The Benefits of Having Law Firm Software

Running day-to-day duties in legal practice can be a hassle. That document you were sure was sitting at the top of the pile is nowhere to be seen. The Word file containing your recent trial notes is lost somewhere in the abyss of computer folders. That check you received earlier bounced and now you have to sift through pages of contact information to find the right phone number.

Juggling the business aspects of your law firm shouldn’t add to your daily stress. That’s why law firm software, or legal software, is a staple in any legal practice system.

But what is legal software?

Legal software is any program run on a computer to enhance efficiency and organization. Think automating the boring stuff while maximizing time usage. You can achieve this by cutting down on time spent finding the correct files and information or jumping through hoops to connect with a client.

Firm productivity and efficiency tend to increase when switching to software that handles the following:

  • Time and billing
  • Calendar management
  • Document management
  • Payment processing
  • Email management
  • Task management
  • ESignature

In fact, in the 2022 Legal Industry Report a survey of over 2300 legal practitioners showed a significant preference for having software handle these activities.~1~

Of course, having all these applications spread out can be tedious and even create more work in the long run. A legal management system is recommended to improve workflow efficiency.

A legal management system is any software providing a library of legal software in one easy-to-manage software application, allowing efficient law firm practice management without wasting time and energy trying to juggle the ins and outs of each separate system.

The increase in overall efficiency and productivity alone can cut back on overhead costs.

So you have the legal software you need to ditch the pens, notepads, random computer files, and outdated payment systems. You may find yourself:

  • Struggling to remember which software program does what
  • Which of the various programs needs updated
  • Which of the dozen windows on your screen are needed to reference a trial to a client or a client to a payment

These are common issues when dealing with stand-alone software. Cue the legal management system, also known as legal practice management.

Legal practice management is an all-encompassing management system that runs various law firm software such as:

  • Case management software for lawyers
  • Appointment scheduling
  • Fund sharing
  • Enterprise legal management

Let’s break some of that down.

Case management software for lawyers is, put simply, software used by lawyers to keep track of and organize client and case information. Think of all those physical files and filing cabinets taking up desk and floor space.

What is enterprise legal management (ELM)?

ELM is law firm software, often included in legal practice management software, that delivers and tracks training activities. With the help of dedicated software, or software uniquely defined to a specific business or practice, ELM can be tailored to provide only the job-specific training those employees need.

Dedicated software can be applied beyond this even to include legal practice management software.

Imagine a world where you have one program connecting all aspects of your business firm. One download for all updates. A tracking system that automatically ties together relevant.

Imagine what you can do given an extra 30 minutes a day.

Your interest is piqued, but what if you are still living in the age of physical filing cabinets or outdated computer systems?

In short, law firm software is computer programs built to assist legal teams in specific day-to-day business activities. Law firm software can come in two types:

  1. Bundled in a practice management system
  2. Stand-alone programs

Stand-alone programs often include legal software for home use. These are programs sufficient for the everyday person looking to save on legal costs but not necessarily equipped to handle an entire legal firm. These types of legal software are generally on-premise software requiring physical discs or access codes to download the program into computer memory.

In contrast to the on-premises examples, some of the best legal operations software are cloud-based software systems. Cloud-based programs provide more access and data management for larger firms without slowing down your computer network and systems.

Let’s take a closer look at the types of legal software available:

  • Legal forms and contracts - helps manage legal forms and contracts
  • Will and trust makers - helps create and manage will and trust documents
  • Database management systems - helps keep track of legal business data
  • Case management software - helps keep track of case-related information
  • Legal billing software - helps streamline billing processes
  • Legal research software - helps in the process of legal research

Even With the vast amount of legal software available, an enterprise legal management software system would have to become increasingly complex and require more time to meet the training requirements for each software program.

Imagine a system that trains the team on one software, one program. Imagine what a whole team could accomplish with an extra 30 minutes.

Making the switch to legal software and a legal management system makes sense. It saves on time and cost.

But where do you go from here? How do you decide on the right software?

Several legal software companies are offering their plans and services.

Some software companies offer only on-premises legal case management software. This is software downloaded directly into computer memory. Any professional law firm should avoid this option as it holds the lowest scalability and ease of use with little to no customization for dedicated software.

Other companies offer web-based legal operations software. Like cloud-based software, this is a step up from on-premises software in terms of increased scalability and memory capacity. The downfall, however, is that web-based software runs on a single server with limited memory capacity. Scalability can still be an issue for larger firms and, while some customization is available, a completely dedicated system with dedicated software is very difficult to achieve. Furthermore, if the server goes down access is lost.

Cloud-based software companies are the third and best option. In a cloud-based approach, software and applications run on large networks of computers acting as a network of servers. This is great because it decreases space and allows for high levels of scalability while allowing the capability of tailoring the system specifically for any given firm’s needs. It also benefits from maintaining access if one or even several servers go down.

Realistically, when looking for a good software company the following criteria should be taken into account:

  • Ease of use
  • Scalability
  • Interconnections of data
  • Application speed
  • Organization
  • Learning curve
  • The initial amount of time freed up

That last bullet point is key. If you can find a system that frees up as much time from your schedule with the least time training, you are gaining more time for the business, the employees, and the clients. Time is money.

In the long run, the best legal software involves a cloud-based company offering as many dedicated software options as possible.

Likewise, the best law practice management software for solo law practitioners should involve limiting the amount of software clogging up computer and brain memory space. A one-man firm is stretched thin without the proper legal software.

So the decision has been made. You want the best legal software that is cloud-based and packaged in an easy-to-use management software program.

But what is the best law firm program available?

We recommend goVirtualOffice. It includes:

  • Legal management system with client resource management
  • Time and expense tracking
  • Client services
  • Work in progress (WIP) and billing
  • Workflow automation and optimization
  • Finance, and accounting

All within an easy-to-use cloud-based system.

  • Looking further into their services you’ll find goVirtualOffice also offers:
  • Initial evaluation to determine the best program for your practice
  • Smooth implementation of the management system
  • Project recovery and rescue
  • Optimization and support even after the system has been set up and running
  • Custom development to tailor the program to your company’s needs
  • Ongoing support and training AFTER implementation

But why are they the best?

GVO has been in the business for over 16 years, providing them with a wealth of knowledge above their competition. The team largely consists of former CFOs, CPAs, senior business managers, and industry experts. They offer cloud-based services with dedicated software specifically designed to fit into your system.

Their clients have some interesting things to say as well:

“The ability to track clients through CRM, and then have a dashboard of predicted upcoming revenue based on new clients added or lost, is huge.” — Tim M.

“Every Monday we run a bunch of reports, distribute them and then use them to report on individual performance, it’s nice to be able to share that data in real-time so that our associates are ‘living’ it every day, versus waiting for a report.” — Frank V.

“I like that time entry and workflow are all in one system…Monitoring projects on the dashboards has helped make workflow and keeping tabs on your workload way easier.” — Dilyana F.

GoVirtualOffice is the best way to break free from mundane business activities and save your team time and your business money. With these options imagine the success you can achieve.

  1. mycase, ‘2022 Legal Industry Trends Report’ (mycase.com, 2022) https://www.mycase.com/reports/2022-legal-industry-report/ accessed 28 August 2023