Inside NiceAdvice: The Technology Stack That Powers Our Legal Platform

Building NiceAdvice — a platform that connects legal experts with clients across Poland and beyond — required careful selection of modern, reliable technologies. Our tech stack reflects our commitment to performance, scalability, and developer experience. Let's dive deep into the technologies that power our legal consultation platform.

Core Framework & Runtime

Next.js 15 - The Heart of Our Platform

At the foundation of NiceAdvice lies Next.js 15, React's most powerful framework. We chose Next.js for several compelling reasons:

• Full-stack capabilities: Next.js allows us to handle both frontend and backend logic in a single, cohesive application
• Server-Side Rendering (SSR): Critical for SEO optimization, ensuring our legal experts' profiles are discoverable by search engines
• Image optimization: Built-in optimization for expert photos and legal document previews
• Internationalization: Native i18n support for our multi-language platform (Polish, English, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian)

React 19 - Modern User Interfaces

React 19 provides the component architecture that makes our interface both responsive and maintainable. Features like Concurrent Rendering ensure smooth user interactions, even when handling complex legal case data.

TypeScript - Type Safety at Scale

TypeScript isn't just a choice — it's our safety net. In a legal platform where data accuracy is paramount, TypeScript helps us:

• Prevent runtime errors that could affect legal consultations
• Provide better developer experience with IntelliSense and refactoring tools
• Ensure consistency across our growing codebase
• Catch potential issues before they reach production

Database & Data Management

Prisma - Modern Database Toolkit

Prisma serves as our database ORM, providing a type-safe way to interact with PostgreSQL:

• Schema-driven development: Our database schema defines the structure for users, experts, legal cases, and consultations
• Auto-generated client: Type-safe database queries that prevent SQL injection and data inconsistencies
• Database migrations: Smooth deployment of database changes across development, staging, and production
• PostgreSQL integration: Robust relational database perfect for complex legal data relationships

Our database handles sensitive legal information, user profiles, expert credentials, and consultation records — all protected by Prisma's built-in security features.

API Architecture & Real-time Communication

tRPC - End-to-end Type Safety

tRPC revolutionizes how we handle API communications:

• No REST, no GraphQL: Direct TypeScript function calls between client and server
• Automatic type inference: API changes automatically propagate to the frontend
• Developer productivity: Eliminates the need for API documentation and reduces bugs
• React Query integration: Seamless data fetching and caching

TanStack Query (React Query) - Smart Data Fetching

TanStack Query manages our application state and server synchronization:

• Intelligent caching: Reduces unnecessary API calls, improving performance
• Background updates: Keeps legal case data fresh without user intervention
• Optimistic updates: Immediate UI responses for better user experience
• Error handling: Graceful degradation when network issues occur

Pusher - Real-time Features

Pusher enables real-time communication features:

• Instant notifications: Lawyers receive immediate alerts for new cases
• Live chat: Real-time messaging between experts and clients
• Status updates: Live updates on consultation progress

User Interface & Design

Tailwind CSS - Utility-First Styling

Tailwind CSS powers our design system:

• Consistent design language: Uniform spacing, colors, and typography across the platform
• Responsive design: Mobile-first approach ensuring accessibility on all devices
• Performance: Purged CSS reduces bundle sizes
• Developer efficiency: Rapid prototyping and styling without writing custom CSS

Radix UI - Accessible Components

Radix UI provides our component foundation:

• Accessibility-first: WCAG compliant components ensure our platform is usable by everyone
• Unstyled components: Full control over styling while maintaining functionality
• Keyboard navigation: Essential for professional users who rely on keyboard shortcuts
• Screen reader support: Inclusive design for users with disabilities

Key Radix components we use:

• Dialog modals for case submissions
• Dropdown menus for expert filters
• Toast notifications for system alerts
• Tooltip guidance for complex legal forms

React Hook Form + Zod - Bulletproof Forms

Legal platforms require robust form handling:

• React Hook Form: Performant, minimal re-renders, excellent UX
• Zod validation: Runtime type checking ensures data integrity
• Error handling: Clear validation messages help users provide correct information
• Type safety: Validation schemas shared between client and server

Authentication & Security

Clerk - Modern Authentication

Clerk handles our authentication needs:

• Convenient authentication: Quick login via phone with password or SMS code
• User management: Admin tools for managing expert and client accounts
• Session management: Secure, scalable session handling
• Webhooks: Real-time user event processing

File Management & Media

UploadThing - File Uploads Made Simple

UploadThing manages document and image uploads:

• Image optimization: Expert profile photos and case-related images
• File type validation: Ensures only appropriate files are uploaded
• CDN delivery: Fast file access from global edge locations

Internationalization & Localization

Next-i18next - Multi-language Support

Next-i18next enables our international reach:

• 5 language support: Polish, English, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
• SEO optimization: Proper hreflang tags and localized URLs
• Dynamic loading: Only load translations for the current language

Day.js - Internationalized Date Handling

Day.js provides lightweight date manipulation:

• Locale-aware formatting: Dates displayed in local formats
• Timezone handling: Crucial for scheduling consultations across regions
• Small bundle size: Performance-conscious alternative to moment.js

Monitoring & Error Tracking

Sentry - Production Monitoring

Sentry keeps our platform reliable:

• Error tracking: Immediate alerts when issues affect users
• Performance monitoring: Identify slow database queries and API endpoints
• Release tracking: Monitor the impact of deployments
• User feedback: Collect user reports linked to technical errors

Development & Deployment Tools

Development Environment

• ESLint + Prettier: Consistent code formatting and quality
• Husky + lint-staged: Pre-commit hooks prevent problematic code
• TypeScript strict mode: Maximum type safety
• PNPM: Fast, disk-efficient package management

Build & Deployment

• Vercel: Seamless Next.js deployment with global CDN
• Environment validation: T3 Env ensures proper configuration
• Database migrations: Automated schema updates
• Asset optimization: Automatic image and bundle optimization

Why This Stack?

Our technology choices reflect three core principles:

1. Developer Experience: Tools that make our team productive and reduce bugs
2. User Experience: Fast, accessible, reliable platform for legal consultations
3. Scalability: Architecture that grows with our expanding user base

The combination of Next.js, TypeScript, Prisma, and tRPC creates a type-safe pipeline from database to UI. This means fewer bugs, faster development, and more confidence in our deployments.

Our focus on accessibility (Radix UI), internationalization (next-i18next), and real-time features (Pusher) ensures NiceAdvice serves users across different languages, abilities, and technical environments.

Looking Forward

Technology evolves, and so do we. We continuously evaluate new tools and patterns to improve our platform:

• React Server Components: Exploring server-side rendering optimizations
• Edge computing: Moving computation closer to users for better performance
• AI integration: Enhancing expert-client matching and legal research capabilities
• Mobile applications: Native apps built with React Native and our existing tRPC APIs

Join Our Technical Journey

Building NiceAdvice has been an exciting challenge that combines legal expertise with cutting-edge technology. Our stack enables us to focus on what matters most: connecting legal experts with clients who need their help.

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Ready to Experience Our Platform?

See our technology in action at NiceAdvice — where modern tech meets legal expertise.

🚀 Interested in our development process? Follow us on Instagram or reach out at niceadvice.pl@gmail.com