Keep every court date in one place: the court, suit number, parties, business of the day, who is appearing, the outcome and the next date. Dates in the coming week light up automatically.
| Date | Court | Suit no. | Matter | Business | Next date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20/10 | Federal High Court, Lagos | FHC/L/CS/123 | Bello Ltd v. Apex | Hearing | 18/11 |
| 21/10 | High Court of Lagos State | LD/456/2025 | Estate of Okon | Mention | — |
| 23/10 | Court of Appeal, Lagos | CA/L/789/2024 | Eze & Sons v. Ade | Adoption of addresses | — |
- Columns for date, time, court, courtroom, suit number and parties
- Business-of-the-day drop-down: mention, hearing, trial, ruling, judgment and more
- Outcome and next-date columns for after each sitting
- The next 7 days highlighted in gold automatically
- Past dates with no outcome recorded flagged in red
- Filters on every column, and a "How to use" sheet
- 1Download the file and add every upcoming court date as its own row.
- 2Pick the business of the day from the drop-down and note who is appearing.
- 3After each sitting, record the outcome and the next date, and add the next date as a new row.
- 4Check the gold rows every Monday morning, and chase any red ones.
Dates go missing in the gaps: a new date given in court that only reaches one lawyer’s notebook, a hearing notice sitting in someone’s inbox, an adjournment announced in a group chat. One shared diary, updated straight after every sitting, closes those gaps.
At minimum: the date and time, the court and courtroom, the suit number, the parties, what the court will take that day, and who from the firm is appearing. Afterwards, record what happened and the next date while you are still at court.
Recording the outcome matters as much as the date. When the next lawyer picks up the file, they should know exactly where the matter stands without having to ask.
This diary highlights everything due in the next seven days, so a Monday glance shows the week. Anything in the past without an outcome turns red, so a sitting that nobody wrote up gets noticed.
Skip the spreadsheet
The Counsel keeps every hearing on one firm calendar and reminds the whole team by email and WhatsApp the day before. Nothing depends on someone opening a spreadsheet.
Can my whole team use one court diary?
Yes: store the file somewhere shared, such as Google Drive or OneDrive, and have whoever attends court update it the same day.
Does it send reminders?
A spreadsheet can only highlight dates. If you want automatic email and WhatsApp reminders before each hearing, The Counsel sends them for you.
Does it work outside Nigeria?
Yes. The court and business-of-the-day columns are free text plus a short drop-down that you can edit for your own courts.