OneLaw V4.3.1 Release Notes

Template Administrators now have a guided template editor in Microsoft Word. The OneLaw Templates editor brings template authoring into one place, organised into tabs for Overview, Fields, Clauses, Signatures, and Settings, and is available only to users with Template Administrator rights.

Template Administrators can create new templates of any type (Precedent, Email Precedent, Invoice, Statement, AR Statement, Fragment, or Clause), open and resume existing work, and delete obsolete templates, with report templates still in use protected from deletion. Work is saved to a local working copy as it progresses, so it is not lost, and is published back to its original location only when ready.

Before publishing, templates can be validated to catch problems such as mismatched block markers or missing InfoSheet schemas, with one-click repair where possible, and test-assembled to confirm the finished document appears exactly as a fee earner would see it.

This gives template authors a single, guided workspace for building, checking, and publishing templates, rather than working across several separate tools.

The editor works with the firm's existing template storage. Template Administrators can browse, open, save back to, or create folders within the Classic Templates store, as well as local or network precedent and clause libraries.

The editor remembers where each template came from, so saving it back to the correct location is automatic. SharePoint-hosted precedent and clause libraries behave in the same way, with Microsoft 365 sign-in prompted the first time and remembered afterwards.

Any authenticated user can browse and open SharePoint templates, while saving, creating folders, and deleting are restricted to Template Administrators.

This supports both traditional and cloud-first template storage while keeping changes in the hands of administrators.

The editor lets Template Administrators build template content visually, without hand-typing merge-field or tag syntax.

Data fields can be inserted and configured at the cursor (drawn from the document's base fields, InfoSheets, or report fields), and repeating sections such as one row per transaction can be laid out inline, across pages, or as a table. When building invoice, statement, and AR statement templates, the correct report-specific fields for each type are available, and the InfoSheets a template uses can be managed from the same place.

Precedents can be composed from shared content using OA INCLUDE tags, which insert a clause or fragment, and OA REMOVE tags, which omit unwanted content, and an inline picker can be added so the fee earner chooses a clause or fragment when the document is assembled. Signature placeholders and document-level settings such as automation level and default stationery are also supported, and these tools work in headers and footers as well as the body, which is useful for content such as court intituling placed in a footer.

Administrators editing an InfoSheet Choice field's Additional Values in Administration also get an "Insert OA Tag" option that builds the same OA INCLUDE and OA REMOVE tags through a guided picker with a live preview, where the firm is licensed to use fragments and clauses in Document Assembly.

Together, these tools make template building more approachable and less error-prone.

A new Upload Support Diagnostics option automatically gathers log files and system information and sends them to OneLaw support in a single step.

It is available from the Help menu, from the sign-in screen, and from the OneLaw tab in the Word, Excel, and Outlook add-ins. This means users who cannot log in can still send diagnostics.

Before sending, users can add context such as their email address, an optional ticket number, a description of the issue, and the date and time it occurred, and a consent note explains what information is being collected.

The relevant OneLaw and add-in log files are automatically bundled with system and application information into a single package for the support team, and a confirmation message lets the user know when the files have been sent.

This makes it quicker and easier to give support the information they need to investigate an issue.

The Financial Summary can now show an optional Available figure: an available balance shown alongside the standard trust balance.

Available shows the trust money received and journaled in for a matter, less payments out such as settlements and refunds; the firm's charges reduce it only once they are collected from trust. It can be enabled through a new Practice Setting under Matters & Transactions and is off by default. A hover tip explains what the figure includes and excludes.

Because transactions brought in from another practice management system cannot always be calculated reliably, Available is shown only for matters created in OneLaw. Imported or migrated matters display a dash with an explanation.

For firms that want it, this shows an available balance alongside the standard trust balance, without replacing it.

Bank upload can be enabled for individual Trust or IBD ledgers, and the exported direct credit files can be saved to a folder or a SharePoint location. A firm-wide naming format keeps file names consistent, with a name suggested automatically for each new file.

If a ledger's bank is not supported for bank upload (or BNZ on an IBD ledger), a clear note explains upfront that payments posted on that ledger cannot be exported to the banking system.

This gives firms control over which ledgers use bank upload and keeps direct credit files consistently named and easy to find.

Payments and IBDs can be added to a direct credit file from the screens where they are posted: the Trust Payment, Multi-Part Payment, Payment Requisition, Third Party Cost, and IBD screens. A shared picker lets users add a transaction to an existing draft file for the current ledger or create a new one without leaving the workflow.

Each transaction can carry its own Particulars, Code, and Reference details, and the selected party's bank account number is shown and filled in automatically where one is stored. Files are kept separate per ledger, and a transaction is included in the file by default.

When a single Trust Payment Requisition is posted on an enabled ledger, users are prompted to add the payment to a file straight away. For ASB files, the Payment Name is captured once for the whole file at export, ensuring it is identical on every line as ASB requires.

This lets firms build up direct credit files naturally as part of everyday posting, without re-entering details later.

A new Export File button on the Accounts ribbon opens the Direct Credit Files dashboard, listing the direct credit files that have been created but not yet exported. The button only appears once at least one Trust or IBD ledger has bank upload enabled.

From the dashboard, users can export files to their saved location, delete files that are no longer needed, and drill into the individual transactions in each file.

OneLaw produces the direct credit files in bank-specific formats for ANZ, Westpac, BNZ, and ASB (BNZ is not available for IBD ledgers). Each format matches that bank's published import specification, ready to upload into online banking.

This removes the need to manually re-enter payment details into each bank's online portal.

The Audit Enquiry now records the full bank upload trail: it shows whether payment and IBD deposit entries were included in a direct credit file, along with the file details, and logs when a file is created, exported, or deleted, including automatic deletions. The same detail also appears in the History log on a posted trust payment (the file name, date, who created it, and the Particulars, Code, and Reference), so it is visible without opening the Audit Enquiry.

Safeguards protect transactions once they have been exported. If an exported transaction is edited, reversed, or deleted, a message explains that the change will not update the exported file or the banking system, and the direct credit file details become read-only. Draft files that have not yet been exported are kept in step when an included transaction changes, and a file is automatically deleted if its last transaction is removed.

This gives firms confidence that direct credit files are accurate and that any change made after export is clearly flagged.

APLYiD now lets firms choose not to require address verification, returning a grey indicator rather than a pass or fail. OneLaw shows this as a grey dot, instead of a red cross, on the Identity tab and in the verification results, with explanatory text that the address was not required to be verified. This makes it clear that the check passed as configured, rather than appearing to have failed.

An issue has been fixed where the Author WIP to Fee Premium report incorrectly displayed the Client author in the Matter Author column. The column now correctly shows the Matter Author.