Exporting Case Reports for Clients
Generate professional case status reports to share with clients. Learn report types, customization options, and delivery methods.
Last updated: April 2026
Why Clients Want Case Reports
Clients invest significant money and trust in their legal representation. They deserve to know what is happening with their matters. Regular case reports keep clients informed, build confidence, and reduce the number of status-check phone calls and messages you receive.
Advocate CMS lets you generate polished, professional case reports with just a few clicks. These reports include case status, hearing history, upcoming dates, documents, and billing summaries depending on what you choose to include.
Types of Reports
Case Status Report
The most common report. It summarizes:
- Case number and title
- Current status (Pending, Listed, Adjourned, Disposed)
- Court name and bench
- Next hearing date
- Brief case description
- Last hearing outcome
Use this for quick client updates between hearings. It is one page and gives the client the essential information they need.
Full Case History Report
A comprehensive report that includes everything:
- Complete hearing history with dates, outcomes, and notes
- All documents filed in the case (listed by name and date)
- Task history showing what work has been done
- Team member activity on the case
- Timeline of the case from filing to present
This is the report you provide when a client wants a complete record of their matter, or when they are considering changing counsel and need the full file.
Hearing-Specific Report
Focuses on a single hearing or a range of hearings:
- Hearing date, time, and courtroom
- What transpired during the hearing
- Orders passed by the court
- Next hearing date
- Documents filed for that hearing
Use this after important hearings to give your client a clear summary of what happened in court that day.
Billing and Activity Summary
If your subscription plan includes time and billing tracking:
- Hours logged on the case
- Activities performed
- Expenses incurred
- Fees billed and paid
- Outstanding balance
This is useful for periodic client billing and for transparency about how your fees are being applied.
Generating a Case Report
Step-by-step:
1. Open the case file
2. Click the **Reports** tab
3. Select the report type from the dropdown (Status Report, Full History, Hearing-Specific, Billing Summary)
4. Customize the options (see Customization below)
5. Click **Generate Report**
6. Preview the report on screen
7. Click **Download** to save it, or **Send to Client** to email it directly
The report generates as a PDF by default. You can also choose Excel or CSV format for the activity data.
Customization Options
When generating a report, you can customize:
Include or Exclude Sections
Toggle individual sections on or off. For example, you might want to send a client a status report that does not include internal team notes or strategy discussions. The customization controls let you show only the sections appropriate for external sharing.
Date Range
For hearing history and activity reports, select a date range. You can generate:
- Last 30 days
- Last 90 days
- Last 6 months
- Custom date range
Add Your Letterhead
If your workspace has a letterhead uploaded (Settings > Workspace > Letterhead), it will automatically appear at the top of generated reports. This gives your reports a professional, branded appearance.
Add a Cover Note
You can type a brief cover note that appears at the top of the report. For example: "Dear Mr. Sharma, please find below the status of your matter as of April 2026. The next hearing is scheduled for 15 May 2026. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions."
Confidentiality Watermark
For sensitive matters, enable the **Confidential** watermark. This adds a diagonal light-gray "CONFIDENTIAL" text across every page of the PDF.
Scheduling Automatic Reports
Instead of generating reports manually, you can set them up to be generated and sent automatically:
1. Go to the case **Reports** tab
2. Click **Schedule Report**
3. Choose report type and recipients (client email addresses)
4. Set frequency: weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or after each hearing
5. Click **Save Schedule**
Your clients will receive the reports automatically at the chosen interval. This is a powerful client service differentiator that very few advocates offer.
Bulk Report Generation
When you need to generate reports for multiple cases at once (for example, before an end-of-quarter client review):
1. Go to your **Cases** list view
2. Select the cases using the checkboxes
3. From the **Actions** dropdown, select **Generate Reports**
4. Choose the report type
5. Advocate CMS generates one PDF per case, bundled into a ZIP file for download
Sharing Reports with Clients
Direct Download
Download the PDF and share it via email, WhatsApp, or however you normally communicate with the client.
Send to Client Directly
Use the **Send to Client** button to email the report directly from Advocate CMS. The email comes from your workspace address with the report attached as a PDF. You can customize the email subject and body.
Secure Share Link
Generate a secure, expiring link to the report:
1. After generating, click **Share Link**
2. Set how long the link should be active (24 hours, 7 days, 30 days)
3. Optionally set a password
4. Copy the link and send it to your client
This is more secure than email attachments, especially for sensitive matters.
Client Portal
If your subscription includes the client portal feature, reports are automatically available in the client's portal dashboard. Clients can log in and view/download their case reports at any time without waiting for you to send them.
Report Templates
Over time, you can save your customization settings as templates:
1. Configure a report with your preferred sections, letterhead, and cover note style
2. Click **Save as Template**
3. Name it (e.g., "Monthly Client Update", "Post-Hearing Summary")
4. Next time you generate a report, select the template to apply all your settings instantly
What to Include for Different Audiences
For the Client
- Case status and next hearing date
- Recent hearing outcomes in plain language
- Documents filed on their behalf
- Upcoming milestones and expected timeline
Avoid including internal strategy notes, team discussions, or assessments of case strength that could be misinterpreted.
For Co-Counsel or Senior Counsel
- Full hearing history
- All documents with filing dates
- Opposing counsel activity
- Your team's analysis and strategy notes
For Your Own Records
- Everything. Use the Full Case History Report with all sections included for your files.
Report Archiving
Generated reports are saved in the case file under the **Reports** sub-tab. You can revisit any previously generated report and re-download it. This creates a natural audit trail of what information was shared with clients and when.
Troubleshooting
**Report is missing information**: Make sure the data exists in the case file. Reports can only include information that has been entered. If hearing outcomes are blank, go back and fill them in.
**PDF will not download**: Check that your browser allows pop-up downloads from the Advocate CMS domain. Disable any aggressive pop-up blockers for this site.
**Report formatting looks wrong**: This can happen if letterhead images are very large. Resize your letterhead image and re-upload it in Settings.
Next Steps
- [Set up automatic report scheduling] to keep clients informed without extra effort
- [Organize case documents](https://adcms.hikmotic.com/help-center/document-management-best-practices) so reports have complete information
- [Contact support](https://adcms.hikmotic.com/contact) if you need help customizing report templates