Here are the things to consider when looking for the best cloud-based legal practice management soft
There will come a point when your firm or your team may be overwhelmed by paperwork, missed court deadlines, and many lost opportunities for growth. Juggling through your various tasks has always been a struggle, and your firm is not alone in this.
As such, finding the best cloud-based legal practice management software can help you transform how you run your law firm to address these issues. In this article, we’ll highlight the best options available to help keep your practice running smoothly and efficiently. We’ll also discuss the important factors to keep an eye on when choosing the best software.
How does a cloud-based legal practice management software work?
A legal practice management software or solution (called legal PMS for short) is a modern tool that you can use to help you manage your work as a lawyer or as a law firm manager. Its main goal is to simplify how you do things, so that you can have more time on more important ones, such as taking care of your clients’ needs.
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A legal PMS works two-fold: it takes care of your internal matters and your client-related processes. So, as it improves and streamlines your firm’s operations, it also assists in improving your relationship with your clients, such as in handling their files and accounts.
Cloud-based legal PMS
You have two options when looking for the best cloud-based legal practice management software: cloud-based or server-based. While most legal PMS are now cloud-based, some offer both options, depending on your provider:
What makes the best cloud-based legal practice management software?
There are a lot of software, programs, or solutions that are available in the market right now, each with its own strengths and highlights. As to what is the “best” cloud-based legal PMS among these is always subjective and relative; it will still depend on your actual practice, needs, and resources. This means that what may be the best for you may not be the best for others, and vice versa.
To help you look for the best cloud-based legal PMS, you can check out our Special Report on the Top Legal Tech, Service Providers, and Products in Canada. Here are factors you may want to consider when looking for the best legal PMS for you and your firm:
Key features to look for
When haggling for what is the best cloud-based legal PMS for your firm, the very first thing you may look at are its key features and functionalities. While others work as an all-in-one legal PMS, others specialize in a particular feature. Here are some of the common key features of a cloud-based legal PMS:
- case management:
- assists you with your to-do lists, not just related to each case you’re handling, but also other firm-related events
- these tools include a consolidated legal calendar reflecting all your team’s events, and task progress monitoring whenever assigned
- files and documents management:
- help you manage the files of your clients, and organize them in a way that is easy for you and your team to locate
- these are also related to the other features, so that it’s easier to transfer data from client intake forms to court documents and to automate documents
- client relationship management (CRM):
- offers tools to help you communicate with your client, starting from the intake process until their case is resolved
- examples of CRM features include client portals, SMS/text messaging, and email functions, all within the software
- time tracking, accounting, and billing:
- automated tools to help you capture billable hours accurately and reflect them to the billings sent to clients
- accounting tools may also be included, specifically made for lawyers and their accountants
- help you manage the accounts that you handle for your clients (e.g., trust accounts)
- performance insights:
- assist you in measuring your team’s productivity by releasing objective reports based on your own key performance indicators and metrics
Whether you need all these features, or just some of them, would depend on what your firm’s needs are and what areas of your daily practice must improve.
One of the best cloud-based legal PMS is Amicus Attorney, which ranked high on our list of the best calendar and docketing software. Know more about this software with this free training video:
For other Special Reports that rank lawyers and law firms across Canada, check out our Rankings page.
All-in-one legal PMS
Most cloud-based legal PMS pride themselves as an all-in-one package; you wouldn’t be looking for any other software because it has all the things you need. While these solutions may be costly compared to its other contemporaries, it may be advantageous in the long run when you weigh its pros over expenses.
One of these cloud-based legal PMS that has it all is the CosmoLex Accounting and Legal PMS, which integrates the following features into one software:
- accounting
- billing
- calendaring
- emails and documents management
- time tracking
By purchasing CosmoLex, you’ll have access to these features, subject to certain add-ons which have their own functions and fees. In other legal PMS, while all these features are offered, its availability would still depend on the subscription plan that you chose.
Specific legal PMS
On the other hand, there are other cloud-based legal PMS focused on one specific feature. These PMS are different from your all-in-one solutions. They’re programmed to function in a specific way, rather than be an everything-all-at-once. It can either be used solely as an accounting tool, or as case management software, or as a CRM platform, such as the Lawmatics legal CRM.
Lawmatics focuses on giving you the best CRM platform by expanding more on its functions, such as:
- a streamlined and simple process for client intakes
- data reporting and insights on client intake data
- automated workflows and legal documents
- tools to capture time and expenses for billing and invoicing
As a specific CRM platform, one unique feature of Lawmatics is that it can be integrated into other cloud-based legal PMS, such as Clio and PracticePanther. By doing so, you can apply Lawmatics’ CRM features to the other strong features of other legal PMS.
Software that is suitable for your legal practice area
Here’s another thing where the best cloud-based legal PMS will vary per user: the legal practice area suitable for your firm. When divided according to the available practice areas, there are two types of legal PMS:
- can accommodate or is programmed to be used by all types of legal practice areas
- made specifically for a particular legal practice area
If your law firm or practice works generally in any legal practice area, then the first type is for you. However, if your firm caters to specific clients and cases, then you’re more suitable for the other type.
Legal PMS for all practice areas
There are cloud-based legal PMS that are suitable for any, or all, legal practice area. One of these is CARET Legal, whose software can be used by the firms working in any of these practice areas:
- civil litigation
- personal injury
- estate planning
- family law
- employment law
- insurance defense
These cannot be made possible without CARET Legal’s comprehensive features, which also work as an all-in-one solution for your firm.
Practice-area specific legal PMS
An example of a cloud-based legal PMS that is specifically made for a particular legal practice area is CASEpeer. This case and practice management software is especially programmed for the needs of personal injury law firms. While it still has the same general features of a legal PMS, it has added features that are more useful for personal injury law firms, such as a negotiation tracker and a settlement report generator.
Another legal PMS that is for a specific legal area is the cloud-based bankruptcy software program of NextChapter, although this works more like an add-on to its main software. Know more about this feature of NextChapter with this video:
Check out our Practice Area page for updates on statutes and case law regarding a particular legal field.
Ease when asking for support and integration assistance
Customer support and training is another factor when looking for the best cloud-based legal PMS. Especially when you’re working with people who need a lot of time and effort when learning new technologies, you may want to ask for help from your provider every now and then. Not to mention that you’ll need help when integrating hundreds (or maybe thousands) of your case files from your old storage locations to your new software.
Here are most of the ways that you can access customer support of a PMS provider:
- through a chatbot on your provider’s website
- within the system or program
- through call or email, which must be given by your provider
Your interactions with their support team will also vary in every PMS, and on how they lay out their customer support procedures. PracticePanther is another cloud-based legal PMS, whose access to customer support will depend on your subscription plan. Its Solo and Essential subscription plans will have basic customer support, while its Business subscription plan has VIP customer support.
Prices and subscription plans comparisons
To measure what is the best cloud-based legal PMS for your team, you can check how much would it cost and compare it with the other solutions or programs. Aside from reviewing if it’s cheaper than the others, you can also see if its high prices are worth the features that it offers.
Most cloud-based legal PMS offer different subscription plans which you can also compare. The prices of these plans escalate as more features are introduced. Also, there are add-ons to choose from that are outside your base price for these subscription plans.
When it comes to prices, Clio legal software is a cloud-based legal PMS that has four subscription plans that you can choose from:
- EasyStart
- Essentials
- Advanced
- Complete
These subscription plans can be paid either annually or monthly, giving you more options when it comes to payment, and even when just testing the waters with Clio.
Third-party apps that can be integrated
There may be external apps, programs, or software that you’re already used to or that you’re comfortable working with. However, the best cloud-based legal PMS would offer you to integrate these third-party apps to your legal PMS.
Clio also boasts 250 third-party apps and add-ons that can be integrated into its main software. 90 of these apps can be integrated for users of Clio in Canada, subject to additional fees, although some of these are offered freely by Clio.
But aside from Clio, there other legal PMS which has a lot of third-party apps that can be integrated with it, such as AbacusLaw legal PMS. This legal PMS offers integrations with the following apps and programs:
- Microsoft 365
- Salesforce
- DocuSign
- HotDocs
- Case Status
- Abacus Payment Exchange (APX)
- Infusionsoft
Having a lot of possible integrations should not just stop there. There also must be a good support team that can help you transition and consolidate these two. For instance, AbacusLaw’s support staff can help you with the best practices when integrating third party apps to the main software.
The best cloud-based legal PMS: finding the right fit
Investing in the best cloud-based legal practice management software for your firm can streamline your operations and help you stay on top of your caseload and important tasks. With so many great options available nowadays, it’s important to find the software that best fits your firm’s needs and preferences.
More resources are found in our Legal Technology page to help you in your daily needs as a practicing lawyer or as a manager of your firm.