Learn about esiLaw 360, its upgrade from the previous esiLaw, and the new features that it now provides as a practice management system
It is undeniable that lawyers and law firms have many responsibilities, which makes it hard for them to keep up with other managerial tasks.
Software and programs such as esiLaw 360 offer ways to support lawyers by making these tasks easier and faster.
If you’re a lawyer or legal professional who are looking for reviews on accounting and practice management system (PMS), this article is for you. Whether you’re switching from an existing PMS or looking for the right one as a first timer, this article will discuss how this esiLaw 360 fares among the others.
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What is esiLaw?
esiLaw 360 is cloud-based software for accounting and practice management. It is specially designed for lawyers and law firms, accommodating practices of all sizes.
By integrating all the necessary aspects of running a law firm, this PMS offers an all-in-one product for the needs of a law firm.
This software was developed by Dye & Durham Corporation, which specializes in developing PMS for various professionals, among other products.
What are the features of esiLaw 360?
esiLaw 360 offers numerous features that promise law firm efficiency, faster accounting solutions, and client-management tools.
Let’s first distinguish between the previous esiLaw and its upgraded version, the esiLaw 360. After that, we’ll discuss the main features of the upgraded version and the different ways it helps lawyers and firms.
esiLaw vs. esiLaw 360
While esiLaw is the previous version, the product was ‘re-engineered’ to become esiLaw 360. It now has these features:
- additional programs that can be integrated
- automatic software updates
- all the features centralized in just one screen
- credit card processing
- Find feature
- improvements on its accounting features
- new client portal
- re-designed overall interface
- scalable user interface fonts and font type
- unlimited backup and restore points
Main features
The main features offered by esiLaw 360 can be divided into three sections, with each main feature having additional sub-features:
Legal Accounting
esiLaw 360 offers an integrated and fully streamlined legal accounting solution to help lawyers, legal professionals, and accountants.
Legal accounting offered by esiLaw 360 covers:
- legal compliance: ensures that financial reports and firm accounting are compliant with provincial rules and regulations
- trust accounting: helps firms manage clients’ trust accounts and ledgers, set up unlimited accounts, view history and balances, process trust receipts, and generate trust reporting
- managing expenses: easy monitoring of client expenses, firm costs, and third-party expenses
- billings tracking: lawyers can automatically track billable hours and other fees with an automatic timer that has multiple rate options
- bank reconciliation: tools that allows users to clear checks and deposits, to automatically reconcile bank records, and to import bank statements
Each license now comes with user and timekeeper access, making it a one-stop shop for a firm or lawyer’s accounting solution.
Billing & Payments
Users have access to features that make it easy to post billing and receive payments from clients or make payments on firm expenses.
Aside from automating various tasks, other features for billings and payments include:
- client payment methods: provides an option for clients to pay online or through automatic deposits
- online client payment portal: clients can access this portal to view their invoices, pay bills, and access transaction history
- settle payables: firms can write cheques or process electronic fund transfers (EFTs) for payments
- generate reports: to manage accounts receivables and payables, users can also produce accounts receivable reports and collection realization reports
Practice Management
Aside from tracking finances, esiLaw 360 can help lawyers and firms manage their operations and administrative tasks.
Some features:
- shared calendaring: users in a firm will have a synchronized calendar, which will also reflect all the users’ individual tasks
- document management: all document folders of the firm, including those linked to their clients, are stored in a centralized cloud with unlimited storage
- client contacts: ways to reach clients are centralized through the PMS, including their contact info and an inquiry feature
- mobility: the Cloud can be accessed through the user’s mobile devices, which allows out-of-office transactions
How can I subscribe to esiLaw?
Law firms that are interested in using esiLaw have three options:
- Start a 30-day free trial
- Upgrade from esiLaw 360
- Directly purchase a license for esiLaw 360
Alternatively, existing users of other PMS may also switch to esiLaw 360 through data migration. This process of data migration is also used when upgrading from esiLaw to esiLaw 360.
To switch to esiLaw 360, contact the sales team. They can give you a quote, outline the process of migration, and provide training on how to use the software.
You can also schedule a demo with the sales team before starting the 30-day free trial, or before upgrading to esiLaw 360 or from your existing PMS.
Check out our Readers’ Choice 2023 for a listing of the top legal tech, service providers, and products in Canada.
What programs can be integrated into esiLaw?
Some third-party apps that can be integrated with esiLaw 360 include OneDrive/SkyDrive, DropBox and Google Drive.
A user’s Outlook calendar may also be connected to esiLaw 360 for a more centralized calendaring.
How much is esiLaw?
esiLaw 360’s pricing and charges for add-ons are not officially released on their website. To get a quote for esiLaw 360, interested subscribers will have to contact their sales team.
They do offer a monthly or annual subscription plan which includes technical support and automatic software updates. These updates require no user intervention.
Each plan is based on the number of registered users. esiLaw 360 also offers volume discounts for larger law firms that have multiple users.
How can I reach esiLaw’s support team?
If you experience problems with the software or the program, you can refer to the help articles and tutorials listed on esiLaw 360’s website.
If you need a bit more help, you can reach customer support by phone, email, or a support request online.
Customer support by phone is available during business hours:
- 8am to 5pm (PST) from Mondays to Thursdays
- 8am to 4:30pm (PST) on Fridays
Is esiLaw 360 good?
The current upgrade to esiLaw 360 is one of its main pros, adding more features and improvements to its interface. When it comes to updates, these are automatically installed to one’s existing esiLaw, with no additional costs or charges.
With esiLaw 360’s new user interface, the PMS is now easy to use, such as when adding new firm clients, trust receipts, and disbursements.
EsiLaw 360 is made by Canadians for Canadians. As such, it’s made with Canadian lawyers and law firms in mind.
esiLaw users are ensured that the software is compliant with Canadian laws – whether federal, provincial or territorial ones. Not only for the use of the software itself, but also for the output that it generates for its users.
Is esiLaw 360 the right software for your practice?
esiLaw 360 is a cloud-based practice management software made especially for Canadian lawyers and legal professionals. Its section on legal accounting makes it an ideal tool for legal accountants as well. Because esiLaw 360 was made and developed in Canada, it is compliant with Canadian laws.
There are a number of subscription options for esiLaw 360. While pricing details aren’t available on their website, you can sign up for monthly or yearly subscriptions. To see if esiLaw 360 might be a good fit for your law firm, you can sign up for their free 30-day trial period.
If you’d like to shop around before making a final decision, visit our Legal Technology page for reviews of other practice management software.