File sharing permissions in personal and organisation accounts

Everything you create on GitLaw is private by default. No one can see your documents unless you explicitly share them — not even other members of your organisation.

The only exception is Organisation Owners, who can view all files owned by the organisation (more on that below).

Organisation roles

When you create or join an organisation on GitLaw, every member is assigned one of three roles. These roles control what you can do at the organisation level — like managing people and settings — but they do not automatically grant access to documents.

Organisation Owner

• Can see all files and matters owned by the organisation
• Can add and remove people from the organisation
• Can change anyone's role (Owner, Admin, or Member)
• Can edit organisation settings, policies, and billing
• Can delete the organisation

Organisation Admin

• Can invite and remove Members and Admins
• Can change roles for Members and Admins (but cannot grant or revoke the Owner role)
• Cannot see organisation files unless they have been explicitly shared with them
• Can downgrade their own role to Member

Member

• A regular organisation user with no special administration powers
• Can see who else is in the organisation
• Cannot see any documents unless they are the document owner or it has been shared with them
• Can leave the organisation at any time

Key point: Being an Admin or Member does not give you access to any documents. You only see documents you own or that someone has shared with you.

Document-level roles

Separately from your organisation role, every document has its own set of permissions. When someone shares a document with you, you're given one of three resource roles:

Owner

• Full control over the document
• Can edit, delete, and transfer ownership
• Can manage who has access and change their roles
• Can share with anyone inside or outside the organisation

Editor

• Can edit the document and accept or reject changes
• Can share the document with others and invite new participants
• Can promote other participants to Editor
• Cannot remove Owners, grant the Owner role, or delete the document

Viewer

• Can view the document (read-only)
• Can create their own copy of the document
• Cannot edit, share, or see the list of other participants

General access settings

Document owners can control how broadly a document is accessible:

• Restricted (default): Only people you've explicitly invited can access the document.
• Organisation: Anyone in your organisation can access the document.
• Anyone with the link: Anyone with a secure link can access the document. Links can have expiration dates, passcodes, and domain restrictions.
• Public: The document is published publicly on GitLaw (used for templates and open documents).

Your organisation may have policies that disable certain access settings (for example, turning off public links).

Sharing with external parties

You can share documents with people outside your organisation — such as counterparties, clients, or collaborators. They don't need to be a member of your organisation to access a shared document.

External participants:

• Receive access only to the specific documents shared with them
• In legal negotiations, as long as you share view-only access, counterparties receive view-only access
• Can create their own copy of the document
• Can submit their changes back to you via a change request for your review
• Have no visibility into your organisation, its members, or any other documents

Quick reference

Can my team see my documents by default?
No. All documents are private until shared.

Can an Org Admin see all organisation files?
No. Only Org Owners have that visibility.

Can a Viewer share my document with others?
No. Only Owners and Editors can share. NOTE: Viewers are able to make copies which they can share (as their own documents)

Can external parties see my other documents?
No. They only see what you share with them.

Can I control how broadly a document is shared?
Yes. Choose from Restricted, Organisation, Link, or Public.

See how to set up your GitLaw account here.
See how to add a new file to GitLaw here.
See how to contribute to an existing doc repository here.