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MerusCase Review: Law Practice Management Software

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Lawyerist Rating for Merus

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Rating Breakdown

Our Rating: 4.4/5

Our rating is based on our subjective judgment. Use our resources—including our rating and community ratings and reviews—to find the best fit for your firm.

Community Rating: 5/5 (based on 1 rating)

The community rating is based on the average of the community reviews below.

Composite Rating: 4.6/5

The composite rating is a weighted average of our rating and the community ratings below.

4.6/5

Overview
Featured Rating

What is MerusCase?

MerusCase is customizable, cloud-based law practice management software that’s best for small to medium-sized litigation firms. However, it’s probably not a good fit for firms looking to integrate third-party services.

Starting Cost: $79/user/month (paid annually)

Pros
  • True All-in-one
  • Litigation Focus
  • Turn-key Options
Cons
  • Not for Solos
  • Basic Templates
  • Lack of Integrations
Overview
Featured Ratings

MerusCase Review: Law Practice Management Software Features

Customer Experience & Support

/5

Price & Value

/5

Security

/5

Innovation & Future-Proofing

/5

Overview
Featured Rating
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MerusCase Review: Law Practice Management Software Video

Compare with Other Law Practice Management Software Products Download the Field Guide

Product Details

Apps
  • Web
Installation
  • Cloud
Software Integrations

Core Features

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.

Yes
No

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.

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.)

Text Messaging

Can you send and receive text messages and associate them with your matters?

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.

Open API

Compare MerusCase Similar Products

Select another product to compare:

MerusCase

4.6/5

Image of Meruscase Law Practice Management Software logo
Pros
  • True All-in-one
  • Litigation Focus
  • Turn-key Options
Cons
  • Not for Solos
  • Basic Templates
  • Lack of Integrations

4.6/5

Zola Suite Logo
Pros
Cons
  • Expensive
  • Not for Solos
  • Lack of Integrations
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Rocket Matter

4.3/5

Rocket Matter Logo
Pros
  • Client Portal
  • Integrations
  • Project Management
Cons
  • Limited Intake
  • Simple Document Management
  • Basic Templates
Read Rocket Matter Review

PracticePanther

4.7/5

practicepanther logo
Pros
  • Customizability
  • Intake
  • eSignature
Cons
  • Simple Document Management
  • Basic Templates
Read PracticePanther Review

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I use MerusCase?

MerusCase is a web-based law practice management system. Users require an internet connection to use the product, and data is stored in the cloud.

What is the price of MerusCase?

MerusCase does not publish pricing. Instead, they encourage you to schedule a product demo as a conversation starter.

Is MerusCase secure?

MerusCase follows industry-standard conventions for web-based applications. Communication between your device and its servers is encrypted via SSL technology. Information stored within the system, such as social security numbers, payment information, birthdates, tax ID numbers, etc., is encrypted with 256-bit hashes, more secure than the standard 128-bit model. Additionally, their security architecture prevents even the platform’s engineers from accessing and decrypting your information. For the tech enthusiast, more details are available here.

Does MerusCase integrate with Microsoft 365?

As of this review, MerusCase does not offer a “plug and play” integration with Microsoft 365. You can sync contacts and calendars to various devices, such as Apple’s iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and Android’s smartphones, tablets, and Chromebooks. Additionally, you can sync the platoform's calendar to Outlook, but doing so relies on a third-party software solution, and the provider discourages doing so.

Does MerusCase integrate with Google Workspace?

As of this review, MerusCase does not offer a native “plug and play” integration with Google Workspace. You can sync contacts and calendars to various devices, such as Apple’s iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and Android’s smartphones, tablets, and Chromebooks. Additionally, you can sync the platform's calendar to Google Calendar, but doing so relies on a third-party software solution, and the provider discourages doing so.

Can MerusCase handle my Trust Accounting?

MerusCase can treat trust account payments as retainers or prepayments on the client account. However, advanced features like replenishment requests are absent.

Can I accept online payments with MerusCase Review: Law Practice Management Software?

Yes. They offer a built-in online payment platform called MerusPay.

Does MerusCase integrate with Zapier?

As of this review, MerusCase does not integrate with Zapier. However, MerusCase offers an API for firms who want to create connections to outside products.

Can I automate documents with MerusCase?

Yes. MerusCase offers tools to create forms and templates using Microsoft Word documents as the starting point.

Is MerusCase compatible with both PC and Mac?

Yes. MerusCase is a web-based application. It will run on any modern web browser. The application features a mobile-responsive design, so it scales in appearance and functionality from phone to tablet to computer. There is no application to install for Windows, macOS, or mobile.

Additional Details about MerusCase

Customization. While most cloud-based software is built to be used as-is, take it or leave it, MerusCase is built to be customized. If the built-in case types don’t work for your firm, MerusCase will work with you to build custom case types. Plus, you can add custom document templates, task workflows, and reports.

All-in-one. MerusCase includes everything you need to manage your cases, including a full email client and accounting package.

Robust reporting. Whether you want a list of upcoming client birthdays, you want to break down realization rates by originating attorney, or you want to know who is your most productive employee this month, you can do it in MerusCase. And if you can’t, the customer support team will build you the report you need.

Helpful tools. MerusCase includes helpful features and tools for things like batch scanning and referral tracking. If you handle personal injury cases, you might appreciate the settlement distribution calculator. If you do family law, you might like the custody arrangement tool.

No native apps. MerusCase does not have an app for iOS or Android. What it does have is a fully responsive web app, and the first time you visit the web app from your mobile device, you will be prompted to “install” the app by creating a home screen shortcut. It’s not quite the same as a native app, but it allows you to get the job done.

Task templates. Like many law practice management software options, MerusCase allows you to create task workflows. Unlike many, task workflows in MerusCase are quite powerful. You can trigger a task workflow on any activity in MerusCase, like a calendar event, document added to the file, or anything else. It’s pretty cool.

OCR. MerusCase will run OCR on documents you upload and allow you to search within your documents.

HIPAA compliant. This includes the secure client portal for sharing messages and documents with your clients.

Who MerusCase is For

According to MerusCase, its target demographic is small firms looking to scale up, and medium-sized firms. Lawyers in that area may want to give them a review. MerusCase considers its sweet spot to be firms of 15–50 lawyers, but has clients with as many as 300 lawyers. The feature set favors litigation firms, which makes sense since MerusCase was originally built for workers compensation firms.

Not sure where to begin? Download our Field Guide

Take the guesswork out of researching, purchasing, and implementing the right legal tech products and services for your law firm. Our Field Guide answers your essential questions and breaks down the features most important to your business, so you can buy with confidence.

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MerusCase Community Reviews

5

Based on 1 Rating

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  • Andrea Hitzke says:
    August 23, 2019 at 2:52 pm

    What did we do before Merus?

    Our firm researched many online legal software companies and we decided to move forward with Merus. Moving to a cloud based system was challenging at first, but once our staff began to become comfortable with the new system, there is no looking back. The training Merus provided was well worth it. The customer service and tech support are amazing. The interface is easy to navigate.

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