The landscape of legal technology changes everyday. To better meet your client’s needs and ensure you’re working towards your firm’s goals, you have to choose the best legal software.
But with many new tools and legal technology companies regularly entering the market, it’s difficult to keep up with the latest advancements.
In this blog post, we’ve put together what we consider to be the best legal software companies and applications that can help your firm.
Are you looking for a legal software solution that can provide practice management, accounting, and online payments and has hundreds of app integrations? Book a demo with Clio, and we can show you how it can be your firm’s central hub for running a successful practice.
What is the best legal software for lawyers?
For law offices of any size, legal software can be a game-changer. And as the legal technology field continues to grow, the question for law firms is no longer, “Do I invest in legal technology?,” but “How do I narrow my options to ensure we go with the best legal software for our business?”
Not all solutions are created equal. What may qualify as “the best” might not be the best for your firm.
Some questions that are helpful to ask when considering what software to go with are:
- What are our immediate requirements for the firm?
- Do we need a scalable solution?
- What kind of integrations do we need?
- Does the software synchronize with jurisdictional rules and regulations?
Of course, this is just a starting point. There are more questions to consider when evaluating legal technology companies and what will be the best legal software for your practice, including what type of legal technology companies are out there.
Ultimately, the best legal software for your firm will depend on a variety of factors, including your law firm needs, the size of your practice, and your practice area.
Legal technology: What it is and where it’s going
Let’s revisit our earlier definitions for a quick level-set.
Legal technology is using technology and software to help lawyers provide legal services more efficiently. This can look like automating repetitive legal processes, dynamically creating documents, and offering AI solutions to enable lawyers to see patterns that human brains can’t in order to be more effective in their jobs.
The use of legal technology skyrocketed during the pandemic; and it hasn’t slowed down since. According to the 2022 Legal Trends Report, Cloud-based LPMs have transformed the practice of law by enabling lawyers to offer better client experiences and increased flexibility, resulting in better well-being, happiness, and work-life balance.
The report also shows that attorneys using legal tech, specifically cloud-based, run better law firms, with data showing that attorneys are:
- 43% more likely to have satisfied clients (good for positive reviews and hireability)
- 34% more likely to be happy working at their firm
- 27% more likely to perform well at their job
- 11% more likely to have strong revenue streams
To reap these kinds of benefits requires working with the right legal software. In the next section, we’ll walk through the process of choosing the best platform for your needs and goals. Then we’ll explore some of the best legal software systems that can help.
Best legal software companies
Clio
We might be biased, but there is a reason why Clio is touted as the #1 legal software for clients, cases, billing, and more. Beyond our industry-standard software, we’re on a mission to create a more equitable and accessible justice system for all. We’re embraced by many in the legal industry for innovating the way law firms deliver legal services, and our technology helps bridge accessibility gaps and supports the client-centered experience. On top of these software solutions, Clio offers 24-hour award-winning customer support. Learn more about Clio’s law practice management software.
WiseTime
WiseTime is the first enterprise-grade autonomous timekeeping solution that helps legal professionals stay focused. WiseTime was developed by attorneys as a solution for legal professionals to track fair, accurate billing and accounting for every minute, without wasting any time recording this. Learn more about WiseTime’s timekeeping software.
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online is practical accounting software for lawyers. And its advantages for legal professionals amplify when you pair it with Clio’s legal practice management software. The two tools cover everything from tracking revenue and expenses to billing clients—primarily when you use them together. Learn more about Quickbooks’ Accounting software.
TrustBooks
TrustBooks is a legal software solution for small law firms that helps attorneys stay compliant with trust accounting requirements. This legal technology company touts their software as easy-to-use and built exclusively for law firms. Learn more about TrustBooks’ trust accounting software for attorneys.
Clio has its own legal accounting software, Clio Accounting; it helps to keep firms compliant with easy three-way reconciliation, and offers a seamless flow of financial information into your practice management tool to assist data-driven firms.
Dialpad
Dialpad is known as the industry’s most innovative business phone system. Dialpad’s Voice Intelligence transforms phone conversations into a document you can see and use, thanks to voice recognition and machine learning. Their software gives you and your team a deeper look into action items and insights. Voice Intelligence does the legwork to capture the details that matter most while you make and receive calls, send messages, and join meetings. Learn more about DialPad’s communication software here.
Fidu
Fidu is a client experience platform that delivers subscription legal services. Fidu’s software has everything you need to build a scalable subscription legal business. From workflow automation to scaling reliable customer service, they help you offer comprehensive legal services on a subscription model. Learn more about Fidu’s legal subscription software.
Proof
Proof is an application that allows lawyers to serve documents anytime, from anywhere, and can be integrated directly with Clio to reduce manual data entry, reducing errors. Receive updates and chat directly within your service in real time and receive proof of the service. Currently Proof has a nationwide network of over 1500 trusted and vetted process servers covering all 50 states and territories.
Legalboards
Legalboards is a visual workflow automation platform that helps legal practitioners create and organize repeatable processes to reduce the time spent on orchestrating tasks along a case’s lifetime.
It also was the winner in the Most Improved App category for the Launch//Code Developer Contest at ClioCon.
Through its integration with Clio, Legalboards streamlines time tracking and organizing tasks. It also improves the client experience by also automating things like email updates and communicating with clients.
Levitate
A legal marketing tool, Levitate merges AI-powered software with dedicated content specialists to help law firms build relationships and market their services. They provide tried-and-tested email templates specific to the legal industry, customized content support, and more. Learn more about Levitate’s marketing platform.
Gavel
This legal technology company has built software to help legal professionals gather data, automate documents, and create robust client-facing applications. From automating legal expertise to building shareable, client-facing workflow and document automation, Gavel offers many benefits for you and your clients. Learn more about Gavel’s legal product-builder software.
Clearbrief
Clearbrief, winner in the Best New App category at the Launch//Code Developer contest at ClioCon, is a patented AI platform for Microsoft Word that allows users to check their written work and save an average of seven hours per week on tedious litigation tasks.
With Clearbrief, Clio customers can apply powerful AI technology to any document to automatically make the text searchable. As well, using Clearbrief’s “Add Cite” functionality, they can directly access and cite relevant documents in Microsoft Word.
Kenect
Kenect legal technology helps convert your existing business phone line into a text-enabled line. Their impressive line of products boasts the ability to improve customer experience, generate new leads, and attract positive online reviews. Learn more about Kenect’s software.
Which legal software is best?
The best legal software depends on your firm's specific needs, but top options include Clio, which offers comprehensive case management, legal-specific accounting, and integration capabilities; PracticePanther, which has a user-friendly interface; MyCase, which focuses on client collaboration; CosmoLex, which combines practice management with built-in accounting; and Rocket Matter, which emphasizes time and billing efficiency.
For more on choosing the best legal practice management software for your firm, explore our post about how to choose the best case management software.
What is the best legal directory?
Top legal directories include Martindale-Hubbell, known for peer-reviewed ratings; Avvo, with client reviews and a unique rating system; Justia, offering free profiles and legal guides; FindLaw, connecting clients with attorneys; and Super Lawyers, spotlighting top-rated attorneys. Each provides distinct features, so firms should choose based on audience reach and review focus.
To explore the best lawyer directories, check out our post on the best legal directories to ensure you and your firm are listed!
Final notes on the best legal software
While it’s one thing to innovate and become antifragile through one’s own actions, firms also need the right technology to support them on their journey. Those utilizing the best legal software have the upper hand in the legal industry.
The power of artificial intelligence and the rapid innovation going on in the legal industry will create new opportunities for legal technology companies to offer valuable solutions to legal service providers everywhere. And staying on top of new entries to the market as well as industry favorites is integral to your firm’s future business agility and success.
Clio offers hundreds of app integrations so you can use the tools you have come to love, and find new powerful apps, all while using Clio as your firm’s central hub. This makes staying on top of billing, client relationship management, accounting and more a breeze, with everything living under one cloud-based legal software solution–Book your Clio demo today, and we can show you how powerful it can be for your firm.