Running a law practice can be incredibly complicated. Along with managing cases and court documents, the accounting and hourly billing process can be extremely time-consuming. If you’re having difficulties maintaining your firm’s cases, clients, and overall practice, you may want to consider implementing case management software, CMS. While CMS has been around for many years, not many law firms are using this valuable tool. In fact, according to a study conducted by the American Bar Association, only 37 percent of small legal firms are using CMS in their practice. If you’re looking for a way to better manage your practice, here are the benefits associated with case management software.
Manage Deadlines
One of the most significant tasks that you have to handle in your legal practice are all the deadlines that are a part of any case. The Case Management legal software can help you to manage these deadlines, so you never miss an important filing or court date. The software provides you with options for entering deadlines pertaining to each case that you are handling and will automatically add them to your calendar.
Organize Client Files
The loss of client information can cause your firm significant problems. Even when you take the greatest of care and attention, a paper file can be easily lost or misplaced, leaving your firm at risk of failing to protect your clients’ sensitive data, explains Gavin Ward, founder of YouBlawg. CMS allows you to enter everything from deadlines to the case description, to contact information of every party involved in the case. Entering this information into a CMS allows you to access the information you need quickly.
Automated Billing and Time Entries
A majority of the CMS programs provide you with the ability to take your calendared events and record it as billable time with a few simple clicks. You can stop writing your billable time on a piece of paper to be later entered into your billing system every month. This can save you tons of time that can be used to work on more essential tasks.
Document Retrieval
Currently, when you have to organize a case, you probably have to pull information from many different places. The briefs and pleadings may be in a file on your computer, the transcripts may be sitting on a shelf in your office, and any email correspondences are filed away in your email system. By utilizing case management software, the different pieces of information that you need to organize your case will be in one place.
Work from Anywhere
Many CMS programs are currently online. This means that you can access your account from any computer as long as you have an Internet connection. You can work from your office, home, or any location. This can provide you with a huge advantage when you’re traveling, allowing you to stay productive even in your downtime.
There are so many benefits and reasons why your law firm should begin utilizing case management software in your practice. From keeping records of the calls, you make to organizing all of the essential documents for each case in one place.
