Questionnaires & Client Tasking
Questionnaires are Athenty’s reusable interview and client-tasking engine. One engine powers many workflows — the estate interview is its first consumer, and the same building blocks let staff ask a client to “answer these questions and upload these documents” on any matter as part of a tasking workflow.
The model
Section titled “The model”A question library → assigned to a matter → filled by staff or the client → flows back into the matter as work.
1. A reusable question library
Section titled “1. A reusable question library”Athenty seeds workflow-specific question sets as system defaults (Estate Planning first; more workflows over time). Seeded questionnaires and questions behave like every other managed list: they are read-only defaults your firm can edit, delete, or extend with its own custom questions. Custom questions live only in your tenant.
2. Assign to a matter
Section titled “2. Assign to a matter”Attach a questionnaire to a matter and choose the audience — staff fill on the client’s behalf, the client fills it through the portal, or both. Each assignment can carry an “answers needed by” date that drives reminders and follow-ups until the answers are complete.
3. A guided interview
Section titled “3. A guided interview”The interview is not a flat form:
- Branching — questions and sections show or hide based on prior answers, so the respondent only ever sees what’s relevant.
- Participant-driven people questions — any question that names a person or entity defaults to a picker of the matter’s existing participants, never free text. This picker is reused across every workflow’s tasking questions.
- Document requests — a question can request a file upload that lands directly in the matter Drive, not just a typed answer.
- Repeatable structured groups — for lists like specific gifts or beneficiaries, each entry is a structured record with its own fields and conditional logic.
- Autosave & resume — answers save as they are entered, so a client can stop and continue later.
4. Back into the matter as work
Section titled “4. Back into the matter as work”On submit, the answers flow back into the matter: a structured summary is available for staff, people named in answers resolve to matter participants, requested documents land in Drive, and the interview shows as a completed task to review.
Lifecycle
Section titled “Lifecycle”| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not started | Assigned, no answers yet |
| In progress | At least one answer captured (autosaving) |
| Submitted | Respondent submitted; answers locked for review |
| Reviewed | Staff confirmed the submission |
Staff can Reopen a submitted or reviewed assignment to allow further edits.
Scope & responsibility
Section titled “Scope & responsibility”Questionnaires collect information only. They do not give legal advice or produce legally executed documents. The firm (org/user) is responsible for the accuracy and legality of any documents produced from the answers, consistent with Athenty’s role as a processor of the firm’s data.