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.
PCLaw is a good fit for firms looking for powerful billing and accounting practice management software. It’s also great for generating detailed reports on your business. Although PCLaw has some case management features, it’s probably not a good fit if you’re looking for full accounting and in-depth case management capabilities in one software solution.
More About PCLaw
PCLaw is a law practice management software program designed for Windows desktop. Its focus is on the billing and accounting side of your practice. You can manage vendor payments and business expenses as well as write and print checks from bank or trust accounts. Balance your accounts and quickly pinpoint any outstanding balances. You can even see your profit and losses in real-time, useful for both startup and established firms who need to stay on track growing their firm’s revenue. With PCLaw’s calendar, you can stay on top of important meetings and deadlines. Their dashboard is built to give you a lot of useful information at a glance—toggle between My Practice, My Clients, and My Business tabs to see practically everything PCLaw is capable of. Even though the software is Windows desktop-based, there is a mobile version you can access via the web when you’re on the go. Keep track of billable hours and all business expenses while you’re away from the office. The web interface also lets you access critical matter information and search using client number, matter number, matter description or type of law.
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.
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Client/Contact Management
Managing clients and other contacts is a core feature of law practice management software.
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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.
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Calendar
As with email, this feature means a full calendar client, not just an integration with Outlook or Google Calendar.
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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.
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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.
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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.))
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Document Management
Basic document management allows you to add documents and associate them with your cases/matters.
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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.
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Secure Client Portal
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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.
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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.
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Full Accounting
Some software includes full double-entry accounting features, making additional accounting software unnecessary.
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Billing & Invoicing
Does the software allow you to send bills or invoices?
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Online Payments
Payment processing is increasingly offered either as an included or add-on feature, especially with cloud-based law practice management software.
