One venue, end to end, from filing to resolution.

Kestrel is built around the workflow you actually run. Each stage carries its own structure. Each action joins a single, defensible record. Here is what that looks like on screen.

Workflow

Five stages. One record.

  1. 01

    Filing

    A claimant or a firm acting for one opens a structured matter. Kestrel collects what the dispute needs: parties, facts, desired outcome, and the documents that support them. Each field feeds the stages that follow.

    Captures
    • Parties
    • Facts
    • Desired outcome
    • Initial evidence
  2. 02

    Response

    The respondent enters the same venue. Both sides see what has been said and what is outstanding. There is no ambiguity about who saw what, or when.

    Captures
    • Acknowledgements
    • Position statements
    • Counter-evidence
  3. 03

    Negotiation

    Offers, counter-offers, and clarifications stay in a structured thread. Nothing important leaks into a side-channel email. Each exchange is attributable and timestamped.

    Captures
    • Offers
    • Counter-offers
    • Clarifications
    • Time on each step
  4. 04

    Evidence

    Documents upload, hash with SHA-256, and attach to the matter. Each piece carries clear provenance. Any later change to a file flags itself on the record.

    Captures
    • SHA-256 hashes
    • Upload provenance
    • Version history
    • Access log
  5. 05

    Resolution

    Whether settled, escalated, or withdrawn, the matter closes with a complete record of how it got there. Export it, archive it, or hand it to the next stage of proceedings.

    Captures
    • Outcome
    • Signed agreement
    • Full timeline
    • Exportable record

The case workspace

One instruction at the top of every matter.

The Next Action card is the point of the screen. Kestrel resolves what a matter needs and puts a single instruction at the top, in plain language, with the button that carries it out beside it. Filing here generates the pre-action letter, serves the respondent and starts the response clock in one step.

Your fee-earner reviews and approves. They never start from a blank page, and they never go hunting through a thread to work out where a matter got to.

platform.onkestrel.com/t/smallfield/work/cases/SMA-2026-0114

SMA-2026-0114

Ready to file

Hartley v Renwick Building Services

Claim value

£8,400.00

Next action

Send the pre-action letter

The claim is complete and the engagement letter is signed. Filing generates the pre-action letter, serves the respondent and starts the 30 day response clock.

Debt Claims Protocol pack attached9 exhibits hashed
Preview letterFile and serve
Claimant
M. Hartley
Respondent
Renwick Building Services Ltd
Type
Contract, commercial
Value
£8,400.00
Fee-earner
C. March
Opened
14/07/2026
Timeline24Documents & Evidence9Submissions6Internal Notes3Exports1Time & billing11

Tamper-evident record

The standard of record a regulated practice expects.

Every action in a Kestrel matter writes to an append-only audit log. Every uploaded file picks up a SHA-256 hash on arrival, so any later change shows on the record.

The audit log is the source of truth for what happened, when, and at whose hand. Export it. Hand it to the court. It will hold up to the scrutiny a contested matter eventually invites.

Disclosed evidence

SMA-2026-0114

  • contract-signed-2025-11-04.pdf

    2.4 MB, M. Hartley, 14/07/2026

    Locked

    9f2c4a71b8e3d05c…c1d729e4a8f3

  • remedial-works-quote.pdf

    840 KB, M. Hartley, 14/07/2026

    Locked

    4d81e0c93f7a2b56…96d4b8a0f37e2

  • renwick-invoice-april.pdf

    312 KB, Renwick Building Services, 25/07/2026

    Locked

    b7302f9ac41d68e0…9b2f47a3d106

Once a file is disclosed it cannot be altered or removed. The copy you hand a court can be checked against this digest years later.

This is the credibility floor. We did not bolt it on. The whole platform sits on top of it, and you can check any export we produce against it yourself.

How the hash chain works

The economics

Built for work where the clock is capped.

Fixed recoverable costs govern most of the matters Kestrel handles. Profit on this work comes from running each matter in fewer fee-earner hours than the cap pays for, and from proving where each hour went. We built Kestrel to do both.

Record time as you work

A timer runs against the matter, and a supervisor signs off manual entries. You record time while you work instead of reconstructing it at month end.

Fee notes from the same record

You raise a client-ready fee note straight from recorded time, on the same record the dispute ran on. The work and its cost sit side by side.

Defensible when challenged

Each entry sits against a tamper-evident account of the work, so your time survives a costs judge’s scrutiny.

The result is a practice that takes on the matters the hourly model priced out, and makes money on them.

White label

Your client never sees us.

Kestrel runs under your name, on your domain, in your colours. The claimant signs in at your address, reads your firm's name at the top of the page, and gets email from your sending domain. We appear once, in the footer.

Pick a firm below and watch the same matter re-skin.

disputes.smallfieldlegal.co.uk
Smallfield Legal

Reference SMA-2026-0114

Your dispute with Renwick Building Services Ltd

FiledResponse receivedIn progress
Respond to the offerEmails to your client come from smallfieldlegal.co.uk too.

Powered by Kestrel

Custom domains and firm-branded sending domains are included on Practice and Firm.

Fit

Runs on its own. Fits what you already run.

For dispute work, Kestrel is the whole system. Intake, evidence, negotiation, time recording, fee notes: a matter runs start to finish without another piece of software. Sole practitioners and small firms use Kestrel as the system of record for their dispute caseload.

Firms with an established stack keep it. Kestrel runs under your domain with your branding, and SSO, API access, and outbound webhooks sit in the standard licence, so it slots in beside your practice management system and hands back the record.

We integrate where integration earns its keep: authentication, notifications, outbound webhooks for case lifecycle events. We refuse to bolt on connectors for their own sake.

Scope

The lines we drew.

  • The court decides. Kestrel gives the parties a venue and gives the court a clean record. It issues no binding decisions.
  • Your people keep the judgement. Kestrel structures the exchange. It does not act for either party.
  • Your brand fronts everything. Clients see your firm. Kestrel stays underneath, and we will never compete for your clients.

Next step

Talk to us about a pilot.

If your firm runs disputes at volume and you want to see Kestrel in practice, we are talking to our first cohort now. Start with a conversation.

Get in touch