FAQ
Frequently asked questions
The questions people ask most about what Portia is, what it does, and where it stops.
The basics
What is Portia?
Portia helps people bring or defend a civil claim in England and Wales without a solicitor. It organises your evidence, helps you find the legal foundation your case may rest on, and helps you prepare properly structured documents. It's built for litigants in person, people representing themselves, not for lawyers.
What is a litigant in person?
A litigant in person is someone who brings or defends a court case without a solicitor or barrister representing them. If you're self-represented, unrepresented, or handling your own civil claim, that's you. The courts hold litigants in person to the same procedural standards as represented parties, which is exactly the gap Portia is built to help with.
Who is Portia for?
Individuals representing themselves in a civil dispute, and small businesses handling a matter without a solicitor on every case. If you're facing a civil claim in England and Wales and doing it yourself, Portia is built for your position.
Do I need to have been to court before?
No. Portia is built for people doing this for the first time, and it assumes no legal background. It works in plain terms and helps you build the structure a court expects, which is the part most self-represented people have never had access to.
What kind of cases does Portia cover?
Portia is built around a set of common civil disputes, money you're owed, a contract that's gone wrong, consumer and rental problems, damage to property, and more. It doesn't cover every kind of case.
See what Portia helps with (individuals) →See what Portia helps with (business) →
Is this legal advice?
Is Portia legal advice?
No. Portia helps you structure and prepare your case; it doesn't advise you on it. It won't tell you what to do or judge your situation. Those are things a solicitor or barrister does, and Portia is built to make that line clear, not to blur it.
Will Portia tell me whether I'll win?
No, and it's built not to. No tool can honestly predict the outcome of a case, and one that claims to is selling a certainty that doesn't exist. Portia helps you present your case properly; what happens then is for a court.
Is Portia a substitute for a solicitor?
No. For anything urgent, high in value, or legally complex, a solicitor or barrister is the right call, and Portia will say so rather than pretend otherwise. Portia is for the structure and preparation, not the judgment and advice a lawyer provides.
Can Portia represent me or go to court for me?
No. Portia helps you prepare; it doesn't act for you, file anything for you, or represent you. The case stays yours, and every decision and document you submit is yours.
Does Portia make things up?
It's built specifically not to. Everything Portia produces is tied back to the documents you give it; it doesn't invent facts to fill a gap, and when your evidence doesn't reach a point, it tells you plainly instead of papering over it.
How it works
What do I need to start?
Your documents, whatever bears on the dispute: the agreement, the invoices, the letters and emails. Portia works from what you upload, so the more of your actual paperwork it has, the better it can help.
What does Portia actually produce?
An organised picture of your case: a chronology, an indexed set of exhibits, a view of which points your evidence supports and where the gaps are, and structured documents like a letter before action, statements of case, or witness statements, each grounded in your evidence.
What is Ask Portia?
A way to ask questions about your own case, your documents, your chronology, what a cause of action requires, grounded in what you've given it. It answers about your case, not law in the abstract, and it isn't legal advice: it won't tell you what to do or what your case is worth.
My data and privacy
Is my information private and secure?
Yes. Your documents are private, encrypted in transit and at rest, and never sold. They're yours, and you can remove them.
Do you use my documents to train AI?
No. Neither Portia nor the providers who process your documents use them to train any AI model. Your case is not training data.
Where is my data stored?
Your documents are stored in the UK and the EU (Ireland). Some processing happens through named providers under strict terms, and the Trust page sets out exactly who does what.
Can I delete my documents?
Yes, at any time. And if a case goes quiet for a year, its documents are automatically deleted, so your data doesn't sit with us indefinitely.
What it costs
How much does Portia cost?
It depends who you are. Individuals have a free way in, built to stay free, with paid plans if you need more. Businesses are priced against what the same work would cost in solicitor fees. Figures are on each pricing page.
Is the free tier really free?
Yes. For individuals there's a genuine free tier, not a trial, with the tools to organise your case and get a first sense of whether you have a claim. It's funded by the businesses who use Portia, which is what keeps it sustainable.
Specific situations
A judgment has been entered against me. Can Portia help?
Possibly, and quickly matters here. If a judgment was entered because a deadline was missed or a claim went unanswered, it may be possible to apply to have it set aside so the case can be heard. Portia helps you understand what that involves and structure the application from your documents. It won't tell you whether it'll succeed, but it'll help you put it in a form a court can properly consider.
Is my kind of dispute covered?
Portia covers a set of common civil disputes, not everything. The clearest way to check is the "what we help with" pages, where each situation is set out.
Getting started
Is Portia available yet?
Not yet. Portia is in active development, and access is opening in stages. The way to be first in is the waitlist.
How do I get access?
Join the waitlist and we'll tell you when it's ready. No marketing, and no queue-jumping to buy your way forward.
Still have a question? The How it works, Safeguards, and Trust pages go into more depth, and if you want to be told when Portia opens, the waitlist is the place.