Litigation Tools
Manage court dates and SOL deadlines, prepare for depositions, work from discovery checklists, estimate settlements, and look up legal terms.
Platform availability: The Court Calendar, Deposition Prep, Discovery Checklists, Settlement Calculator, and Legal Reference are in the Mac and iOS apps. The web app currently shows a read-only deadline list; fuller web support is on the roadmap.
Court Calendar
What it does
The court calendar consolidates court dates and deadlines from all your matters into a single calendar view, merged with your tasks and your Google Calendar events, with urgency coloring and a persistent SOL panel. Court dates you create are pushed to your Google Calendar.
How to use it
- Open the Calendar. Click "Calendar" in the sidebar. The default view shows the current month with deadlines across all matters.
- Add a court date. Create a court date with a title (e.g., "Motion to Compel due," "Deposition of J. Smith"), the matter, the date and time, and the type -- hearing, filing deadline, conference, trial, and so on.
- View by matter. Each matter's detail view has its own calendar tab showing that matter's litigation timeline.
- Switch views. Toggle between Month, Day, and List views. The List view shows upcoming deadlines in chronological order, which is useful for daily planning.
- See it in Google Calendar. With the Google Calendar integration connected, court dates you create are mirrored to your Google Calendar (see the Communications guide).
Tips
- Urgency coloring escalates as dates approach, so the calendar reads at a glance.
- The dashboard shows upcoming court dates when you sign in.
- Keep court dates current in B.Legal. Changes made directly in Google Calendar do not update the B.Legal record.
SOL Alerts & Report
What it does
Statute of limitations dates set on matters drive countdown badges, urgency tiers (notice at 180 days, warning at 90, critical at 30), local notifications, a persistent panel on the calendar, and a firm-wide SOL report sorted by urgency.
How to use it
- Set the SOL date. Enter the statute of limitations date when creating or editing the matter.
- Watch the escalation. As the date approaches, the matter's SOL badge escalates through the urgency tiers, and local notifications fire.
- Review the SOL report. The firm-wide report lists matters by SOL urgency, closest deadlines first.
Tips
- A matter with no SOL date entered shows no countdown -- make SOL entry a non-negotiable part of intake for litigation matters.
- Determining the correct limitations period and any tolling remains the attorney's judgment; B.Legal tracks and escalates the date you set.
Deposition Prep
What it does
The deposition prep tool provides templated question outlines organized by witness type -- a structured starting point covering the standard ground so you can focus your preparation on the case-specific examination.
How to use it
- Open Deposition Prep. Open the tool from the litigation tools section of the app.
- Choose the witness type. Select the kind of deponent you are preparing for.
- Work the outline. Review the templated topics and questions on screen, and adapt them to your case theory as you build your own examination outline.
Tips
- Treat the outline as a floor, not a ceiling -- the templates cover the routine foundation questions.
- Keep your working outline in your word processor; the in-app outlines are an on-screen reference.
Discovery Checklists
What it does
The discovery tool provides interrogatory and document-request checklists by case type, so standard discovery never misses a category. Review the checklists on screen while you draft your demands in your word processor.
How to use it
- Open the discovery tool. Open it from the litigation tools section of the app.
- Select the discovery type. Choose interrogatories or document requests.
- Pick the case type. The checklist adjusts to the kind of case you are litigating.
- Draft from the checklist. Work through the items as you build your discovery demands, adding the case-specific requests the checklist can't know about.
Tips
- Check the applicable interrogatory limits and local rules before serving -- the checklist is a coverage aid, not a compliance check.
Settlement Calculator
What it does
The settlement calculator produces a quick, heuristic settlement range from the case factors you enter -- a rough analytical anchor for client conversations and negotiation prep, not an appraisal or a disbursement statement.
How to use it
- Open the settlement calculator. Open it from the litigation tools section of the app.
- Enter the case inputs. Provide the factors the calculator asks for.
- Review the suggested range. The calculator returns a heuristic range based on the inputs.
Tips
- Treat the output as one input to your own valuation judgment -- venue, liability strength, and lien posture still belong to you.
- Results are on-screen estimates; they are not saved to the matter.
Legal Reference
What it does
The built-in legal reference is a searchable collection of Latin legal terms and maxims with plain-English definitions. It works fully offline and is handy for quick lookups and for explaining terms to clients.
How to use it
- Open the reference. Open the legal dictionary from the app's tools section.
- Search for a term. Type the term or part of it; matching entries appear as you type.
Tips
- The reference is available offline on the native macOS and iOS apps.
- Use the plain-English definitions when preparing client correspondence.
Need help setting up litigation tools?
We can help you set up your court calendar, SOL tracking routine, and calendar integration.