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Law practice management software is
software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
designed to manage a
law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...
's case and client records,
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
ing and
bookkeeping Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions, and is part of the process of accounting in business and other organizations. It involves preparing source documents for all transactions, operations, and other events of a business. Tr ...
, schedules and appointments, deadlines, computer files and to facilitate any compliance requirements such as with document retention policies, courts' electronic filing systems and, in the UK, the Solicitors' Accounts Rules as defined by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.


Purpose

Because
law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...
s do not generally teach new attorneys the business skills to run a law office, many offices have turned to technology to ease the learning curve and reduce clerical errors. The
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...
(ABA) has found that calendar and deadline related mistakes account for most
legal malpractice Legal malpractice is the term for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, or breach of contract by a lawyer during the provision of legal services that causes harm to a client. Examples A common example of legal malpractice involves the lawyer's m ...
claims. Therefore, an initial investment in software tools can yield long term savings in defending against such claims.National Law Journal (April 18, 2005)
"How Small Firms Can ward Off Malpractice Suits"
/ref> In fact, the ABA has an entire section devoted entirely to law office management, of which software and related programs are an increasingly important part of its mission delivery. Many state bar associations also provide assistancePractice Management Software Comparison Chart from the ABA
/ref> and discounts to their members for such software.New Jersey State Bar Association official web site
The main purpose of these programs is to allow a
law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...
to run more smoothly.Amy Hall
''Law Office Management Software''
retrieved from ''Article Insider''
Case Management Software, used properly, improves efficiency, provides for conflict checking, and enables a law office to not have to search for the physical file each time a client calls with questions, thereby helping to reduce the need for callbacks since the client can get answers on an as needed basis at the time of their inquiry.


Types of software

Software applications have become increasingly important in modern law practice. Picking the best software for a law office depends on many variables. Attorneys/Solicitors often buy their software based on their practice area. The New Jersey State Bar Association web site lists a variety of applications by substantive law (Bankruptcy, Collections, Estate planning and administration, and Real estate) as well as by practice matter (Calendar/Schedule/Docket Control, Case & Practice Management, Document Assembly, and Document Management). Regardless of the type of law practiced, practice management software (a form of
Customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information. CRM systems compile data from a ra ...
software) is among the most important. Features of practice management software include: * Case management (databases, checking
conflicts of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
and statutes of limitations) * Time tracking (for billing) *
Document assembly Document automation (also known as document assembly or document management) is the design of systems and workflows that assist in the creation of electronic documents. These include logic-based systems that use segments of pre-existing text and/or ...
*
Contact management A contact manager is a software program that enables users to easily store and find contact information, such as names, addresses, and telephone numbers. They are contact-centric databases that provide a fully integrated approach to tracking all in ...
* Calendaring * Docket management * Client communication * Contract Management * Court Case Status Tracker Other software systems that are useful for law firms include:
Password A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple devices), is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of ...
security,
Disk encryption Disk encryption is a technology which protects information by converting it into unreadable code that cannot be deciphered easily by unauthorized people. Disk encryption uses disk encryption software or hardware to encrypt every bit of data that g ...
, Mindmapping, desktop notes,
word processing A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consen ...
, and
email management Email management is a specific field of communications management for managing high volumes of inbound electronic mail received by organizations. Today, email management is an essential component of customer service management. Customer service cal ...
. Some firms use modified versions of
Open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
software. Most law firms also subscribe to a
Computer-assisted legal research Computer-assisted legal research (CALR) or computer-based legal research is a mode of legal research that uses databases of court opinions, statutes, court documents, and secondary material. Electronic databases make large bodies of case law easily ...
database for
Legal research Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a probl ...
. Such databases provide
Case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a l ...
from case reporters, and often other legal resources. The two largest legal databases are
Westlaw Westlaw is an online legal research service and proprietary database for lawyers and legal professionals available in over 60 countries. Information resources on Westlaw include more than 40,000 databases of case law, state and federal statute ...
(part of
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
, which is owned by
Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...
) and
LexisNexis LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer informa ...
, but other databases also exist, including the free
Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes p ...
, and the newer
Bloomberg Law Bloomberg Law is a subscription-based service that uses data analytics and artificial intelligence for online legal research. The service, which Bloomberg L.P. introduced in 2009, provides legal content, proprietary company information and news ...
, as well as Loislaw (operated by
Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer N.V. () is a Dutch information services company. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (Global) and Philadelphia, United States (corporate). Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a ...
) and several smaller databases. Some
bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...
s and lawyers' organizations have their own software.


See also

*
Paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...
* iELS * Advanced case management


References


External links

*
New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...
br>law practice management web siteState Bar of Wisconsin official web siteLegal Software Suppliers Association official web siteLaw Society of England and Wales Software Solutions GuideWashburn University School of Law - Legal Software
{{DEFAULTSORT:Law Practice Management Software Legal software