Evidence intake and preparation for family-law firms
Turn client records into reviewed hearing materials.
One workspace for the attorney, paralegal, and client handoff. Request records, review the submitted version, and release selected materials to named recipients. Keep firm discussions separate from client messages and prepare source-linked hearing binders.
Run one matter on the free tier with no card, or try Full Suite free for 7 days (card required; cancel before it ends and you pay nothing). Single tools and a full suite when you need more.
API + MCP · Bring your own AI
Your casework. Connected to your tools.
Connect your local AI assistant or build your own integration. Upload files, organize folders, add labels and categories, manage hearings, and prepare documents through the same capabilities you use on the website.
Work with your own AI or use Ours
Use MCP to give a compatible AI tool access to your workflow. You choose which abilities it can use.
Build with a complete API
Explore the interactive Swagger reference, connect your scripts, and automate repeatable work.
Keep control of access
Create scoped tokens with an expiration date or no expiration. Revoke access anytime. Your account permissions and usage limits still apply.
Built for family-law teams
From client intake to attorney review.
Custody and family-law matters generate messages, photos, records, and repeated requests for missing information. Give the client a clear submission path and the firm a workspace to review sources and prepare the next hearing.
Client intake
Request specific records, name the recipient, and keep submitted material attached to its matter.
Source review
Inspect originals and extracted text. Track missing records and ask the client for clarification.
Attorney approval
Review the submitted version. Changed source material requires a fresh review.
Private firm discussion
Discuss work with assigned staff separately from messages released to clients.
Hearing preparation
Link facts and working notes to sources, assemble binders, and track revisions before printing.
Selected release
Choose materials and named recipients, set expiry, and record acknowledgment of a released package.
Why exhibit prep eats your week
The facts are strong. Getting them admissible is the work.
The billable hours and the all-nighters disappear into the same three places — the gap between what a client hands you and what a court will accept.
Raw, unusable exports
A client sends a 10,000-line message export, HEIC photos, and forwarded emails with no dates and no order. Useful — once someone spends a day on it.
The source-checking burden
Opposing counsel asks how you know the screenshot wasn't altered. Without a hash, preserved original, and chain of custody, your strongest exhibit wobbles.
Hand-numbering at 2 a.m.
"Produce the messages" turns into manually Bates-stamping 200 pages the night before a hearing — the lowest-leverage, highest-risk hour of the case.
What CourtBriefly is — and isn't
CourtBriefly is litigation-support software, not a law firm, and it does not give legal advice. It organizes, preserves file fingerprints, and formats the evidence you already have. Whether something is admissible or persuasive is a call for the attorney on the matter — our job is to make sure it's ready when they decide.
One platform, four tools
Request, review, prepare, release.
Each tool stands alone, and all four feed one shared case file. Evidence you capture, messages you extract, and communications you log land in the same matter — searchable, dated, and export-ready.
Evidence Helper Live
Bulk-ingest screenshots, photos, and documents. AI reads the text out of images, your team tags and maps each item to the issues in the matter, and you export exhibit-ready packets — originals preserved and hashed.
Explore Evidence Helper →Message Extractor Live
The flagship: drop in a text, WhatsApp, or email export and get a paginated, Bates-stamped, fingerprinted PDF message log — with an index and a source manifest. The 10,000-line dump becomes the exhibit.
Explore Message Extractor →Case Builder Live
The whole matter in one place: master timeline, documents by category, arguments mapped to evidence, deadlines — plus a clean hearing mode for the courtroom or Zoom.
Explore Case Builder →Comms Guard Live
Tone and red-flag checks before send, a dated log of what was sent and received, on any channel, and a numbered log export afterward. Works even when the other side uses nothing.
Explore Comms Guard →How it works
From export to exhibit in three moves.
Ingest the dump
Upload message exports, screenshots, photos, and documents. Originals are preserved untouched and SHA-256 hashed the moment they arrive.
Brief it
CourtBriefly orders messages chronologically, AI reads text out of images for your review, and your team tags, dates, and maps everything to the matter's issues.
Export the record
Generate a Bates-stamped, paginated PDF log or exhibit packet — with an index and a source manifest — ready to file, serve, or hand to the attorney.
Defensible by construction
Keep sources and review decisions visible.
Originals and source fingerprints
Uploaded originals retain their bytes and SHA-256 fingerprints. Selected release manifests identify source versions; export preflight reports unavailable originals.
Bates numbering that just works
Consistent, configurable Bates prefixes and ranges across every page of every exhibit — no manual stamping, no gaps, no duplicates.
The matter is yours
Export the complete case bundle — originals included — at any time. Closing a matter or ending a plan never means losing the record.
Pricing
From a single matter to the whole firm.
Start free on one matter. Start free, add a single tool, or unlock the full suite — and buy a one-off log when that's all you need.
Free
For pro se litigants and solo practitioners.
$0
Free forever, no card. Or try Full Suite free for 7 days.
- 1 matter — organize & preview
- Bates-stamped exports
- Watermarked exports
Single Tool
Just the one tool your matter needs.
$14.99/mo
or $119/yr per tool
- Any one tool, its included exports
- 80 AI actions a month for that tool
- Source review remains with your firm
Full Suite
Platform tools with AI allowances; add workspace capacity separately.
$24.99/mo
or $199/yr — save ~33%
- All platform tools, AI included
- Separately purchased client workspace capacity
- 300 AI actions a month
Run a workspace per client: your first is free, each additional is $25/mo — purchased capacity belongs to the subscribing account. A client can separately request firm sponsorship of storage and AI usage; the firm must accept, and existing subscriptions are not cancelled automatically. Just need one log? The one-time Message Log Package is $39 per matter. See full pricing →
Where it came from
Born in a real case. Hardened into a platform.
"I had three case numbers running at once and a folder of thousands of screenshots, and I built the tooling I needed to brief it all into something a court could actually use. It worked. Then every paralegal I showed it to said the same thing: I need this for everything on my desk."
CourtBriefly is the productized version of evidence tooling first built for one real, high-stakes case — now generalized for attorneys and paralegals handling client evidence. Its consumer-facing front door for family-court self-help is Custody Commander; both run on the same engine and are part of Firmbinder LLC.
Insights for litigation teams
Practical guides for attorneys and paralegals.
Workflows and checklists for Bates numbering, text-message evidence, ESI, client intake, hearing binders and responsible AI use.
Evidence & ExhibitsBates Numbering Done Right: The Complete Guide for Law FirmsBates numbering for law firms: prefix and padding conventions, numbering across productions, natives and slipsheets, privilege gaps, and an SOP to adapt.
Evidence & ExhibitsAuthenticating Text Messages Under Rule 901: Foundation That Holds UpHow to authenticate text messages under Rule 901: proving accuracy and authorship, a sample foundation exam, pretrial tools, and the challenges to anticipate.
Client Intake & CommunicationThe Family Law Client Intake Checklist: Every Question, Document and WarningA family law intake checklist for attorneys and staff: conflict and safety screening, children, jurisdiction facts, finances, evidence, and first-day advice.
Discovery & ESIProducing Text Messages in Discovery: From the Phone to a Bates NumberA step-by-step workflow for producing text messages in discovery: collect exports, dedupe, review, redact, Bates number, hash and serve the response.
Evidence & ExhibitsThe Hearing Exhibit Binder Checklist: Every Set, Tab and Final CheckAn exhibit binder checklist for litigation teams: which sets to build, what goes in each, tab and label conventions, a QC pass and a countdown schedule.
Legal Tech & AIABA Formal Opinion 512: What It Actually Requires of Your Firm’s AI UseABA Formal Opinion 512 explained rule by rule: competence, client consent, disclosure, candor, supervision and AI billing, plus a checklist for firm policy.
Questions, answered straight
Frequently asked questions
Is CourtBriefly a law firm or legal advice?
No. CourtBriefly is litigation-support software. It organizes, preserves file fingerprints, and formats evidence; it does not provide legal advice, evaluate a case, or predict how a court will rule. Those are decisions for the licensed attorney on the matter.
What matter types does it handle?
The current focus is evidence-heavy custody and family-law matters. The intake, review and preparation tools can organize other records, but each firm must check its workflow and filing requirements.
How are originals and source history handled?
Uploads retain original bytes and a SHA-256 fingerprint. Sharing and review events record the application actions, and package manifests identify the selected source versions. These records support the firm’s review; they do not certify authenticity or guarantee admissibility.
Can a whole team work a matter?
Yes. Create a firm, invite staff with specific roles, and assign them to matters. Clients choose the records they submit; unshared personal records stay private. Firm-only messages and named-recipient messages have separate audiences. Authenticator MFA is available. SSO and connected practice-management imports are not currently available.
How is the AI used, and is it reliable?
AI handles the tedious parts — reading text out of screenshots, answering questions about message threads, suggesting tags — and every output is reviewed before it's confirmed. AI results and human corrections are stored separately, so the record always distinguishes what the machine produced from what a person verified.
How does this relate to Custody Commander?
Custody Commander is the consumer-facing brand for self-represented parents in family court. It runs on the CourtBriefly engine — a consumer who signs up there is creating an account in the same platform. Both are part of Firmbinder LLC.
The next dump is coming. Be ready to brief it.
Start free on your next matter — turn the export into a Bates-stamped exhibit set before you decide on a plan.
A free tier with no card, a 7-day Full Suite free trial, single tools, and a full suite — a plan for every matter.