Thousands of lawyers have used the previous version of the app for years. Hearings, deadlines, case files — data built up carefully over time, woven into the fabric of everyday work. Moving to the new app no longer has to mean starting from scratch: you can now choose the route that best suits your archive and the way you work.
Let’s answer it, calmly.
Two ways to make the move
1. Import the Cloud archive from an earlier version
From version 26.4, you can import the data saved in the previous version’s Cloud archive into Counsel Planner: matters, hearings, meetings, deadlines, notes and cash entries linked to a matter.
This is the simplest option if you want your previous Cloud archive in the new app. The import should be run once only, preferably on one device, with a few important precautions to avoid duplicates. Our guide to importing your previous Cloud archive explains every step, the requirements and what to check at the end.
2. Rebuild only the matters you still need
You can also take a more selective approach: keep your history in the previous app and rebuild only your active matters, upcoming hearings and open deadlines in the new one. This is a good option if you want to clear things out, reduce the size of your archive or start again with a simpler structure.
The rest of this guide explains that second route, step by step.
The good news: your data isn’t going anywhere
The previous version will keep working on your device. The data you’ve entered over the years will stay there, accessible, for as long as you need — even if the app were one day removed from the App Store, the local data on your iPhone or iPad would remain untouched.
There’s no rush. You can run both apps side by side for as long as it takes.
The manual route
1. Download the new app and get comfortable with it
Counsel Planner is free to download. We made that decision out of respect for everyone who purchased the previous version: it wouldn’t have been right to ask long-standing users to pay again for a new app.
Before moving a single piece of data, explore the new app using the preloaded sample archive: six realistic cases with hearings, deadlines and notes. It’s there to help you understand how the new way of working feels — cases, hearings, tags, notes — before you start entering your own data.
2. Identify your truly active cases
Open the old app and do one thing only: separate your active cases from the archived ones. You don’t need to move everything. You need to move what you use today and what you’ll use in the coming months. The rest can stay where it is — available in the old app whenever you need it.
That distinction is the key to not feeling overwhelmed.
3. Rebuild your active cases, one at a time
For each active case, open the old app, read through the data, and enter it into the new one. This isn’t a task to complete in a single afternoon — it doesn’t need to be. Do three today, five more tomorrow, whenever you have a free quarter of an hour.
Focus on these essentials for each case:
- Client details — name, reference, any descriptive note
- Upcoming hearings — those already scheduled in the calendar
- Open deadlines — procedural time limits and pending steps
- Relevant notes — only what you actually need today
Past hearings already held, files archived years ago, historical notes: leave them where they are. They’ll remain available in the old app.
4. Use the moment to tidy up
Fourteen years of data is fourteen years of accumulated clutter. Closed cases, clients who never came back, hearings from years ago still marked as open. Moving to the new app is the right opportunity to clear things out and start fresh with a clean, ordered archive.
A lean archive is an archive that works better.
How long does it actually take?
It depends on how many active cases you have. A small practice with around fifty current matters can complete the transition over a few evenings. Those working with hundreds of files will need more time — but even then, working by priority, the data you actually need day to day can be moved within a few days.
There’s no right amount of time. There’s your amount of time.
Why it’s worth doing
The previous version won’t receive new features. It can keep doing what it has always done — and it will do it well for a good while yet — but it will never have iCloud sync, Apple Intelligence, Cloud archive import or the new capabilities that will arrive in the months ahead.
The new Counsel Planner is the app we’ll be building on for the next several years. The best time to start the transition is now, unhurried, without pressure — not when there’s no longer a choice.
And remember: downloading it costs nothing. We wanted it that way, as a concrete sign of respect for everyone who has followed us from the beginning. You can try it, get comfortable, start moving your data — without having to commit to anything before you’re ready.
Questions about the transition, or something not working as expected? Write to us at support@counselplanner.app — we read everything and reply within one or two business days.
