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This is the order that works best for a firm starting with an empty LegalVine. You need to be an Admin. Most steps are in Settings; each step says where.

There is no automatic setup wizard today. You do these steps by hand, and you can come back to any of them later.

Step 1: Make sure there is an admin

The first admin is set in the Base44 dashboard, not inside LegalVine. Sign in with that account. If you cannot open Settings tabs such as Page formats or Import, you are not an admin.

Step 2: Save the secrets you need

Some features need a key from an outside service. An admin saves each one in the Base44 dashboard under Settings then Secrets. You can do this now or later when you reach that feature. See "Outside services and secrets" for the list. At the very least, add ANTHROPIC_API_KEY before you plan to use Claude inside LegalVine.

Step 3: Fill in the firm profile

1. Open Settings. The Firm tab is first.
2. In Firm profile, answer every question. The full list is in "Questions asked during enrollment".
3. Click Save.

Step 4: Build the letterhead

1. Still on the Firm tab, scroll to Letterhead.
2. Click Upload logo and choose a PNG or JPEG of 1 MB or less.
3. Pick a Layout: Classic, Centered or Side band.
4. Fill in Fax, Website, Tagline, Footer wording, Accent color and Body font.
5. Under Offices, click Add for each office. The first one prints on the letterhead.
6. Under Attorneys for captions and signature blocks, click Add and fill in each attorney. Tick Default signer for the attorney who usually signs. Click Signature to upload a signature image.
7. Check the First page preview, then click Save at the top of the Letterhead section.

Step 5: Set documents and client updates

Still on the Firm tab, fill in Documents & client updates: where matter files live, the root folder, the folder pattern and the default client-update preference. Click Save.

Step 6: List your staff

In Staff directory, click Add for each person. Give each a name, email, job type and hourly rate. Click Save in the firm profile section when done. This list is not the same as sign-in accounts; it is used for assignment defaults, time entries and lead routing.

Step 7: Set page formats

Open the Page formats tab (admins only). Check the margins, font and footer size for each format your firm uses, such as letters and court papers. Click the save button on each format you change.

Step 8: Invite your people and give them presets

1. Ask each person to create their account (see "Creating your own staff account").
2. Open Users and Permissions.
3. Under People, pick a preset for each person.
4. If someone should not see one page, use the Pages hidden for this person button on their row.
5. Open the Presets tab if you want to change what a preset can open.

Step 9: Connect mail and files

Each person links their own accounts under Connectors (see "Connectors"). Do your own first so you can test mail and Drive.

Step 10: Review workflow packs, deadline rules and scorecards

1. Workflow packs: a pack decides which checks run and which tasks are created when a project enters a phase. Review the packs and adjust them for your case types.
2. Deadline rules: click Seed California defaults to add the standard limitation rules. Until rules exist, the built-in California set applies.
3. Scorecards: click Seed defaults to add the intake scorecards, then adjust the questions and the qualify threshold.

Step 11: Bring in existing data

Open the Import tab (admins only). You can import leads, projects and cases, and ad spend from CSV files, and you can connect to Filevine. Do a small test import first.

Step 12: Load the document library

1. Open Doc Automation, then the Templates tab, and click Seed starter templates.
2. Open the Claude for Legal tab. Click Test API key. If it works, click Load knowledge once. This loads the legal knowledge Claude uses inside LegalVine.
3. Have an attorney open each template you plan to use and click Approve for this firm. Documents made from unapproved templates cannot become final copies.

Step 13: Marketing and lead tracking (only if you use the Authority side)

Open the Attribution tab (admins only) to set up call-tracking webhooks and conversion uploads. Add the secrets those features need. Then check Data Health on the Authority side.

Before you go live

• Open a test project and generate a document. Check the letterhead, the names and the folder link.
• Send yourself a test signature request in test mode.
• Ask one person per role to sign in and confirm the pages they see.