Top 14 Best Legal Document Management Software

Legal document management software is special software that has been created exclusively with law firms in mind. Its ultimate aim is to allow lawyers and their assistants to work in a more efficient way and can be defined as a complete solution for integrated practice management. The software allows the law firm where it is installed to improve all aspects of their client services as well as minimizing mistakes and/or malpractice.

There are many benefits of using a legal document management software system. As all legal practices are a business, anything that helps increase productivity and improves the general business practice of the establishment has to be considered a boon, and legal document management software is something that manages this admirably.

As a very large percentage of the work in any legal practice is paper-based, it makes sense that the effective management of all documents created will assist in increasing the firm’s productivity. But all this mountain of paper has to be dealt with effectively and manual handling is not an efficient use of the company’s time or resources; this is where legal document management software comes in.

In a nutshell, the software will help in all aspects of the company’s documentation – classifying, storing and then, easy retrieval of the information required. It will help in eliminating errors and inadvertent malpractice, and is rightly classed as an integrated solution that assists improve any legal practice.

Another benefit of the software, or reason to use it, if you like, is the Sarbanes Oxley Act. This is an act that requires every single organization to retain particular documents for a specific, pre-defined timeframe. This reason alone is probably the most important in getting law firms to get a legal document management software system in place.

There are obviously many more benefits for using such a system, but those mentioned above are the most common. There are many systems out there and each will have its particular nuances; ensure you research the software you are looking to obtain thoroughly before purchase. Compare it to others on the market and then make an informed decision based on what does or doesn’t work for your situation.

Legal Document Management Software – Advantages and Disadvantages

It’s a well known fact amongst the legal fraternity that lawyers, attorneys, solicitors, or whatever you wish to call them, can “lose” up to fifteen minutes of their working day searching for things they need but cannot find. And that can equate to over fifty hours time lost each year – fifty hours of billable time! Did you know that in an average paper-based legal office, nearly ten percent of all cases will end up having at least one item of information that cannot be located when it is needed most.

Going paperless, therefore, has many benefits for a legal practice, and legal document management software can go a long way to solving the issues at hand. Efficiency can improve when going paperless because the retrieval of documents from an electronic medium is so much faster, and can be done from the comfort of the desk.

Cutting costs is another benefit and this is achieved by less space being required for storing paper documents. As well as this, time, and therefore money, is saved on the filing and retrieving of the paper documents and there will also be a reduction in mailing cost as many documents could be sent via email.

Client or customer satisfaction will also improve due to a quicker response to inquiries, queries and requests they put in, as well as the fact that these same clients can receive electronic copies of their documentation as opposed to copied paper versions.

A reduction in the risk of misplacing documents is another benefit, as is the fact that by choosing to go paperless a firm is doing its bit for the environment by saving on such things as paper, storage facilities and printer toner and saving on the power costs of running things like printers and copiers.

Case management software can also be incorporated, and all incoming and outgoing paper documents can be scanned and then linked as pdf’s to the case management software. The same can be done with emails and electronic documents, while pdf court forms can also be generated directly from the software.

By going paperless a legal firm could also enter billable time electronically, automatically adding it while working and track billable hours.

There are some disadvantages with the “going paperless” system. A big one is when a firm doesn’t commit fully to going paperless and is then caught in a “half paper” and “half paperless” trap. This only encourages staff to search both paper documents and electronic ones.

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Top 14 Best Legal Document Management Software:

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NOVOTEMPUS

NovoTempus is a Legal CRM, Client Intake System and Project Management software that streamlines your practice and drives more revenue. Free 30 day trial available – No credit card required!

LOGICALDOC

A document management system such as LogicalDOC can help your organization better manage business processes and put order in the chaos of documents every day run your business.

EFILECABINET

With eFileCabinet you can experience business organized, automated, and accelerated. The leader in advanced document management software (DMS), eFileCabinet puts all your data right at your fingertips. Built-in workflow automation in document management software gives you effortless approvals, sharing, and organizing.

MYCASE

Start your MyCase free trial, no credit card required. The easiest to use and most affordable business solution for professional law firms in the market. Join thousands of satisfied attorneys who trust MyCase software to get more organized, efficient, and profitable. Simple time tracking, easy document assembly & billing, accept online payments, and much more.

IMANAGE

iManage’s industry-leading web-based document management systems for lawyers provides secure file sharing throughout your firm while adhering to company procedures and federal privacy regulations. Here are some of the ways law firms benefit from using iManage.

COSMOLEX

A law practice management software, comprehensive web / cloud-based legal practice management or case management software for attorneys & law firms.

CASE

Case.one is an all-in-one yet easy-to-use case management system for the US legal industry. Enjoy advantages of a secure cloud-based software.

PRACTICEPANTHER

PracticePanther is an easy and secure law practice management software for lawyers worldwide. Get a free trial and get more organized with the best and easiest to use time tracking features, document templates, online payments and more.

LEAP

Use LEAP’s smart legal document management system to file, retrieve and share case information.

• Locate legal documents and cases easily online.
• Track changes and automatically add error-free client data.
• Snap, scan, and save important files with secure, unlimited storage.
• Work with Microsoft Office, which integrates completely with LEAP.
• Become a paperless boutique law firm with LEAP’s cloud-based practice management software and mobile app.

ABACUSNEXT

AbacusNext is the largest Technology-as-a-Service (TaaS) provider for the professional services industry, Our tools are trusted by Over 1.5 Million Users Worldwide.

TIMESLICE

Lawman provides legal accounting software, document management, case management and practice management software for solicitors law firms. LAWMAN is Timeslices Legal Practice – Case and Matter Management, Legal Accounting and Time & Billing Law Software Application for UK Solicitors.

ACTIONSTEP

Actionstep is a powerful cloud-based legal practice & case management software with everything you need to run your entire law firm. Free 14-day trial.

AODOCS

AODocs lets you securely manage your documents and workflows, ensure compliance, and build business applications in G Suite. With solutions for every department, discover how AODocs can help you and your organization.

SMOKEBALL

Smokeball case management software is exactly that & enables your small law firm to truly become paperless.

STELLARLIBRARY

Stellar Library increases oversight, slashes overheads, and streamlines the creation – and secure sharing – of legal documents. From memos through to court orders, it’s never been easier to transition from computer screen into the courtroom or across from a client. Anytime, anywhere, on any device.

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Legal Document Management is Vital to the Success of a Legal Practice

Paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork. This is the curse of a law practice. Lawyers and their assistants have to constantly refer to documentation, while at the same time creating much more themselves. But by integrating a legal document management software system into their practice, they can ensure they will be able to locate, and retrieve, the right document as and when it is required. Without such as system they could find themselves drowning in a sea of paper.

Most law firms have their own mini-library with tomes depicting law, acts, legal history, old cases, etc. But if this library is not managed in an efficient way, lawyers and their assistants may spend a great deal of time trying to fish out the proper book or document; a legal document management software system can help them save this time and use it for more important matters. After all, a law firm is a business, and time is money, as they say.

As well as this, all legal firms have their own in-house administration to deal with; bills, invoices, time sheets, cash flow, etc. Most, if not all, of these tasks involve documentation of some description. Without adequate management of all these in place, a practice can run into numerous problems. Examples of the issues it can cause include not billing clients correctly or on time, inadvertent unpaid bills and a general mess of the accounts. These are not the problems any legal practice would enjoy having.

Nowadays, most documentation has moved onto computers, and even the paper documentation that is required as a hard copy are scanned and added to the hard drive. By having scanned copies it reduces the necessity of physically handling it. Having scanned documentation is also handy insofar as several staff could access it at the same time.

In normal circumstances, a legal document management software system would be housed in a central server and as such, all workstations on the network would be able to access all documents contained within, depending on access control privileges. This in itself is a huge time saver for the law firm as users would not have to hunt around the office for a piece of documentation.

At the end of the day, legal document management software on their system would allow lawyers and legal secretaries’ easy and simple access to a host of documents and files that would otherwise have taken time and manpower to locate.