DocketForge — Law Practice, Billing & Trust Accounting Command Center

Docket it. Bill it. Reconcile it.

DocketForge is a complete, private, 100% offline command center for a solo or small law practice — 15 integrated modules and 39 tools in one app you own. No accounts, no subscriptions, no per-user monthly fees. Open one file in any browser and it just works, on Mac, Windows, Chromebook, iPad or Android. Client names, matter details and trust balances never leave your computer — which matters more here than in almost any other profession.

The three things that actually keep a practice safe:

• The deadline docket — every dated obligation on every file with days remaining, plus a dedicated limitation-period board with a countdown, the accrual note you recorded and a configurable warning band. Anything overdue or inside the band is escalated to the dashboard automatically.
• The trust ledger (IOLTA) — a running balance per client matter, not just an account total. DocketForge flags any client ledger that goes negative and refuses to save an entry that would overdraw one, because spending one client’s money on another’s file is how attorneys get disbarred.
• Three-way reconciliation — bank to book after outstanding checks and deposits in transit; book to the sum of every client ledger; and the third leg a totals-only check cannot see, that no individual ledger is below zero. An account can balance perfectly and still be wrong. Print the signed certificate most jurisdictions require monthly.

Everything else it takes to run the practice:

• Matters and clients with fee basis, hours, fees, WIP and trust balance on every file
• Conflicts check across clients, matter names, adverse parties and intake enquiries, with a clear result either way
• New matter intake board from enquiry to engagement — or a clean, documented decline
• Time entries with narrative coaching, write-down markers and honest non-billable tracking
• Work in progress by matter with stale-WIP alerts and one-click billing, invoices, payments (including trust transfers, checked before they post) and receivables aged 0–30 / 31–60 / 61–90 / 90+
• 8 practice calculators — effective hourly rate, break-even billable rate, utilisation and capacity, contingency fee split (both methods, side by side), limitation period, trust transfer eligibility, matter profitability and flat-fee pricing
• Matter profitability with realised rate per hour and a practice-area breakdown; timekeepers with standard rate, cost rate, utilisation and targets
• Document checklist that escalates any file being worked without a signed engagement letter
• 12 copy-ready letters — engagement (hourly, flat and contingency), non-engagement, conflict waiver, fee increase, overdue account, settlement disbursement statement, trust deposit acknowledgement, status update, withdrawal and matter closing
• Practice reports: the realisation waterfall from time recorded to money banked, hours by timekeeper, fees by practice area and by responsible attorney, and progress against your targets.

What’s included: the app (single HTML file) · a live, formula-driven Excel companion (deadline docket, time ledger, WIP & receivables, three-way reconciliation, client trust ledgers, rate & capacity, matter profitability, contingency & flat fee, practice dashboard) · a Quick-Start guide · a How-To-Use guide · your license. A 60-second welcome wizard and guided tour get you productive instantly, and you can pre-load a fully-worked sample practice.

Your data stays yours. Everything is saved in your browser only — nothing is uploaded. Export a JSON backup anytime, and export your time to CSV. One-time purchase, lifetime updates.

DocketForge performs arithmetic on the data you enter. It does not monitor any date for you, it is not a docketing service, and it is not legal, accounting or tax advice. Rules of professional conduct, trust accounting requirements, limitation periods, fee agreement formalities, contingency caps and record retention are set by each jurisdiction and differ in ways that matter. The letters are drafting starting points, not forms. Every date and every dollar in trust remains your responsibility.