Running a law firm can be stressful as juggling a high-volume caseload takes a lot energy and organization. Before computers became an integral part of any law practice, it was commonplace to see large stacks of files littering an office. Fortunately as technology evolves, so too does the way case management is conducted.
Below is a list of five popular case management software programs on the market today:
- Practice Panther Legal Services: This service has a very user-friendly platform which essentially allows you to organize your entire practice in one place. With Practice Panther, you can start you day with an emailed summary detailing the tasks, events and deadlines for the day. The service also allows users to assign tasks to team members and will send out notifications when a task is left uncompleted or is past due. Through Practice Panther, you can also seamlessly manage your trust and operating account balances for all your clients. The platform has the ability to sync with Dropbox, Quickbooks, LawPay, PayPal, Docketwise and many other programs you may already use. As a bonus, it can also be accessed via an easy-to-navigate mobile app that allows you to take your data virtually anywhere. Practice Panther also has a customizable client portal through which you can schedule meetings, securely share documents, and send messages.
- Filevine: Filevine touts itself as tool to manage cases with greater security, better communication and less stress. The case management system allows users to store all the details of a case on the platform and allows you to connect with other employees, clients, medical providers, experts and witnesses associated with the case. Another interesting feature of Filevine is that text messages you may receive from your clients are fed directly into their respective case files, in turn allowing any member of your team to respond. This feature creates an archived and shared conversation within the casefile and ensures that your clients receive timely responses and status updates. Filevine also includes a “deadline” feature that automatically assigns the next step in the lifecycle of a case your team handling the litigation. Filevine also can take any document and convert it to a usable template with a secure e-signature option built into the platform, making it a painless process to create a document and then send it to a client for signature.
- MyCase: Say goodbye to the billing bottleneck—MyCase is one single platform that handles end-to-end billing. Through MyCase, a user can track billable hours in real time, invoice clients, collect payments and integrate the whole process with QuickBooks. In addition to a case management system that allows users to organize case files in one central location the platform features easy integration with Google Calendar and Outlook to ensure important case deadlines and court appearances are clearly tracked. MyCase also has a simple and concise client portal that allows attorneys, staff and clients to easily upload and share case and easily send and receive messages.
- Abacus Law: Abacus Law offers a variety of highly-specialized management systems with programs geared specifically towards bankruptcy law, contract law, ERISA, estate planning, criminal law, civil litigation, workers’ comp, personal injury law and many other specialties. More generally, Abacus offers a case management workflow software that allows you to organize their firm, capture more billing opportunities and add custom reports, input screens, automation rules, documents, special input forms and specific terminology for the dedicated areas of practice. Another feature of Abacus is rules-based calendaring, which can automatically and accurately schedule all critical deadlines according to the appropriate federal, state and local court rules.The software integrates easily with Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce, Infusionsoft, Timeslips, Fonality, Nextiva and Abacus Payment Exchange.
- Clio: Clio offers two different practice management programs—Clio Manage and Clio Grow. Clio Manage, the company’s most popular option, allows for case management, document management, accounting, calendaring with legal-specific features like various court rules, billing and time and expense tracking capabilities. Additionally, Clio Manage allows for clients to make online payments with credit cards and to schedule recurring payment plans and accept trust deposits. Clio Grow, billed as the “client relationship management software that transforms the way you engage with potential and existing clients,” offers convenient e-signatures and legal document automation.
