When I think of legal software, I think of all those amazing tools created by super talented engineers meant to enhance and ease the life of someone who is connected in any way to the legal industry. Yes, you are right "enhance" and "ease" and if you belong to the generation swamped and overwhelmed by the load of paperwork, than you will know where I am coming from. But, because the human being is not so great at identifying its needs and even more communicate them, there are still some discrepancies as to "what do lawyers need" and "how can we create, deliver and meet all of those needs". I also think that a lawyers' needs differ depending on the industry they operate in, the country and so on. Thus, it is important to consider all of those factors. In this article, we will review the top 10 most used legal software in India. Obviously this checklist was created by our team based on the available data and it will be very difficult to estimate the actual use and the actual preference without having access to a survey. Hopefully, one day we can get to that as well.
So, to my surprise, Smokeball is the winner in India. I have to say that I find this platform really helpful and it does meet many of the clients' needs. My favorite, for example, is the ability to assign tasks and cross them over once they are completed. You are also able to write instructions and set deadlines, which can save a lot of time when assigning someone to perform a task. Smokeball does change the way legal professionals interact by allowing them to do that in a secure way.
The second one listed was AbacusLaw. I personally didn't meet anyone in the United States who uses this platform, however, I can see that it offers a lot of features that other legal software out there don't: case management, time tracking, billing, rules-based calendaring, form generation and mobile access. However, I did notice a fairly different feature, which separates it form the other ones and that is the TrialWorks. What is TrialWorks? It is a fully featured Law Firm and Advocacy Software designed to serve SMEs and Startups. It offers Corporations, Records Management, Document Management, Document Indexing and Case Notes at one place.
Moving on to the next legal software called PracticePanther. This platform definitely comes in handy to solve one of the most painful tasks lawyers have to deal with, tracking billable hours. It is quiet time consuming and the hardest thing to track is the non-billable hours, which PracticePanther helps you deal with.
CASEpeer, is another legal software, specially designed for lawyers who have a personal injury focused practice. What it does is streamlines your practices from intake to settlement. I see how this can be very helpful because personal injury cases can be very complex and time consuming. So, I do give a lot of credit to those who came up with a solution for this type of legal practice.
RocketMatter markets itself for helping law firms increasing revenue by more than 20% by going paperless, get paid faster and a streamline an easy workflow. If you really look at every single platform out there, you would be able to conclude that each and every one of them are focused on decreasing the hustle of managing and running a legal practice, which would lead to cutting off expenses and increasing revenue. However, I find it very cool that, so far, this is the only practice that makes this bold statement, which sets them apart in a away. Its like saying "they are all in the business of selling phones, however, I am selling iPhones". And a bold statement like that implies that the owners are taking responsibility for its efficiency and are not afraid to state that in public.
The next one on the list is ArkCase. A legal software developed with security as a primary component and has been deployed to comply with FedRAMP, HIPAA, HITECH and other security controls. This legal software can be super useful for law firms that are focused on HealthCare and/or Mental Hygiene Law. The out-of-box automation workflows become very handy for specific needs like FOIA, ROIA, Data Privacy, etc.
Another legal software that came across our team's search was Aderant, a legal software designed to serve Enterprises and Agencies. This platform, offers Case Notes, Time Tracking, Collaboration and Contract Management in one place.
Dibcase , for example, provides end-to-end solutions designed for Webb App. What sets apart this platform from the other ones is that it offers automation for appeals, denials and more, Drop Box and Google Drive integrations, fee tracking and projection of SSD fees.
Also, Zola Suite makes legal billing easier. It provides trust accounting to maintain ample reports. It was named one of the TechnoLawyer's Top Products of 2020 based on popularity among readers.
And finally Clio, not least popular legal software we've talked so much about in our articles.
So, as you can see, all of these tech tools are amazing and specially designed to meet law firms' needs. It would be wrong to talk about them in terms of which one is better and which one you should choose over the other because it all comes down to what your firm's needs are.
How do you define your firm's needs?
by Galina Barbascumpa