> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.useportia.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quick start: for businesses

> How to get started with Portia if you are handling a commercial dispute for a small or medium-sized business in England and Wales, without instructing a solicitor on every matter.

If you are running a small or medium-sized business and you have a civil dispute to deal with, an unpaid invoice, a contract that has gone wrong, a claim you have to answer, Portia is built for exactly that position. This page is a short walk-through of how it fits around a commercial matter: what you put in, what it does with what you put in, and what you have at the end.

## Who this is for

Portia is built for businesses handling civil disputes in England and Wales without instructing a solicitor on every matter. The kinds of dispute it currently helps with include unpaid invoices and money owed, a contract that has gone wrong, damage to property or goods, recovering a residential property from a tenant, and a claim or judgment against your business that you want to answer or have set aside. Family and immigration matters are outside its scope.

Portia is not a substitute for a solicitor, and it does not give legal advice. It is a way to prepare a case properly yourself, so you can decide when a solicitor is worth instructing and handle the rest without one.

## What you do first

You start by putting the documents that bear on the matter into Portia: the contract, the invoices, the correspondence, the delivery notes, whatever the dispute turns on. Portia works only from what you give it.

You do not need to have organised your files before you begin. Turning a folder of documents into an ordered picture of the matter is part of what Portia is for.

## What Portia does with them

Portia reads the documents and builds:

* **A chronology.** A dated timeline of what happened and when, drawn from your documents.
* **An indexed set of exhibits.** Every document has a reference and a place, ready to cite.

It then identifies the recognised legal basis your matter may rest on, called a [cause of action](/concepts/what-is-a-cause-of-action), and the specific points that basis requires you to establish. Against that structure, it shows which of your documents support each point, and where the evidence is thin.

This is a structural check on the material you have provided. It does not tell you whether you have a case, how strong it is, or whether you will win.

## What you can prepare

Once that groundwork is in place, Portia helps you prepare the documents the process involves, each grounded in the evidence and laid out in a structure a court would expect. That currently includes:

* A [letter before action](/concepts/what-is-a-letter-before-action) to open the matter
* Statements of case, such as particulars of claim or a [defence](/concepts/what-is-a-defence)
* [Witness statements](/concepts/what-is-a-witness-statement)

## When bringing in a solicitor is the right call

Portia is not the answer to every commercial dispute. It is a way to handle the ones that do not warrant the full cost of representation, and to have the groundwork done on the ones that do, so that if you decide to instruct a solicitor, they are not starting from a shoebox of papers. When to make that call is a decision for you.

## What Portia will not do

Portia will not tell you whether you have a case, how strong it is, or whether you will win. It will not recommend a course of action, give legal advice, act for you, or file anything at court for you. See [what Portia will and won't do](/trust/what-portia-will-and-wont-do) for the full account.

## Where to go next

* Read [how Portia works](/getting-started/how-portia-works) for a fuller walk-through of the flow.
* New to the process itself? [The stages of a civil claim](/concepts/stages-of-a-civil-claim) sets out the sequence.
* Understanding the size of the matter? See [claim tracks explained](/concepts/claim-tracks-explained).

***

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](https://useportia.ai).