Request documents without the chase

A document request asks a client for a specific file and then does the following up for you: BetterDocket emails the client, reminds them daily until the request is answered, and drops their upload straight into the case — not your inbox.

Create the request

On the case's Documents tab, press Request new document. Name the Document needed ("Signed fee agreement"), set an optional Due date, and add Instructions the client will see. On a multi-client case, choose All clients (which includes clients added later) or Choose clients to ask only the person who actually has the file. Press Request document and the client is emailed right away.

You can edit the title, due date, or instructions after sending; assignment can only change while the request is open.

Reminders run themselves

Every open request gets an automatic daily reminder email until the client answers — an upload, a decline, or the request being completed or canceled stops the reminders on their own. If something is urgent, Send reminder now sends one immediately; the card shows "Last reminder" so you know what the client has seen.

When the client responds

Requests move through plain statuses: Requested → Submitted → Complete, with Declined and Canceled as exits.

• Submitted — the client uploaded a file (with an optional note). It appears under the request; press Open file to review, then Mark complete to confirm it satisfied the request.
• Declined — the client pressed "I don't have this" and told you why. Their note appears on the card, so the dead end comes with context instead of silence.

Handle it yourself when needed

If the client emails you the file anyway, press Upload file on the request to send it on their behalf — the request is marked submitted and the chase ends. Mark complete also works straight from Requested when the request is moot, and Cancel request removes it from the client's list without deleting anything from the case history.

Files that don't belong to any request go in through the Upload a document panel at the top of the tab, and everything lands in the All documents browser below — folders, search, and a per-case Trash that keeps deleted items restorable for 90 days.

What the client sees is covered in Send the documents your firm needs.