ClientTale — Law Client Case Tracker

A self-hosted case tracker built entirely on open-source components, running as Docker containers:

• nginx — serves the static frontend and reverse-proxies /api/ to the backend
• Flask (Python) — REST API, session-based login, PDF intake parsing
• MySQL 8 — case, staff, and event data

Features

• Dashboard listing upcoming events across every case
• Live case search (by client, injured person, case number, status, county) with each matching case's upcoming events shown inline
• Manage Staff page to add/deactivate lawyers, paralegals, and admins, each with their own login — lawyers and paralegals populate the Primary/Secondary Lawyer and Legal Assistant dropdowns on every case file
• Full case file matching every field on the firm's FileMaker Pro intake form
• Import From PDF — upload the FileMaker-generated intake PDF and the case form is pre-filled automatically (staff names are matched against existing staff records for you to confirm before saving)

Running it

1. Open env.example and modify the default passwords/secret key

2. Rename env.example to .env

3. From this directory:

   docker compose up --build
   

   By default nginx listens on port 8080. To use a different port, set NGINX_PORT in .env before starting.

4. Visit http://localhost:8080 (or your chosen NGINX_PORT) in a browser.

5. Sign in with the seeded admin account:

   • Username: admin
   • Password: changeme123

   Change this password immediately from the Manage Staff page (edit your own row, set a new password).

Data model

See db/init.sql for the full schema:

• staff — every staff member (role = lawyer, paralegal, or admin), each with their own username/password_hash login
• cases — one row per case, with every field from the intake PDF plus primary_lawyer_id / secondary_lawyer_id / legal_assistant_id foreign keys into staff
• case_events — depositions, filings, hearings, deadlines, etc., each tied to a case and shown on the dashboard once their date arrives

PDF import notes

The parser (backend/app/pdf_parser.py) is written against the fixed label layout FileMaker Pro produces for this firm's "Case Intake Form." It locates each known label in the extracted page text and slices out the value between it and the next label. If the FileMaker layout changes, update the LABELS list in that file to match the new field order.

Primary Lawyer, Secondary Lawyer, and Legal Assistant come back from the PDF as plain names (not IDs) since the PDF has no concept of your staff directory. The import review screen fuzzy-matches those names against your existing staff list and lets you confirm/correct the dropdown selection — it never creates new staff records automatically.

Stopping / resetting

docker compose down          # stop containers, keep data
docker compose down -v       # stop containers and wipe the MySQL volume