Who can see what in your firm
Within a firm, what someone can see and do depends on their role and, when you choose, on which matters they have been added to. This page explains both.
Roles: attorney and paralegal
Section titled “Roles: attorney and paralegal”Cedent has two roles:
| Attorney | Paralegal | |
|---|---|---|
| View matters, timeline, documents | Yes | Yes |
| Use the matter chat | Yes | Yes |
| Contribute facts and prepare drafts | Yes | Yes |
| Approve and send drafts, approve filings | Yes | No |
| Approve billing / time entries | Yes | No |
| Change firm settings | Yes | Limited |
The shape of it: a paralegal can do the gathering and preparing work — reading matters, asking the chat, contributing facts, putting drafts together — but the approving steps that send something out, file it, or commit billing stay with an attorney. This mirrors how Cedent is approval-gated everywhere: the person accountable for an action is the one who takes it.
Matter access: open or by team
Section titled “Matter access: open or by team”Separately from roles, a firm chooses how widely matters are visible, in Settings → Firm Profile:
- Open to the firm (the default for small teams) — any firm member can see and work any matter.
- Restricted to matter teams — a matter is visible only to the people added to its team, and editing requires being given edit access. Use this when some matters should be walled off within the firm.
Switching to restricted mode warns you that people will then see only the matters they have been added to.
Across firms
Section titled “Across firms”None of this crosses firm boundaries. A person in one firm can never see another firm’s matters, whatever their role or team. See How your data is handled.
Common questions
Section titled “Common questions”Can a paralegal send an email or file a document? No. Paralegals can prepare drafts, but approving and sending — or approving a filing or billing — is reserved for an attorney.
How do I keep certain matters visible to only some of my team? Switch matter access to Restricted to matter teams in Settings → Firm Profile, then add the right people to each matter’s team.