What Is Legal Software
Software is as important to law practice now as it is to any other business of note. Not only are the legal professionals creating, sending and saving more electronic documents than ever before, but they are increasingly using software to manage every aspect of their firm. This has only been accelerated by the pandemic and the shift to remote work over the last two years; modern law practices are more reliant on software than they have ever been.
Modern legal software covers the full range of operations. From the basics like word processors, spreadsheets and email, to industry-specific software for tasks like time tracking, invoicing, taxes, calendaring and case management, there is software for everything. It streamlines every aspect of law practice and enables legal professionals to share information easily both in-house and with clients. This is essential to efficient operations and profitability.
Legal software can be divided broadly into several categories: practice management , case management, time management, accounting, eSigning, practice marketing, document management, analytics, billing, and human resources. While not all law firms will need to use legal software in all of these categories, a modern-day law practice will rely on software to some degree for many of these functions. It simply allows lawyers to handle more clients more efficiently and with fewer staff, dramatically moving the needle on law firm profitability.
In fact, the American Bar Association has even conducted surveys on the impact of technology on the legal industry, finding that "a majority of lawyers use technology in delivering legal services" and that "adoption of certain IT was significantly associated with higher operating revenues, as well as higher rates of individual lawyer compensation." Legal technology helps law firms differentiate themselves from their competitors.
Case Management Software
Case Management Software is a type of software that helps law practice manage disputes, cases, matters and both transactional and case-based work. It is designed to automate all the tedious business processes law practices have been employing for years. It centralizes all practice related data and documents. Thereby effectively managing every aspect of the practice. Clio Manage, a popular practice management application, provides a centralized space for lawyers and their clients to access documents anytime, anywhere. Additionally, they can easily schedule appointments, send messages via chat, and send invoices and accept online payments.
MyCase is another popular case management software. It is a cloud-based tool that is integrated with up-to-date accounting software. Clients can log in 24/7 to review their bills and make online payments. Admin staff can bill hourly or multi-task in batch mode. Fortunately, this makes billing a breeze. Like Clio Manage, MyCase also provides a centralized space for lawyers and their clients to access documents anytime. Overall, it is a case management software that comes with all the fundamental features.
Legal Research Software
Legal research tools are a common go-to resource for many lawyers, particularly those with an interest in innovative technology. Westlaw and LexisNexis are two of the most popular examples. These systems search for content across an array of legal-specific databases to offer useful insights into cases, law firms, attorneys, judges and law offices. This information can help lawyers prepare for anything from a closing argument at trial to pitching potential clients for new business.
Document Management Software
Document Management Systems (DMSs) provide efficient ways to control and organize documents through workflows and other processes. iManage is a leading DMS, controlling and organizing 1.3 billion documents in 114 countries. iManage allows users to share data easily across different systems, and human resources uses workflow processes to onboard new employees. With iManage, users are able to set who can view and edit documents, automatically enforce retention policies and automatically classify documents.
Similar to iManage, NetDocuments provides essential functions for controlling and organizing documents. NetDocuments allows users to assign automated folder structures and workflows, and provides rules for document retention and deletion. NetDocuments had 94.5 million file views in September 2018.
Time and Billing Software
Lawyers have to keep track of their hours for many reasons, but mainly to ensure they are getting paid for all the work they perform and to comply with ABA Model Rule 1.5. There is also the proposal to require attorneys to implement an IOLTA program to handle trust funds, which of course requires attorneys to track the funds deposited. One tool that can help you keep not just track of your time but your bills too, is billing software.
We like to include TimeSolv, a top tier time tracking and billing solution, on our list of legal technology. After signing up with them as a new customer, which has a subscription based fee, you download their handy TimeSolv browser extension for Chrome, so you can click a button to record your time, no matter where you are in your Google browser. I am currently typing this post on my Chrome browser, for instance.
Their billing program is web based and mobile friendly, and includes online payments, support of recurring billing, invoicing, client portals and even a mobile app for your smart phone or tablet, called TimeSolv Mobile . It’s compatible with Apple iPhone, Apple iPad and Android based devices. They also offer excellent customer support via all the modern ways, including video chat, which is a nice touch.
Another online billing solution we highly recommend is Bill4Time. There’s a good chance this will be the perfect fit for you if you befriend and follow its CEO, attorney, Luke Harris, on social media. He posts and shares numerous useful blog articles, tip sheets and videos about best practices a practicing lawyer can adopt to work smarter, not harder. Same goes for their whole team. They truly have a passion for efficiency.
And when it comes to billing and time tracking, their app is clean and simple. Like all of the legal technology we have mentioned, the mobile app allows you to bill clients wherever you may be. It also offers detailed reporting for the firm to analyze time spent by all employees. The software is priced reasonably too. It is subscription based and offers a free trial to test it out.
We hope this small sample of available legal technology tools proves useful.
E-Discovery Software
E-Discovery Solutions are essential For Modern Law Practice as they enable lawyers to manage and organize the information they gather. Electronic evidence comes in the form of documents, emails, IM’s, etc. Not surprisingly, e-Discovery tools have become better at filtering and sorting through the digital evidence we store on CDs, DVD’s, hard drives, share sites, flash drives, and remote servers.
Logikcull
Logikcull.com is a no-frills, cloud-based e-discovery and legal hold platform for consumer files and data. It has a large customer base running the gambit form law firms to law departments, HR, inside counsel, and Fortune 500 companies.
Logikcull has game-changing features for its users. It’s completely transparent when it comes to cost and charging per GB of information uploaded. There are no hidden fees or costs associated with its services. Using a per GB charge, you can control your costs according to your needs.
Another feature of Logikcull is that it has unlimited searching and storage. This allows you to index and store information long after your case has closed.
Relativity
Relativity.com is another game-changer in the world of e-Discovery. It is the entire package of collecting e-discovery data and managing how the data is used during the case. It centralizes the entire process from collecting evidence to review and production.
Analysis of pricing trends between these two e-discovery platforms (Logikcull vs. Relativity) from my research shows that Logikcull trumps Relativity in price by about 40%. It’s that expensive to own Relativity. It also appears that Relativity charges for additional features while Logikcull has a free backup.
Contract Management Software
Contract Lifecycle Management software is designed to make it easy for you to work on contracts at any stage of the contract creation process. For example, you can easily create contracts in minutes with firm-specific templates and take advantage of simple approval workflows. You can also automatically remind contract stakeholders of upcoming contract milestones and deadlines, reducing the likelihood of missed dates and giving you the ability to market to your clients when they are ready to expand their existing engagement. Some packages provide the ability to create automated, periodic draft, review and execution forms with dynamic completion tracking. Others include document automation software that uses pre-existing templates for an unlimited number of documents.
Contracts tend to be large and cumbersome as they typically consist of many complex sections and rely on a large amounts of operational and third-party data. Implementation of good contract management software brings a number of benefits, including standardized content, customized document generation, a single source of truth, reduction of administrative costs through self-service contract creation, templates, and approval routing. Some examples of contract lifecycle management software are ContractSafe, which provides a quick and easy way to search and track all your contracts and contracts that are about to expire or need to be renewed, and DocuSign eSignature for Salesforce.
Conclusion and Trends
As we’ve seen through the examples, there’s a whole slew of legal software available to you that can increase both your productivity and profitability in the ever-evolving practice of law. Of course, everyone tends to bundle all three facets of legal software into one overall category, but it’s important to understand that the programs needed for timekeeping, billing, calendaring, practice management, and document and case management are all specialized, the same way that each type of law requires a different tool of the trade. The future looks bright for the furtherance of legal technology, with multiple emerging trends expected to impact the future of legal practice and software. One trend that many people are keeping their eyes on is the continued rise in the practice of outsourcing. Outsourcing is the act of delegating specific tasks to third parties or "non-lawyers" within a law firm that permit an attorney to focus on providing only high-level legal services. As a result, only the most valuable resources, such as the attorney’s expertise, remain onsite with the firm. While out of necessity, outsourcing has become a tremendously successful business model, both for law firms, which can charge a premium to their clients in exchange for the commodization of such necessary but ancillary tasks, and for the third parties who can deliver such services to the attorney and the law firm at a relatively lower rate than that firm would be able to provide for itself. This is a trend that many Americans have long been reticent to embrace, but with the serious struggles that most American businesses are continuing to face in the post-Great Recession world, many are beginning to see the value. Interestingly, the American Bar Association has been regularly updating its ethical standards to adapt to this changing business environment. Third-party legal companies have been popular for years in the U.K. and other countries, but here in the United States , legal outsourcing is still being embraced slowly and cautiously, and many law firms are only beginning to appreciate the efficiencies that it can bring. It is literally the reward for the law firm’s success – local law firms can increasingly take on high-profile, high-value cases that they would otherwise not be able to, without increasing their overhead costs. Another trend that’s poised to make huge strides in the near future is the innovative use of artificial intelligence by law firms and attorneys. Many law firms are now using A.I. in their research projects and in general, practicing in "machine learning," where computers are being programmed to teach themselves new things and to continuously evolve and improve their abilities. One of the most widespread and successful uses of artificial intelligence in the legal industry is in the area of legal research. In fact, law firms that use A.I.-enabled research, such as the highly popular research engine "Ravel", spend less time and money on expensive research than those who do not rely on A.I.-enabled technology. Other fields that artificial intelligence is being used, and is likely to become more commonplace in the future, include contract review and review, caselaw document reviews, developing an understanding of judge’s opinions and preferences, developing new arguments based on existing important opinions and interpretations, and even predicting the outcome of litigation based on the facts. With the growing reliance on big data in the legal industry, there is no doubt that artificial intelligence will continue to grow to be a major player in the development of legal technology. Simply put, there’s an abundance of choices in the legal technology marketplace, and that’s a good thing, because for the law practitioners seeking to utilize legal software, this means that there’s an increased likelihood that they’ll find the right tools that meet their unique needs. That’s a win-win for everyone.