What is legal practice management software?

Legal practice management software enables law firms to handle day-to-day administrative tasks as well as core business functions such as accounting, conveyancing case management and document control. The leading systems bring all of these functions together in one place.

In addition to helping you keep on top of the admin and remain compliant, practice management systems typically include features designed to:

• Give you the data you need to inform strategic decision-making
• Create bespoke performance reports
• Manage individual productivity and KPIs effectively
• Maximise the profitability of your business.

If you are involved in running a law firm and you’ve never implemented an integrated legal software solution before, then you’ll be familiar with some of the more traditional methods of legal practice management. 

There’s a huge amount of work involved in managing the accounting, finance and operations of legal practice, and we often see firms approaching these functions as disconnected silos with little more than a few spreadsheets to support them. Many law firms choose legal practice software because it brings everything together in one place and streamlines the management process.

Another key reason why you might implement practice management is the impact on your bottom line. On the one hand, it’s easy for you to demonstrate how more effective case handling, claims management and cost drafting leads to increased revenue; on the other, this type of software also delivers tangible cost savings by helping you to avoid potential fines for non-compliance with regulations and facilitating more efficient processes across the organisation.

That said, we recognise that a legal practice management system may not be right for every business. Some firms aren’t as likely to benefit from the scalability of an end-to-end software solution, which can support organisations in hitting ambitious growth targets. Similarly, although all legal businesses must comply with the SRA Standards and Regulations, Lexcel and the Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), it’s easier to achieve this without the aid of software if you’re running a less active organisation.

Now that you’ve got a clearer picture of the features that legal practice management software can offer, let’s explore some of the main benefits for your organisation:

• Effective contact management – your platform should offer a single source of truth when it comes to client data, keeping all of the important information in one place to facilitate more effective management of your relationships with contacts.
• Streamlined case management – all worthwhile practice management systems will help you to streamline the case handling process and make more efficient use of fee earners’ time.
• Centralised task management – with a comprehensive legal software solution, you’ll be able to manage the workload and productivity of your employees from one easy-to-use interface.
• Secure document management – keep legal documents in one secure place, find the files you need when you need them and meet the complex compliance requirements of running a law firm.

There are plenty of options open to you when evaluating which practice management software is the best fit. Once you’ve found a platform that integrates effectively with your other legal software tools, we’d recommend booking a free consultation and demonstration to ensure that it offers all of the functionalities that your organisation requires.

From here, you’ll be in a good position to discuss the onboarding process with your provider. Typically, this will include: 

• The delivery of a proposal document outlining everything that would be required for a smooth implementation.
• A review of your existing data and discussion surrounding the data migration process.
• A testing phase to ensure that your new practice management solution is ready to go live.
• The launch of your new system on a date agreed upon by you and the provider.
• Moving forward, a dedicated Customer Success team will provide ongoing support for your employees and make sure that you get the most out of the software.