From Legacy Portal to Scalable Legal Platform

Overview

Beginning in 2014, I was contracted to maintain and extend a custom-built case management portal for a mid-sized legal services firm. The legacy system—built in PHP and MySQL—had served them for years, but its architecture limited performance, scalability, and modern usability.

Over time, I transitioned from legacy support to leading the design and development of a fully modern platform: a secure, multi-client, multi-user case and document management system now positioned for SaaS deployment under a separate entity.

Phase 1: Legacy Portal Maintenance (2014–2024)

Took over maintenance of an internally-built PHP/MySQL portal
Handled years of feature requests, bug fixes, and infrastructure support
Supported document uploads, internal case updates, contact management, and calendar functionality
Extended its usable life by nearly a decade while preparing for eventual replacement

Phase 2: Platform Rebuild (2022–Present)

In 2022, active development began on a complete system rebuild with the following goals:

Modernize the tech stack
Improve user experience across legal, admin, and client-facing roles
Isolate data per law firm while allowing flexible deployment
Enable future SaaS expansion under a new legal-tech company

Stack & Architecture

Backend: Rust (Axum), Diesel ORM
Frontend: React + Material UI
Database: PostgreSQL (dedicated per tenant)
Deployment: Originally Dockerized; now migrated to bare-metal virtual machines with per-client isolation and Ansible-based provisioning
Security: JWT auth, password hashing, optional 2FA
Routing: Subdomain per law firm, routed through a central WAF

Core Modules

Cases (with document links, status, timelines)
Clients & Contacts (multi-linked)
Calendar (with user/task/client associations)
Tasks (assignable with alerts and reminders)
Documents (upload, archive, PDF generation)
Custom Reporting Engine (dynamic filter + export)
Email Alerts and In-App Notifications

Key Features

Role-based access control across admin, staff, accounting, and client users
Secure document sharing and external upload support
Server-side PDF rendering with firm-defined templates
User-assigned tasks and calendar automation
Audit-ready activity logging and status transitions
Per-firm customization support without code duplication

Results

Fully retired legacy system as of late 2024
New platform adopted firm-wide with enhanced performance, flexibility, and security
Positioned for multi-firm expansion using structured deployments and infrastructure automation
Ongoing support and roadmap management provided by Sudologist Inc.

What’s Next

External firm onboarding via beta deployments
Integration with court data and optional SMS/email gateways
Subscription billing and external API expansion