Secure file sharing for law firms, without email attachments.

Updated November 2, 2026

How a client sends you files

The client opens their portal and taps Send files. On a phone that opens the photo library, the camera or the file browser; on a computer it opens a file picker. Every pick is staged first, with its name, size and a thumbnail, and nothing uploads until the client confirms. They can add a note (“Photos of the damage”, “Last three pay stubs”) that is encrypted along with the files.

A client choosing photos and documents to send to the firm, each staged with a Send button. — Files are encrypted on the client's phone before they upload.

Each file is encrypted on the client’s device, in chunks, before it leaves. A 1.5 GB phone video uploads the same way a one-page PDF does, and at no point does a readable copy sit on a server. Your firm decrypts it in the browser when you open it.

A desk with Brun open on a laptop and a client's portal on a phone, next to a notebook and a coffee mug. — Your firm's view on the laptop, the client's portal on the phone.

Proof it arrived, on both sides

The most common question after a client emails you a document is “did you get it?” In Brun each file the client sends shows:

Sending while it uploads,
Delivered once it is stored, and
Opened by the name of the person at your firm who opened it, with the time. Your firm can switch names off, so it reads “Opened by your firm”.

On your side, new files get a New tag and count toward the portal’s Waiting on you number. Brun emails the firm once when files arrive (at most once per portal every 15 minutes, with nothing from the matter in the email). Anything still unopened after a day triggers one more reminder to the portal’s creator and every owner and admin, so a client’s upload can’t sit unnoticed over a weekend.

Use Share files on the portal to send the client anything: a draft for review, a court filing, a settlement statement. Shared files are encrypted in your browser and appear in the client’s portal to download. Signed documents live on the same page, so the client never has to search their inbox for “the final version”.

How it compares with the usual ways

Typical defaults for ordinary email and consumer cloud drives; some business plans add options. Checked November 2026.
	Email attachment	Cloud-drive link	Brun portal
Who can read the file	Each mail provider it passes through, plus both inboxes	The drive provider, plus anyone with the link	Your firm and the client's link only
Size limit	About 20–25 MB per message	Large (depends on plan)	2 GB per file
Client needs an account	No	Sometimes	No
Client sees it was opened	No	No	Yes, with the opener's name
Copies left behind	In both inboxes, indefinitely	Until someone deletes or unshares	Removed when you delete the portal
Firm alerted to new files	It's one email among many	Depends on settings	One alert, plus a reminder after 24 h

Limits worth knowing

Brun can see a file’s approximate size (ciphertext is about the size of the original) and when it arrived, but not its name, type or contents.
Very large videos are better downloaded than previewed. Previews decrypt in the browser’s memory.
Brun is not a document-management system. Save what you keep into your firm’s file of record; the portal is the exchange.
No protected health information: Brun signs no BAA (why).

More context: how to send sensitive documents securely and a portal compared with email. Or start with the client portal overview.

Questions people ask

How large a file can a client send?

Up to 2 GB per file: phone videos, scans, PDFs, Word files, spreadsheets or anything else. Uploads are encrypted in chunks on the client's device, so large files never pass through a server in readable form.

How does a client know we received their documents?

Each file they send shows Delivered when it is stored, then Opened by the name of the person at your firm who opened it, with the time. Your firm can switch the name off so it reads Opened by your firm instead.

Is this more secure than email attachments?

Yes, in one specific way: email is readable on every mail server it passes through, and copies stay in both inboxes indefinitely. A file sent through Brun is encrypted on the sender's device and can only be decrypted by your firm and the client's portal link. Brun's servers hold ciphertext.

What happens if nobody at the firm opens a file?

Your firm gets one content-free alert email when new files arrive (at most one per portal every 15 minutes). If a file is still unopened a day later, the portal's creator and every owner and admin get one more reminder.