One secure portal per client matter

Droplana is a client document portal for professional service businesses. For legal firms, that means one private, persistent portal per client or matter - contracts, filings, and correspondence sent and received in one place, no client account.

Document workflow reality for solo & small firms

If you're a solo practitioner or a small firm, you've probably tried:

• Email attachments. Hits size limits. Gets buried. Clients lose them.
• Drive folders. Too open, too messy, often shared with the wrong person.
• Big enterprise document management systems. Expensive, overbuilt, painful onboarding.
• WhatsApp for "quick" things. Now signed documents are next to family photos.

What's actually needed is simpler: a clean place per client where documents come in and go out, with per-file comments alongside them, and nothing gets lost. For the full picture on what a client portal is and how to evaluate one, see our client portal guide.

Why legal professionals use Droplana

One portal per client matter

A client opens one private link to their own portal. Their engagement letter, their signed docs, their court filings, your per-file comments - all in one place. They never have to ask "where do I send this?" again.

Document intake that doesn't require another tool

Clients can upload to their portal. You get their intake forms, their signed retainer, their evidence and supporting documents - without back-and-forth email tag.

A checklist instead of an open-ended request

Set up a document checklist per matter listing exactly what's still needed - the signed retainer, a form of ID, supporting evidence. Instead of an open-ended "please send your documents" email, the client sees exactly what's outstanding and what's already been provided.

Engagement letters signed the same day

No printing, no scanning: the client opens their portal, taps Sign, and types, draws, or uploads a signature right on the PDF. It's in-browser PDF signing - not a certified e-signature, but a recorded, publicly verifiable signed copy filed under their name.

A clean trail

Files have timestamps. Comments have history. When you need to know when something was delivered or reviewed, you can see it.

Clients without tech friction

Your 70-year-old client doesn't want to create an account. They want a link that works. Droplana doesn't make them sign up.

Looks like a real practice

Even solo practitioners can present a polished, professional client experience - without paying for a system designed for 200-attorney firms.

Common use cases

Solo & small-firm lawyers

Engagement letters, intake forms, signed contracts, court filings shared with the client, ongoing matter documents, closing packages.

Family law & estate planning

Sensitive documents, drafts and revisions, signed final instruments - kept in a single tidy portal for the client to refer back to for years.

Notaries & paralegals

Document delivery, signed copies, client communication for ongoing matters.

Immigration law

Visa applications, supporting evidence, status updates, signed declarations - one portal per matter with full audit trail.

Real estate attorneys

Purchase agreements, title docs, closing packages, amendment history - clean per-transaction portals your clients can revisit.

GDPR and data protection for EU legal practices

EU-based law firms and sole practitioners are both data controllers under GDPR. When you use a third-party tool that processes client documents on your behalf, that tool is a processor - and GDPR Article 28 requires a signed Data Processing Agreement before any personal data is transferred.

Many law firms still run document exchange over email or US-hosted cloud storage, both of which create compliance exposure. Client documents shared through Gmail or Dropbox may transit or rest on US servers, where different legal frameworks apply.

How Droplana handles this

For the full breakdown of encryption, access controls, and audit logging, see our security setup.

• EU storage, end to end. All files and application data are stored on Hetzner in Germany, encrypted at rest, and never leave the EU. Brevo and Creem process only the metadata their function needs - email addresses and billing details, never file contents.
• DPA available. A Data Processing Agreement is available for all plans. It covers Droplana's role as a processor, your role as controller, the categories of data processed, retention, sub-processors, and deletion procedures.
• EU company. Droplana is operated by Ubique d.o.o., registered in Croatia, European Union. Your contractual relationship is with an EU entity subject to EU law.
• EU-based sub-processors. Storage (Hetzner, Germany), mail delivery (Brevo, France), payments (Creem, Estonia). Each is an EU company; where any uses a subprocessor outside the EU/EEA, GDPR transfer safeguards (Standard Contractual Clauses) apply.

What this covers

For everyday document exchange - intake forms, signed engagement letters, correspondence, case documents - Droplana provides a clean, GDPR-ready layer that replaces email and Drive folders. For practices with specific sectoral obligations (regulated legal aid, certain notarial records), confirm whether your specific requirements go beyond standard GDPR data processor obligations.

If you need the DPA or have data protection questions, get in touch.

Considerations for sensitive work

Per-client isolation

Each client portal is its own space. Clients can't see each other. There is no "shared workspace" where files get mixed up.

You control access

Grant access. Revoke it in one click, effective immediately. Clean.

A single record per matter

For matters that span months or years, the portal serves as a quiet, organized record of what was shared, when, and what was said about it.

Quick FAQ

Is this a replacement for our practice management software? No. Practice management systems run the firm - billing, calendaring, conflicts, matter management. Droplana is just the client-facing document layer with per-file comments. They live alongside each other.

Is Droplana GDPR compliant? Droplana is EU-hosted and GDPR-aligned: all data is stored in Germany (Hetzner), Droplana is operated by an EU company, and a DPA is available - required under GDPR Article 28 when engaging a processor. Whether your firm's overall handling of client data is compliant depends on more than any one tool.

Is a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) available? Yes. Available for all plans. Get in touch to sign one.

Can clients upload documents back to me? Yes. That's a major use case - getting client documents in cleanly without email tag.

What about retention after a matter closes? Portals stay accessible until you revoke them. You decide - the files are kept either way.

Does it work for clients who aren't very technical? Yes - each client gets one private link to their own portal, and verifies their email once. There's nothing to install, nothing to sign up for, nothing to learn.

Can clients sign an engagement letter or disclosure in Droplana? Yes. Droplana has in-browser PDF signing - type, draw, or upload a signature to sign right in the portal. The signed copy is filed under the client's name, the original is preserved, and every signature is recorded with a public verification page anyone can check. For engagement letters, consent forms, and intake declarations, that is what most firms need. It is not a certified, qualified electronic signature, so for the occasional document with a hard legal signing requirement, use a qualified provider for that document and keep everything else in the portal.

Is it appropriate for highly sensitive matters? For sensitive matter documents, use the Strict security level: clients access their portal only via email-verified magic link - no shareable links. Access is tied to email inbox control. For matters requiring specific compliance certifications (regulated legal aid, notarial records), confirm your specific requirements first - we're happy to walk through what Droplana does.

Check our simple pricing (or start free)

Storage levels and team seats scale with your plan.
Security, per-client encryption, isolation, in-browser PDF signing, and data export are the same on every plan.
No per-client fees. Tax calculated by Creem at checkout.

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