Law Practice Management Software

Law practice management software automates manual tasks and documentation, freeing up time for lawyers to focus on cases. It also helps users manage client communication and scheduling, sending timely reminders before each appointment.

To help you choose the right law practice management software for your firm, we’ll cover:

• What is law practice management software?

• What are the deployment options for law practice management software?

• What are some common features of law practice management software?

What is law practice management software?

Law practice management software, also known as legal software, helps law firms manage documents, track tasks, schedule meetings, and generate billable hours reports for clients. Some solutions also offer built-in calendars, allowing lawyers to view their appointments on a shared dashboard.

What are the deployment options for law practice management software?

The first step in selecting the right law practice management solution for your business is to understand the deployment options. This knowledge will help you select products based on technical considerations.

There are two major deployment options for law practice management software:

Cloud-based deployment: In cloud-based systems, software vendors host the software on their servers, while you can access the product by signing in from your web browser or mobile app. These systems offer subscription-based pricing and are usually priced on a per user, per month basis.

On-premise deployment: These systems require you to store and process data on a server that you own. On-premise systems are accessed via a desktop application. These systems usually incur a one-time license cost; you may also need to pay for system updates.

Key question to ask your vendor before you buy: Does your product include a mobile app for managing client appointments and staff schedules?

What are some common features of law practice management software?

After you’ve learned about the deployment options for law practice management software, the next step is to understand the common features. This knowledge will help you select a product based on your specific business requirements.

According to our research, following are the key features of law practice management software:

Legal case management: Organize case handling and management from beginning to end with a centralized dashboard for tracking email, notes, invoices, payments, contacts, tasks, bills, documents, and time entries.

Case management in CosmoLex (Source)

Time tracking: Record billable time on an hourly, contingent, or transactional basis for each of your cases. Create multiple timers and convert tasks and logs into time entries.

Timer functionality in Zola Suite (Source)

Document management: Streamline the document management process by centrally storing files, including text, image, audio, and video. Some products also offer automatic document versioning, commenting, file permission control, and document organization.

Document management in MerusCase (Source)

Billing: Generate bills and invoices based on employee billable hours and various case-related expenses. Users can also set up automated or customized billing, accept payments via payment-processing integrations, and share invoices with customers via a client portal or direct email.

Invoicing in Clio (Source)

Calendar: View tasks, deadlines, appointments, and meetings by day, week, month, or year. This functionality also allows you to automatically schedule dates in accordance with court rules relevant to the case.

Calendar in Amberlo (Source)

Key question to ask your vendor before you buy: What is the cost of the software plan that includes the features mentioned above?

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*Note: The applications selected in this article are examples to show a feature in context, and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations. They were obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.