Law firm app to track cases and let clients see their case status online

Manage your cases in one place and let clients see what is happening with their case without calling you

Who it's for

For a small chambers in Nigeria. Think a principal partner in Ikeja with two associates, a secretary and a clerk, handling land matters, debt recovery, a few criminal briefs and company registrations. The problem bites at seven in the morning, when a client calls before court to ask what is happening with his matter, and the only person who knows is the associate who is already on the way to Igbosere.

The problem today

Everything is in the hardback case diary and in brown envelopes on the shelf. My secretary knows which matter is coming up, I know what the court said last time, and the associate knows where the file is. Clients call me, then call my associate, then send WhatsApp messages at night asking if there is any news. Sometimes a matter is adjourned and nobody remembers to tell the client, so he travels to court for nothing and loses trust in the chambers. When I want to know which matters have a date next week, I have to open the diary page by page. Fee notes go out and I only remember to follow up when the client stops picking calls.

What the app does, screen by screen

1. Sign in — One door for everybody, where the owner, the associates, the secretary and the client each land on the screens meant for them.
2. Matter list — The owner and staff see all the matters in the chambers, with the client, the court, the suit number and who is handling it, and an associate sees only the matters given to them.
3. Matter file — Staff open one matter to read its full history, add what the court said on the last date, upload documents and write the short update the client is allowed to see.
4. Court diary — The owner and the secretary see every court date and ruling date coming up, so nobody misses a date and the right counsel is assigned before the morning.
5. Client portal — The client signs in on their phone and sees only their own matter, the next court date, the approved update and the documents the chambers chose to share, with a WhatsApp button to reach the office.
6. Fee record — The owner sees what has been billed on each matter, what the client has paid and what is still outstanding, with a note for the next follow-up.

Who uses it and what it keeps track of

• Clients — Name, phone, WhatsApp number, address, how they came to the chambers, every matter they have ever brought and notes from meetings. Staff and owner see the full record, the client sees only their own details.
• Matters — Client, type of matter, court and suit number, counsel handling it, date opened, current stage and whether it is active, closed or on appeal. The chambers sees all of it, the client sees their own matter.
• Court dates and proceedings — The date, the court, what the matter came up for, what happened on the day, the next adjourned date and the lawyer who appeared. Staff write it, the client sees the next date and the approved update.
• Documents — Pleadings, agreements, certificates and scanned letters attached to a matter, each one marked either internal or shared with the client. Only shared ones appear in the portal.
• Fee notes — What was billed on a matter, what the client has paid, what is outstanding and the date of the next reminder. Owner sees everything, associates see their own matters, the client sees their own bill.

What it changes for the business

The chambers stops running on one person's memory. Every matter has one place where its history lives, so any lawyer can pick up a file and know where it stands. Court dates stop slipping, because the diary shows the week ahead and reminders go out to the client before the date. Clients stop calling for updates all day, because they can open their phone and see the position themselves, and they stop losing trust when a matter is adjourned. Outstanding fee notes stop being forgotten, because the follow-up is written down and not left in the head.

The one decision that matters

The one decision is how much of the file the client is allowed to see. One option is to open the whole matter, every court note and every document, and let the client read it. The other is to show only a short status that a lawyer writes and approves, plus the documents the chambers deliberately shares. Go with the approved status. Raw court language confuses a lay client and a note written for your own strategy is not for the client's eyes, and some of what is in the file is privileged or still being negotiated. One approved line, written in plain words, answers the client's real question and keeps the chambers in control of what leaves the office.

What to build first, and what can wait

Build the matter list, the matter file with court dates, and the client portal showing the next date, the approved update and shared documents. That is what stops the calls. Let time recording, billable hour sheets, conflict checks, online fee payment and reports on practice areas wait. Until the diary and the portal are being used every day by the secretary and the clients, the rest is just more screens nobody opens.

How BooDoo builds it

You describe the chambers and the matters in plain words and BooDoo builds it. It makes the database behind it and the sign-in, with the owner, the associates, the secretary and the client each seeing different screens. The same request gives you a website on its own live address and an Android app you can put on Google Play under your own account, and you can connect your chambers domain. The WhatsApp button and the reminders come from ready integrations. When you want the portal to show something else, you describe the change.

How you'll know it works

The morning calls change. Instead of clients asking what happened in court, they call to ask what the next step means, and your secretary spends the first hour entering court outcomes rather than repeating them on the phone.

Build it

Paste this in and it gets built.

I run a small law firm in Lagos and I want an app for my chambers. I want all my matters in one place with the client's name, the court, the suit number, the counsel handling it and every court date with what the court said on that date and the next adjourned date. My secretary should be able to enter new matters and court dates, my associates should only see the matters assigned to them, and I should see everything, including what has been billed and what is outstanding. Each client should sign in on their phone and see only their own matter, the next court date, a short update that I approve before it shows, and only the documents I choose to share. Put a WhatsApp button so a client can chat with the office, and send the client a reminder before each court date. I need a website and an Android app.