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Lawcus is intuitive, workflow-focused law practice management software that’s especially useful for productivity focused law firms with well-defined systems and processes.
Lawcus Highlights
Productivity focus. While most law practice management software is good for organizing information, Lawcus is also focused on velocity—moving your cases from intake to closing letter. Firms that use contingent or flat fees, or that have systems built to scale, will find this focus especially valuable.
Redesigned User Interface. Lawcus recently updated (Jan 30, 2019) its user interface to make it 3x faster. It includes updated client intake forms you can embed into your website, a LawPay and Quickbooks integration, and a way to create and send trust requests.
Secure client communication portal. Lawcus is built around collaboration, and that includes your clients. You can share documents and messages, but you can also assign tasks to your clients and schedule appointments with them.
Pricing
Lawcus starts at $39/user/month, but most firms will want to take advantage of email integration, Zapier integration, premium support, and API access. Those features come with the Plus plan, which is $49/user/month.
Firms with more than 50 users should ask about enterprise pricing.
For law practice management software, the following are essential features, and you should therefore expect to see a check in every box in this section.
Case/Matter Management
Matter management is the defining feature of law practice management software, of course. However, some software is targeted at specific practice areas and may implement case management in different ways in order to manage information specific to those practice areas.
✓
Client/Contact Management
Managing clients and other contacts is a core feature of law practice management software.
✓
Task Management
Basic task management includes creating tasks with due dates that can be associated with cases/matters and assigned to different lawyers. Some products stick to pretty basic task management, while others offer enough features to make any Getting Things Done devotee happy.
✓
Calendar
As with email, this feature means a full calendar client, not just an integration with Outlook or Google Calendar.
✓
Timekeeping
Timekeeping is a core feature of practice management software, essential for lawyers who bill by the hour but useful even for those who don't.
✓
Additional Features
Conflict Checking
An actual conflict checker is more than just a search box. This applies to software that actually has a conflict checking feature. Implementation varies, but at a minimum you should be able to search the entire database for matching names. It should check for conflicts accurately and intuitively, allow for a lateral hire to input their conflict database into the system, work quickly when new clients call, and comply with the rules of professional conduct for checking conflicts.
✓
Email Client
Does it include a full email client? (Alternative solutions that don't amount to an email client, like plugins for Outlook or Gmail, do not earn a check for this feature. See software integrations, below.))
✗
Document Management
Basic document management allows you to add documents and associate them with your cases/matters.
✓
Document Assembly
Loading your firm’s document templates into your law practice management software can save time and ensure consistency. This check means basic document assembly suitable for form letters, invoices, etc. For advanced document assembly, you’ll probably need additional software.
✓
Secure Client Portal
✓
Basic Bookkeeping
This means basic checkbook register–style bookkeeping, which is more limited than full accounting. You should be able to keep track of your operating accounts and reconcile your balances, but you may still need full accounting software.
✗
Trust Accounting
This means you can track your client trust accounts, including expenses and payments. It is normal to see trust accounting without basic bookkeeping or full accounting, in which case you will need something else for accounting.
✓
Full Accounting
Some software includes full double-entry accounting features, making additional accounting software unnecessary.
✗
Billing & Invoicing
Does the software allow you to send bills or invoices?
✓
Online Payments
Payment processing is increasingly offered either as an included or add-on feature, especially with cloud-based law practice management software.
✓
Software Integrations
Box
Dropbox
Gmail
Google Calendar
Google Drive
LawPay
Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Outlook
OneDrive
QuickBooks Online
Zapier
Open API
✗
Things You Might Want To Know
Client intake features. With Lawcus, you can easily create custom client intake forms to email, embed onto your website, or provide a link to your intake form. You’ll be able to create intake forms that feature multiple choice or fill-in answers, multiple pages, or even conditional logic for a more pointed intake process.
Kanban boards. You don’t have to know anything about Agile project management to use Lawcus, but if you do you will feel right at home building your workflows in its Kanban-style boards. And if you prefer lists to boards, you can switch views.
Full API and Zapier integration. Lawcus has a full API and supports Zapier, where all its integrations are updated instantly. In short, if you want to connect Lawcus to any other web-based software, you should be able to.
Other integrations. Aside from its API, LawPay, QuickBooks, and Zapier integrations, Lawcus also integrates with DropBox, One Drive, and Google Drive to allow you to upload and sync files between your accounts.
Who Lawcus is For
Lawcus would be a good fit for solo attorneys and firms with fewer than 20 people who are looking for a straight-forward and transparent law practice management software they can use anywhere with a connection.
