diff --git a/app/modules/clients/templates/clients/portal_dashboard.html b/app/modules/clients/templates/clients/portal_dashboard.html
index 0e7f1a4..eb13dcc 100644
--- a/app/modules/clients/templates/clients/portal_dashboard.html
+++ b/app/modules/clients/templates/clients/portal_dashboard.html
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 {% block content %}
 <div class="space-y-6">
-  {% include "ui/templates/components/client_navigation_v2.html" %}
   <section class="rounded-3xl bg-gradient-to-r from-brand-700 to-slate-900 p-6 text-white shadow-soft">
     <div class="flex flex-col gap-4 md:flex-row md:items-center md:justify-between">
       <div>
@@ -25,59 +24,87 @@
     We could not find a client master linked to your login email in the current audit firm. Please contact your firm admin to map this login to the correct client record.
   </div>
   {% else %}
-  {% set client_tabs = [
-    ('overview','Overview'),
-    ('action-centre','Action Centre'),
-    ('services-documents','Services & Documents'),
-    ('billing-messages','Billing & Messages'),
-    ('reports','Reports')
-  ] %}
+  {# Dashboard sections are now part of the unified Client Dashboard submenu. #}
 
-  <section class="rounded-3xl border border-slate-200 bg-white p-2 shadow-soft">
-    <div class="flex gap-2 overflow-x-auto" id="client-dashboard-tabs">
-      {% for code, label in client_tabs %}
-      <button type="button" data-tab="{{ code }}" class="client-dashboard-tab whitespace-nowrap rounded-2xl px-4 py-2 text-sm font-semibold transition {% if (active_tab|default('overview')) == code %}bg-brand-600 text-white{% else %}text-slate-600 hover:bg-slate-100{% endif %}">{{ label }}</button>
-      {% endfor %}
-    </div>
-  </section>
-
-  <section id="client-dashboard-panel" class="min-h-[240px]">
-    {% include "modules/clients/templates/clients/portal_partials/overview.html" %}
+  <section id="client-dashboard-panel"
+           data-initial-tab="{{ active_tab|default('overview') }}"
+           class="min-h-[240px]">
+    <div class="rounded-3xl border border-slate-200 bg-white p-8 text-center text-sm text-slate-500 shadow-soft">Loading dashboard...</div>
   </section>
 
   <script>
-  (function(){
+  (function () {
+    "use strict";
+
     const panel = document.getElementById('client-dashboard-panel');
-    const buttons = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('.client-dashboard-tab'));
-    if (!panel || !buttons.length) return;
+    if (!panel) return;
 
-    function setActive(tab) {
-      buttons.forEach((btn) => {
-        const active = btn.dataset.tab === tab;
-        btn.classList.toggle('bg-brand-600', active);
-        btn.classList.toggle('text-white', active);
-        btn.classList.toggle('text-slate-600', !active);
-        btn.classList.toggle('hover:bg-slate-100', !active);
-      });
-    }
+    const dashboardLinks = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(
+      '[data-uiux-v2-pilot="client"] a[href^="/client/dashboard?tab="]'
+    ));
 
-    async function loadTab(tab) {
-      setActive(tab);
-      panel.innerHTML = '<div class="rounded-3xl border border-slate-200 bg-white p-8 text-center text-sm text-slate-500 shadow-soft">Loading...</div>';
+    function tabFromLink(link) {
       try {
-        const res = await fetch('/client/dashboard/tab/' + encodeURIComponent(tab), {headers: {'X-Requested-With':'fetch'}});
-        if (!res.ok) throw new Error('HTTP ' + res.status);
-        panel.innerHTML = await res.text();
-        if (history && history.replaceState) {
-          history.replaceState(null, '', '/client/dashboard?tab=' + encodeURIComponent(tab));
-        }
-      } catch (err) {
-        panel.innerHTML = '<div class="rounded-3xl border border-red-200 bg-red-50 p-6 text-sm text-red-700 shadow-soft">Unable to load this tab. Please refresh the page or open the linked full page.</div>';
+        return new URL(link.href, window.location.origin).searchParams.get('tab') || 'overview';
+      } catch (error) {
+        return 'overview';
       }
     }
 
-    window.loadClientDashboardTab = loadTab;
-    buttons.forEach((btn) => btn.addEventListener('click', () => loadTab(btn.dataset.tab || 'overview')));
+    function setActive(tabName) {
+      dashboardLinks.forEach((link) => {
+        const active = tabFromLink(link) === tabName;
+        link.classList.toggle('bg-brand-50', active);
+        link.classList.toggle('text-brand-700', active);
+        link.classList.toggle('text-slate-700', !active);
+        if (active) {
+          link.setAttribute('aria-current', 'page');
+        } else {
+          link.removeAttribute('aria-current');
+        }
+      });
+    }
+
+    async function loadTab(tabName, pushState) {
+      setActive(tabName);
+      panel.innerHTML = '<div class="rounded-3xl border border-slate-200 bg-white p-8 text-center text-sm text-slate-500 shadow-soft">Loading...</div>';
+
+      try {
+        const response = await fetch('/client/dashboard/tab/' + encodeURIComponent(tabName), {
+          headers: { 'X-Requested-With': 'fetch' }
+        });
+        if (!response.ok) throw new Error('Tab load failed');
+
+        panel.innerHTML = await response.text();
+
+        if (pushState) {
+          const url = new URL(window.location.href);
+          url.searchParams.set('tab', tabName);
+          history.pushState({ tab: tabName }, '', url.toString());
+        }
+
+        document.querySelectorAll('[data-uiux-v2-pilot="client"] details[open]').forEach((details) => {
+          details.open = false;
+        });
+      } catch (error) {
+        panel.innerHTML = '<div class="rounded-3xl border border-red-200 bg-red-50 p-6 text-sm text-red-700 shadow-soft">Unable to load this dashboard section. Please refresh the page.</div>';
+      }
+    }
+
+    dashboardLinks.forEach((link) => {
+      link.addEventListener('click', function (event) {
+        if (window.location.pathname !== '/client/dashboard') return;
+        event.preventDefault();
+        loadTab(tabFromLink(link), true);
+      });
+    });
+
+    window.addEventListener('popstate', function () {
+      const url = new URL(window.location.href);
+      loadTab(url.searchParams.get('tab') || 'overview', false);
+    });
+
+    loadTab(panel.dataset.initialTab || 'overview', false);
   })();
   </script>
   {% endif %}
diff --git a/app/ui/templates/components/client_navigation_v2.html b/app/ui/templates/components/client_navigation_v2.html
index 86c02ec..989137c 100644
--- a/app/ui/templates/components/client_navigation_v2.html
+++ b/app/ui/templates/components/client_navigation_v2.html
@@ -1,19 +1,23 @@
 {% if navigation_render_location_v2|default('page') == 'global-host' or not global_role_navigation_host_v2|default(false) %}
 {#
-  UI/UX V2 Phase 1C — Client pilot navigation
-
-  This component preserves the existing client portal URLs and visibility.
-  It changes presentation only and does not grant access, change routes, or
-  replace the client dashboard's existing AJAX content tabs.
+  UI/UX V2 Phase 1C.2 — Unified Client navigation.
+  Presentation only. Existing routes and route-level permissions remain authoritative.
 #}
 {% set _client_path = request.url.path %}
+{% set _client_tab = request.query_params.get('tab', 'overview') %}
 {% set navigation_aria_label_v2 = 'Client workspace navigation' %}
 {% set navigation_items_v2 = [
   {
     'label': 'Dashboard',
-    'url': '/client/dashboard',
     'visible': true,
-    'active': _client_path == '/client/dashboard'
+    'active': _client_path.startswith('/client/dashboard'),
+    'children': [
+      {'label': 'Overview', 'url': '/client/dashboard?tab=overview', 'active': _client_path.startswith('/client/dashboard') and _client_tab == 'overview'},
+      {'label': 'Action Centre', 'url': '/client/dashboard?tab=action-centre', 'active': _client_path.startswith('/client/dashboard') and _client_tab == 'action-centre'},
+      {'label': 'Services & Documents', 'url': '/client/dashboard?tab=services-documents', 'active': _client_path.startswith('/client/dashboard') and _client_tab == 'services-documents'},
+      {'label': 'Billing & Messages', 'url': '/client/dashboard?tab=billing-messages', 'active': _client_path.startswith('/client/dashboard') and _client_tab == 'billing-messages'},
+      {'label': 'Reports', 'url': '/client/dashboard?tab=reports', 'active': _client_path.startswith('/client/dashboard') and _client_tab == 'reports'}
+    ]
   },
   {
     'label': 'Compliance',
@@ -54,8 +58,57 @@
   }
 ] %}
 
-<div class="mb-6 overflow-hidden rounded-2xl border border-slate-200 bg-white shadow-soft" data-uiux-v2-pilot="client">
+<div class="border-b border-slate-200 bg-white shadow-sm" data-uiux-v2-pilot="client">
   {% include "ui/templates/components/navigation_v2.html" %}
   {% include "ui/templates/components/mobile_navigation_v2.html" %}
 </div>
+
+<script>
+(function () {
+  "use strict";
+
+  function initialiseClientDropdowns() {
+    var root = document.querySelector('[data-uiux-v2-pilot="client"]');
+    if (!root || root.dataset.dropdownAutoCloseInitialised === 'true') return;
+
+    var desktopNav = root.querySelector('nav[data-uiux-v2="desktop-navigation"]');
+    if (!desktopNav) return;
+
+    root.dataset.dropdownAutoCloseInitialised = 'true';
+    var dropdowns = Array.from(desktopNav.querySelectorAll('details'));
+
+    function closeAllExcept(exception) {
+      dropdowns.forEach(function (details) {
+        if (details !== exception) details.removeAttribute('open');
+      });
+    }
+
+    dropdowns.forEach(function (details) {
+      details.addEventListener('toggle', function () {
+        if (details.open) closeAllExcept(details);
+      });
+
+      details.querySelectorAll('a[href]').forEach(function (link) {
+        link.addEventListener('click', function () {
+          details.removeAttribute('open');
+        });
+      });
+    });
+
+    document.addEventListener('click', function (event) {
+      if (!root.contains(event.target)) closeAllExcept(null);
+    });
+
+    document.addEventListener('keydown', function (event) {
+      if (event.key === 'Escape') closeAllExcept(null);
+    });
+  }
+
+  if (document.readyState === 'loading') {
+    document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', initialiseClientDropdowns, { once: true });
+  } else {
+    initialiseClientDropdowns();
+  }
+})();
+</script>
 {% endif %}
diff --git a/app/ui/templates/components/top_workspace_bar.html b/app/ui/templates/components/top_workspace_bar.html
index ca72bce..99d3827 100644
--- a/app/ui/templates/components/top_workspace_bar.html
+++ b/app/ui/templates/components/top_workspace_bar.html
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{% set _uiux_full_width_header = ('System Admin' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Firm Admin' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Partner' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Manager' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Branch Manager' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Staff' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Employee' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) %}
+{% set _uiux_full_width_header = ('System Admin' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Firm Admin' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Partner' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Manager' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Branch Manager' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Staff' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Employee' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) or ('Client' in (ui_roles|default([], true))) %}
 <header class="sticky top-0 z-40 border-b border-slate-200/70 {{ 'bg-white/95' if _uiux_full_width_header else 'bg-slate-100/85' }} backdrop-blur-xl">
   <div class="{{ 'w-full px-4 py-3 sm:px-6 lg:px-8' if _uiux_full_width_header else 'mx-auto max-w-[1500px] px-3 py-3 sm:px-6 lg:px-8' }}">
     <div class="{{ 'border-0 bg-transparent px-0 py-0 shadow-none' if _uiux_full_width_header else 'rounded-3xl border border-slate-200 bg-white/95 px-3 py-3 shadow-soft sm:px-4' }}">