---
id: KB-LE-009
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/legal/onboarding-a-new-client-at-a-firm
idioma: en
categoria: sector-legal
subcategoria: compliance
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-LE-001, KB-LE-003]
citadoPor: [KB-LE-010, KB-CN-008, KB-CF-016, KB-LE-019]
---

# Onboarding a new client at a firm

_Identification, conflict check and written engagement, before any work starts._

**Responde a:** client onboarding at a law firm · client identification anti money laundering · engagement letter · checking conflicts of interest

Client onboarding at a firm is often handled with a phone call and a new folder. It is the moment three separate obligations are taken on, and all three are far cheaper to meet before starting than after.

## The three things to close

| Front | What you need | Why beforehand |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Identification | ID document, beneficial ownership for companies | Starting work without it is already a breach |
| Conflict of interest | A check against your client base | Afterwards it means resigning the engagement |
| Written engagement | Scope, fees and what is excluded | It is what prevents the argument at the end |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The second costs most when skipped. Discovering three months in that you act for the other side in another matter is not fixed with an apology: it is fixed by resigning the engagement, sometimes both.

## How to do it without slowing intake

1. **One onboarding process for everyone** — Asking the same things every time, so nobody decides ad hoc what to request.
2. **Documents supplied by the client, not chased by you** — Send a request and they upload theirs; the work is shared.
3. **The conflict check, recorded** — Doing it is not enough: you must be able to show it was done and when.
4. **And the engagement signed before the first action** — Signed from a phone the same day, not a PDF returning in two weeks.

> [!WARNING]
> The urgent case is what breaks the system: a client arriving with a deadline the day after tomorrow. Decide calmly what minimum is non-negotiable even then — usually identification and conflict — and what can be completed within 48 hours.

## What you must be able to show years later

**En corto**

- That you identified the client, and when.
- That you checked for conflicts before accepting.
- The scope agreed, in the signed version.
- And identification updates, if the relationship is long.

> [!NOTE]
> The last point is always forgotten. Identification is not a one-off: in long relationships it must be refreshed, and a company can change beneficial owner without telling you.

**Does it apply to small private clients?**

The obligation depends on the type of service, not the client's size.

**What if the client refuses to identify?**

That is grounds not to accept, and it should be recorded.

**Can the client upload their own documents?**

Yes, by their link, with no account and without their documents circulating by email.

## Ejemplos

**A firm takes on an urgent matter and completes identification three weeks later.**

- Defines a non-negotiable minimum for urgent cases
- Sends the document request to the client the same day

→ Urgent onboardings close within 48 hours with the conflict check recorded.

**A client is accepted and their documentation arrives months later.**

- Requests what is needed before starting

→ The engagement starts complete.

**Each person asks for different things at onboarding.**

- Uses one onboarding template

→ The files are comparable.

**An onboarding document expires and nobody reviews it.**

- Records validity on receipt

→ The file stays true.

**There is no record of what was checked on accepting the client.**

- Records the checks performed

→ The decision to accept is explicable.

**An old client never went through the current onboarding.**

- Checks what is missing in the older files

→ The gap closes without waiting for a review.