⚖️ LexFirma — A Complete Lawyer & Law Firm Website

A full-stack MERN web platform for connecting clients with lawyers, featuring real-time chat, video meetings, case management, and an admin dashboard.

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🚀 Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	React 18 + TypeScript + Vite
Backend	Node.js + Express + TypeScript
Database	MongoDB Atlas (Mongoose)
Real-time	Socket.io
Auth	JWT
Styling	Vanilla CSS (custom design system)

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✨ Features

• Authentication — Register/Login for Users, Lawyers, and Admins
• Lawyer Listings — Browse, filter, and view lawyer profiles by specialization
• Real-Time Chat — Socket.io based chat between clients and lawyers, persisted in MongoDB
• Video Meetings — Schedule and join video consultations
• Case Management — Lawyers can add, track, and publish cases
• Contact System — Clients can send contact form messages to lawyers
• Admin Dashboard — Manage users, lawyers, meetings, and platform activity
• Legal News Feed — Aggregated legal news (requires NewsAPI key)
• AI Chatbot — Rule-based legal assistant widget

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📁 Project Structure

lawFirmWebsite/
├── backend/          # Express + TypeScript API
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── controllers/
│   │   ├── models/
│   │   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── middleware/
│   │   └── index.ts  # Server + Socket.io entry
│   └── .env.example
└── frontend/         # React + Vite app
    └── src/
        ├── pages/
        ├── components/
        ├── context/
        └── services/

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⚙️ Setup & Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• MongoDB Atlas account

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/ShubhamKumar6299/lexFirma-aCompleteLawerWebsite.git
cd lexFirma-aCompleteLawerWebsite

2. Backend Setup

cd backend
npm install
cp .env.example .env
# Fill in your .env values (see below)
npm run dev

3. Frontend Setup

cd frontend
npm install
# Create frontend/.env
echo "VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5001/api" > .env
npm run dev

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🔑 Environment Variables

backend/.env

MONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://<user>:<password>@cluster0.mongodb.net/lawfirm
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
PORT=5001
CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:5173
NEWS_API_KEY=your_newsapi_key         # optional
EMAIL_USER=your_email@gmail.com       # optional, for email features
EMAIL_PASS=your_app_password          # optional

frontend/.env

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5001/api

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🌱 Seed Data

To populate the database with test users, lawyers, and cases:

cd backend
npx ts-node src/seed.ts

Test Credentials:

Role	Email	Password
Admin	dsashubham321@gmail.com	Admin@123
Lawyer	satyaanandsharma9534@gmail.com	Lawyer@123
Client	ashutosh887789@gmail.com	User@123

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📡 API Overview

Prefix	Description
/api/auth	Register, Login
/api/lawyers	Lawyer profiles and listings
/api/cases	Case management
/api/chat	Chat history and room management
/api/meetings	Schedule and manage meetings
/api/messages	Contact form inbox
/api/admin	Admin-only operations

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🔌 Real-Time Events (Socket.io)

Event	Direction	Description
join_room	Client → Server	Join a chat room
send_message	Client → Server	Send a message (saved to DB)
receive_message	Server → Client	Broadcast message to room

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👤 Author

Built by Shubham Kumar

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📄 License

MIT