Role
End-to-end UX Designer
Scope
Cross-role Legal Tech Platform
Web App + Role-Based Dashboards
Duration
6-week
Everyone at the firm uses the same core platform—but each role leans into different modules based on their daily tasks.
01
Problem statement
By 2020, the law firm behind Touchstone was drowning in platform overload.
Cases lived in Excel
Billing ran through Tally
Leaves were tracked over email
Time logs lived in random Google Sheets
Partners had no visibility into utilization or revenue
Everyone was managing something—but no one had a clear view of everything.
This led to delays, errors, zero accountability, and scattered communication. What they needed wasn’t just another tool—it was a single, secure platform that pulled everything together.
02
Understanding the Problem
Before Touchstone, the firm’s daily operations were stuck in a broken puzzle of disconnected tools.
Pain Points:
Fragmented Workflows – Constant app-switching for lawyers, finance, and HR teams.
No Centralized Data – Information silos slowed reporting and decisions.
Role Complexity – Partners, lawyers, finance, and HR all had different needs with no unified experience.
Security Gaps – Client and financial data scattered across unsecured platforms.
03
Research
Role Based Insights
Lawyers / Associates
Spent too much time on admin tasks (logging time, chasing invoices) instead of billable work.
No quick way to see matter budgets or deadlines in one place.
Finance & Accounts
Juggling invoices, salary sheets, and expense claims across 3–4 disconnected tools.
Difficulty matching billing to actual hours logged in timesheets.
HR & Admin Staff
Leave approvals, onboarding, and user management spread across multiple apps.
No central dashboard to track staff productivity or workload balance.
Industry Insights
Tool Fragmentation
73% of Indian law firms use 3+ separate tools for case management, billing, and HR — leading to duplicated work and data silos. (Source: India Legal Tech Report 2023)
Billable Hour Leakage
Lawyers lose an average of 2.3 hours per day to admin tasks like timesheets, invoice follow-ups, and manual data entry. (Source: Clio Legal Trends 2022)
Security Gaps
Over 60% of firms store sensitive case data in unsecured formats (e.g., Excel sheets, local drives), making breaches more likely. (Source: Nasscom Legal Security Insights)
Remote Work Shift
Post-pandemic, 58% of Indian law firms adopted hybrid work, but most lacked secure, mobile-friendly platforms to support it. (Source: Bar Council India Survey 2023)
I reviewed 3 key platforms commonly used by mid-to-large Indian law firms:
Key Insight:
Design Opportunity:
Key Pain Points Before Touchstone
Tool Overload
Security Gaps
Sensitive client and case data were stored in shared drives and unsecured spreadsheets. No role-based controls meant interns could access the same data as senior partners.
Inefficient Finance Tracking
Salaries, rent, and case expenses were logged manually in Excel. Recurring costs were missed or tracked late, causing budgeting blind spots.
No Single Source of Truth
Partners lacked a real-time, consolidated view of matters, billables, leave requests, and expenses — decisions were often based on outdated information.
Why These Stopgap Solutions Just Don’t Cut It
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04
Ideation
Security-First
Because law firms handle highly sensitive client and financial data, every flow had to be invite-only, encrypted, and role-restricted from the start.
One Product, Many Roles
Instead of building different apps for partners, associates, accountants, HR, and clients, you built one platform that adapts access and visibility based on the login role.
Mobile + Web Parity
Lawyers on the move shouldn’t get a “lite” version — the mobile app and web app needed to offer near-identical functionality, just optimised for the device.
Data-First, but Simple
Finance dashboards, matter progress charts, and task lists had to be rich in data but designed so even non-technical staff could scan, filter, and act without training.
Scalable by Design
Built to expand with the firm’s needs, from boutique practices to multi-office setups, without reinventing workflows.
05
Hero Modules in Focus:
Finance & Matter Management
Hero Module 1: Finance Management
The Challenge:
Law firm finance was scattered — recurring salaries in one sheet, ad-hoc expenses in another, receipts in emails, and no real-time category view.
The Solution:
A central finance hub with:
Recurring Tracker — Auto-reminds and pre-fills for salaries, rent, subscriptions.
Expense Record — Logs transactions with category, sub-category, vendor, attachments.
Overview Dashboard — Category-wise breakdowns, trends, and quick export for reporting.
Hero Module 2: Matter Management
The Challenge:
Matters were managed via Excel, emails, and shared drives — no integrated place to track deadlines, budgets, or conflicts.
The Solution:
Rate Cards + Budget Alerts — Clear visibility into fees and matter costs.
Conflict Checker — Prevents taking on matters with conflicts.
Linked Documents & Tasks — Every matter has its own connected records.
