Whether you’re an independent lawyer or a partner in a firm, you’re faced with functioning as a lawyer and a business owner at the same time.
This is why managing a firm is challenging — you’re busy between billing, hiring, marketing, payroll, staff management, and making sure each client gets excellent legal representation on their cases.
Before work gets overwhelming, it’s time to change the way you operate your legal practices with legal software systems.
Based on a survey of 490 law firm attorneys, 84% said that using legal technology had increased their efficiency.
- 64% had a better workflow for faster delivery of legal assistance
- 34% reduced their firm’s operations cost
- 27 % improved their general health, assuring the quality of service they give
If you want to spend less time on administrative tasks and focus on client-facing activities, it’s time to pick which legal software system to try.
What is a Legal Software System?
A legal software system is a suite of programs that help law firms manage their daily business operations so they can get more things done, serve clients better, and go home on time.
It has functions that handle billing, accounting, documentation, records of clients, and appointment scheduling or digital contract signing.
What types of legal software systems do law firms use?
There are different types of legal software systems available on the market today.
Here are 5 that we believe would be most useful for you:
- Contract Lifecycle Management Software (CLMS)
This type of legal software manages your legal documents, related workflows and post-signing stages in one place. With Contract Lifecycle Management Software, your firm can spend less time on routine tasks like creating new contracts by using pre-made templates to meet your compliance needs.
Besides using smart legal forms it’s also possible to optimize your negotiation stage by bringing document collaboration to one environment and automate your approval and signing flows to speed up deals’ closure.
Common examples:
- Avokaado
- Precisely
- Document templates
If you want to create legal documents quickly and contract workflow is not a number one priority for you, this type of legal software would be suitable. The software has pre-made templates so you only need to fill in some information to start your draft.
This is helpful when your firm needs standard simple legal forms like Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), Franchise Agreement or Power of Attorney — you won’t really need much customization. The templates are good enough to fast track your contract creation process.
Common examples:
- Formstack
- RocketLawyer
- Document automation
This type of legal software lets you create re-usable templates for contracts and enable automated document generation based on such templates.
Some document templates are also able to automatically pull data from third-party sources and insert it to the right template’s fields. Other legal document automation tools let you use clause libraries to build your contract templates like a lego construction set. You’ll be able to maintain brand consistency and use conditional formatting, giving your firm what they need when they need it.
Common examples:
- Documate
- Legito
- Legal Practice Management
Lawyers use this type of legal software to handle daily law firm operations. They automate the activities of law firms, such as case management, time management, and appointment setting.
You just got an extra pair of lawyer hands when you use this solution. It makes life easier for everyone in your firm.
Common examples:
- Clio
- PracticePanther
- E-Signing
You know how time-consuming it is when you need to sign just, so your document is legally binding, right? Your law firm can now easily communicate digitally to clients from anywhere.
This type of legal software provides a more efficient way of capturing official signatures. They get the electronic counterparts of anyone’s wet signs. They are also eIDAS compliant and portable.
Common examples:
- DocuSign
- SignNow
Top 20 legal software systems according to types:
Contract Lifecycle Management Software (CLMs)
Avokaado
Avokaado is an intuitive platform for managing contracts at every stage of the contract lifecycle. Their API adds the capability to integrate into the existing systems of your firm so you can scale and control in-house legal operations without risks.
Top features:
- Shared clause library so contract makers can easily use standard clauses and clauses used in the previous contracts
- Collaborative workflow with clients to keep track of all the critical updates
- Branded client portal as a marketplace to sell automated templates digitally
Capterra score: 4.9/5
Price range: Starts at €29/month.
Free trial option: Yes, free for 7 days
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: The team is available for chat support on business days.
- Onboarding support is available for users on Starter Plan and higher
- Browse the e-books, guides, or help articles to support your basic questions. Training can be live, in-person, or through documentation
👉 With the Early-Adopter Program, the legal engineers at Avokaado guide law firms with optimization of document drafting and workflows and set up an account so that you can start selling your document templates in the Avokaado Store.
Contractbook
Contractbook lets you automate every step of contract generation with its data-driven approach. This legal contract lifecycle management tool adds a layer of professionalism to your business, which is crucial for communicating the scope of your firm’s services.
Top features:
- Integrate with 3000+ apps to save time and reduce errors
- Client portal that provides white-label contract management services tailored to your brand
- Data processing agreement (DPA) is available upon request with customers and partners with EU compliance requirements
Capterra score: 4.5/5
Price range: Starts at €97/month
Free trial option: A free version is available.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: Contractbook supports via phone, email, or chat.
- Search the online knowledge base or FAQs/Forum for answers to your general questions
- Online training, live sessions, and webinars can all be used for training
Precisely
Precisely is an easy-to-use platform that helps you produce contracts in a fraction of time, automate your contracts, use e-signatures, and integrate with apps you use everyday.
It also sees to it that your end-to-end contract workflow is automated, making sure that everyone is working with the latest version of the contracts at all times. If you have clients with no legal background, they can easily collaborate with you and input their information to draft contracts on their own.
Top features:
- Contract authoring & automated approval workflows while maximizing compliance
- Hosted with a high level of encryption found in those of the leading government and financial institutions
- Integrates with apps and services you use everyday (like DocuSign, Salesforce, and more)
Capterra score: 4.7/5
Price range: Starts at $62/month
Free trial option: Yes, free for 14 days
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: Precisely supports via phone, email, or chat.
- For answers, browse the online knowledge base or FAQs/Forum.
- Training can take the form of live classes, webinars, or written materials.
- Free demo that shows you how to centralize your contracting lifecycle.
Document templates
Formstack
Formstack fast-tracks how you start a contract. This legal forms software collects data from your clients using online forms that you made using the tool. It then uses the data to populate your new document. You can also start with pre-built smart legal forms for faster creation.
Top features:
- Data sharing is made easy through information routing
- Online form builder that you can customize
- Enterprise-ready security to protect your form data
Capterra score: 4.2/5
Price range: For document creation, pricing starts at $92/month
Free trial option: Yes, free for 14 days.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: Formstack supports via phone, email, or chat.
- Visit the support center for videos, webinars, and guides.
RocketLawyer
RocketLawyer makes creating legal documents effortless. You will only need to answer a few questions to create your ‘paper’ in no time. This legal document preparation software lets you edit and copy your document as many times as you need.
Top features:
- Document Defense, where an attorney reviews your situation and helps you hold to your contract
- Rocket Wallet keeps your billing information safe and secure
- API for easy integration and eSigning convenient on any device
Capterra score: N/A
Price range: Starts at $39.99/document
Free trial option: Yes, free for 7 days.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: Rocket Lawyer supports via phone 6 am – 6 pm PST, Monday – Friday.
- You can find helpful information in their FAQ section.
- You can also send an email, chat online or call their hotline.
Document automation
Documate
Documate helps you assemble documents and forms more quickly. You can create custom web forms that integrate data into Word or PDF documents. There are legal document automation consultants available to help you create workflows.
- Drag & drop file uploading interface
- Customizable interview questions to collect client data
- Open APIs allow integration with other software programs, such as accounting software
Capterra score: 5/5
Price range: Starts at $99/month.
Free trial option: Yes, free for 7 days
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: They’re available for chat, phone, or email support.
- Onboarding support is available for users with Starter Plan and higher.
- Browse the How-to-Guides or Video Tutorials to support your queries.
- You can either have the training live, in-person or via online documentation.
Legito
Legito gives you the ability to standardize documents and work processes. If you have colleagues who aren’t experienced in editing legal documents, this automated contract preparation system is helpful. Its automated API notifications increase transparency keeping your team informed.
Top features:
- Advanced document drafting automation to create contracts fast
- Unique workflows to create customized automated process flows for accurate routing
- Off-the-shelf document automation for complex logical dependencies on contract templates
Capterra score: 5/5
Price range: Starts at $1,200/month
Free trial option: Yes, free for 30 days.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: The team is available for chat, email, or phone support.
- Browse the Knowledge Base or FAQ to support your basic inquiries.
- In-person training, live training, and documentation are all options for training.
HotDocs
HotDocs lets you draft several types of documents and letters by just inputting specific information about each case. Once that has been input, HotDocs keeps those answers stored to generate records of the same case. No need to draft documents and letters from scratch.
Top features:
- Documents in multiple formats can be used to create new documents
- Secure Single Sign-On helps users of large firms log on faster and with more security
- HotDocs Market, the premier source for forms crafted by commercial legal publishers, helps you create documents faster
Capterra score: 4.1/5
Price range: Starts at $25/month
Free trial option: The trial version is a fully functional copy of HotDocs Developer that expires 30 days after download.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: You can choose between viewing on-demand tutorials or ask a consultant to help you out
- Personalized training options and on-demand tutorial videos
- Consulting services to assist you with template development, app integration, and more
- HotDocs Premium Support Program available for clients who want to minimize business risk and optimize their investment
Clause Base
Clause Base builds intelligent clause libraries and creates dynamic templates for more manageable contracts. It automates high-volume documents through Q&A-based drafting. Meaning, legal experts create questions for any template, the commercial team answers them, and then the legal team introduces changes to the contents of the documents.
Top features:
- Clause libraries can directly insert intelligent clauses into documents
- Users of smartphones can create complex contracts
- Built-in linguistics in English, French, Dutch, and German
Capterra score: 4.7/5
Price range: Starts at €300/month
Free trial option: Free version is available
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: There are a variety of support channels for users.
- Knowledge base to get in-depth guides
- Phone support for urgent questions and issues
- CloudBase Community to discuss questions in forum style
Law practice management
Clio
Clio helps law firms with the day-to-day business operations and in managing client relationships. It reduces time spent on cases, billing, and tracking of trust funds.
Top features:
- Online payments, automated billing, and financial dashboards to make billing easy
- Comprehensive case management to keep information consistent in a centralized space
- Client intake forms, email reminders, and lead status to automate client communication
Capterra score: 4.7/5
Price range: Starts at $39/month
Free trial option: Yes, free for 7 days.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: Clio offers robust support programs for clients.
- Aside from the Help Center, clients can reach out to them via email, phone, and even on Twitter.
- It has a community of high-growth developers who are building with Clio.
- Clio Academy provides on-demand training online.
Amberlo
Amberlo optimizes administrative activities in the legal processes — assigning bills, expense tracking, template creation, document storage, database, and invoicing. It also allows you to link bank accounts, hence deposits are updated or immediately invoiced.
Top features:
- Legal Billing lets you create and approve bills, apply discounts, and send bills via email.
- Legal Calendaring lets you create an event in the calendar and gives you full access to the entire client file from any calendar event.
- Matter Management gives you a bird’s eye view of all the elements of a matter on top of smart stats to keep you updated on the status of each.
Capterra score: 4.7/5
Price range: Starts at $25/month
Free trial option: Yes, free for 7 days.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: It’s a choice between Help Center and phone support
- They have a comprehensive and organized Help Center
- For urgent problems, you can call their support on the phone — no automated phone system
Rocket Matter
Rocket Matter is a robust legal software solution with Kanban boards, advanced reporting, and analytics. Lawyers love it because it allows them to simultaneously track their time down to the second — and on different tasks. You can easily access multiple files with tags, and this makes searching for documents easier and faster.
Top features:
- Business Intelligence Module gives actionable data so you can analyze your firm’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Partners with LexCharge so law firms can accept credit cards and can get paid sooner
- Kanban boards give you an overview of the status of all cases visually
Capterra score: 4.4/5
Price range: $35.00/month
Free trial option: Yes, 15-day free trial
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: Get the help you need in multiple ways — they have award-winning support that got them 5 Stevie Awards.
- Top FAQ articles so you can easily use the top features
- Free training via interactive webinars
- For personalized support, you can email, chat, or call.
TimeSolv
TimeSolv is a web-based billing solution for attorneys and other professionals. It helps lawyers track time and expenses while on the go while resolving errors in billing. This allows firms to see the progress that they’ve made toward the firm’s annual billing requirement.
Top features:
- Timesync tracks time even if you or your staff is offline.
- Trust accounting software manages Trust accounts while paying invoices automatically.
- Document management safely stores your documents, backup is sent to 2 different server locations every 10 minutes.
Capterra score: 4.5/5
Price range: Starts at $24.95/month
Free trial option: There is a free version.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: For support, you can either do it yourself, or you can seek help from Certified Consultants.
- Knowledge Base with video tutorials
- Online meeting and share your screen with support staff
- Third-party experts or Certified Consultants can step in and help
MyCase
MyCase provides firms access to the cloud so they can access any files — especially the critical ones — even if they’re outside of the building. It simplifies complicated legal processes with time tracking, payment collection, tasks tools, and end-to-end billing.
Top features:
- MyCase Payments allows clients to pay in the most convenient method for them as cash, over the phone, via credit cards, or eCheck (ACH).
- The MyCase Lead Status Board lets you track a lead the moment they become a prospect until they become a client.
- Through MyCase, you enjoy bank-grade security to keep your most critical client data and correspondences safe.
Capterra score: 4.7/5
Price range: Starts $49.00/month
Free trial option: 10-day free trial
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: Choose between contacting support, reading help articles, or attending training sessions.
- Support team is available on weekdays over the phone.
- Training sessions are great ways to learn how to make the most out of the solution
- For quick answers to your questions, check out the Help Articles.
Bill4Time
Bill4Time allows law firms of all sizes to charge billable hours from anywhere, track collections, issue invoices, and centralize the practice with customizable solutions.
Top features:
- Invoice Templates for simple, flexible, and transparent payment collections
- Firm Metrics Dashboard to view the health of your firm in real-time
- Trust Accounting with IOLTA Reconciliation
Capterra score: 4.8/5
Price range: Starts at $29.00/month
Free trial option: Free for 14 days.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: To get assistance, you can email, call or chat.
- US and International lines for phone support
- Email tech support for details
- Getting started guides, common questions, and popular help articles
Legal Files
Legal Files is a matter & legal document management software that can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud. Most of its user base are government legal departments, legal services clinics, insurance companies, and even global universities. If you’re using Microsoft integration heavily, this is an excellent choice.
Top features:
- Automatic time capturing tools, including accounting links
- Mobile app for the iPad and iPhone
- All pleadings index automatically in Legal Files Software
Capterra score: 4.5/5
Price range: Available upon request
Free trial option: No
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: The best way to reach out to support is to call them. You can also submit a form, send an email, or apply for a demo to get started.
CosmoLex
CosmoLex is a legal document software for attorneys that takes care of business accounting, timekeeping, management of documents, and scheduling. It’s flexible that even an individual attorney will be capable of using it and manage their billing and collection process at once.
Top features:
- Built-in accounting and compliant cost tracking
- Built-in trust account management functions
- Custom workflows to control what gets done by when
Capterra score: 4.7/5
Price range: Starts at $79.00/month
Free trial option: 14-day free trial
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: There are several ways to access support, from training to certified consultants.
- Possibility to join product experts’ live online classes from beginner to advanced
- Work with a Certified Consultant to work faster
- Partner support and migration services for those who want to use the tool
PracticePanther
PracticePanther helps you manage complex and fast-moving cases in your firm. It’s best in storing client information and analyzing where revenue is coming from. You will gain time management and efficiency in billing since invoices don’t need to be manually generated.
Top features:
- Built-in payment processing
- Powered by Box.com to prevent data leaks
- Has a legal CRM that will help you build relationships with clients
Capterra score: 4.7/5
Price range: Starts at $39.00/month
Free trial option: Yes, they offer a 7-day free trial.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: Need help? You can:
- Use the live chat on their website to get in touch with them
- Submit a form or send an email
- Or better yet, give them a call
E-Signing
DocuSign
DocuSign helps businesses and individuals to send and sign contacts from practically anywhere and at any time. Users can even sign documents in 43 localized languages.
If you deal with a large number of clients, the signing workflow allows you to collaborate on and sign the same document with them. You reduce the risks of unsigned files impacting your business.
Top features:
- Sign anywhere, mobile-friendly apps that work on iOS, Android, and Windows
- Highly secure and complies with US, EU, and global security standards
- Connect eSignature with the apps you already use with over 350 integrations
Capterra score: 4.7/5
Price range: Starts at $10.00/month
Free trial option: Yes, free for 30 days.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: DocuSign leverages their team and the community in providing support to users.
- Customer success helps you develop your digital agreement roadmap
- DocuSign University empowers teams with in-person classes, virtual courses, and a customized learning curriculum
- Knowledge Market documents the best practices in each industry and use case
SignNow
SignNow sends documents for signing to clients wherever they are. They can get it signed and sent back to you quickly — all online. With this digital contract signing tool, you or your clients no longer have to scan a hard copy or send a document that has been signed back in the regular mail.
Top features:
- Cross-platform eSignature platform so you can sign in the office or on the go, even if you’re off the grid
- Integrates with your favorite apps with a straightforward API
- ESIGN compliant to protects your legal data
Capterra score: 4.6/5
Price range: Starts at $8.00/month
Free trial option: Yes, free for 7 days.
Training/Onboarding/Customer support: They provide support via email, phone, and live chat.
- Help Center shows users how to upload documents, manage them, and send them for signing
- Release Notes is documented for easier reference on changes
- LiveChat on their website, accessible even if you’re not logged in
What’s the best legal software for my law firm?
The existence of these legal software solutions shows that the industry is changing. The way your law firm operates needs to change with it.
So if you’re a law firm looking to improve your client management, workflow efficiency, and document automation, getting legal solutions software is your best option.
Identifying which one to use can be daunting, so analyze your immediate needs from the top 5 areas: contract lifecycle management, document templates, document automation, law practice management, and e-signing.
This way, you can narrow down your choices. We hope this article has helped you understand what legal software systems are, what you should use, and why it’s important for your business.
👉 You can start with delivering truly client-centric services with automated contract lifecycle management. Try modern Avokaado CLM for free for 7 days.
