A hearing appears in Outlook. A week later, the court continues it. Will the calendar change too?
That depends in part on how the event got there. A one-time file import copies events as they existed when imported. A subscription maintains a connection to a published calendar feed and retrieves updates over time.
For hearings that may move, that distinction matters as much as getting the first event to appear.
Get the correct subscription link
Start with the calendar-feed URL supplied by your provider. It may be presented as a web calendar link or an address ending in .ics. The extension alone does not establish that you subscribed: the calendar client must be configured to fetch the URL again, rather than import a downloaded file once.
Confirm what the feed contains. An individual attorney's hearings and a firm's broader hearing calendar may have different scope. Use a name that makes that scope obvious, such as “Court hearings — litigation team.”
For AlwaysPresent, obtain the appropriate subscription link from your firm's setup or support contact. The steps below begin once you have that link; they do not depend on an assumed button location inside AlwaysPresent.
Outlook on the web
In Outlook's calendar view, open Add calendar, choose Subscribe from web, and paste the feed URL. Complete the dialog to add the subscription. Depending on the version, the final action may be labeled Import even though you selected the subscription workflow.
The critical distinction is the route: subscribing from a web address versus uploading a downloaded file. Microsoft's instructions explain both and warn that a subscribed calendar can take more than 24 hours to refresh. Desktop versions and organization policies may present different options; use your firm's approved configuration.
Google Calendar
Use Google Calendar in a computer browser. Beside Other calendars, open the add menu, choose From URL, enter the published calendar address, and add it.
Google's help page documents this URL workflow separately from subscribing to another person's Google calendar by email. It also notes that adding a new subscription requires a computer browser, rather than the Android or iPhone Calendar app.
Use a provider-supported feed that Google can retrieve. A URL requiring an interactive sign-in may not work through this route. Do not change the visibility of a firm's calendar merely to make a subscription work; confirm the supported setup with the provider and your administrator.
Apple Calendar on Mac
In Calendar, choose File → New Calendar Subscription, paste the feed address, and subscribe. Give it a recognizable name and color. Choose the subscription location and an Auto-refresh setting appropriate to the workflow.
Apple's guide distinguishes an iCloud subscription, which can be available on devices using that account, from an “On My Mac” subscription saved on that computer. Use a firm-approved account. Review the alert settings before finishing so the result behaves as the team expects.
Refresh is not the same as immediate delivery
A changed hearing has to pass through more than one step: the court publishes the change, the monitoring provider detects and updates it, and the calendar service retrieves the revised feed. Delay at any step affects what appears on the screen.
| Client | What to plan for |
|---|---|
| Outlook on the web | Microsoft says subscription updates can sometimes take more than 24 hours. Do not use the subscribed view as the only channel for urgent changes. |
| Google Calendar | The documented URL setup does not provide a guaranteed refresh interval. Avoid promising the team an exact update time. |
| Apple Calendar on Mac | Auto-refresh is configurable, but that controls the client's retrieval schedule; it does not establish when the court or feed provider publishes the change. |
Use alerts and direct review for same-day changes. A calendar that has not refreshed can still show the old hearing after a newer update is available elsewhere.
Check the setup with a real event
Choose a known hearing and compare the subscribed entry with the court source or the reviewed case record. Confirm the date, time, time zone, court, department, and case identifier. If the entry includes a source link, make sure the assigned user can open it.
Where your provider offers a test feed, use it to verify how a changed or canceled event appears. Otherwise, check the next genuine change against the alert and the subscribed calendar. Do not move a real hearing merely to test the connection.
Also look for duplicates. A manually entered hearing and a subscribed hearing may remain side by side. Decide which entry the team will use for court-supplied information, and keep preparation tasks identifiable as internal work.
Agree on ownership before sharing more widely
Seeing a hearing is not the same as accepting responsibility to appear. Keep an assigned attorney and backup in the firm's own workflow. Decide who reviews changes and who confirms any consequential deadline updates.
Do not assume that one person's subscription automatically creates a shared team calendar. Sharing behavior depends on the client, account, permissions, and feed design. If the team needs a common view, establish and test that view with the administrator.
Treat a private subscription URL as sensitive if possession of it grants access. Avoid putting it in public documents or broad email threads. When access needs to end, use the provider's supported revocation process; hiding a calendar in an app only changes that user's display.
AlwaysPresent supports hearing-calendar subscriptions so court dates can appear in the calendar your team already uses. Pair that convenience with change alerts, a clear review owner, and a known refresh policy. Learn about AlwaysPresent.