Support

Counsel help

• What Watching showsCounsel

  Open Watching in the header. Its heading is "What you should know about", and it shows what Counsel has found in your records, if your plan includes watching. If your plan does not include it, the page says why and still lists the deadlines that are about to close.

  It has two lists:

  • Needs your attention — a renewal, opt-out, change of terms or dispute notice on your record that needs a decision. • Worth knowing, no rush — findings that don't need you yet, and any you have snoozed or muted.

  Each finding has two buttons: Snooze 30 days quiets that one finding for 30 days, and Stop alerts about (followed by the kind of alert) stops that whole kind. A section called "What Counsel can't see" lists anything Counsel could not check.

• Sign-in and early accessCounsel

  Counsel uses your Memriq account — the same one you use for any Memriq app. On the Sign in to Counsel page, press Continue with Google or use your Memriq email and password.

  Counsel is in early access, so an account must be admitted to Counsel before it can get in. If yours is not, sign-in shows a page explaining why instead of opening Counsel. To ask for a place, use Join the waiting list on Counsel's front page; if the list is not open, the page says "The waiting list is not open yet."

  Once you are in, your home page shows who is signed in. Something not working? The button in the corner files a report straight into Counsel's list of fixes. Nobody replies to it by email, and no person picks up the conversation.

• What Records keepsCounsel

  Records is the page called Records in the header at the top of Counsel. Its heading is "Everything Counsel keeps for you", and it has three parts:

  • Choices about to close — any notice period, opt-out or renewal on your record that is about to close, with its date. If nothing is about to close, it says "Nothing is about to close." • Your matters — each contract, lease, subscription or dispute of yours that Counsel has on record, with its date ("closes" or "closed") and the exact words from the document it came from. Press a matter's name to open it on its own page. • A line of counts underneath: benefits, permissions, items handed to a professional, and outcomes.

  If you have no matters yet, the page says "You have no matters with Counsel yet."

  The Download everything button at the top right of Records downloads a copy of everything Counsel keeps for you. Your own records are always yours to read and download.

• Getting a document readCounsel

  On your Counsel home page, press the card The reading, done. It opens the Reading page, "Hand over a document". The card can be pressed only when reading is available to you; otherwise it is marked Coming.

  On the Reading page:

  1. In What it is, give the document a name you will recognise, for example "Apartment lease". 2. In The document, paste the document's text. Counsel takes pasted text; there is no file upload. 3. Press Read it.

  You are taken to that reading's own page. While Counsel works it says "Counsel is reading it. This page updates by itself." When it is done you get four parts: What it says, What it asks of you (each with the words in the document it rests on, and a due date when the document gives one), Dates in it, and Who acts next.

  If your plan does not include reading, the Reading page says so and links to See what your plan includes instead of showing the form. If reading is unavailable on the site, the page says "Counsel can't read documents on this site at the moment." A reading tells you what the document says; it is not legal advice.

• Letters and approvalCounsel

  No. Counsel never sends a letter without your approval.

  Open Letters in the header. It lists the letters Counsel has prepared for you, each marked either "Waiting for your approval" or "Approved by you". If there are none, it says "No letters yet."

  Press a letter (shown as "To" and the recipient's name) to open its page, "What would be sent". It shows exactly who the letter goes to and their address, who it is from, how it would be mailed, and how many attachments it has.

  Approving and mailing a letter from Counsel is not available yet. The letter's page says so: Counsel can't yet show you what mailing it would cost, and nothing is sent without your approval of the price. So today a prepared letter stays on the Letters page, unsent.

• Who sees my Family spaceCounsel

  Only you, until you give someone access. A space nobody else has access to says "Only you can see this space. Nobody else has been given access to any part of it."

  Starting a space: open Family in the header, go to Start a space, name it (for example "Dad's space") and press Start the space. A space holds what a family would otherwise struggle to find: contacts, where documents are kept, wishes and messages.

  Giving someone access: the other person needs a Counsel account. They find their Counsel account number on their own Family page and give it to you. Open your space, go to Give someone access in the Permissions worksheet, and:

  1. Enter their account number, and the same number again. 2. Under Which parts, tick the parts of the space they may see. 3. Under What they may do, tick any of: See, Add to, Change, Download, Decide who else sees. 4. Under From when, choose now, after a verified incapacity, or after a verified death. 5. Press Give access.

  To take access away, tick "Withdraw — this can't be undone" beside that person and press Withdraw it. Someone who pays for a space does not get to see inside it.

• Downloading a copy of your dataCounsel

  Open Records in the header and press Download everything at the top right. Your browser downloads one file with everything Counsel keeps for you.

  You can always do this, whatever your plan. You need to be signed in; the download contains only your own records.

• Why a card says comingCounsel

  Your Counsel home page shows six cards under What Counsel does, each marked Live or Coming. A card marked Coming is a part of Counsel that is not available to you yet, and only a Live card can be pressed.

  A card is Live only when that part works for you and there is a screen for it. Today:

  • Your details, entered once and Knowing when it's a lawyer's job are always Coming — neither has a screen yet. • Know where you stand and Deadlines that find you open Records when your records answer (Deadlines also needs at least one dated deadline on your record). • First drafts, never blank pages opens Letters when your letters answer. • The reading, done opens Reading when reading is available and your plan includes it.

  This chat cannot switch a card on. Counsel is in early access, and Coming cards go live as each part is finished.

• Legal advice and lawyersCounsel

  Counsel is not a law firm and doesn't give legal advice.

  Counsel keeps your records, reads documents and tells you what they say, prepares letters for your approval, and watches your records for dates and changes you should know about. It does not tell you what to do about your situation, and it cannot represent you or act as your lawyer.

  Counsel aims to say plainly when something needs a person with a licence. On the home page that card, Knowing when it's a lawyer's job, is marked Coming: it does not have a screen yet.