WhatsApp on the matter. Not on your personal phone
The channel your international clients actually write on — with a firm-owned number, every message tied to its matter and the whole history archived. Via the WhatsApp Business API, not anyone's handset.
International clients don't always call and don't always email. They write on WhatsApp — at any hour, in their own language, and almost always to the personal phone of the lawyer running their matter.
That message isn't on any matter, the rest of the team can't see it, and it disappears the day that handset changes hands. Mandato takes WhatsApp where it belongs: onto the matter.
- Client portal
- Ruiz NotaryAttaching the draft deed09:12
- Anna MüllerIs the land-registry note ready?10:04
- Court no. 4Notification — hearing date11:30
The problem: personal WhatsApp as a professional channel
In practice, the firm's WhatsApp is a partner's WhatsApp. The client saves a personal number, writes to that number, and the whole relationship runs through a phone the firm doesn't control.
The problem shows up the day you need to reconstruct what was said. There is no searchable record, no way to hand the conversation to another lawyer, and an instruction given over WhatsApp — "yes, go ahead and sign" — lives only in one phone's memory. If that handset is lost, replaced or walks out with its owner, the conversation goes with it.
- No record: nothing said ever reaches the matter.
- No continuity: if that lawyer is away, no one else sees the thread.
- No control: a client communication the firm cannot retrieve.
The solution: the WhatsApp Business API, with a firm-owned number
Mandato connects the firm's WhatsApp Business number through 360dialog, an official WhatsApp Business API provider (Meta's Cloud API). The number belongs to the firm, not to a lawyer, and conversations arrive straight into Mandato.
Each message is linked to the client and to their matter: by the sender's phone when it's already on file, or by hand in one click. The full thread — what comes in and what goes out — is in view for whoever runs the matter, with the authorship of every reply.
- A firm-owned WhatsApp Business number, onboarded via 360dialog.
- Inbound and outbound messages, both directions, from the matter's inbox.
- The history belongs to the firm — not to a lawyer's handset.
Bilingual templates, in the client's language
The recurring messages — acknowledging a document received, a reminder of an appointment, a deadline warning, confirmation of a retainer request — are sent with approved WhatsApp Business templates that exist in Spanish and English.
You pick the client's language and the rest fills in from the matter. A German buyer gets the notice in English; the Spanish seller gets the same notice in Spanish, without the firm maintaining two versions of anything.
- Templates in Spanish and English with the same merge fields.
- The language follows the recipient, not the sender.
In the client portal
WhatsApp handles the quick conversation; the client portal handles the rest. Every client gets an account where they see the state of their matter, the documents that concern them, what is being asked of them and their invoices — in their language.
The two channels tell the same story: the WhatsApp message and the portal document live on the same matter, not in two tools that don't talk to each other.
The record Ley 10/2010 expects
A firm subject to Spain's anti-money-laundering law (Ley 10/2010) has to be able to document its relationship with the client. A WhatsApp conversation that exists only on a personal phone does nothing to evidence it; one archived on the matter, with date, authorship and context, does.
In Mandato, WhatsApp messages are stored as part of the matter and kept in the firm's immutable audit trail, alongside email and the rest of the communications. They don't vanish when a lawyer's phone changes.
- Every message archived on the matter it belongs to.
- Immutable audit trail: who replied, what and when.
- The history is kept even after the lawyer who held it leaves the firm.
The WhatsApp Business API requires a dedicated number that isn't active in the WhatsApp app or in WhatsApp Business for mobile; 360dialog handles the onboarding and Mandato walks you through it. We don't connect your personal WhatsApp, and messages that open a conversation outside the 24-hour window are sent with Meta-approved templates, not free text. We'd rather say so here than afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my personal WhatsApp with Mandato?
No, and that's deliberate. Mandato connects a WhatsApp Business number onboarded through 360dialog, not the WhatsApp app on a personal phone. That separation is exactly what makes the conversation belong to the firm and not to a lawyer's handset.
Do I need a new phone number?
You need a number that isn't in use in the WhatsApp app or in WhatsApp Business for mobile. Firms usually onboard the office landline or a new dedicated line. 360dialog, an official API provider, handles the onboarding and Mandato walks you through it.
What is 360dialog and why does it appear here?
360dialog is an official Business Solution Provider (BSP) for the WhatsApp Business API. WhatsApp doesn't let you operate the API without one of these providers. Mandato uses 360dialog to onboard and run your firm's number in a way that complies with Meta's rules.
Does the client know they're writing to a system and not a person?
The client writes to the firm's WhatsApp Business number, as they would to any business. Replies come from the firm inside Mandato; it isn't a bot answering on its own, unless you configure specific automatic messages. The conversation is handled by whoever runs the matter.
Are the messages kept if the lawyer handling them leaves?
Yes. Messages belong to the matter, not to the account of whoever replied. When a user is deactivated, their WhatsApp history tied to matters stays accessible to the firm, with authorship intact.