rothbard/README.md

Rothbard Client Portal

A secure, server-side rendered client portal for Rothbard Law Group that enables authenticated users to view and manage their legal cases from the Filevine case management platform.

Overview

This web application provides a customized interface for law firm clients to:

• Authenticate securely using Firebase Authentication
• View their assigned legal cases and matters
• Access case details including client information, matter descriptions, and contacts
• Interact with Filevine API data in a user-friendly dashboard format

Architecture

The application is built with:

• Backend: Flask (Python) web server
• Frontend: Server-side rendered HTML with Tailwind CSS
• Authentication: Firebase Authentication with session management
• Database: Firestore for user profiles and preferences
• External API: Filevine API for case management data

Project Structure

rothbard/
├── app.py                 # Main Flask application with routes and API integrations
├── generate_sample.py     # Utility to generate sample Filevine API responses
├── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies
├── rothbard-service-account.json  # Firebase service account credentials
├── static/
│   └── auth.js           # Client-side authentication handling
├── templates/            # Jinja2 HTML templates
│   ├── base.html        # Base template with navigation
│   ├── login.html       # Firebase login page
│   ├── welcome.html     # User welcome/onboarding page
│   └── dashboard.html   # Main case dashboard
├── examples/            # Sample Filevine API responses
│   ├── project_list.json
│   ├── project_contacts.json
│   └── client.json
└── .env                 # Environment variables (not tracked)

Core Features

Authentication System

• Firebase Authentication integration for secure user login
• Server-side session management with 8-hour expiration
• User profile management in Firestore
• Role-based access control (admin-enabled users only)

Case Management Dashboard

• Real-time fetching of projects from Filevine API
• Project filtering based on user's assigned email
• Detailed case information display including:
  • Client names and matter descriptions
  • Project numbers and incident dates
  • Contact information and project URLs
• Responsive design using Tailwind CSS

API Integration

• OAuth 2.0 authentication with Filevine API
• Bearer token management and refresh
• Comprehensive data fetching:
  • Project lists with pagination support
  • Individual project details
  • Client information
  • Project contacts

Configuration

Required Environment Variables

Create a .env file with the following variables:

# Flask Configuration
FLASK_SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here

# Firebase Configuration
FIREBASE_API_KEY=your-firebase-api-key
FIREBASE_AUTH_DOMAIN=your-project.firebaseapp.com
FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=your-firebase-project-id
FIREBASE_APP_ID=your-firebase-app-id
FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON='{"type":"service_account",...}'  # or set GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS

# Filevine API Configuration
FILEVINE_CLIENT_ID=your-filevine-client-id
FILEVINE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-filevine-client-secret
FILEVINE_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your-filevine-pat
FILEVINE_ORG_ID=your-filevine-org-id
FILEVINE_USER_ID=your-filevine-user-id

Firebase Setup

1. Create a Firebase project at https://console.firebase.google.com
2. Enable Authentication with Email/Password provider
3. Create a Firestore database
4. Generate a service account key and save as rothbard-service-account.json
5. Configure Authentication settings for your web app

Filevine API Setup

1. Obtain API credentials from your Filevine account
2. Create a Personal Access Token (PAT)
3. Note your Organization ID and User ID
4. Configure OAuth 2.0 client credentials

Installation and Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd rothbard
   

2. Create virtual environment

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
   

3. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

4. Configure environment variables

   cp .env.example .env  # if available
   # Edit .env with your configuration
   

5. Initialize Firebase

   • Place your service account JSON file at rothbard-service-account.json
   • Or set the GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS environment variable

6. Run the application

   python app.py
   

   The application will be available at http://localhost:5000

Usage

For Users

1. Navigate to the application URL
2. Sign in using Firebase Authentication (email/password)
3. If not yet enabled, users will see a welcome page until an administrator enables their account
4. Once enabled, users can access their case dashboard showing:
   • All assigned projects/matters
   • Client information and contact details
   • Project metadata and links to Filevine

For Administrators

1. User profiles are stored in Firestore at users/{uid}
2. Enable users by setting enabled: true and providing a caseEmail
3. The caseEmail field determines which projects the user can access

Development Tools

Generate Sample API Data

Use the provided utility to generate sample Filevine API responses:

python generate_sample.py

This will create JSON files in the examples/ directory containing:

• Sample project lists
• Project contacts
• Client information

These samples are useful for development and testing without hitting the live API.

Security Considerations

• All API communications use HTTPS
• Firebase ID tokens are verified server-side
• Sessions have limited duration (8 hours)
• User access is controlled through Firestore profiles
• Sensitive credentials are stored in environment variables
• Filevine API tokens are properly scoped and managed

Future Enhancements

Planned improvements include:

• Firebase security rules hardening
• Terraform infrastructure as code for Firebase setup
• User-customizable dashboard columns
• Enhanced styling and responsive design
• Self-service user registration
• Administrative user management interface
• Real-time case updates
• Document upload/download capabilities
• Case status tracking and notifications

Dependencies

• Flask 3.0.3 - Web framework
• firebase-admin 6.6.0 - Firebase server SDK
• python-dotenv 1.0.1 - Environment variable management
• requests 2.32.3 - HTTP client for API calls
• itsdangerous 2.2.0 - Security utilities for Flask

API Endpoints

Internal Application Routes

• GET / - Home route (redirects based on auth status)
• GET /login - Firebase login page
• POST /session_login - Firebase ID token exchange
• GET /logout - Session termination
• GET /welcome - User onboarding page
• GET /dashboard - Main case dashboard (authenticated users only)

Filevine API Integration

• Projects: /fv-app/v2/Projects
• Project Details: /fv-app/v2/Projects/{id}
• Contacts: /fv-app/v2/projects/{id}/contacts
• Client Info: /fv-app/v2/contacts/{id}

License

This project is proprietary software for Rothbard Law Group.