If you are a legal professional interested in ways to better your law firm, it is likely you have already heard of Clio. Clio is a cloud-based software made for law practices. This legal software handles various tasks, including contact management, client intake, billing, etc. Many law firms and legal professionals have invested their time and money into Clio, however, not all have been satisfied with Clio’s services. If you have been looking for management software for your legal business and are contemplating whether you want to choose Clio, look no further. We have researched alternative management software for your legal business so you don’t have to.
Table of Contents
What is Management Software for Legal Businesses?
Management software is a program that allows legal professionals to swiftly run and manage their legal businesses. They have resourceful tools to help plan, manage, and organize legal businesses and law firms. Management software allows attorneys and lawyers to work and focus on their clients. Legal management software normally takes over tasks that would largely impact the time and schedule of lawyers and attorneys. Many management software has the following, depending on the company:
- Accounting
- Client intake
- Calendaring
- Billing
- Case management
- Task management
- Online payments
- Law firm analysis and insights
- Time and expense tracking
The management software you choose should be one that offers the services you are most interested in for your law firm. Make sure you do thorough research before deciding on a management software system for your legal business.
What is Clio?
Clio is legal software that handles various tasks, including contact management, client intake, billing, etc. It is a globally known company, but it still has its pros and cons.
What Services does Clio Offer?
- Case Management
- Document Management
- Contact Management
- Calendaring
- Task management
- Mobile app
- Billing
- Accounting
- Online payments
- Time & expense tracking
- Law firm insights dashboard
- Client intake
- Document automation
- E-Signatures
- Workflow and email automation
- Appointment booking
- Client portal
What are the Pros and Cons of Clio?
Pros
- Secure
- Accounting and billing
- Customization
Cons
- The client portal can be confusing
- Cant recover or restore deleted documents
- Scheduling conflict errors
- Customer support
Top Clio Competitors and Alternatives
In this article, we will discuss Clio alternatives and the pros and cons of each legal management software in no particular order. We will discuss the following legal management software:
- TimeSolv
- Smokeball
- AbacusLaw
- Zola Suite
- CosmoLex
- MyCase
- Tabs3 Software
- PracticePanther
- AmicusAtttorney
- Rocket Matter
What is TimeSolve?
TimeSolve is a management software for legal professionals as well as accountants, consultants, and other professionals. However, over 80% of their clients are within the legal industry. They are best known for their billing software that has been designed specifically for law firms. TimeSolv’s legal billing system tracks time, and invoices, and increases revenue. The main focus of their legal management software is financing.
What Services does TimeSolv Offer?
- Invoicing
- Budgeting
- Time tracking
- Reporting
- Expense tracking
- Document management
- Credit card payment
- Project management
- Outsourced legal billing
- Integrations
- Customer support
What are the Pros and Cons of TimeSolve?
Pros:
- Many features
- Cloud-based
- Secure
- Cost-efficient starting price
- Easy-to-use
Cons
- The customer support team has been recongized as rude and unprofessional
- Inputting entries can be confusing
- The invoice layout and design need improvement
What is Smokeball?
Smokeball is a legal case and law practice management software. They offer services to almost every law practice there is. They are best known for their usability, how easy it is to use, automation, and how time efficient their management software is. Smokeball has a mobile app and offers many different features to its clients.
What Services does Smokeball Offer?
- Automatic Time Tracking
- Legal Document Automation
- Communicate client portal
- E-filing and electronic signatures
- Mobile app
- Legal form library
- Tasks and Workflows
- Legal case management
- Email management
- Legal calendaring
- Law firm insights
- Legal billing software
- Account management
- Integrations
What are the Pros and Cons of Smokeball?
Pros
- Responsive customer support
- Reasonable pricing
- Extremely easy to use
- Offers many features
- Simple
Cons
- Clients have experienced issues with billing history
- There is not an app for customers to use
What is AbacusLaw?
AbacusLaw is an all-in-one legal practice management software. They provide their clients with purpose-built cloud-based solutions. With secure document automation and payment processing, AbacusLaw has received a lot of feedback. AbacusLaw is best known for its security.
What Services does AbacusLaw Offer?
- Case Management
- Calendar & Court Rules
- Online Payments with APX
- Document Automation
- Abacus Private Cloud
- State Court Forms
What are the Pros and Cons of AbacusLaw?
Pros
- Secure Convienent Scheduling
- Cloud storage
- Easy to use
- Easy to search for client
Cons
- Can be pricey
- A lot of upgrades that are difficult to learn
- Lack technical support
What is Zola Suite?
Zola Suite is a fully-integrated legal practice management software. They focus on law firm growth by enabling them to be more efficient, agile, and profitable. Furthermore, they offer fast and engaging features.
What Services does Zola Suite Offer?
- Matter management
- Intelligent email
- Calendar
- Contact management
- Document management and automation
- CRM
- Task management
- Client portal
- Billing and tracking time
- Trust accounting
- Business accounting
What are the Pros and Cons of Zole Suite?
Pros
- Organized
- Automated features
- Integrations
- Trust account features
- Accounting
- Client records
Cons
- Software bugs
- Communication with customer support
- Costly
What is CosmoLex?
CosmoLex is cloud software for legal practice management. They have thousands of clients and integrate trust and business accounting, time tracking, billing, email & document management, and tasks & calendaring, in a single application.
What Services does CosmoLex Offer?
- Legal billing and payments
- Business accounting
- Trust accounting
- Practice management
What are the Pros and Cons of CosmoLex?
Pros
- Law office accounting
- Online payments
- Unlimited training and support
- Document management
Cons
- No CRM tools
- Pricey
- Can be slow
- Can be confusing
What is MyCase?
MyCase is a cloud-based case management software for small to medium size law firms. They focus on the specifics of case management and make the entire process simple for both lawyers and clients. The software help manage communications between attorney and client, and also has accounting and scheduling features.
What Services does MyCase Offer?
- Client intake and lead management
- Client intake forms
- eSignature
- Case management
- Billing and payments
- Client communications
- Documentation automation
- Client portal
What are the Pros and Cons of MyCase?
Pros
- Client communication
- Offer cheaper plans
- Secured customer portal
- Online billing
- Simple
Cons
- Quality is not improving
- Ineffective updates
What is Tabs3?
Tabs3 is legal billing software. They claim to be the most seamless integrated software for law firms. Tabs3 was created to help law firms become more productive and organized/
What Services does Tabs3 Software Offer?
- Billing
- ACH and credit card payments
- Financials
- Invoicing
- Client management
- Organize
What are the Pros and Cons of Tabs3 Software?
Pros
- Easy billing and reporting
- Flexible
- Effective upgrades
- Bookkeeping
Cons
- Can be difficult to navigate and learn
- Software freezing has been reported
What is PracticePanther?
PracticePanther is a modern law practice management software. It offers services to any legal business, small and large, and solo practices. Additionally, their website has many resources for legal professionals.
What Services does PracticePanther Offer?
- Case management
- Document management
- Legal billing
- Calendaring
- Legal CRM
- Integrations
- Security
- ePayments
- eSignature
- Business texting
What are the Pros and Cons of PracticePanther?
Pros
- User friendly
- Impressive pricing
- Good customer service
- Workflows
- Task management
- Simple
- Easy to use client portal
Cons
- Clients need to pay in full
- Bugs and errors that go unfixed for long periods of time
What is AmicusAttorney?
AmicusAttorney is a legal software management solution system. Offering services to any legal professional, It is software that focuses on time tracking and file organizing.
What Services does Amicus Attorney Offer?
- Case management
- Legal calendaring
- Document management
- Powerful dashboards
- Time and billing management
- Payment processing
What are the Pros and Cons of AmicusAttorney?
Pros
- Document automation
- Calendaring
- Store client contact information
- Calendar sync
Cons
- Customer service
- Software disruptions
- Can be overwhelming
What is Rocket Matter?
Rocket Matter is a legal practice management software that was designed specifically for busy law firms. It is for solo practices, small law firms, and mid-large law firms. It’s best known for its time and billing features. Rocket Matter has been recognized by many different review platforms.
What Services does Rocket Matter Offer?
- Time Tracking
- Legal Billing
- Calendars and Tasks
- Contact Management
- Case Management
- Legal Project Management
- Legal Trust Accounting
- Document Automation
- Online Payments
- Integrations
- Mobile Apps
- Collaboration
- Advanced Reporting
- Business Intelligence
What are the Pros and Cons of RocketMatter?
Pros
- Billing
- Invoicing
- Project management
Cons
- Mobile app discrepancies
- Freezes
- Slow loading times
Best Legal Management Software for Financing:
TimeSolv
Best Legal Management Software for Start-up Law Firms:
TimeSolv
Best Legal Management Software for Simpliciticty and Usability:
Smokeball
Best Legal Management Software for Security:
AbacusLaw
Best Legal Management Software for Tracking Client Records:
Zola Suite
Best Legal Management Software for Fully Integrated Legal Accounting:
CosmoLex
Best Legal Management Software for Case Management:
MyCase
Best Legal Management Software for Schedule, and Time Management:
Tabs3 Software
Amicus Attorney
Best Legal Management Software for task automation:
PaticePanther
Best Legal Management Software for Billing Management:
RocketMatter
Recap
Now that we have reviewed some of the major alternatives to Clio, hopefully you have a clear idea of what legal managment sofwtare you will invest in. Each lawyer, attorney, and law firm will have different preferences so it’s important to consider all the features, pros, and cons of each legal management software. Start by identifying your law firms needs, and consider which legal anagemnt system offers similar features.
