# Answer a consultation and close it

Write the response and the advice on an approved consultation, send the report to the client by email or print it, and mark the consultation done so it leaves the work in progress.

Once a consultation is approved, its lawyers write the answer on the consultation itself. The client receives it as the consultation report, by email or printed, and the consultation is closed.

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

- The consultation is **Approved** or **Late**.
- You need the **User: Own Documents** level or higher on **Consulting**.

## Steps {#steps}

1. Open the consultation from **Consulting/Consultations**.
2. Write the answer in **Response** and the firm's recommendation in **Advice**.

![The answer written in the Response tab of an approved consultation.](https://jaah.app/web/image/7709-cb4ea71d/law-consulting-answer-close-answer_response-en.png)

3. To send it, open **Actions** › **Send Report**. The window **Send Consulting Details** opens with the consultation report attached and the client (and the other clients, if any) as recipients; review it and click **Send**, or **Discard**. To print it instead, choose **Actions** › **Print report: Consulting Report**.

![The email with the consultation report, addressed to the client.](https://jaah.app/web/image/7713-ac90c4fb/law-consulting-answer-close-answer_send_report-en.png)

4. Open **Actions** and choose **Mark Done**. When the consultation has no invoice yet, a window asks first: **Create Invoice** to bill it now (see [Bill a consultation](bill-a-consultation)), **Mark Done Without Invoice** to close it unbilled, or **Cancel**.

![Without an invoice, Mark Done asks whether to bill the consultation first.](https://jaah.app/web/image/7717-66ee8403/law-consulting-answer-close-answer_done_prompt-en.png)

   The state becomes **Done** and the date is recorded.

![The consultation is done, its date recorded.](https://jaah.app/web/image/7721-fb3fb487/law-consulting-answer-close-answer_done-en.png)

## Result {#result}

The consultation is closed with its question, response and advice in one record, and the email sent to the client stays in its chatter.

## FAQ {#faq}

### The answer needs a change after it was closed. {#reopen-a-closed-consultation}

A manager (**Manager: All Documents**) opens it and chooses **Actions** › **Reset to Draft**. It then goes through approval again.

### The recipients are empty. {#the-recipients-are-empty}

The report goes to the email address of the client. Add it on the client's contact, then send again.

### Does the client see the answer on the portal? {#does-the-client-see-it}

When **Privacy Visibility** lets portal users in (the default), the client who has a portal account sees the consultation, its state and its report under **Consultations** on the portal.

---

- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/law-consulting/answer-and-close-a-consultation
- Updated: 2026-10-14
- Version: Consultations 19.0.1.0.28
- Verified: 2026-10-13