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User Roles and Permissions in LeanLaw

A complete guide to LeanLaw user roles — Principal, Attorney, Operator, Accountant, Paralegal, and Time Keeper — and how to customize permissions for each role.

LeanLaw's role system controls what each user can see and do within the product. Assigning the right role to each person ensures appropriate access to financial data, billing information, and administrative settings.

 

The Six User Roles

Role

Designed For

Principal

Managing partner or equity partner

Attorney

Associates or non-equity partners

Operator

Business managers, bookkeepers, assistants

Accountant

External or in-house accountants

Paralegal

Paralegals and legal assistants

Time Keeper

Associates, contractors, or staff

 

💡 Role assignment guidance: Role titles does not reflect Job titles at your firm. Most timekeepers (associates, paralegals) should be set to Time Keeper or Paralegal. Billing administrators and bookkeepers are typically Operators. Equity partners who need full financial visibility are Principals. Use Attorney for associates who need to see their own matter billing but not firm-wide numbers.

 

Customizing Permissions (Pro Feature)

Beyond the default role capabilities, LeanLaw Pro subscribers can customize individual permissions for each role using a permission matrix:

  1. Go to Settings → User Permissions (under Firm Setup).
  2. The User Permissions page shows a grid of permissions (rows) vs. roles (columns).
  3. Check or uncheck a box to grant or remove a permission for a specific role.
  4. Click Save Settings.

📋 Pro subscription required: Custom permission management is a Pro feature. On Core, roles use their default permission sets and cannot be customized.

 

Key Permissions Reference

Selected permissions that commonly require adjustment:

Permission

What It Controls

Self Time Entry

Whether the user can log their own time. Disabled by default for Accountants.

Create and Edit Clients/Matters

Required to create new clients and matters, and to run conflict checks.

Billable Reports

Access to productivity and billing reports.

Other Revenue Reports

Access to revenue and compensation reports. Note: Both Billable Reports AND Other Revenue Reports must be enabled for full productivity report access.

Access to Firm Setup

Administrative access to all firm settings. Should be restricted to principals and designated administrators.

Trust Fund Payments

Ability to apply trust funds to invoices. Can be enabled or disabled per role.

 

Matter-Level Access Override

By default, users only see matters they are assigned to (unless Include on All Matters is checked in their user settings). To give a specific user access to all matters without changing their role:

  1. Go to Settings → Users → click the user's name.
  2. Check Include on All Matters.