If you’re an attorney who finds the manual tracking of time entries in Excel or the creation of invoices from scratch to be tiring, it may be time to explore a legal case management system. Many leading law firms have already adopted such systems to streamline their daily operations with automation, ensuring they stay organized and efficient in handling their cases, clients, and tasks. To make your legal case management system research process easier, here are five key features to look out for when evaluating legal case management solutions.
What Are Legal Case Management Systems?
A legal case management system is a solution designed to enable law firms to efficiently track and store vital client information. This includes contact details, billing information, case details and legal documents, task management, client communication records, and various other essential information related to the client and their case.
Why Is a Legal Case Management System Important?
A legal case management system is important for law firms because it provides a secure and centralized platform for conducting legal business. This system not only ensures the safe storage of critical data but also enhances the efficiency of attorneys by automating tasks with legal specific workflows, managing operations, and facilitating the tracking of billable hours.
Your Legal Case Management System Feature Checklist
Before diving into the extensive research to select the right legal case management system, it’s important for law firms to take some time to assess their current processes and objectives. For instance, are you primarily seeking to streamline task management, or is your focus on efficient time tracking and invoice generation?
Once you’ve clearly identified your goals and needs, you can then begin the research phase to evaluate available software options and their compatibility to your needs. To guide you towards making an optimal decision, we’ve put together a step-by-step checklist.
However, here are some key features to consider:
Efficient and Intuitive Time Tracking Solution
As an attorney, time tracking stands as one of the most important aspects of your work. Billable hours directly correlate with revenue, and even the best attorneys can occasionally overlook recording billable hours. An ideal legal case management system should have a robust time tracker, ideally one that can track multiple tasks simultaneously, enabling attorneys to monitor various tasks. With all-in-one solutions like PracticePanther, attorneys can effortlessly track time and convert billable hours into professional, branded invoices in just a few clicks.
Customizable Fields for Streamlined Document Creation
Attorneys are no strangers to the extensive paperwork and documentation involved in their practice. To streamline the document creation process, it’s essential to choose a legal case management system that offers customizable fields. These custom fields allows firms to populate existing information such as names and contact details, simplifying document creation and reducing the chances of human errors.
Automated Workflows for Efficient Task Management
Automation has become a buzzword in the legal technology field in the recent years. Many legal case management systems offer automated workflows to help attorneys manage their daily tasks and pressing case needs more efficiently. However, it’s best to find systems that provide conditional and branching workflows. These specific workflow elements enables easy customization based on case outcomes, allowing attorneys to easily shift to other important tasks, regardless of the outcome of a case.
Secure Client Communication Channels
Attorneys across various practice areas routinely exchange confidential information and documents with their clients. Legal case management systems that offers secure client communication channels, such as a client portal and two-way business texting, can be a great help to ensure no crucial information or documents are overlooked. These channels also facilitate streamlined attorney-client communication, keeping clients updated on the status of their cases in real time and fostering their trust in the law firm.
Efficient Storage of eSignatures
In many instances, documents require immediate signatures to advance cases. Instead of waiting for clients to physically visit the office for signatures, attorneys should have the ability to securely store client eSignatures. Legal case management systems offering this feature can be a significant advantage for firms dealing with documents that frequently require client signatures.
Discover the Benefits of Legal Case Management Systems Firsthand
As an attorney, your primary objective is to secure victories for your clients in their legal matters. However, to achieve this goal, it’s important to have a reliable legal case management system that can take away the burdens of your daily administrative tasks. If you’re interested, experience the advantages of a legal case management system firsthand by scheduling a demo with our team or start your free trial today.
