A case diary that never loses a next date, matters tracked by court and CNR number, a client portal that answers “what happened today?” without a phone call, a document vault with versions, fee and expense tracking per matter, and a firm website kept to the particulars the Bar Council of India rules allow. Built for independent advocates, chambers, litigation firms and in-house legal teams in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune and across India.
Reply within one business day · Navi Mumbai team · Website, app and admin under one roof
A website limited to what the rules permit, and private systems that run the practice: matters, dates, documents, clients and fees, on one record.
An informational site carrying only the particulars advocates are permitted to publish, written and approved by your advocates.
Clients see the status and next date of their own matters and share documents without WhatsApp forwards.
The case diary and office system for advocates, juniors, clerks and accounts.
A litigation practice lives by its diary. Every matter has a next date, and every evening someone has to check what happened in each court, write the new date, tell the client, and make sure the right junior and the right file reach the right court the next morning. In many chambers that still means a paper diary, a clerk who knows everything, a few WhatsApp groups and a shared Excel sheet. It works until the clerk is on leave, a matter is listed out of turn, or two juniors write different dates for the same case.
They call after every hearing to ask what happened, often while the advocate is in another court. Documents arrive as photos on WhatsApp, drafts go back and forth by email with names like “final_final_2”, and nobody is sure which version of a written statement was filed. Fees are agreed per appearance, per stage or as a lump sum, and expenses such as court fees, typing, travel and stamp papers are spent from the office’s pocket and recovered late or not at all.
Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules bars advocates from soliciting work or advertising, directly or indirectly. A proviso added in 2008 allows a website carrying limited particulars. The Bar Council of India and state Bar Councils have acted against promotional videos, influencer posts and online listing platforms in 2025, and a petition on digital solicitation is pending before the Supreme Court. A law firm site built like a normal marketing site, with testimonials, success rates and pop-ups, can put the advocates at risk.
Infoways, a web, app and software company in Mahape, Navi Mumbai, builds case diaries, client portals, document vaults and practice systems for advocates and firms, and plain informational websites whose content your advocates write and approve. Below: how each module works, the professional rules the software has to respect, how a custom build compares with the case diary apps advocates already use, the numbers worth tracking, and a rollout that does not disturb a single listed matter.
Talk to us about your law firms businessEight modules, who uses each one, and the details that decide whether advocates and clerks trust it more than the paper diary.
Each matter records the court or forum, case type and number, CNR number where the court has one, parties, the client, opposite advocate, the stage, the advocate in charge and the juniors on it. A client can have many matters, and connected matters are linked. After each hearing, the clerk or junior enters what happened and the next date in one short screen, from a phone outside the courtroom. The diary for any day, court or advocate is then one tap away, and old entries are never overwritten, only added to.
Solved in your appEvery evening each advocate gets tomorrow’s board: matters by court and serial number, with the stage, the junior attending and a link to the file. Clashes, where one advocate has matters in two courts at the same time, are flagged so a colleague can be briefed. A morning summary goes to the partner. Matters with no next date entered after a hearing day show up in red, because a missing date is how matters fall through the cracks.
Solved in your appDistrict and taluka courts across India have case status on the eCourts portal by the 16-character CNR number, party name or advocate name, and many High Courts publish their own cause lists and status. The software stores each matter’s CNR and court reference, so juniors check status from one place and update the diary. We did not find an official public developer interface for commercial use; some private services offer lookups by CNR. If you want automatic checks, we review the terms of any such source with you first, and the advocate’s own diary entry stays the record.
Solved in your appPlaints, petitions, written statements, affidavits, applications, orders, judgments, evidence and correspondence are stored against the matter, by type and date. Drafts keep every version with who changed what, and the filed version is marked as filed, so nobody files an old draft. Orders downloaded from court websites are attached on the day. Access is by matter: a junior sees only the matters on their list. Downloads and shares are logged, which matters when the documents carry privileged communication.
Solved in your appAfter a hearing, the advocate or junior writes a two-line update in plain language: what happened, the next date, and anything the client must do. The client sees it in the portal and gets a WhatsApp message, so the phone rings less. Clients upload documents against a request instead of forwarding photos. Corporate clients with many matters see a list by stage and next date and can download reports. What the client sees is always chosen by the advocate; internal notes and strategy stay internal.
Solved in your appBeyond hearing dates, a practice has deadlines it sets itself: the last date to file an appeal or reply, a compliance date set by an order, a notice period before filing a suit. The advocate enters the deadline and its basis, and the tracker reminds the team well before. The software does not work out limitation periods by itself; the advocate decides the date, and the system makes sure nobody forgets it. Criminal matters can carry both old and new code section references, since the BNSS and related codes replaced the older codes in July 2024.
Solved in your appFee terms are set per matter: per appearance, per stage, a lump sum, or a monthly retainer for corporate clients. Appearances recorded in the diary flow into the fee note, so no hearing is forgotten. Expenses such as court fees, stamp papers, typing, certified copies and travel are recorded with receipts against the matter and recovered in the next note. For business clients, GST on advocates’ services has generally been payable by the client under reverse charge; your CA advises how your notes should show it. Outstanding fees are listed by client and advocate.
Solved in your appBefore taking a new matter, a conflict check searches existing clients, parties and opposite parties across the firm. Work allotted to juniors and clerks is visible by person and court. For chambers with several advocates, each sees their own board and the partner sees all. In-house legal teams and lenders with many matters across forums get a portfolio view by stage, forum and external counsel, with counsel uploading updates through their own login.
Solved in your appTell us how many advocates and matters you have, and which courts you practise in. We will tell you which module to set up first.
These points shape what a law firm can put online and how its systems should work. They come from the BCI Rules, reported Bar Council actions and tax material. Advocates are best placed to judge them; read the rules yourself before approving anything.
| Term or rule | 1What it means | 2How the software handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Rule 36, Chapter II, Part VI of the BCI Rules | An advocate shall not solicit work or advertise, directly or indirectly, by circulars, advertisements, touts, personal communications or interviews, nor through newspaper comments or photographs about cases. Breach can be professional misconduct under section 35 of the Advocates Act 1961. | No marketing features in the website: no ads, pop-ups, lead magnets, chat bots asking for work, or “free consultation” offers. The site informs people who come looking. |
| The 2008 website proviso | A proviso to Rule 36 allows advocates to furnish website information as prescribed. Commentaries list the permitted particulars as name, address, contact details, enrolment number and date of enrolment, the Bar Council and Bar Association, professional and academic qualifications, and areas of practice. | Site sections map only to the permitted particulars, and each advocate’s profile carries those fields and nothing more. Your advocates approve every word. |
| What not to put on the site | Testimonials, success rates, case results, client lists, rankings and awards, “best lawyer” claims and promotional videos go beyond those particulars. In March 2025 the BCI issued a show cause notice to a law firm over a promotional video and condemned influencer endorsements. | No review widgets, ratings, case-win counters or video banners. Articles, if you publish any, are kept general and educational, after your advocates decide they fit the rules. |
| Entry notice on the website | Many Indian law firm websites show a notice on entry saying the site is for information only, is not solicitation, and that the visitor accepts this before reading. It is a widespread practice rather than a rule text we could verify. | An entry notice, worded by your advocates, appears before the site loads, and the acceptance is remembered for that visitor. |
| Online platforms and social media | The Madras High Court in 2024 cautioned against online platforms listing and promoting advocates, and the BCI issued cease-and-desist notices to such platforms. State Bar Councils, such as Delhi in 2025, have cautioned advocates against promotional social media. | We do not list your advocates on directories or build paid campaigns. Social links, if any, are plain links your advocates choose to show. |
| CNR number and eCourts | Each case in courts on the eCourts system has a unique 16-character Case Number Record. Case status can be checked on the portal and app by CNR, party, advocate or filing number. | Every matter stores its CNR and court reference, with a quick status check link. Automatic lookups only through a source whose terms you have approved. |
| GST on advocates’ services | CBIC clarified in 2017 that legal services by an advocate or firm of advocates to a business entity fall under reverse charge, so the business client pays the GST. Services to individuals are treated differently. | Fee notes show the reverse charge wording your CA approves, by client type, and outstanding fees are tracked per matter. |
| Privilege, confidentiality and the DPDP Act 2023 | Communications between advocate and client are protected by professional privilege under the evidence law (now the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023), and client details and documents are personal data under the DPDP Act 2023. | Access by matter, encrypted document storage, logged downloads and shares, and internal notes that never show in the client portal. |
We have taken these points from the Bar Council of India Rules as reproduced in legal commentaries, from reported Bar Council actions in 2025, and from CBIC material. The rules on advertising are being argued in court and may change. Each advocate is responsible for their own compliance, so read the current rules and, if in doubt, ask your Bar Council before approving the website. We build what your advocates approve; we do not give legal or ethics advice.
Many advocates already use something. The official eCourts Services app gives case status by CNR. Case diary apps such as Advocates Diary, LIBRA and KanoonKit help with hearing dates, reminders and fee notes. Practice platforms such as Provakil offer cause list alerts, case and client management and document storage for firms, and Legodesk focuses on legal workflows for lenders and collections. Some firms run on Google Sheets and a shared drive. All of these change often, so compare current versions with your own list.
For an independent advocate or a small chamber, a ready-made case diary app is usually the right choice, and we will say so. It is cheap to try, quick to learn and the vendor carries the upkeep. Before you commit, check where your matter data and documents are stored, who at the vendor can see them, whether you can export every matter, date and document, and whether the app lists you on any public directory, which could raise Rule 36 questions.
A custom system makes sense for firms whose practice does not fit the template: a firm with many advocates and forums, a corporate or banking practice where clients want portfolio reports, a chamber that wants documents held only on its own server for privilege reasons, an in-house legal team tracking external counsel, or a firm that wants its diary, documents, fees and client portal on one record. Our guide on custom software vs off-the-shelf covers the trade-off.
A plain comparison. The right answer depends on the number of advocates, matters and forums, and how much control you want over documents.
| Factor | 1Paper diary, WhatsApp and Excel | 2Case diary app or practice platform | 3Your own practice system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | A single advocate with a manageable docket | Independent advocates and small chambers | Multi-advocate firms, corporate practices and in-house teams |
| Next dates | Written by hand, one copy | Tracked with reminders | Tracked by court, advocate and junior, with gaps flagged |
| Client updates | Phone calls | Some apps offer sharing | Portal and WhatsApp, written by the advocate |
| Documents | Files, email and phones | Vendor storage | Your own server, with versions and access by matter |
| Fees and expenses | Memory and receipts in a drawer | Basic fee notes | Fees from recorded appearances, expenses per matter |
| Who holds client data | Staff phones and chats | The vendor, under its terms | Your firm |
| Time to start | Already running | Days | Weeks to a few months, in phases |
Product names are mentioned only to help you compare. Features and terms change, so check each vendor’s current offering directly.
None of these needs an accountant. A good practice system shows them on one screen.
Matters heard in the last week with no next date entered. The safest number in the practice is zero, and this is the one to check first every Monday.
Solved in your appTimes where one advocate has matters in two courts at once. Seeing them the evening before leaves time to brief a colleague and inform the client.
Solved in your appFiling, reply, appeal and compliance deadlines coming up, by advocate. It shows who has drafting crunches ahead before they turn into adjournment requests.
Solved in your appHearings with a client update written and sent, against all hearings. Clients who are kept informed call less and trust the firm more.
Solved in your appAppearances and expenses recorded but not yet on a fee note, by client. This is often where a practice quietly loses its earnings.
Solved in your appUnpaid fee notes split into 0-30, 31-90, 91-180 and over 180 days. Long-pending fees are a partner’s phone call, not a junior’s reminder.
Solved in your appOpen matters split by stage: pleadings, evidence, arguments, reserved, disposed. It shows workload ahead and helps plan juniors’ time.
Solved in your appNumber of adjournments in each matter, and who asked. A matter that keeps getting adjourned on your side is worth a closer look.
Solved in your appSay you run a chamber in Thane with four advocates, two juniors and a clerk, handling civil, consumer and cheque bounce matters in Thane district courts, the consumer commission and a few in the Bombay High Court. The numbers here are only to show the flow. On Sunday evening each advocate gets Monday’s board on the app: matters by court and serial number, the junior attending, and a link to each file. The board flags a clash at 11:00, so one matter is handed to a colleague with the file link.
On Monday the junior in the civil court enters each outcome from the corridor: “Evidence affidavit filed, cross on 14th”. The client gets a two-line update on WhatsApp and in the portal. In the consumer commission, the opposite party seeks time; the junior records the adjournment and the next date. By evening, the diary shows one matter heard with no next date entered, and the clerk is asked to check the cause list before the office closes.
On Wednesday a corporate client uploads documents for a new recovery suit against a request in the portal. Before the matter is opened, a conflict check across all clients and parties comes back clear. The advocate enters the filing deadline she has worked out, and the tracker reminds her a week ahead. Drafts of the plaint are saved as versions; the filed version is marked filed on the day.
At the end of the month, appearances recorded in the diary flow into fee notes, with court fees and typing charges attached as expenses. For the business client, the fee note carries the reverse charge wording your CA approved. The partner sees fee ageing by client, unbilled appearances, matters by stage and the count of matters without a next date, which stays at zero.
Infoways works from B-102, Technocity, Mahape, in Navi Mumbai. For chambers and firms in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane, we meet in person, usually after court hours, and sit with the clerk who keeps the diary today, because the clerk’s routine decides whether a case diary system is used or quietly dropped.
Advocates, juniors and the clerk are trained in English, Hindi or Marathi. Practices elsewhere in India are set up over video calls, with the same rollout plan and the same care over next dates during the switch.
We sit with the advocates and the clerk to decide who enters outcomes, by when, and what a hearing update must contain. We also note your courts, matter types, fee terms and what clients should and should not see.
We import open matters from your diary, sheets or current app: court, case number, CNR, parties, stage, next date and advocate. Each advocate checks their own list line by line, because a wrong next date is the one error that cannot be allowed.
Case diary, document vault, client portal and fee module are built on one backend. The website is drafted with only the permitted particulars, for your advocates to approve.
The paper diary stays the master while the clerk and juniors enter every outcome in the app too. Each evening the two are compared. Only when they have matched for a full cycle of your listed matters does the app become the master.
Each person learns the screens they use, in English, Hindi or Marathi. The clerk, who will use it most, gets the most time. Juniors learn to enter outcomes from a phone in under a minute.
Start with a few corporate clients who want regular updates, then open the portal to others. Clients who prefer phone calls can still call; the update is already written for whoever answers.
Before sign-off we check the board, alerts, access by matter, document versions, fee notes and exports with you. Maintenance and support continues after launch.
Tell us how your practice runs and which tools you are considering. We will tell you honestly whether a ready-made app fits or a custom system is worth it.
Every practice is different, so we quote after understanding yours. A Rule 36-compliant website with a simple case diary and daily alerts is a small project. Adding the document vault with versions, the client portal, the deadline tracker and fee notes makes it a medium one. A full system for a multi-advocate firm or an in-house team, with conflict checks, portfolio reports for corporate clients, external counsel logins and status checks across many forums, is a large one.
The cost goes up with the number of advocates and forums, how many open matters and documents have to be moved in, how detailed your fee terms are, and whether you want automatic status lookups through an approved source. It comes down if you start with the diary and daily board, which protect against the costliest mistake, a missed date, and add the client portal and fee module once the team trusts the diary.
Timelines: a website with a case diary and alerts usually takes 4-6 weeks, plus the parallel run with the paper diary. Adding the vault, portal, deadline tracker and fees takes about 2-4 months. A full multi-advocate or in-house platform runs 4-6 months in phases. See custom software development and our guide to app development cost in India for the general drivers.
Do not treat the website like a marketing site. Testimonials, case results, success counters, “top lawyer” badges, pop-ups offering free consultations and promotional videos go beyond what Rule 36 allows, and Bar Councils acted on exactly these in 2025. A plain site with the permitted particulars is safer and is what a serious client expects.
Do not let anyone outside the firm list your advocates on directories or run ads for you. Courts and the BCI have treated online platforms promoting advocates as a breach. If a vendor, including any web company, offers “lead generation for lawyers”, ask whether it fits the rules before you agree.
Do not switch off the paper diary on day one. Run both until the app has matched it for a full cycle of your listed matters. One missed next date costs far more than a few weeks of double entry.
And do not build a custom system if you are an independent advocate with a manageable docket. A good case diary app and the eCourts app will serve you well. Build when several advocates, many forums, corporate clients or privilege concerns make a ready-made app a poor fit.
Ask us on WhatsApp. A real person from our Navi Mumbai team replies.
Ask on WhatsAppThere is no single best one; it depends on your practice. Check whether it tracks matters in the forums you appear in (district courts, High Court, tribunals, consumer commissions) by CNR or case number, whether the clerk can update next dates from a phone, how documents are stored and versioned, whether it runs a conflict check, whether fee notes handle GST correctly, and whether you can export all your data if you leave. Ready-made platforms such as Provakil and MyKase are worth trying for many firms; a system of your own makes sense when your workflow, volume or data rules do not fit them.
No. Rule 36 of the BCI Rules is about soliciting work and advertising, not about the software a firm uses inside its office. The limits still apply to anything advocates publish, such as the firm website, public profiles, social media posts and any messages sent to people who are not yet clients. If you are unsure whether something counts as advertising, check with your State Bar Council or a senior colleague before publishing.
Yes, within limits. A 2008 proviso to Rule 36 of the BCI Rules allows a website with prescribed particulars, commonly listed as name, address, contact details, enrolment number and date, Bar Council, qualifications and areas of practice. Anything beyond that can be treated as advertising. Check the current rules before approving content.
These go beyond the permitted particulars and can be treated as advertising under Rule 36. We do not build testimonials, success counters, ratings or client logos into law firm websites.
Many Indian law firm websites show an entry notice saying the site is for information only and is not solicitation, which the visitor accepts. It is widely followed practice; we could not verify a single rule text requiring specific wording, so let your advocates draft it.
The BCI and state Bar Councils have warned against promotional videos, influencer endorsements and social media promotion, and acted on cases in 2025. A petition on digital solicitation is pending in the Supreme Court. We do not run ads or promotion for advocates.
We store each matter’s CNR number and court reference for quick status checks on the eCourts portal. We did not find an official public developer interface for commercial use; private services offer lookups. Automatic checks are added only through a source whose terms you approve, and the diary entry stays the record.
A Case Number Record is a unique 16-character number given to each case in courts on the eCourts system. It lets you check status on the portal and app, and the software stores it with each matter.
Yes. After each hearing, a short update written by the advocate or junior goes to the client portal and WhatsApp. Internal notes and strategy never show in the portal.
No, and we would not want it to. The advocate decides each deadline and its basis; the tracker makes sure nobody forgets it and reminds the team well ahead.
Yes. CBIC clarified in 2017 that advocates’ services to business entities fall under reverse charge. Fee notes carry the wording your CA approves, by client type.
Advocate-client communications are privileged, and client data is personal data under the DPDP Act 2023. We use access by matter, encrypted storage, logged downloads and shares, and can host on a server in your firm’s name.
Yes. A conflict check searches existing clients, parties and opposite parties across the firm before a new matter is opened, and the result is saved with the matter.
Yes. In-house teams get a portfolio view of matters by forum, stage and external counsel, with counsel uploading updates and documents through their own login.
Independent advocates and small chambers usually do well with a ready-made case diary app. A custom system makes sense for multi-advocate firms, corporate practices, in-house teams or firms that want documents only on their own server.
A website with a case diary and alerts usually takes 4-6 weeks, plus a parallel run of two to four weeks with the paper diary. The full system with vault, portal and fees takes about 2-4 months.
Step-by-step articles on the problems law firms ask us about most.
Industry Guides
Industry Guides
Industry Guides
Industry Guides
Industry GuidesTalk to our Navi Mumbai team about your advocates, courts and matters. We will give you a clear plan, an honest view on ready-made case diary apps, and a price.
Tell us what you want to achieve with your website, software, SEO or AI automation. We reply within one business day, usually the same day, with specific advice, at no cost and with no commitment.
We’ll go through what you send and get back to you within one business day, usually the same day.
Want a faster reply? WhatsApp us