349/client-portal-contracts-and-agencies-contracts_list-en.png)

## Read a contract {#contract}

Click a contract in the list. The page gives:

- in the side column (at the top on a phone): **View / Print**, which opens the contract details as a PDF, and **Sign** while your signature is due;
- the contract's template as heading when the firm used one, its status, **Start**, **End** and **Amount**;
- the tabs **Agreement**, with the agreement's text, and **Description**;
- **Signatures**, with a **Company** and a **Client** side: each shows the signature and its date, or "Awaiting company signature" and "Awaiting client signature";
- **History**, the firm's messages on the contract, with a box to write back.

![A Draft contract you have not signed yet carries the Sign button; Signatures shows what each side still owes.](https://jaah.app/web/image/16584-47fae412/client-portal-contracts-and-agencies-contract_page-en.png)

## Accept a contract {#sign}

**Sign** shows only on a **Draft** contract you have not signed yet.

1. Read **Agreement** and **Description**, then click **Sign**.
2. The **Sign Contract** dialog reminds you that signing confirms your acceptance. Check **Full Name**, then sign: **Auto**, the default, writes your name in a handwriting style, **Draw** lets you draw with the mouse or a finger, **Load** takes a picture of your signature.

![The signing dialog, with your name and the Auto, Draw and Load ways to sign; Accept & Sign records the signature.](https://jaah.app/web/image/16588-c3e14da2/client-portal-contracts-and-agencies-sign_dialog-en.png)

3. Click **Accept & Sign**. The page reloads with your signature and its date under **Signatures**; a contract is signed once. To leave without signing, close the dialog with **×**. On a phone the dialog opens the same way, over the page.

When the firm has signed too, the contract turns **Valid** on its own, and the firm may e-mail you an activation notice. The firm's side: [Sign and validate a contract](/docs/law-contract/sign-and-validate-a-contract).

## Your legal agencies {#agencies}

On the portal home, click **Legal Agencies**. The list gives each agency's **Agency No**, its **Agents**, **Release Date**, **Expiry Date** and **Status**. **Filter By** keeps **Valid** or **Expired**, **Sort By** orders them by **Newest**, **Expiry Date** or **Agency No**, and the search box looks in the number or the agents.

![The legal agencies in which you are a principal, with their agents, dates and status.](https://jaah.app/web/image/16590-29e438e9/client-portal-contracts-and-agencies-agencies_list-en.png)

An agency is **Valid** from its release date to its expiry date included, and **Expired** outside them or while a date is missing; the status follows the calendar on its own.

Click an agency's number. Its page gives the number and the status, here **Valid** until the expiry date, then **Parties**: the **Principal**, any **Other Principals** and the **Agents**. **Validity** gives the **Release** and **Expiry** dates, and **Agency Details** the agency's text when the firm has written it. The page has no print and no messages.

![A valid agency with its principals and agents, its release and expiry dates and its details.](https://jaah.app/web/image/16594-3934be34/client-portal-contracts-and-agencies-agency_page-en.png)

## FAQ {#faq}

### A contract the firm told me about is missing. Why? {#contract-missing}

The firm is still drafting it, or its client is another contact, your company for example. Ask the firm to finish it, or to record you as its client.

### I signed by mistake. Can I take my signature back? {#undo-signature}

Not from the portal: once given, the signature is locked. Write to the firm under **History** at once.

### Why is my agency Expired when it was just issued? {#agency-expired}

Its release date or expiry date is missing, or its release date is still ahead. Ask the firm to complete the dates; it records renewals too.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/client-portal/contracts-and-agencies
- Updated: 2026-10-29
- Version: Client portal 19.0.1.0
- Verified: 2026-10-29