Patent ID: 7899781

Claim:
A client device, comprising: a local data repository comprising a plurality of local case records associated with a local instance of a legal matter; a customization engine configured to display at least one of the plurality of local case records; and a synchronization engine configured to synchronize the local instance of the legal matter with a corresponding web instance of the legal matter to obtain a synchronized master web instance of the legal matter, wherein the web instance of the legal matter is located in a web data repository operatively connected to the client device comprising a plurality of web case records associated with the web instance of the legal matter, and wherein both the web instance and the local instance of the legal matter are reviewed by a plurality of users, wherein the synchronization engine is further configured to synchronize the local instance with the corresponding web instance by: obtaining a last synchronization time for the local instance of the legal matter, wherein the last synchronization time corresponds to a time on the client when synchronization is completed, obtaining a current synchronization time for the local instance of legal matter, wherein the current synchronization time corresponds to a time on the client when synchronization is started, obtain all changes made to the corresponding web instance between the last and current synchronization times, obtain all changes made to the local instance between the last and current synchronization times, and analyze the changes made to the web instance and the local instance of the legal matter to resolve collisions using a collision resolution scheme comprising a plurality of rules, wherein the plurality of rules indicate a prevailing action when at least two actions collide, wherein each of the at least two actions are selected from a group consisting of modifying a metadata tag of a local case record, deleting a local case record, inserting a local case record, modifying a metadata tag of a web case record, deleting a web case record, inserting a web case record, wherein, after synchronization is complete, the synchronized master web instance is stored in the web data repository and configured to be downloaded by the client device as an updated local instance when any one of the plurality of users reviews the synchronized web instance.