Every answer, on one page.

How to add a new case

Enter a matter once. From then on every hearing is an update, not a fresh copy — the point of leaving the paper register behind.

1. Open Lawyer’s Diary, open the menu and select Add New Case.
2. Fill out the details of the case — case number, parties, court, type of case, stage and the hearing date. Court, type and stage are picked from your own dropdown lists, so set those up first if the entry you need is missing (see Customise).
3. Press Save. That is all — the case is stored on your Android device and is given its own unique id.

Because the diary lives on the device, the case you just saved is readable inside court with no signal.

How to update a case after adding it to the diary

The everyday action: the bench gives a date, you record it before you leave the room.

1. Find the case — pick its date from the calendar, or use Search Case.
2. Touch and hold the case entry you want to update.
3. The options dialog pops up. Select Update Case.
4. Select the Next Date, change the stage or any other detail if required, and hit Update.

The matter moves forward to the new date and the earlier entry stays behind as history. No copying out, no rewriting.

How to view all cases for a date

Your cause list for any day, past or future, without turning a page.

1. Tap the Lawyer’s Diary icon to open the app.
2. At the top of the homepage there is a small calendar icon.
3. Tap it and select the date. Lawyer’s Diary lists every case set down for that day, right away.

Check tomorrow’s board the evening before — it is the fastest way to know what you are walking into.

How to view the details of any case

The full record behind a one-line entry — useful when a client calls and you have four seconds to sound prepared.

1. Get to the entry, either from its date or through Search Case.
2. Touch and hold the entry to bring up the options dialog.
3. Choose the option to show the details of the case.
4. Read the whole record — parties, court, type of case, stage, previous date, next date, your notes and the case id.

How to delete a single case entry

Made a wrong entry? Take that one line out without disturbing the rest of the matter.

1. Touch and hold the case entry you want to delete. A dialog box pops up asking what you want to do.
2. Select Delete Case Entry.
3. Fill in the confirmation text and press Delete Anyway.
4. Update the other entries of that case if the dates need correcting — see How to update a case.

Only the single entry is removed. The case, its id and its remaining history all stay.

How to delete an entire case

Matter disposed of, or registered by mistake? Clear it out of the diary in seconds.

1. Touch and hold any entry of the case. The dialog box pops up.
2. Select Delete Entire Case.
3. Fill in the confirmation text and press Delete Anyway.

This wipes the matter and every one of its entries, and it cannot be undone. Run a backup first if there is any chance you will want the record later.

How to search a case once added to the diary

Finding a matter in a paper handbook costs minutes you do not have in a corridor. Here it takes one filter and a word.

1. Press the menu button and select Search Case.
2. Choose the filter — the column you want to search by. Any column of your diary works: court name, type of case, stage, previous date, party, or the case id.
3. Type the search phrase in the search box and press Search. Every matching entry is listed.

Searching by id: pick the search by id filter and type the id you gave your client. One field, one result.

How to use the advanced search feature

When one filter returns too much, stack four and narrow it to the matter you meant.

1. Open Search Case from the menu and switch to Advanced Search.
2. Set up to four filters. Each one narrows a different detail of the case — for example, the first filter finds cases of type Accident and the second finds cases at the Charge stage.
3. Press Search. Only the cases meeting every condition you set come back — in the example above, accident matters at the charge stage.

Useful before a heavy board: filter by court and stage to see exactly what you are arguing where.

How to add a new court to the dropdown list

1. Go to the Settings menu and select Add Court.
2. Enter the court name as you want it to read in your diary and save it.
3. The name now appears in the court name dropdown whenever you add a new case or update an existing one.

How to add a new case type to the dropdown list

1. Go to the Settings menu and select Add Case Type.
2. Enter the type of case — civil suit, writ, arbitration, accident claim, whatever your practice uses — and save it.
3. Your customised type of case list is offered every time you add a new case or update one later.

How to add a new stage to the dropdown list

1. Go to the Settings menu and select Add Stage.
2. Enter the stage — admission, framing, evidence, arguments, and so on — and save it.
3. The customised stages list is shown when you add a new case or update any case later.

Stages are what make advanced search worth using, so it is worth getting this list right early.

How to remove a court name from the dropdown list

1. Go to the Settings menu and select Remove Court.
2. Select the court name you no longer need.
3. Press the remove button. It disappears from the dropdown you see when adding or updating a case.

How to remove a case type from the dropdown list

1. Go to the Settings menu and select Remove Case Type.
2. Select the case type you want gone.
3. Press the remove button. Your case type list is trimmed from the next entry onwards.

How to remove a stage from the dropdown list

1. Go to the Settings menu and select Remove Stage.
2. Select the stage you want to take out.
3. Press the remove button. The shorter stages list is what you will be offered next time.

A short list is a fast list — keep only the stages you actually record.

How to take a backup of my case data

A register can be lost or soaked. A backed-up diary cannot. One tap writes three copies.

1. Open the menu and select Advanced Settings.
2. Three advanced options are listed there.
3. Press Create Backup. That is it.

Three copies are produced each time:

• Phone memory — saved to your handset’s internal memory.
• SD card / secondary storage — where this lands depends on your handset manufacturer.
• E-mail — sent to the address in your profile, if the file is under 25 MB and you have internet at the time.

Can’t find the file afterwards? See this FAQ. Make sure your e-mail id is right first — update your profile.

How to restore data from a backup file

For a new phone, or for data you have genuinely lost. Not for everyday use — a restore rebuilds the database from scratch.

1. Get the backup file — from your backup e-mail, or from the copy already on the device — and put it in your phone’s memory or SD card.
2. Open the menu, go to Advanced Settings and select Restore Database.
3. Type your e-mail id to confirm the operation.
4. Locate the file on the device and tap it. Your database is rebuilt from that file.

Restore clears your existing data and replaces it — it does not merge. Anything entered after that backup was taken will not survive, so take a fresh backup before you restore an old one. See also this FAQ.