A virtual data room (VDR) is a work item that you create on a case to share documents with selected people, such as a client. You control who can open the data room, and what they can do in it, through the roles on the data room.

Setting up a data room has three parts:

• A configurator adds the Virtual data room files widget to the work type, so that data rooms are visible on the case.
• A case owner creates the data room and gives people access to it.
• Optionally, the case owner or a workflow chooses the DMS folder that receives documents uploaded to the data room.

Before you start

• To add the widget, you need access to Modeller.
• To create a data room, you need the Sharedo - Create - VDR permission.
• To change a data room after you create it, you need a role on the data room that allows updates. By default, the Primary Owner and Contributors roles allow updates.

Add the Virtual data room files widget to a work type

This section is for configurators. If the widget is already on the work type, skip to Create a virtual data room.

1. In Modeller, select Work types.
2. Find the work type that will hold the data rooms. Open its burger menu, then select Open.
3. In the left-hand menu, select Portal designer.
4. Next to the page for the widget, select Design. Clio recommends that you use the Documents page, because this page makes it easier to add documents to a data room.
5. On the zone that will hold the widget, select +.
6. In the Select widget blade, filter on data room, then select Virtual data room files. The widget is in the Document management category.
7. On the new widget, select the Edit (pencil) icon.
8. In the Edit widget blade, configure the widget, then select Save.

On a case, the widget lists every data room that belongs to the case. On a global portal, the widget lists every data room that the user has access to.

Create a virtual data room

1. Navigate to the case page that displays the Virtual data room files widget.
2. On the work item ribbon, select Create, then select Virtual Data Room. The option is in the Sharing category.
   
3. Optionally, set your own title. Clio Operate generates the reference and the title when you save. To enter your own title, select the pencil icon next to Title.
4. Optionally, set a target folder for uploaded documents. For details, see Choose where uploaded documents are filed.
5. Add people or teams to the roles that give them access to the data room. A team role applies to every member of the team. Primary Owner defaults to you. The default roles are listed in the table below.
6. Select the Save & Close icon.

The data room displays in the widget. People who have no role on the data room, directly or through a team, cannot see it. This rule applies to administrators too.

These roles and their permissions are the out-of-the-box defaults. A configurator can change them in Modeller.

Choose where uploaded documents are filed

When someone uploads a document to a data room, Clio Operate saves the document in your document management system (DMS). By default, the document goes into a folder named DataRoom-Upload followed by the data room reference, for example DataRoom-UploadVDR-00029. The folder sits in the DMS location for the matter.

You can replace the default with a target folder of your choice. You can set the target folder in two ways:

• On the data room: the case owner sets the folder in the Target folder section, either when they create the data room or later from the Manage blade.
• From a workflow: a configurator sets the folder automatically when the workflow creates the data room.

The target folder applies only to documents that are uploaded to the data room, by internal users or by clients. Documents that you link from the case's existing documents stay where they are. A change to the target folder affects future uploads only. Clio Operate does not move documents that are already filed.

Before you start

The account that files documents into the DMS needs permission to create folders in the matter's DMS location. Depending on how your DMS integration is set up, the account is a service account, the individual user's account, or both. If a folder is not created when a document is uploaded, ask your DMS administrator to check this permission first.

Set the target folder on a data room

The Target folder section is on the blade for a new data room, and on the Manage blade for an existing one. The steps below are for an existing data room. The Manage button displays only to people who can update the data room, directly or through a team.

1. On the data room, select Manage.
   
2. In the Target folder section, switch Override folder on.
3. In Target folder, enter the folder path. Use / between folder names to create a sub-folder.
   
4. Save the data room.

For example, Matter Management/Applicant documents files documents into the Matter Management folder, in a sub-folder named Applicant documents. If a folder in the path does not exist, the DMS creates it. If the folder already exists, the DMS uses the existing folder.

To return to the default folder, switch Override folder off and save the data room.

Set the target folder from a workflow

This section is for configurators. The workflow stores the target folder as the work item attribute _vdr_target_folder on the data room. The Manage blade reads and writes the same attribute, so a folder that a workflow sets displays in the Target folder section.

Clio recommends that you test this change in a non-production environment before you use it in production.

1. In the workflow, open the Create a work item step that creates the data room.
2. Under Output, in Store new work item Id in variable, select a variable to hold the ID of the new data room. The variable must be of type Work Item Identifier. To create one, select +.
3. Directly after that step, add an Update work item attributes step. The step is in the Data category of the toolbox.
4. In Work item id, select the variable from step 2.
5. Under Work Item Attributes, select + (Add work item attribute).
6. In the Work Item Attribute blade, set Type to Manual Attribute.
7. In Field, enter _vdr_target_folder exactly.
8. In New value variable, select the variable that holds the folder path. Alternatively, enter the path in Or new value. The Or new value field also accepts tokens.
9. Select Save & Close, then save the workflow.

Use the same format for the path as on the Manage blade, for example Matter Management/Applicant documents. Make sure that the value is never blank.

A blank value does not return uploads to the default folder. Depending on your DMS, documents are filed at the top level of the matter's folder, or the upload fails. The Manage blade then displays Override folder as off, although the blank value is still in effect. To clear the blank value, open Manage and save the data room with Override folder off.

Good practice

• Give each data room its own target folder, for example one sub-folder for each data room under a shared parent folder. If two data rooms use the same folder, their documents are filed together.
• Avoid a shared folder for another reason: file names can clash. If a document with the same name is already in the folder, the result depends on your DMS. Some DMSs add a new version of the existing document, some overwrite it, and some create a second document with the same name.
• Use the same path format for data rooms that you set up manually and data rooms that a workflow sets up. A consistent format keeps filing predictable across the matter.
• From Clio Operate 7.12, uploads also follow the File Extension Whitelist feature. If your administrator has configured the allowlist, the data room rejects files whose extension is not on the list. The user sees an Upload failed message: "This file type is disallowed, as it is not configured in the allowlist."

Related articles

• Virtual Data Rooms Overview
• File Extension Whitelist