Best Legal Software Of 2024

Analyst Rating

Company Size

Small Medium Large

Deployment

Cloud On-Premise

Platform

Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android

Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Clio

Clio offers practice management capabilities, along with data and task management modules. According to reviews, its primary functions like time tracking, billing and matter management meet modern legal requirements. It’s scalable, secure and easy to use, with a responsive support team to back it up.

However, reviewers noted that integrations are buggy and loading time is slow. While the features make it worthwhile, many users feel that the cost could be lower. Overall, Clio is an excellent package if you don’t mind paying a bit more and dealing with extended load times.

Clio Reviews Visit Website

Request Demo

Pros & Cons

Ease of Use: All the users who reviewed this aspect found the UI intuitive and easy to pick up.
Functionality: According to 73% of users reviewing capabilities, basic functions such as time tracking, accounting and document management perform satisfactorily.
Service and Support: 83% of users who mentioned this element said they’re satisfied with the customer support and response rates.
Task Management: Regarding this feature, 71% of users said the softwaremade task management easier.

Integrations: Integration options are limited and plagued with bugs, according to 60% of users mentioning this aspect.
Speed and Performance: According to 100% of users who reviewed this element, loading speed is slow, negatively affecting performance.
Reporting: 56% of users who reviewed this feature found that reports lack customizability.
Training: 80% of users found the training resources to be insufficient.
Cost: According to 80% of users who reviewed this aspect, the software cost is higher than its competitors.

Key Features

Client Management: Increase operational efficiency by automating standard firm procedures throughout the client lifecycle. Improve the customer experience by encouraging client collaborations in case operations.
- Client Intake Management: Automate logging and synchronization of client intake data, case management tasks and calendar information under one scheduling environment. Track potential client information and open new matters seamlessly with Quick Intake.
- Client Tracking: Never miss a single task or appointment with checklists, automated reminders and cross-platform sharing of client information and documentation. Follow up on potential clients and collect matter details with 24/7 secure access to cases, scheduling, contacts through Online Intake Forms and the Matter Pipeline.
- Client Services: Increase client engagement with automated follow-up emails and reminders. Offer flexible payment options including online credit cards.
Security: Secure your data from potential external and internal vulnerabilities with a dedicated cybersecurity portal. Enforce administrative, physical and technical controls like 2FA, criminal background checks, security training and more to protect against future liabilities.
- Compliance: Ensure GDPR compliance both as a data controller and processor. Get payments processed 39% faster with credit cards while operating in compliance with PCI guidelines.
- Data Encryption: Store and transmit data securely with HTTPS and TLS-based in-transit and at-rest encryption. The secure web interface is verified by DigiCert.
- Control Implementation: Control access to sensitive information with role-based permissions, login safeguards and session/activity tracking via IP information. Increase safety standards with strong passwords, regular password resets and two-factor authentication via the mobile app.
Firm Insights: Thoroughly understand the firm’s strengths and weaknesses with in-depth reporting on the most valuable referral sources, clients, and matter types. Compare actual matter totals to estimated ones and track billed, unbilled and collected amounts.
Case Management: Track and manage case-related documents, bills, time and client contact information from anywhere. Integrate pre-existing case information from over 200 applications including Dropbox, Outlook and Google Workspace.
Document Management: Remotely store and access an unlimited number of legal documents, images, audio and video files. Backup documents automatically, filter and sort using customized categories, search using keywords and send documents for signature through the e-Signature portal.
Billing Management: Create, approve and send bills electronically and process interest for late payments with the Clio Connect portal. Offer automated, flexible and faster payment plans with integrated credit card processing via the Clio Payments extension.
Contact Management: Track the firm’s clients and contacts with quick overviews of their connected matters, documents, transactions and bills. Trace their interactions with the firm, identify conflict of interests, if any, and log case-specific information in custom data fields.
Accounting: Create trust and operating accounts and produce invoices in compliance with legal industry regulations. Use the client ledger portal to monitor all accounts and transactions associated with a client and perform 3-way reconciliations either manually or with the help of third-party extensions.
Calendar Management: Stay on top of deadlines and important dates by synchronizing calendars with cases. Create custom entries to log more billable hours, share important events and dates with clients and keep track of firm-wide events, meetings and appointments.
Task Management: Keep track of pending tasks on legal cases, assign tasks to other members and set as many customized task categories as required using the Advanced Tasks portal. Get notifications about overdue tasks, organized by due date, in the main dashboard.
Time and Expense Tracking: Keep a record of time spent working by seamlessly adding entries from calendar events, tasks, communication logs, notes, documents, Outlook and Gmail. Track time and expenses in real time even when on the go using the mobile application.
Performance Management: Get detailed reports on the utilization of the firm’s time with insights on how to streamline workflows and reallocate resources for better productivity. Identify unbilled hours and write-offs to prevent further incidents.
Legal Client App: Clients can use the mobile app to receive push notifications, status updates and case details, contact their lawyer and scan and upload documents. Case lawyers provide sign up links via email for secure login with Face ID or Touch ID verification.

Request Free Trial

CARET Legal

Start Price

^$150

Analyst Rating

Company Size

Small Medium Large

Deployment

Cloud On-Premise

Platform

Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android

Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked CARET Legal

CARET Legal has garnered significant user praise over the past year, with reviewers consistently highlighting its strengths in legal research and document automation. One user remarked that CARET Legal's "research tools are top-notch, making it easy to find relevant case law and statutes." Another reviewer lauded its "intuitive document automation features, which have saved me countless hours drafting contracts and pleadings."

Compared to similar products, CARET Legal stands out for its user-friendly interface, comprehensive research capabilities, and robust automation tools. Users have noted that its "clean and organized interface makes it a breeze to navigate," while its "deep integration with legal databases provides access to a wealth of information." The software's ability to automate repetitive tasks has also been a major differentiator, with one reviewer stating that "CARET Legal has streamlined my workflow, freeing up more time for high-value tasks."

In summary, CARET Legal is highly recommended for legal professionals seeking a comprehensive and user-friendly legal software solution. Its strengths in research, document automation, and user experience make it an ideal choice for lawyers, paralegals, and legal teams looking to enhance their productivity and efficiency.

CARET Legal Reviews Visit Website

Request Demo

Pros & Cons

Robust Legal Case Management: CARET Legal offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing cases, including document management, calendaring, and time tracking, streamlining legal operations.
Excellent Collaboration Features: Its intuitive interface fosters collaboration among team members, allowing seamless sharing of documents, notes, and tasks, enhancing teamwork.
Customized Reporting: CARET Legal's customizable reporting capabilities provide tailored insights into case progress, resource allocation, and billing, enabling data-driven decision-making.
Automated Workflows: The software automates repetitive tasks such as document generation and approval processes, freeing up lawyers to focus on higher-value work.
Improved Efficiency and Productivity: By centralizing legal operations and automating tasks, CARET Legal helps firms improve efficiency, reduce turnaround times, and enhance productivity.

Limited Customization: Many users find that CARET Legal's customization options are limited, making it difficult to tailor the software to their specific needs.
Steep Learning Curve: The software's complex interface and lack of user-friendly features can make it challenging for users to navigate and use effectively.
Expensive: CARET Legal's pricing model is often seen as expensive, especially for small to medium-sized law firms with limited budgets.
Integration Issues: Users have reported difficulties integrating CARET Legal with other software applications, leading to workflow disruptions and data management challenges.
Limited Support: Some users have experienced slow response times and inadequate support from CARET Legal's customer service team, leading to frustration and delays in resolving issues.

Key Features

Matter Management: Use the matter dashboard to track active cases in real time. Create custom fields with check-boxes, dates, pick lists and currency and record all matter-specific activities, including time entries. Limit access to sensitive information on a per-matter basis and categorize matters based on practice area, responsible attorney, custom fields and open date.
Intelligent Email: Automatically file emails to associated case files and add time entries for sent emails. The proprietary smart suggest feature locates associated contacts. Convert emails to tasks, matters and billable hours.
Integrations: Supported integrations include G Suite, Exchange, Microsoft 365, RPost, Outlook, Google Calendar, NetDocuments, OneDrive, LawPay and QuickBooks.
Calendar: Send ICS invites, create time entries, set private events, mark recurring events and follow up on team obligations. Set up daily, weekly or monthly schedules for report delivery.
- Rules-Based Calendaring: Integrate with LawToolBox to automatically track procedural, administrative and regulatory deadlines.
- Date Calculator: Factor in days out, federal holidays and weekends while calculating dates for templates and deadlines.
Legal Contacts: Create cards and lists for various legal contacts, including clients, prospects, witnesses, opposition counsels and referral sources. Generate custom fields and categorize them based on contact role, created by and contact type.
Legal Documentation: Store multiple legal documents depending on the subscription plan. Access instant preview of documents, in-document search, complete version history and file locking and tagging capabilities. Create matter-specific document folders and securely share files via the Caseway portal.
- Word Ribbon Plugin: Create, open and save documents directly from Microsoft Word.
CRM: Filter leads by source, practice area and potential revenue and convert them to matters. Identify successful referral sources with intelligent metrics. Embed intake forms into the firm’s website. Automatically create lead entries and generate retainer agreements and standard documents.
Task Management: Tag, sort, filter and create sub-tasks based on requirements. Implement standardized procedures using task templates. Delegate tasks to team members, turn on notifications and assign deadlines.
Client Portal: Allow clients to exchange case-related documents via a 256-bit encrypted channel. The payment portal can process both debit and credit card transactions. Request and approve eSignatures instantly.
Mobile App: Available for both Android and iOS users. Insurers can design custom logos, send and receive documents, share invoices and receive payments. Secures access via fingerprint authentication and Apple TouchID.
Time and Billing: Choose from over 11 ways to create time entries. Build custom invoices with support for UTBMS codes and LEDES format. Run financial reports, develop accounts payable and trust checks, process payments and more. Manages vendor bills and supports split, consolidated and separate billing frequencies.
- Time Entry: Create automated time entries and assign “no charge” and “no charge don’t show” labels. Designate round-up increments and log time entries in decimals or HH:MM format.
- Rate Cards: Create rate cards with custom user rates. Allow clients to inherit rate cards and set matter-specific discount rates.
- Expenses: Automatically track all expenses. Charge soft costs and import copy activities from photocopier devices via the uniFLOW importer.
Business Accounting: Earmark part of payments for expenses and to timekeepers. Set up firm-wide budgets to predict revenue on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis. Run year-end reconciliations and add time entries for individual transactions.
- Reports: Run built-in client, compensation, productivity, accounting, trust and vendor reports.
Trust Accounting: Manage trust accounts separately. Accept payments via checks and debit and credit cards. Administrators can withdraw money from trust accounts to avoid overdrawing from operating accounts.
- Retainer/Trust Fund: Create retainers for trust and operating accounts and get notifications when the balance falls below the minimum. View and print ledgers and trust account summaries with sub-ledgers. Run three-way reconciliation reports.
Smart Settlement: Intelligently manage settlement workflows, including percentages and memo generation for all involved parties. Create a settlement statement for every settlement memo. Capture expenses incurred by the firm, clients and third parties in a detailed value list.

Request Free Trial

Rocket Matter

Start Price

^$109

Monthly

Analyst Rating

Company Size

Small Medium Large

Deployment

Cloud On-Premise

Platform

Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android

Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Rocket Matter

Rocket Matter is a leading legal software that has received generally positive user reviews in the past year. Many users have praised its intuitive user interface, which makes it easy to learn and use. Additionally, Rocket Matter's robust features, such as time tracking, billing, and document management, have been well-received by users.

One of the main strengths of Rocket Matter is its ability to integrate with other popular legal software, such as Clio and PracticePanther. This makes it a versatile option for law firms that use multiple software programs. Additionally, Rocket Matter's customer support has been praised by many users, who have found it to be responsive and helpful.

However, some users have also reported some weaknesses with Rocket Matter. One common complaint is that the software can be slow at times, especially when handling large files. Additionally, some users have found the pricing to be somewhat high.

Overall, Rocket Matter is a solid legal software option that offers a wide range of features and integrations. While it may not be the best option for all law firms, it is a good choice for those who are looking for a user-friendly and feature-rich software.

Rocket Matter is most suited for small to mid-sized law firms that are looking for a comprehensive legal software solution. Its intuitive user interface, robust features, and integrations with other popular legal software make it a good option for firms that are looking to improve their efficiency and productivity.

Rocket Matter Reviews Visit Website

Request Demo

Pros & Cons

Robust Document Management: Centralized repository for contracts, pleadings, and other legal documents, enabling easy access and organization.
Automated Billing and Time Tracking: Streamlined billing processes and accurate time tracking, reducing administrative burden and improving revenue.
Efficient Case Management: Comprehensive case management features, including task tracking, calendar integration, and document sharing, for seamless case coordination.
Seamless Collaboration: Secure client portal and internal collaboration tools facilitate efficient communication and document sharing among team members.
Enhanced Client Relationship Management: Integrated CRM capabilities, including contact management, billing history, and communication tracking, foster strong client relationships.

Limited Customization Options: Rocket Matter's pre-configured templates and limited customization capabilities may not align with the specific needs of some legal firms, hindering their ability to tailor the software to their unique workflows.
Complex User Interface: The software's interface has been described by some users as cluttered and overwhelming, requiring a significant learning curve for new users and potentially hindering efficient workflow.
Insufficient Reporting Capabilities: The reporting functionality within Rocket Matter may not provide the depth and flexibility required by legal firms to generate comprehensive insights and make informed decisions.
Limited Integration Options: While Rocket Matter offers some integrations, its compatibility with third-party applications may be limited, restricting the ability of legal firms to connect with other essential software tools.

Key Features

Time and Billing: Use multiple timers and intuitive screen-capture tools to track billable time efficiently. Edit time entries in bulk and process them into invoices. Connect to QuickBooks for two-way synchronization of accounting data.
- Invoices: Create custom invoices with tailored branding, fonts and colors. Send digital invoices to clients with online payment options, including credit cards and eChecks.
- Billing Rates: Supports multiple billing rates, such as hourly billing, flat rates and contingency fees. Assign custom rates on a matter or client basis.
- Retainers: Maintain a minimum balance for trust accounts. Automatically request funds when the account balance falls below the minimum.
- Tax Calculations: Add custom tax rates to legal matters and automatically calculate deductibles.
Integrations: Supported integrations include QuickBooks, LexCharge, NetDocuments, Office 365, Microsoft Outlook, Box, Dropbox, LawToolBox, Google Calendar and more.
Online Payments: Accept credit card payments with a transparent processing fee of 2.95%. Provide clients with flexible payment plans, evergreen retainers and automated recurring billing.
Tasks: Draft a series of predetermined tasks for specific legal matters. Administrators can create, track, update and assign tasks to employees. Assign due dates to set priority levels. Directly bill for tasks upon completion.
Legal Calendar: Always stay on top of important events, appointments, hearings, touchpoints and tasks with firm-wide calendars. Color-code calendar entries based on staff members and choose from classic or datebook views. Convert calendar events to billable time with the Bill-As-You-Work tool. Access the calendar on the go and synchronize entries with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook.
- Jurisdictional Rules: Automatically calculate Statute of Limitations. Access jurisdictional rules to avoid potential malpractice claims.
Contact Management: Drag and drop contacts with the Copy-to-Contact tool. Create custom fields and tags to capture client-specific information. Organize the contact database to view related connections and direct relationships. Check for conflicts of interest and drill deeper into matter-related information, including case status, matter name, contact role and more.
Mobile Application: Use the mobile application for unrestricted access to case information, communications, the legal calendar and time tracker. Securely upload and view confidential data. App security includes fingerprint identification, facial recognition and PIN authentication.
Matter Management: Use matter templates to create automated workflows for repetitive tasks. Classify cases by matter types and create task and event parameters for each class. Edit matter templates with custom billing methods, tasks, events, due dates and statutes of limitations.
- Matter Dashboard: Get a 360-degree view of a matter’s calendar events, time and billing information, associated contacts and account balances. Uncover hidden relationships between agencies, guardians, adjusters and family members for contextual insights.
- Matter Checklist: Create a matter checklist. Automatically trigger new tasks on completion of existing ones.
Communicator: Securely communicate with colleagues and share case-related files. Save complete correspondence history to individual or matter-specific channels. Give commands in natural language and organize conversations by matter-types. Supports video conferencing.
Legal Projects: Break down complicated projects into manageable phases of automated tasks, custom data and calendar calculations. Move from one phase to another with automatic access to predefined data. Run reports to track project status and get real-time notifications via Communicator and mobile devices.
Advanced Reporting: Leverage robust reporting tools to evaluate the firm’s productivity, efficiency and financial health. Built-in reports include origination reports, allocation reports, matter budget, productivity per user, productivity per matter and collections reports. Export reports to Microsoft Excel.
- Business Intelligence Module: Dig deeper into firm data to identify bottlenecks and evaluate KPIs based on matters, invoices, tags, clients, activities, contacts and more. Create tailored reports with custom queries, sums, averages and calculations. Arrange data into custom groups through a simple drag-and-drop interface.
Legal Documentation: Scan legal documents directly from a Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 or iX100 scanner and store them in matter-specific folders and sub-folders. Access documents globally from any device with an internet connection.
Document Creation: Create documents faster by merging legal templates and custom fields with client and matter data. Get automated notifications about errors and omissions and convert completed documents to time entries. Directly upload documents and images from Office 365. Request and share case-related documents with clients.

Request Free Trial

Lawcus

Start Price

^$34

Analyst Rating

Company Size

Small Medium Large

Deployment

Cloud On-Premise

Platform

Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android

Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Lawcus

Lawcus has carved out a niche for itself in the legal tech space, attracting a loyal following of users who appreciate its unique blend of features and affordability. Reviewers frequently highlight the platform's intuitive interface and user-friendly design, making it easy for legal professionals to adopt and integrate into their workflows. The customizability of intake forms, automated workflows, and client portals is a significant advantage, allowing firms to tailor the software to their specific needs and processes. Lawcus's competitive pricing structure, especially compared to industry giants like Clio and MyCase, makes it an attractive option for solo practitioners and small to medium-sized law firms seeking a cost-effective solution without compromising functionality.

While Lawcus receives praise for its core features and ease of use, some users note areas for improvement. The mobile app's functionality is sometimes seen as lagging behind the desktop version, and integrations with third-party applications could be more extensive. Additionally, while the customer support is generally responsive, some users desire more comprehensive documentation and resources for troubleshooting and self-help. Despite these limitations, Lawcus remains a compelling choice for legal professionals who prioritize a user-friendly interface, customizable workflows, and competitive pricing. Its focus on automation and client communication tools makes it particularly well-suited for firms looking to streamline their operations and enhance client satisfaction.

Lawcus Reviews Visit Website

Request Demo

Pros & Cons

Client Intake & CRM: Lawcus streamlines client intake with custom forms and automated workflows, ensuring a smooth onboarding experience and efficient data management.
Matter Management: The platform allows users to organize case files, deadlines, and tasks effectively, providing a centralized hub for all case-related information.
Time Tracking & Billing: Lawcus simplifies timekeeping with its intuitive interface and automated timers, making it easy to track billable hours accurately and generate invoices efficiently.
Communication Tools: Integrated email and secure messaging features facilitate seamless communication with clients and colleagues, keeping everyone informed and connected.
Reporting & Analytics: Lawcus provides insightful reports on key metrics such as billable hours, revenue, and client activity, enabling data-driven decision-making.

Limited Customization: Lawcus offers limited options for customizing workflows, which can be frustrating for firms with unique processes or those requiring a high degree of tailoring. For example, automating specific document generation or client intake procedures may not be possible without extensive workarounds.
Learning Curve: The software's interface, while generally considered user-friendly, can present a learning curve for new users due to its extensive features and functionalities. Navigating through the various modules and understanding the intricacies of task management or billing procedures may require additional time and training.
Integrations: While Lawcus integrates with several popular applications, the range of available integrations may not be as extensive as some competitors. This can limit connectivity with existing tools used by law firms, potentially requiring manual data transfer or additional subscription costs for third-party integration platforms.

Key Features

Case Management: Maintain complete visibility over legal matters with a traditional list view or kanban style bird's-eye view. Identify conflicts of interest via full-text search. Organize matters and contacts via custom fields and groups.
- Legal Matters: Participate in matter-specific conversations and pin significant interactions for future reference. The matter timelines tool recollects all case-specific activities chronologically. Always stay in the loop with continuous updates on task assignments, client intake, messages and payments. Generate on-demand matter summaries detailing any outstanding balances, trust balances, and un-invoiced work in progress.
- Organization: Create custom numbering schemes to assign numbers to legal matters. Arrange cases via customizable labels and tags.
Task Distribution: Break down complex tasks into sub-tasks, delegate them to other staff members and establish realistic deadlines. Set up trigger-based due dates, start dates and automated email notifications for upcoming tasks.
- Task Creation: Design recurring tasks programmed to repeat daily, monthly, annually or periodically. Create private tasks and tasks independent of legal matters. Add multiple team members to a single task and attach notes for future reference.
Time and Expense Tracking: Account for all of the firm’s time and expenses. Directly create invoices from activities and generate UTBMS and LEDES billing codes.
Billing: Supports both flat fee billing, split billing and contingency billing. Get notifications when a client’s retainer balance falls below the minimum amount. Email all clients with open invoices in bulk. Round off time entries and apply default billing rates to all activity items or apply custom rates on time.
- Invoicing: Prepare invoices en masse. Use different templates to create invoices for varied situations. Print, download, delete and process multiple invoices at once. Firms can opt to apply available retainer and trust account funds to invoices automatically.
Legal Documentation: Leverage the workflow automation tool to quickly create documents from built-in templates. Store an unlimited number of documents in default folders sorted by practice areas. Create documents for specific contacts within merged fields. Petition clients for particular files with purpose-built request forms.
Integration: Integrate with Dropbox, Box, Google Drive and OneDrive to simply drag and drop documents from cloud storage. The Quickbooks integration automatically synchronizes accounting data from clients, invoices and payments. Email and calendar integrations include Google, Office 365 and Outlook. Additional integrations include Zapier, Zoom, LawPay and Exchange.
Client Intake: Streamline the client intake process with preconfigured online intake forms. Use the form builder to create multi-step complex forms based on conditional logic and triggers. Embed online intake forms into the firm’s website to capture leads effectively. Potential clients can save their progress on the form and complete it later.
Electronic Signatures: Accept electronic signatures on agreements generated digitally.
Client Relationship Management: Track lead sources, referrals and the pipeline value of potential clients. Automate follow-ups without utilizing code. Access a live feed of performance metrics on the configurable dashboard.
Accounting: Manage multiple trust and operating accounts. Facilitate easy transfer of funds between accounts. Replenish trust accounts with expedited trust requests for additional funds.
Payments: Generate and share secure online payment links for quicker payments. Accept credit cards for both trust and operating account payments.
Workflow Automation: Design automated workflows with triggers based on rules, conditions and actions. Seamlessly automate anything from administrative activities and repetitive tasks to reminders and client engagement strategies.
Legal Calendar: Always stay on top of deadlines, upcoming events, essential client touchpoints and hearing with the built-in legal calendar.
Reporting and Analytics: Leverage a customizable dashboard and flexible visual formats to track real-time performance metrics. Anticipate the value of works in progress. Break down total outstanding revenue to identify invoices awaiting payment and overdue bills.
- Lead Reporting: Run built-in reports on lead trends, source, pipeline value, conversion rate and referrals. Identify the prominent reasons behind failed conversions and track the number of leads lost due to each cause. Drill deeper into conversion rate data to know the dollar value of conversions in every practice area.
- Custom Reports: Create tabular reports with custom parameters and fields, such as invoice history, matter balance summary, general client ledger, accounts receivable and more.
Client Portal: Provide clients with a secure communication module. Lawyers and counsels can answer questions, share documents, request files, assign tasks to and schedule appointments with clients.
Security: Safeguard client data with two-factor authentication.

Request Free Trial

CosmoLex

Start Price

^$89

Analyst Rating

Company Size

Small Medium Large

Deployment

Cloud On-Premise

Platform

Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android

Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked CosmoLex

Is your law firm stuck in a legal black hole, struggling to keep up with the demands of modern practice? CosmoLex might just be the legal tech savior you've been searching for.

CosmoLex has garnered a reputation as a comprehensive, cloud-based legal practice management solution that streamlines operations for law firms of all sizes. Users frequently praise its robust features, including time tracking, billing, accounting, calendaring, task management, and document management, all seamlessly integrated into one platform. This eliminates the need for multiple, disparate systems, saving time and reducing errors.

However, some users find the extensive functionality overwhelming, especially during the initial setup and learning curve. The interface, while generally considered user-friendly, can feel cluttered at times due to the sheer number of features. Additionally, several users have expressed a desire for more customization options to tailor the software to their specific workflows.

CosmoLex stands out from its competitors by offering built-in accounting features, a rarity in the legal practice management software market. This integration simplifies financial management for law firms, eliminating the need for separate accounting software and ensuring compliance with trust accounting regulations.

CosmoLex is best suited for small to mid-sized law firms seeking an all-in-one solution to manage their practice efficiently. Its comprehensive features, ease of use, and competitive pricing make it an attractive option for firms looking to streamline operations and improve productivity.

CosmoLex Reviews Visit Website

Request Demo

Pros & Cons

Billing & Invoicing: CosmoLex streamlines the billing process, allowing users to easily generate invoices, track payments, and manage trust accounts. It also offers integrations with popular payment processors, making it easy for clients to pay their bills online.
Client Management: CosmoLex provides a centralized location for managing client information, including contact details, case files, and billing records. This can help law firms stay organized and efficient.
Time Tracking & Expense Management: CosmoLex makes it easy for lawyers to track their time and expenses, ensuring that they are accurately billing clients for their services. The software also offers features for managing reimbursements and generating reports.
Reporting & Analytics: CosmoLex provides a variety of reports that can help law firms track their performance and identify areas for improvement. These reports can be customized to meet the specific needs of each firm.
Business Accounting: CosmoLex includes features for managing a law firm's finances, such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general ledger. This can help firms save time and money by eliminating the need for separate accounting software.

Billing Issues: Some users report problems with generating bills, particularly with LEDES billing, which can cause delays and frustration.
Customer Support Concerns: There are reports of slow response times from customer support, leaving users feeling stuck with unresolved issues.
Learning Curve: The software's interface and features can be complex, requiring a significant investment of time and effort to learn effectively.
Limited Integrations: CosmoLex may not integrate seamlessly with all the tools and services a law firm uses, potentially leading to workflow disruptions.

Key Features

Time and Expense Capture: Add timecards to relevant activities and automatically scan case records of unbilled events. Use a single timesheet to track daily billable tasks and activities. Instantly log direct and indirect expenses in compliance with regulations.
Legal Billing: Create and mail bulk invoices. Customize built-in invoice templates with relevant information, including last payment, billing cycle, legal services, the total balance due, firm’s logo and additional financial information. Supports UTBMS codes and actions.
Payments: The CosmoLexPay portal facilitates credit card processing for online invoice and trust retainer payments. Send automated reminders when the retainer balance falls below the minimum amount and add replenishment amount to invoices.
Law Office Accounting: General ledger accounting supports direct and indirect matter expenses. Automatically assign invoice payments to related general ledger accounts and create custom charts of receivables. Import bank statements and track accounts payable and write-offs. Generate preconfigured management and financial reports.
Credit Card Processing: Process payments for a flat fee. Offers bookkeeping services associated with credit card transactions. Allow clients to pay via credit card for trust retainers, fee prepayments and ongoing invoice payments.
Bank Reconciliations: Get real-time access to bank feeds and automatically match new transactions with book transactions. Automatically import and log credit card statements. Leverage adaptive mapping rules to correct payee names and post matter-cost related transactions.
Accounts Payable: A central dashboard tracks all payees, including office bills and vendor credits. Set up recurring payments for rents and utilities and differentiate client-related expenses from firm bills. Link vendor bills to associated client matters.
Fee Collection and Revenue Distribution: Specify the distribution percentage to automate payments to billers, matter owners, working attorneys and originating attorneys. Run finance productivity reports based on billing and collection data.
Calendar and Task Management: Create custom workflows with specific due dates and assign them to new or existing legal matters. Delegate tasks to team members and connect calendar entries to associated cases.
Email Management: Automatically file emails in respective client-matter folders. Set up permission-based access to safeguard sensitive information. Group billable emails into relevant categories to declutter the inbox.
Document Management: Securely store case-related documents in compliance with data protection laws. Assign role-based permissions at the matter level to protect confidential documents. Create folders with custom labels to aid document searching capabilities.
Integrations: Featured integrations include OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, NetDocuments and Dropbox.
Client Portal: Provide clients with a secure two-way communication channel. Request specific documents and get automated notifications when a document is uploaded. Send digital invoices and accept credit card payments. Add, edit and revoke viewing permissions based on requirements.
Trust Accounting: Use the built-in trust accounting feature to manage individual client ledgers and bulk invoice payments. Automatically import bank statements and perform three-way reconciliations. Run in-depth accounting reports and track third-party payments. Transfer funds from trust to general accounts and print disbursement checks.
Audit-Ready Reconciliations: Run monthly reconciliations. Maintain complete oversight over bank statements and transactions.
Trust Reports: Access numerous trust reports, including trust ledger balance, trust activity, trust client balance and more.
Security: Employs bank-grade 256-bit SSL encryption for data during transit and at rest. Secures user accounts with username and password and two-factor authentication. Assign security levels and roles at the user level.
- Data Backups: Backs up firm data every few hours. Encrypts and stores information in multiple physical locations.

Request Free Trial

AbacusLaw

Start Price

^$69

Per Feature, Monthly

Analyst Rating

Company Size

Small Medium Large

Deployment

Cloud On-Premise

Platform

Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android

Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked AbacusLaw

Overall, AbacusLaw is a productive PSA tool that contains an abundant amount of features such as accounting, document management, billing, client management and a handy calendar amongst others. Its interface is easy to use and the customer support team is responsive in rectifying issues. It also integrates with Outlook and other Microsoft Office suites, Adobe and other business platforms. However, some users find the mobile app is not as effective as the desktop version. The desktop version comes with a hefty amount of system crashes and glitches while running at a sluggish pace. Most users, especially those who own small businesses, find the pricing unreasonable. But AbacusLaw is still a proactive solution.

AbacusLaw Reviews Visit Website

Request Demo

Pros & Cons

Easy-to-Use Interface: Precisely 80% of users said AbacusLaw has a user-friendly interface.
Responsive Customer Service: Nearly 53% of users reported AbacusLaw has helpful and knowledgeable customer service.
Bountiful Features: AbacusLaw has plenty of robust features such as accounting, document management, billing, calendars, time management and more, according to 59% of users.
Well-Integrated: Approximately 72% of users say AbacusLaw integrates efficiently with Outlook, Microsoft Office, Adobe, WordPerfect and other business systems.

Overall Performance Drags: Of the users who discussed AbacusLaw's overall performance, 68% of users said it was slow, glitchy or experienced freezes.
Non-Effective Mobile App: Nearly 75% of users were dissatisfied with the mobile app because it wasn't as efficient as the desktop version.
High Price Tag: Precisely 100% of users believe AbacusLaw has a high price and some have to pay extra for extra support.

Key Features

Useful Integrations: Users can integrate AbacusLaw with other apps to execute routine jobs they face in their legal practices. These apps include Microsoft Office 356, Salesforce, APX PayNow, HotDocs, Infusionsoft, and more.
Case Management: This software's technological experts evaluate users' requirements to devise and employ personalized solutions for top-notch outcomes. The case management tool enables users to keep all of their case and client information protected.
Time Tracking: Users can use the time tracking module to accurately and naturally bill time without bottlenecks. This feature runs in the background as users perform their daily routines.
Instant Billing: AbacusLaw's billing accessory promptly crafts a variety of professional fee settlements or billing plans. Users can adjust templates with the ideal presentations and the software will take care of the rest including a chart of accounts and monitoring bill schedules.
Rules-Based Calendar: Users can utilize the calendar accessory to immediately and properly plan out valuable deadlines. This tool also keeps up with short-notice modifications.
Develop Proper Forms: This program permits users to swiftly draft proper, signature-ready forms and documents based on information already entered into their database. This accessory contains autofill smart forms, flexible templates and documents for specific regions, states or law practices.
Mobile-Friendly: AbacusLaw is available as a mobile app with a user's data, calendar, contacts, notes, emails, and crucial files. The app also tracks billable moments like unexpected phone calls, urgent emails or anything else.

Request Free Trial

Law Ruler

Start Price

^$40

Analyst Rating

Company Size

Small Medium Large

Deployment

Cloud On-Premise

Platform

Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android

Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Law Ruler

Law Ruler has received mixed reviews in the past year. Users praise its intuitive interface, comprehensive features, and affordable pricing. They find it particularly useful for managing cases, tracking time, and generating documents. However, some users have reported occasional bugs and glitches, and they wish the software offered more customization options.

Compared to similar products, Law Ruler stands out for its ease of use and affordability. Its intuitive interface makes it accessible to users of all experience levels, and its low price point makes it a great option for small law firms and solo practitioners. However, Law Ruler may lack some of the advanced features found in more expensive software, such as document automation and e-signature capabilities.

Overall, Law Ruler is a solid choice for small law firms and solo practitioners who are looking for an affordable and easy-to-use legal software solution. Its strengths lie in its intuitive interface, comprehensive features, and affordable pricing. However, users who require more advanced features or customization options may want to consider other products.

Law Ruler Reviews Visit Website

Request Demo

Pros & Cons

Intuitive Interface: Law Ruler's user-friendly design makes it easy to navigate and find the features you need, even for users with limited technical expertise.
Comprehensive Features: The software offers a wide range of features tailored to the specific needs of legal professionals, including case management, document automation, and billing.
Time-Saving Automation: Law Ruler automates repetitive tasks such as document creation and scheduling, freeing up lawyers to focus on more strategic work.
Enhanced Collaboration: The platform facilitates seamless collaboration between team members, allowing them to share documents, track progress, and communicate efficiently.
Excellent Customer Support: Law Ruler provides responsive and knowledgeable customer support, ensuring that users have the assistance they need to maximize the software's benefits.

Limited Customization: Law Ruler offers limited customization options, making it difficult to tailor the software to specific firm needs.
Steep Learning Curve: Users have reported a steep learning curve when using Law Ruler, requiring significant time and effort to become proficient.
Lack of Integration: Law Ruler lacks seamless integration with other legal software and applications, limiting its functionality and efficiency.
Limited Reporting Capabilities: Users have expressed concerns about Law Ruler's limited reporting capabilities, making it challenging to generate comprehensive and customized reports.
Inconsistent Support: Some users have experienced inconsistent support from Law Ruler's customer service team, leading to delays and unresolved issues.

Key Features

Dashboard Analytics: Leverage sonar dashboards and custom analytics to measure key performance indicators for marketing intake, referrals, staff productivity, litigation and case management. Identify historical trends and patterns, track dockets and evaluate return on investment.
CRM: Tag contacts with custom labels. Assign multiple labels to a single contact and mass populate entries based on tags. Create notes, tasks and reminders to always stay on top of deadlines, tasks, meetings and important events. Automatically create new leads from referrals and inquiries. Leverage lead source tracking to gain actionable insights into top-performing marketing sources.
Mobile Application: Enjoy unrestricted mobile access through an app optimized for on-the-go use.
Legal Calendar: Connect to Outlook for two-way synchronization of calendar entries. Link client correspondence in Outlook to associated legal cases to maintain a centralized source of truth.
Case Management: Manage the entire case lifecycle from referral to billing with one dedicated module. Eliminate data duplication and errors and omissions (E&O) with automated entries. Access turnkey integration of the firm’s calls, contacts, cases, websites and legal matters.
Workflow Automation: Create custom templates and apply them to different workflows. Implement automation in regular processes like online intake forms, social media marketing, calls, text messaging and email marketing. Add a personal touch to follow-up emails and text messages regarding matters, invoices, electronic signatures, appointment reminders and more.
- Workflow Tracking: Get complete visibility into upcoming tasks, appointments, signature requests, emails and intake forms.
Security: Provides around-the-clock intrusion detection and prevention facilities. HIPAA-compliant cloud hosting available. Secure firm data with 256-bit AES encryption.
Billing: Supports contingency billing, flat-fee billing, timer-based hourly billing, fee splits, pro-bono billing, client medical bills, expenses and settlement tracking. Track time, expenses and invoices in real time and generate UTBMS and LEDES billing codes.
Integrations: Connect to Office 365 for access to robust security and dictation and transcription tools. Other supported integrations include LawPay, Outlook Calendar, Zapier, QuickBooks, ApexChat, Google, Thomson Reuters and more.
Click to Call Dialer: Automate follow-up calls and schedule callbacks with the built-in AI-powered dialer. Automatically follow-up on web and live chat leads and record all communication with date and time stamps.
Online Intake Forms: Leverage a user-friendly form builder to create online intake forms with data fields tailored for every practice area and purpose. Automatically populate forms with existing data and add custom logos and images. Embed forms in the website and application. Send reminders to potential clients with incomplete progress.
Legal Documentation: Automate document creation and delivery with custom templates and workflows. Process documents faster with electronic signatures. Send automated reminders to clients about incomplete contracts, waivers and NDAs. Eliminate redundant data and E&Os.
Settlement Wizard: Evaluate settlement options in real time and approve transactions and payments with a single click. Calculate attorney fees for multiple firms and digitally review and approve settlements. Send invoices and opening and closing statements via text messages, emails or postal service.
Record Retrieval: Directly order medical records for mass tort and injury cases. Get notifications on successful retrievals.
Firm Reports: Use the built-in report builder to prepare custom reports via a no-code interface. Run reports on marketing campaigns, case milestones, productivity, case metrics and conversion rates.

Request Free Trial

MyCase

Start Price

^$39

Analyst Rating

Company Size

Small Medium Large

Deployment

Cloud On-Premise

Platform

Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android

Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked MyCase

MyCase has attracted a loyal following within the legal community, with many users praising its intuitive interface and comprehensive features. The platform's ease of use is a recurring theme in reviews, making it accessible even for those with limited technical expertise. Users appreciate the ability to efficiently manage cases, track time, and communicate with clients all within a single platform. MyCase's billing and invoicing tools also receive positive feedback, streamlining the often cumbersome process of generating invoices and collecting payments. Compared to competitors like Clio and PracticePanther, MyCase is often lauded for its affordability and user-friendly design, making it a popular choice for solo practitioners and small law firms. However, some users note that MyCase's reporting capabilities may not be as robust as those offered by some competitors, and integrations with third-party applications could be more extensive. Despite these limitations, MyCase's core functionality, affordability, and ease of use make it a compelling option for legal professionals seeking a reliable and efficient practice management solution.

MyCase Reviews Visit Website

Request Demo

Pros & Cons

Client Communication: MyCase offers a secure client portal that facilitates easy document sharing, messaging, and appointment scheduling, streamlining communication and collaboration.
Case Management: The platform provides tools for organizing case files, tracking deadlines, and managing tasks, ensuring that legal professionals stay on top of their workload.
Billing and Invoicing: MyCase simplifies the billing process with features like time tracking, expense recording, and online payment processing, making it easier for lawyers to get paid promptly.
Mobile App: The MyCase mobile app allows attorneys to access case information, communicate with clients, and manage tasks on the go, providing flexibility and convenience.

Limited Customization: MyCase offers limited options for tailoring workflows or interfaces to specific firm needs, which can be frustrating for users with unique processes.
Billing Challenges: Some users report difficulties with generating invoices, particularly batch billing, leading to inefficiencies and potential errors in client billing.
Mobile App Functionality: The mobile app's features and functionality lag behind the desktop version, limiting its usefulness for lawyers on the go.
Integrations: MyCase's integrations with other software can be limited, requiring workarounds or manual data entry to connect with essential tools.

Key Features

Case Management: Consolidate case-related documents into one location, track ongoing cases and manage obligations through the legal calendar. Leverage automated workflows to carry out repetitive tasks and standard procedures.
- Documentation: Store an unlimited number of documents in customizable folders. Pre-fill document templates with case information. Encourage collaboration on documents across multiple teams, track version history and access legal documents globally from any mobile device. Upload, download and print documents in bulk.
- Legal Calendar: Create calendar entries and link them to associated cases. Share important events with clients and team members. Color code entries and sort by status or cases. Access a personal calendar and a centralized calendar for firm-wide updates on meetings, deadlines and appointments. Automatically get notifications on important events, touchpoints and Statute of Limitation deadlines.
- Status Reports: Get real-time insights into case history, progress and status via the dashboard. Track the firm’s productivity with built-in reports. Supported reporting metrics include cases by stage, average duration spent in each case and cases closed over time.
- Automated Workflows: Implement code-free automation to prepare workflows for standard processes. Automatically set case milestones, assign tasks and create forms. Get alerts for important dates, trial hearings and deadlines.
Integrations: Integrate with Microsoft Outlook for real-time document synchronization, collaborative editing, offline editing and browser-based editing. Other integrations include Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, QuickBook and Mailchimp.
Security: Encrypt case files and messages with 128-bit SSL encryption while in transit and with 256-bit AES encryption at rest. Regularly back up the firm’s data. Validate data integrity after every update and eliminate redundancies. Physical access to servers is controlled via security escorts and two-factor authentication.
Electronic Signatures: Send encrypted documents to clients for their signatures. Supports multiple signers and countersigners and complies with the ESIGN act. Use the eSignature dashboard to track pending signatures.
Billing: Manage the entire billing cycle from invoicing and time tracking to payments and accounting.
- Legal Invoicing: Create legal invoices directly from time entries. Generate UTBMS codes for billable tasks and implement LEDES billing. Prepare invoices in bulk and share them with clients via the client portal, emails or traditional paper. Sort invoices by payment status and get automated notifications for overdue and outstanding payments. Automatically notify clients regarding outstanding invoices.
- Revenue Reporting: Run built-in reports on aging invoices and accounts receivable. Run reports on the firm’s financial health. Compare the amount billed to revenue collected to prepare a case revenue report. Measure performance against business goals and take corrective action if necessary.
- Time Tracking: Track billable hours with multiple timers or add entries after completing the task. The Smart Time Finder tool identifies billable actions without time entries. Leverage billable and non-billable expense tracking and embedded activity timers to maximize billing proficiency. Track time on the go from mobile devices and automatically link entries to associated cases.
Payments: Offer clients multiple secure payment options, including in-person, over the phone, and online via credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, AMEX) or eCheck (ACH). Process eChecks for free and automatically update invoice status and trust accounts for payment reconciliation. Set up tailored payment plans and automated monthly reminders for clients.
- Accounting: Seamlessly manage multiple trust and operating accounts. Deduct credit card fees only from operating accounts, maintain detailed logs of every transaction and organize payment history by date range or case.
Lead Management: Use the Lead Status Board extension to manage the entire lead lifecycle from prospect to client. Break down lead acquisition into multiple stages and assign staff tasks for every step. The analytics dashboard gives complete visibility into successful referrals, touchpoint history and conversion rate. Process leads faster with customizable intake forms and eSignature support.
Client Experience: Provide clients with a secure, two-way channel for sharing messages, documents and events via the client portal. Automatically record all correspondence for future reference. Directly share invoice links for simple, secure and direct online payment.
Website: Design a custom, mobile-friendly website with preconfigured search engine optimization, Google Analytics integration and 99% uptime. Upload a custom business logo. Embed client intake forms and client portal connections directly into the website.

Request Free Trial

Amicus Attorney

Start Price

^$49

Get the Full in-depth Legal Software Report

Analyst Rating

Company Size

Small Medium Large

Deployment

Cloud On-Premise

Platform

Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android

Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Amicus Attorney

Amicus Attorney is a legal software solution that has received mixed reviews from users in the past year. While some users praise its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features, others have expressed concerns about its occasional bugs and limited customization options.

Compared to similar products, Amicus Attorney stands out for its intuitive design and robust case management capabilities. Its ability to seamlessly integrate with other software, such as Microsoft Office and QuickBooks, is also a major advantage. However, it may fall short in terms of advanced features and reporting functionality, which some users find lacking.

Ultimately, Amicus Attorney is best suited for small to mid-sized law firms that prioritize ease of use and comprehensive case management. Its intuitive interface and seamless integrations make it an ideal choice for firms looking to streamline their operations and improve efficiency. However, firms with more complex needs or those seeking advanced reporting and customization options may need to consider alternative solutions.

Amicus Attorney Reviews Visit Website

Request Demo

Pros & Cons

Intuitive Interface: Amicus Attorney's user-friendly interface makes it easy to navigate and find the information you need quickly.
Powerful Case Management: Manage cases efficiently with features like document management, calendaring, and task tracking.
Time Tracking and Billing: Accurately track time and expenses, and generate invoices with ease.
Customizable Dashboards: Create personalized dashboards to monitor key metrics and stay organized.
Excellent Customer Support: Amicus Attorney provides responsive and helpful customer support to ensure a smooth experience.

Limited Customization: Users have reported that Amicus Attorney offers limited customization options, making it difficult to tailor the software to their specific needs and workflows.
Steep Learning Curve: Some users have found the software's interface and functionality to be complex and challenging to navigate, requiring significant time and effort to become proficient.
Integration Issues: Users have encountered difficulties integrating Amicus Attorney with other software applications, such as email clients and document management systems, leading to workflow disruptions.
Limited Reporting Capabilities: Users have expressed concerns about the software's limited reporting capabilities, making it challenging to extract and analyze data for business insights and decision-making.
Costly Maintenance: Users have reported that the ongoing maintenance and support costs for Amicus Attorney can be substantial, adding to the overall cost of ownership.

Key Features

Case Management: Connect legal cases with associated matters and access them from anywhere in the world. Organize case-related tasks and track deadlines based on jurisdictional rules.
Calendar Management: Improve team collaboration with firm-wide legal calendars. Switch between personal and public calendars, share case updates and track progress seamlessly. Subscribe to legal calendar rule sets for access to jurisdictional rules.
Document Management: Access all legal documents from a single platform and organize them by associated matter. Autofill forms and documents securely with verified client information.
Dashboard: Get an extensive, 360-degree view of calendar events, pending tasks, ongoing cases and firm financials. Automatically identify, filter and feed the most important information directly into the dashboard.
Time and Billing Management: Automatically track time spent on client activities like meetings, appointments, communications, documentation and more. Interact with the billing portal directly to issue invoices for time entries. Add tasks to billing records and minimize non-billable hours.
Payment: Issue invoices and manage payments with the integrated APX PayNow application. Automatically log all transactions and send payment reminders to late clients.
Integrations: Seamlessly integrate with essential third-party applications like Google Apps, QuickBooks, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, HotDocs, Sage Timeslips and more.

Request Free Trial

Buyer's Guide

Legal Software Is All About Securely Managing Legal Cases, Clients and Workflows

By Riddhiman Roy, Technical Content Writer at SelectHub

Legal Software BG Header

Are you getting caught up in management tasks and unable to focus on your practice? Introducing legal software, an end-to-end solution that streamlines every case management and business administration workflow for your law firm. It lets you centralize your documents in an easily accessible location and automate recurring administrative work so that you can prioritize what’s important.

However, you must be careful while choosing software, as jumping into misfit solutions can waste time and money. In this guide, we’ll help you devise a personalized software selection strategy to find the best platform for all your unique requirements.

Executive Summary

Legal software combines workforce management, accounting, customer relationship management and client management capabilities into a complete service.
Legal practices can redistribute workloads more efficiently by automating repetitive tasks such as intake, eDiscovery, billing, document management and audits.
Integrated reporting and analytics modules ensure law firms make data-driven decisions.
Invest in the correct legal software to improve client retention, customer satisfaction and stakeholder engagement.

What This Guide Covers:

What Is Legal Software?
Primary Benefits
Implementation Goals
Key Features & Functionality
Software Comparison Strategy
Cost & Pricing Considerations
Upcoming Trends
Questions To Ask
Next Steps
Product Comparisons
Additional Resources

See how the top 10 Legal Software leaders fare against the most common key requirements

Get your free Report

What Is Legal Software?

Legal software is a set of tools to manage day-to-day tasks, including client intake, document drafting and management, calendaring, client communications, and billing. These platforms centralize your firm’s data and workflows to improve efficiency and coordination across departments. Automated reminders and task scheduling ensure you never miss a deadline and stay on top of your operations.

How Does It Work?

Intake: You can design funnels to onboard new clients, store case details and request additional information.
Data Handling: Store, organize and access case-related information easily using intuitive tagging and filtering tools. The system automates compliance with government regulations on client information handling.
Documentation: Customize templates to design and draft documents with a few clicks.
Research: You can access a database of laws, statutes, regulations and other legal materials to conduct thorough and efficient case research.
Client Experience: The system offers unique self-service portals to submit and view documents, track proceedings and chat with legal representatives.
E-Discovery: Connect with your email and centralize communications and document sharing with opposing parties and court representatives.
Trial and Litigation: Get reminders for upcoming events, access the platform from anywhere, take notes during court proceedings and view case details quickly.
Billing: Use time trackers to calculate billable hours and send digital invoices to clients with a few clicks. Advanced systems automatically track your activity to add time entries to bills.

Types of Software

There are various types to cater to the diverse requirements of a lawyer. End-to-end platforms can manage every aspect of a law firm, while smaller modules integrate with your existing tech stack to handle a specific part of your operations. Here are some of the common types of legal software you can consider for your firm:

Legal Practice Management Software: These are all-in-one solutions to manage the daily tasks of a single practitioner or a small law firm. They don’t offer employee accounts, scheduling tools and HR modules as seen in enterprise legal software.
Client Intake Modules: Advertise your offerings on multiple channels and design branded portals to accept applications. Define rules to automate and standardize the onboarding process.
E-Discovery Software: It lets you manage documents, emails, conversation threads, electronic data and multimedia related to a matter’s discovery, research and investigation phase.
Document Management Tools: Centralize your firm’s documents under a single library and manage access permissions with administration tools and role-based staff accounts.
Calendaring and Docketing Software: You can track critical dates and comply with court regulations by automatically scheduling hearings, filings and meetings.

Expert recommendations and analysis on the top Legal Software

Primary Benefits

Benefits of Legal Software

Win New Clients

You can post your firm’s offerings on multiple online channels and manage every post and applicant from a centralized dashboard. It improves your onboarding experience with custom intake forms, personalized client portals, and automated emails and reminders.

Simplify Document Drafting

No longer jumping between multiple tabs of LexisNexis and Westlaw to draft and verify legal documents. The emergence of generative AI, improved algorithms and decreasing data modeling costs signal a new age. You can simply input your argument, and the system writes facts and procedural sections in your firm’s style to generate high-quality documents in a few seconds.

Streamline Workflows

Time is a precious commodity for a lawyer. Legal software can optimize workflows by automating routine tasks like document generation, case management, time tracking and billing. This not only boosts efficiency but also allows you to focus on strategic decision-making, ultimately enhancing client service and overall productivity.

According to Gartner’s top legal technology predictions report, 40% of law firms will implement workflow automation to support intake and triage of most in-house tasks by 2026.

Improve Billing and Collections

According to Clio’s Legal Trends Report:

Nearly two-thirds of the workday in legal firms goes underutilized and is not billed for client work.
Law firms have performed nearly three months’ worth of work that has either not been billed or collected.
15% of clients say they never received a bill from their lawyer.

These are alarming numbers, as healthy cash flow is a prerequisite to a healthy business. This is where legal software can help you.

Legal solutions allow you to largely automate the billing process and avoid roadblocks (like disorganization and manual errors). You can use time trackers to calculate time spent on each case and define rules to send invoices upon hitting a milestone.

The report mentioned above also found that firms accepting electronic payments completed bill collections five times faster than those that didn’t. Legal platforms connect with a payment gateway to offer clients flexible ways to pay from anywhere.

Simplify Governance, Risk and Compliance

According to Gartner’s legal predictions report, remote work and multiple communication channels make it tougher to control and track data breaches, which may cost $1 million more on average than in pre-pandemic times.

Legal solutions reduce the risk by centralizing every chat under a single roof and maintaining records to improve accountability. You can also define rules to automate compliance with state and federal regulations related to your practice field.

Expert recommendations and analysis on the top Legal Software

Implementation Goals

Here are a few implementation goals to consider when determining what you want your legal platform to achieve:

Goal 1 Improve Efficiency	The software helps streamline workflows, automate routine tasks and reduce manual work. It should optimize document management, case tracking and team communications to create simple, structured workflows.
Goal 2 Simplify Compliance	The platform should offer you the control you need to protect sensitive information, maintain confidentiality, and adhere to legal and ethical standards governing the profession.
Goal 3 Enhance Collaboration	The software must provide tools for real-time collaboration on cases, efficient communication channels, and a centralized platform for sharing documents and information. It fosters a more connected and collaborative environment for lawyers, support staff and clients.
Goal 4 Improve Client Services	Clients can have an intuitive, self-guided journey throughout intake, eDiscovery, trials and billing. You can also provide your clients with timely and transparent interactions to improve service quality.
Goal 5 Increase Cost Efficiency	The software should assist in effective resource management, including time tracking, billing and financial reporting. This can contribute to better budget control and financial sustainability for your practice.

Implementation Steps

Implementing and installing legal software involves a systematic process to ensure a smooth transition and maximize its effectiveness. Here are the key steps:

Data Migration

Note the format of your current data in legacy systems and spreadsheets. Develop a strategy to convert and transfer existing data to the new system. You must not rush this step, as broken datasets can lead to compliance issues. Take time to get used to the new layout and data entry fields.

Installation and Configuration

Review the software's End User License Agreement (EULA) and acquire license keys and installation packages to activate the software legally. Maintain documentation of purchase receipts, license agreements and activation codes.

Set up user roles, automation and access permissions to customize the software per your workflows. You must ensure a seamless connection between your existing software and the new platform.

Testing and Rollout

Test various scenarios to ensure the software meets your specific needs and contract the vendor immediately to address issues. Consider a phased rollout instead of a full-scale implementation to address specific issues that arise during each phase. You can test the following features chronologically for a smoother transition:

Document handling
Calendaring
Staff experience
Ediscovery
Time tracking and billing
Client intake

Training and Feedback

You can schedule training sessions for lawyers and support staff to ensure everyone is familiar with the software's interface, features and best practices. Encourage feedback from users to identify any additional training needs or software improvements.

Auditing

Conduct regular audits to ensure compliance with industry-specific regulations and security standards. You must thoroughly check staff access permissions, document settings and automation rules to protect sensitive client information and maintain confidentiality.

Backup and Recovery Plans

Make sure you continuously monitor the software's performance and address any issues promptly. Establish regular backup procedures to prevent data loss and develop a comprehensive recovery plan in case of system failures or data breaches.

Expert recommendations and analysis on the top Legal Software

Key Features & Functionality

Client Management	Track potential clients and log intake data via online forms. Categorize new clients automatically based on associated matters, records and contacts. Counsels can share case-related information, updates and deadlines with clients. Send invoices, track correspondence and schedule follow-up emails with relative ease. Improve client retention by always keeping them satisfied and in the loop.
Time and Expense Tracking	Never lose a minute of billable time and create entries for client activities, such as communication, documentation, meetings and hearings. Pull time entries from associated legal matters and create accurate invoices easily.
Document Management	This feature lets you store and access documents, images, audio and video files from any device and define rules to automate categorization based on content and related cases. You can allow parties to eSign documents remotely and protect sensitive information with automated backups, administrative controls and multi-factor authentication.
Accounting	Define rules to manage operating and trust accounts. You can track payments, aging receivables, year-end reconciliations, transactions and client ledgers. Prepare invoices in compliance with state and federal regulations. Reconcile your trust position with complete visibility. Automatically remind clients to replenish retainers and run reports based on accounting data.
Legal Calendar	Use an integrated calendar to share deadlines, tasks and hearings across every department. Automatically sync calendar changes and define rules to send notifications and reminders to concerned parties.
Reporting	Run reports on productivity, revenue, transactions, billings, workflows and referral sources to maximize return on investment (ROI). Add context to your firm’s revenue by tracking profitable practice areas, matter types, clients and lawyers. You can get insights on fee structures and the distribution of work between attorneys to make data-driven decisions while managing labor costs.
Billing Management	The faster you process bills, the quicker you get paid. Expand your payment options to meet individual client requirements. Administrators can automatically create and issue digital invoices. Firms can process credit card payments without the additional risk of chargebacks.
Client Portal	A self-service portal allows clients to share documentation and communicate with counsels securely. Lawyers can notify clients about important dates and developments.

Expert recommendations and analysis on the top Legal Software

Software Comparison Strategy

Choosing software requires careful internal assessment and market analysis. You shouldn’t jump into a generic solution just because you read somewhere that it’s the best legal software. What works for others may not be good enough for you. The key is finding pain points in your current workflow and identifying the tools and features that best solve the problem.

Start by gathering your business leaders to identify your requirements and prioritize legal software features crucial to your cause. Here are some factors to consider while compiling your requirements checklist:

Deployment: SaaS models are convenient and economical but restrict in-depth customization. On-premise platforms give you absolute control over the software architecture but require extensive IT hardware and expertise.
Mobility: Look for solutions that provide the necessary level of remote accessibility and control you require over your operations
Integrations: Make sure the software offers transparent documentation to aid connectivity with other third-party platforms you use.
Number of Users: Most systems allow a limited number of employees to onboard and require you to upgrade to a higher pricing plan to increase the number.
Usability: It’s a good idea to test product demos and trial periods before the final purchase to see if you’re comfortable navigating the platform’s interface.
Support: Make sure to choose a vendor that can offer you adequate onboarding and training support based on your IT expertise.

Beyond that, you can explore our lean selection methodology that helps you identify your requirements, prepare a budget and analyze the market to find the best fit for your business, all in nine simple steps. Give it a try!

Cost & Pricing Considerations

Deployment methods play the primary role in determining legal software pricing. On-premise deployment requires a one-time investment to acquire the software license, beyond which maintenance and installation charges depend on your organization’s size.

On the other hand, a SaaS model or cloud-based deployment involves monthly or yearly subscription charges. It reduces maintenance and installation costs but may charge you extra for additional factors like:

Migration and onboarding
Training
Advanced features
Adding new team members
Priority support
Document templates
Business analytics

Figure out your firm’s requirements and budget to ensure you only pay for what you need and maximize ROI. Carefully consider your business model, available budget, priorities and integration options before making the final decision.

Expert recommendations and analysis on the top Legal Software

Upcoming Trends

When selecting software, it’s important to keep an eye on market trends to avoid selecting outdated solutions. Here are some of the top legal industry trends to look out for in 2024:

Legal Software Trends

Generative AI

Generative AI has been like a wrecking ball, disrupting major industries across the globe. For a time-constrained profession, the legal community is eager to embrace its potential in fast-tracking legal research, summarisation and drafting processes.

However, a survey reveals that less than half of the in-house legal community (46%) used generative AI professionally, even though the projected adoption in upcoming years is astronomical.

According to Gartner’s legal technology predictions report, AI tools will generate 25% of all first-draft contracts and documents for corporate law firms by 2026.

Some other uses of generative AI in the legal industry are:

Researching cases
Briefing on documents
Analyzing policies
Assisting internal audits
Brainstorming business development activities

Decline in Revenue Growth

According to the gross legal product index, the global legal services demand is expected to grow by 2% in 2024, compared to 6% in 2023. There are various reasons for this slump — geopolitical unrest damaging the professional services industry, macroeconomic situation and inflation provoking mass uncertainty, and tighter regulations after the pandemic fueling a raging fire.

In 2024, legal businesses must innovate new ways to meet this fiscal challenge and reposition themselves for a better return in the future. Gartner’s legal technology predictions report found that 63% of legal leaders plan to accelerate legal tech investments in the face of harsh conditions.

You can consider legal software to automate operations and control costs, along with a diversified and flexible service offering to generate more demand.

Alternative Legal Fees

The traditional practice of lawyers billing hourly is archaic and may sometimes encourage inefficiencies, such as:

Poor return on investment
Double billing
Perverse incentives
Inaccurate time calculations

That’s why most clients and law firms are now calling time on billable hours and looking for alternative pricing structures that promote transparency for clients and healthier bottom lines for lawyers. Here are a few alternative fee arrangements you can try out for your business:

Flat rates: Clients pay a predetermined fee for the legal service required to resolve a matter.
Capped fees: Follows the traditional hourly billing model but puts a maximum cost or “cap” on each matter beyond which clients won’t have to pay even if billable hours exceed the amount.
Unbundled services: Sometimes, clients cannot pay for all the services required to resolve their case. In such cases, you can offer specific services at a flat rate to help clients in a limited capacity.
Performance incentive: It includes a predetermined rate for achieving a client-oriented result.

Expert recommendations and analysis on the top Legal Software

Questions To Ask

If this is your first foray into the world of legal software, take a moment to slow down and process all the information. While figuring out your requirements, it is essential to ask questions: start with one question and gradually work your way through all your queries. We’ve prepared a list of questions to consider from the outset.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself about your firm’s requirements:

What are our immediate requirements for the firm?
Do we need a scalable solution?
What data requirements do we have?
Do we require remote access?
What kind of integrations do we need?

Legal Software Questions to Ask

Use these questions to communicate your requirements to legal software vendors:

Which services require additional subscriptions?
Does the vendor provide customer support? What does it include, and what are the estimated response times?
What kind of federal and state regulations does the software comply with?
Does the software sync with jurisdictional rules and regulations?
What are the platform’s security measures and encryption standards?

Expert recommendations and analysis on the top Legal Software

Next Steps

Choosing the perfect legal software can be an intensive process. We know how difficult it can be to balance your financial and operational requirements. Still, taking your time and considering all the factors is important — it can spell the difference between a successful law firm and a failed investment. Try our free comparison report to analyze the industry’s top legal solutions based on custom criteria.

We hope this guide can help you deconstruct the process and reach a productive conclusion, serving as a starting point for you to move on and make intelligent decisions during your software selection journey.

Product Comparisons

Additional Resources

About The Contributors

The following expert team members are responsible for creating, reviewing, and fact checking the accuracy of this content.

By Riddhiman Roy

Technical Content Writer

As a Senior Technical Content Writer at SelectHub, Riddhiman Roy delivers content about eCommerce, legal, employee scheduling, procurement, hotel management and property management software. He holds a Master's in multimedia journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. When he is not fighting huge-article-ogres and evil Grammarly suggestions, you can find him in his natural habitat grooving to music and banging his drumkit.

Technical Research By Vidhi Kanodia

Senior Analyst

Vidhi Kanodia joined SelectHub after graduating from Osmania University in Hyderabad. Building on the hands-on experience she gained there, she expertly reviews peer research work in categories like procurement, PLM, eCommerce, insurance, hotel management, risk management and legal software.

Technical Review By Shashank K K

Principal Analyst

After graduating with a Masters in Finance from Trinity College Dublin, K K Shashank's research and detail-oriented skills led them to SelectHub. He has diverse knowledge across various software categories like Accounting, Financial Planning and Analysis, Ecommerce, Risk Management, PLM, Insurance and more since 2020.

Edited By Pooja Verma

Content Editor

Pooja Verma is a Content Editor and Senior Market Analyst at SelectHub, who writes and edits content for endpoint security, legal, CRM, fundraising software, eCommerce, and mental health software. She earned a literature degree from Miranda House, DU and also holds Master’s in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication in India. In her free time, you can spot her reading a book or binge-watching the latest web series and movies.