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n8n workflow Intermediate Single-firm

Deadline Calculator for Court & Legal Filing Dates

Enter one trigger date. This legal deadline calculator computes every downstream due date using business-day and holiday rules, then writes them to your calendar and matter. You confirm. It never files. Free n8n workflow, yours to keep.

20-minute setupWrites to Outlook or Google CalendarReplaces a $49-$149/user/mo docketing tool
Download it — no email needed

Import it into n8n

  1. The button above downloads the workflow as a .json file — that is the whole download.
  2. In n8n, open the workflows list, choose Import from File, and select the file you just downloaded.
  3. Open each node flagged with a warning and connect your own credentials — none of ours are in the file.
  4. Run it once manually before you activate it, and check the output is what you expect.
Federal holidays used

Weekends and these observed federal holidays are treated as closed days. A holiday on a Saturday is observed the Friday before; on a Sunday, the Monday after (5 U.S.C. 6103(a)). Court holidays in your jurisdiction may differ — check these against your own calendar.

    Dates you confirm, written to your calendar

    How it works

    1. Receives a POST webhook request containing a matter ID, trigger date, optional rule set, and the target calendar platform.
    2. Validates the payload and stops early if the matter ID is missing or the trigger date is not in YYYY-MM-DD format.
    3. Calculates one deadline per rule using calendar-day or business-day offsets that skip weekends and US federal holidays.
    4. Creates a calendar entry for each deadline in Google Calendar (all-day) or Microsoft Outlook via Microsoft Graph (timed), depending on the requested platform.
    5. Creates a high-priority pending task in Clio for each deadline and links it to the provided Clio matter ID.
    6. Appends one audit row per deadline to the “Audit Log” tab in the OPS1 Compliance Log Google Sheet.

    Compliance: never touches your legal work

    This automation runs on the rules and values you enter and confirm — it does the arithmetic, you approve every result. It doesn’t draft, decide which rule applies, file, or make any legal judgment, consistent with ABA Opinion 512.

    What’s inside

    • The court deadline calculator workflowOne n8n file. Enter a trigger date such as service or a scheduling order, and it computes the chain of downstream deadlines.
    • Business-day and holiday logicSkips weekends and court holidays so a 21-day deadline lands on a real business day, not a Sunday.
    • Editable rule setYou enter and confirm your own court rules. The workflow does the counting. It never invents a rule or gives legal advice.
    • Calendar + matter write-backApproved dates post to Outlook or Google Calendar and to the matter record, so nothing lives only in your head.
    • 20-minute deploy guide + LoomA walkthrough for entering your rules and connecting your calendar. No developer needed.

    ✓ Works great when

    • You docket deadlines by hand and want a second set of eyes on the math
    • You work a consistent set of court rules you can enter once
    • You want deadlines on your calendar the moment a trigger date is known, with you confirming each one

    ✗ What breaks at scale

    • You need a court-rules database maintained for you across multiple jurisdictions
    • You want deadlines to sync into your practice-management or case-management system automatically
    • You need staggered reminders and escalation if a deadline is not confirmed

    Frequently asked

    What platform does the deadline calculator run on?

    It runs on n8n, a free open-source automation tool you host yourself. You import one workflow file, enter your rules, and connect your calendar. Nothing is locked to us.

    Does this give legal advice or replace my own docketing judgment?

    No. It is a calculator, not a lawyer. It counts days on rules you enter and confirm, then puts the results in front of you to approve. It never files, never waives, and never decides which rule applies. That stays with you.

    What is the difference between court days and calendar days?

    Calendar days count every day, including weekends and holidays. Court days (sometimes called business days) count only the days the court is open, skipping weekends and the holidays on your list. The same offset gives two different dates depending on which you pick, which is why the calculator makes it an explicit choice per deadline rather than assuming one. Which basis a given rule uses is set by the rule itself — you select it, and the calculator counts accordingly.

    How does it handle weekends and court holidays?

    The workflow uses business-day logic and a holiday list you control. If a computed date lands on a weekend or holiday, it rolls to the next business day per the rule you set.

    Can I use this as a timely filing calculator?

    Yes, for the counting. Enter the date that starts the clock and the number of days your filing rule allows, and it returns the date that falls on, rolled off weekends and holidays if you chose court days. It does not know your court’s filing window, cut-off time, or any tolling that may apply — you supply the rule and confirm the result. Note that “timely filing” also refers to medical insurance claim windows; this tool is built for court and legal filing dates.

    Does it calculate discovery due dates?

    It does the arithmetic for any deadline you can express as a number of days from a trigger date, which covers most discovery response dates. Add one row per deadline from the same trigger — service date in, response and follow-on dates out. What it will not do is tell you how many days your jurisdiction allows for a given discovery request. That number comes from you, and every returned date is yours to confirm.

    How do I calculate court deadlines without a rules database?

    Take the trigger date, the number of days the rule gives you, whether those are court or calendar days, and whether the deadline runs forward or backward from the trigger. Enter those four things and the counting is done for you, with the working shown so you can check it against your own calendar. A rules database automates the step of deciding which rule applies. That step stays with you here, deliberately — it is legal judgment, not arithmetic.

    Can you build a version tuned to my jurisdictions?

    Yes. The free calculator is yours to run. If you want your rules encoded and maintained across jurisdictions and synced into your case system, that is a Quick-Win Build, from $1,500, typically live within a week.

    Want the version built for your firm?

    Done-for-You Build.

    The free workflow does the counting on rules you enter. When you want a maintained rules set across jurisdictions, sync into your case-management system, and reminder escalation, that is a Quick-Win Build. We keep a human in the loop the whole way: the tool surfaces and reminds, the attorney confirms.

    from $1,500 typical rangewithin a week typical timeline

    What you get

    • Your court rules encoded and maintained across the jurisdictions you practice in
    • Deadlines synced into your case-management or practice-management system
    • Staggered reminders with escalation until a deadline is confirmed
    • Attorney-confirms-every-date safeguard, so automation never files or waives on its own
    The 60-Day Build Guarantee. We agree on one success metric before we start, write it into the SOW, and build to hit it. If we miss, we keep working for free until we do. Or refund your project fee minus third-party costs. You keep everything we built.