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SimpleLaw

SimpleLaw is a unique law practice management software that features a network of clients and attorneys and on-demand paralegal support.

SimpleLaw is a unique law practice management software that connects you with colleagues and clients. It offers the essentials of what you need for case and matter management with strategic integrations to help make your practice more efficient.

SimpleLaw Highlights

Paralegal support. SimpleLaw offers on-demand paralegal support from vetted and experienced paralegals. If you need extra help on a project, just post it through the software’s interface and they’ll connect you with a paralegal. If you like working with a particular person, you can request that person for your project. This is a great option to have for those moments when you need extra help on a case.

Referral network. SimpleLaw is unique in that it offers you access to a network of fellow attorneys and clients. Potential clients can reach out to attorneys directly with secure direct messaging and lawyers can uncover co-counsel by searching the system. This makes it easy to share documents, notes, and other information with clients and co-counsel without needing to take extra steps. SimpleLaw also lets you network and work with attorneys you may not otherwise have the opportunity to meet.

Pay for what you use. SimpleLaw charges a monthly fee to use its cloud-based platform and secure client portal. If you don’t have any open and active cases during a 30-day period, you don’t pay. You only pay when you have an active case on SimpleLaw.

SimpleLaw Pricing

SimpleLaw charges attorneys $49/user/month if paid monthly (and $39/user/mo on the annual plan). They have custom plans available for firms with 3 or more lawyers.

Screenshot of SimpleLaw Opening Dashboard
A view of your dashboard when you login.

SimpleLaw Features

Website
www.simplelaw.com
Starting Cost
$39/user/month
Apps
  • Web
Installation
  • Cloud
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.
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
  • None
Open API
✗

Things You Might Want To Know

Task management with your calendar and notes. SimpleLaw does not have an automated task management feature, but you can set up reminders and tasks through the calendar feature or in the notes section of a matter’s dashboard.

Strategic integrations. SimpleLaw has email integrations for Outlook and Google and calendar integrations for Outlook, Google, and Apple. It also integrates with LawPay, QuickBooks, and has paid integrations with third-party software tools like Calendar Rules. The software offers integrations that are essential to practice management, but there aren’t many more beyond the essentials. SimpleLaw does have a mobile-responsive website as well as an Android app that lets you run your practice on the go.

Time, billing, and payments. Each matter includes a matter-specific timer to help you track time within the project you’re working on. From that same interface, you can track your hours and billing and generate invoices to email or print and sent to clients. There is no native online payments system, SimpleLaw does integrate with PayPal to help your clients to pay online.

Document storage and management. SimpleLaw integrates with Dropbox, so you will be able to view documents through its interface. You will not be able to edit those documents unless you first download them to your computer. While this extra step may feel inconvenient, it also means that your files are in your exclusive possession and control, which lets you dictate who has access to what for each file.

Private client portal. Both potential and current clients can use SimpleLaw for free. Clients interact with you through SimpleLaw’s secure portal where they can ask attorneys questions in an Advice forum, send you direct messages, and view documents you’ve shared with them. You can also reply to clients and answer questions of potential client through the portal, or by text through SimpleLaw’s secure Text Reply features. This makes it easier for you to communicate and share information quickly and safely with your clients through a secure network.

Continual updates. SimpleLaw meets with its users regularly to make sure things are running smoothly, and to listen to their feedback and suggestions. They take these suggestions seriously and are always working to make the software better for their clients (and yours).

Who SimpleLaw Is For

SimpleLaw is a good fit for solo to mid-sized law practices planning to use a law practice management software for the first time and for those who want a simple and straightforward practice management tool. Its efficient and user-friendly interface gives you law practice management basics without distracting frills and features you probably wouldn’t use anyway.

If you’re starting or growing a small or solo law firm and choosing a new law practice management software (or switching from an old one), you absolutely must join Lawyerist Insider. And if you’re interested in getting a powerful snapshot of your firm’s strengths and weaknesses right now, take the Small Firm Scorecard right away!

Page edited by the Lawyerist editorial team. Last updated November 26th, 2019.

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