Firm Central vs Lawcus

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Our analysts compared Firm Central vs Lawcus based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Legal Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Firm Central Software Tool

Product Basics

Firm Central is an end-to-end cloud-based solution that provides firms with a centralized interface to manage legal matters, accounting, calendaring, time tracking, billing and client communication. Users can track time and expenses efficiently from multiple devices and create flexible payment options and custom invoices for clients. Monitor legal workflows using its legal calendar with custom rules templates, deadline assistance, permissions-based access and multiple viewing options. Dashboards and reports provide up-to-date data-driven insights.

It offers robust data security with encryption, compliant servers and 24/7 security monitoring. It also provides continuous data backups and seamless integrations. Users can access it from anywhere, from any device.
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Lawcus is an end-to-end practice management software with built-in legal case management, client intake and CRM. Streamline time and expense tracking and set up automated workflows. The legal calendar gives a holistic view of upcoming events, deadlines, hearings and tasks. Closely monitor key performance indicators, pipeline value and financial health with built-in reports and a dashboard.

Provides clients with self-service options through the secure client portal. Access best practice templates for client intake and legal documentation. Pre-fill documents with existing database information and process electronic signatures. Manage operating and trust accounts and accept online payments without added risk.
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$40/User, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
$34/User, Monthly
Get a free price quote
Tailored to your specific needs
Small
Medium
Large
Small
Medium
Large
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Comprehensive Reports: Get detailed daily, weekly and monthly reports of billable and non-billable time tracked. Maximize accuracy by cross-checking before billing. 
  • Easy Access: Directly access Westlaw’s legal research network from the homepage. 
  • Customizable Dashboard: Customize the dashboard with status bars for crucial functions. 
  • Simplify Collaboration: Collaborate with clients and team members by integrating with SharePoint. 
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  • Hassle-free Trial: Try out the platform for 14 days with anytime cancellation and no credit card details. 
  • Save Time: Avoid repeatable processes with automated workflows. 
  • Increase Cash Flow: Grow the firm’s client base extensively with dedicated lead conversion and client management tools. 
  • Remote Connection: Access important case information and client records from any device with an internet connection. 
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  • Matter Management: Manage legal matters, tasks, contacts, deadlines and documents from a single platform. Automate the client intake process and store an unlimited amount of documentation and files. 
    • Matter Search: Identify specific legal documents and files with the global search function. 
  • Collaboration: Securely share case files and calendar entries with all team members and counsels. Encourage collaboration between counsels and clients with a dedicated client portal. 
  • Task Management: Assign tasks to staff members, set reminders for important events and appointments and keep track of notifications. Monitor document reviews and updates and perform conflict checks across the client database. 
  • Time Tracking and Billing: Track every single minute of billable time with the Firm Central Time & BIlling portal. Create and operate trust funds, run reports and issue expedited invoices for faster payments. 
    • Financial Reporting: Generate reports with custom datasets to identify profitable practice areas, aging receivables, referral values, important clients and more. 
    • Financial Dashboard: Get real-time access to firm financials, outstanding bills, WIP, year-end reconciliations and more through a single interface. Use the dashboard insights for agile decision-making and strategic future planning. 
    • Time and Expense: Log billable hours with multiple timers from any computer or mobile device. Integrate time tracking and billing capabilities to directly invoice for the time entries. 
    • Billing: Prepare tailored payment plans and payment options for clients. Edit invoices and accept credit card payments with the ClientPay portal. 
  • Accounting: Manage separate trust and operating accounts with purpose-built accounting software. Process invoices ethically and in compliance with industry standards. 
    • Reports: Run regular accounting reports to measure profitability, discounts, write-offs, bank reconciliations, account transactions and more. Stay on top of the firm’s financial health to make informed decisions. 
    • Eliminate Error: Automate data entry to eliminate duplicate data and human errors. 
    • Compliance: Prepare an audit trail for all trust account transactions and simplify year-end reconciliations. Set up internal controls to protect financial data from leaks. 
  • Legal Calendar: Manage deadlines, events, hearings and more with the integrated legal calendar tool. 
    • Deadlines: The Deadlines Assistant automatically computes the deadlines of ongoing projects based on the rules set by the firm’s jurisdiction. Set up custom rules if required. 
    • Calendar Sync: Add, edit and update events in either the built-in calendar or Microsoft Outlook and automatically synchronize entries. 
    • Multiple Calendar Views: Allow all staff members to view the legal calendar for a holistic awareness of deadlines and appointments. Drill down on specific entries by matter and permissions. 
  • Mobile Application: Retain full control over legal matters and tasks while away from the office. Use the mobile application to securely access legal documents, matters, contacts, calendars and more. Track time and process expenses on the go. 
  • Security: Secure firm files and documentation in transit as well as in storage. Additionally, solve any data residency requirements with U.S.-based servers hosted by Thomson Reuters. 
    • Data Encryption: All connections to Firm Central servers are routed via HTTPS sessions with 256-bit SSL and TLS encryption. 
    • Compliance: Ensure the data security standards of the firm are compliant with SOC 2 Type II and AICPA regulations. Physical data centers are ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified. 
  • Client Portal: Provide clients with an encrypted communication environment for secure collaboration with counsels. 
    • Communications: Share documents, bills, case updates, messages and more with clients in real time. Monitor all client activity and maintain a record of all communications. 
    • Self-service: Clients can check case files and matter information, receive push notifications and upload documents. 
    • Security: Maintain ABA ethics mandates with the self-service portal. Use permission-based controls to decide who gets access to what items and documents. 
  • Westlaw Compatibility: Subscribe to Westlaw for built-in case citation flags and integrated global search and research tools. 
  • Integrations: Integrate with multiple Thomson Reuters applications under the same platform. Available inclusions include Westlaw legal research, Westlaw Form Builder, Practical Law and Drafting Assistant. 
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  • 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. 
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Product Ranking

#37

among all
Legal Software

#77

among all
Legal Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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Billing And Payments Calendaring And Legal Docketing Client And Contact Management Dashboard And Reporting Document Management Matter/Case Management Mobile Capabilities Task Management Time And Expense Management 85 99 100 49 100 89 82 79 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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User Sentiment Summary

Good User Sentiment 141 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 103 reviews
74%
of users recommend this product

Firm Central has a 'good' User Satisfaction Rating of 74% when considering 141 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

96%
of users recommend this product

Lawcus has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 96% when considering 103 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.

4.1 (5)
n/a
3.8 (11)
4.7 (9)
3.68 (62)
4.8 (47)
3.7 (62)
4.8 (47)
3.0 (1)
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Awards

No awards.

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Lawcus and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Dashboard and Reporting and Matter/Case Management. Lawcus stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award
Dashboard and Reporting Award
Matter/Case Management Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Data Management: It provides easy and secure access to client records and legal matters, according to 100% of users mentioning data management.
Ease of Use: According to 83% of users who reviewed this aspect, the platform is user-friendly and easy to learn.
Sharing and Collaboration: All reviewers who mentioned this benefit said they found it easy to share and collaborate on legal matters, especially with access to SharePoint.
Task Management: According to 67% of users who reviewed this feature, the legal calendar simplifies tracking pending tasks, assignments and deadlines.
KPI Monitoring: Everyone reviewing this element said that the customizable dashboard made it easy to track KPIs.
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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.
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Functionality: Without integrations, it has limited functionalities, according to 57% of users mentioning this element.
Integrations: According to 71% of users who reviewed this feature, integrations can be buggy and expensive.
Service and Support: 64% of users who mentioned this aspect said they found the technical support lacking in knowledge and responsiveness.
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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.
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Firm Central provides legal practitioners with a capable practice management solution with direct access to Westlaw. It offers secure and fast web access to basic features, including time tracking, billing, accounting, and matter and task management modules. Access to Westlaw is an important asset and should weigh heavily on any acquisition decision. That said, multiple integrations can drive up costs and put a lot of pressure on the platform. Implementation and technical support can be hard to reach at times. Unless a Westlaw integration is absolutely essential to the firm, there are better options available in this price range.

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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.

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