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If you are an advice service, a charity, a law centre, or a community body that helps people facing legal problems in England and Wales, this page is a plain summary of what Portia is, what someone you point to it will actually find, and where the lines are. Being clear about the limits is as much the point as being clear about the help.

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What Portia is

Portia is a document-organisation tool for people handling civil disputes in England and Wales without a solicitor. It helps them organise their evidence, map the recognised legal foundation their situation may rest on, check their evidence against it, and prepare the documents the process involves. It is built for litigants in person and for small businesses handling civil matters on their own. Portia is not a law firm. It does not give legal advice. It does not tell someone whether they have a case, how strong it is, or whether they will win, and it is not a substitute for a solicitor or barrister.

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What someone you refer will find

If you point someone to Portia, they will be able to:
  • Put the documents they already have into one place
  • See those documents organised into a dated chronology and an indexed set of exhibits
  • Be shown the recognised legal basis their dispute may rest on, and the specific points that basis requires them to establish
  • See which of their documents support each point, and where the evidence is thin
  • Prepare structured documents grounded in what they have, including a letter before action, statements of case, and witness statements
They stay in charge of their case throughout. Portia handles the structural and organising work; it does not judge the matter or make decisions for them.

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The kinds of dispute it covers

Portia currently helps with civil disputes such as money owed, contracts that have gone wrong, problems with something bought, rented-property disputes, damage to property or land, and judgments a party wants set aside. For businesses, it covers unpaid invoices, contract disputes, damage to property or goods, recovering a residential property from a tenant, and answering a claim or having a judgment set aside. Family and immigration matters are outside its scope.

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Where the lines are

The lines Portia holds on purpose matter as much for a referrer as for a user:
  • It does not give legal advice
  • It does not tell anyone whether they have a case, how strong it is, or whether they will win
  • It does not represent anyone or file anything at court on their behalf
  • It is not a substitute for a solicitor or barrister
If someone you support needs advice on their specific situation, Portia is not that. A solicitor, barrister, or a service that gives advice is. See what “not legal advice” means for the distinction.

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Free access

A free tier exists, in part so that a no-cost way to organise a case and understand the shape of it is available to people who come to Portia through an advice organisation.

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Getting in touch

If you help people through civil disputes and you would like to talk to us about Portia in your context, please get in touch.

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Where to go next

Portia is a document-organisation tool for people handling civil disputes in England and Wales. It is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Learn what Portia does.