10 Best Apps for Attorneys to Run a Law Firm

By Lyle Solomon.

Running or managing a law firm, without a doubt, is not the same as it was a decade ago. Today, it requires much more than just managing a pack of attorneys or strengthening a long-standing reputation. Note that the legal landscape has become highly competitive and digital as well.

You might have seen legal attorneys, consultants, or lawyers replacing briefcases with tablets. With the innovative digital applications, they no longer need to carry a pile of papers or heavy bags. Plus, there is no need to pay visits to mahogany-fitted meeting halls.

Put simply, the legal industry has changed over time, and a record investment of $1.2 billion last year in the booming legal tech market has proven that. Considering the increasing numbers of legal or law firms becoming virtualized, the trend is likely to grow in the future.

On top of dealing with clients, keeping tabs on court dates, and managing case details, your law firm must have access to time-efficient and digital-friendly tech solutions. It not only helps you stay aligned with even the minute case details but also helps you compete with rivals vying for potential clients.

The good news is that there are plenty of apps for attorneys to help them become more competent and efficient in internal processes.

What Types of Apps Your law firms Should Have

Keep in mind that not all available apps are worth your time. You need applications that are designed to help your law firm be more productive and efficient.

That is why you need to be vigilant about the apps you choose to save your precious time and focus on the ones that serve the purpose.

Here, we have short-listed some apps that can help you solve problems and ensure quicker operations at your firm.

• communication apps

• productivity apps

• timekeeping apps

• case management apps

• dictation apps

Best Apps for Attorneys to Run a Law Firm

RingCentral

While client privilege is highly regarded in legal circles, lawyers’ privacy rarely gets the same reverence or importance. This is when lawyers or attorneys need digital solutions like the RingCentral app. The app typically masks your real phone number while you talk to clients.

That means there is no need to have two connections of the phone to manage your work-related and personal calls. You can work with the same phone number for professional tasks as clients cannot see your personal cell phone number.

It doesn’t end here as RingCentral also offers your law firm more with its smart features. This app offers team messaging to manage caseloads, share files, and collaborate on different projects.

NetDocuments

As the name suggests, NetDocuments is an efficient system that law firms can use to manage documents. From organizing important case emails and files to managing confidential documents, the smart app can do anything.

NetDocuments includes a rich set of options and features that allows teams in the law firm to collaborate effortlessly. For instance, the app can integrate with Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Outlook to help users maintain seamless data flow across the platforms.

With this app, you can securely share your case files with team members and anyone outside the firm. Moreover, the search feature in this app can help you recover or restore essential data archived in the repository.

Toggl

Looking for an app that can help you track time?

Toggl is your go-to solution with its cool and smart time tracking features. It doesn’t require you to take training courses or learn additional tactics to operate.

The app comes with super easy options to track time. Simply tap the “start button” to track time and click “stop” when your task is finished.

In addition to that, the app can automatically track all the websites and apps you use for more than ten seconds and convert that data as a new time entry. The purpose is to compensate for your absentmindedness with intelligent automation.

If there is no need for the new entry, you have an option to delete it.

Evernote

Evernote is one of the tried and tested apps in the legal industry. In fact, it is the most reliable application when it comes to capturing notes. It comes with an excellent design to create records on the fly in a variety of formats.

The efficient app not only takes, saves, and organizes notes but also integrates with your phone’s camera. That means capturing images from any surface, such as paper or a receipt, becomes a breeze. You can rotate, crop, and adjust images to the dimension you want and then share them from your mobile.

The app offers the added advantage of eliminating creases and marks in folded documents. You can turn your business cards into proper contacts.

Thus, it saves you considerable time when you need to file receipts; send emails to a new client, referring to the note you take on the fly.

Fantastical

Fantastical, at its core, is a regular calendar application lawyers can have to keep up with important dates. However, it can do much more than just scheduling events or setting reminders.

For instance, Fantastical is an excellent app to remove confusion when you’re planning or coordinating several invitees to an event at one time. It allows you to suggest invitees multiple times for the event. It offers an easy way to not only design and complete legal projects directly on the app. You may also add tasks along with the calendar events to get timely notifications to complete or accomplish them. The task notifier reminds you when a task is due and carries them over to future dates. This way, you don’t forget them and complete the pending ones.

GoodReader

Let’s admit: most law firms have to deal with piles of paperwork and documentation. From creating documents, reading to organizing them, lawyers have to deal with a lot.

GoodReader, in this regard, is the best app lawyers can use to organize the documents. It allows them to sync the documents with other platforms, including GoogleDocs and Dropbox. Plus, it is easier to create, edit, and share PDFs too

Google Drive

If you’re tech-savvy, you might be familiar with Google Drive and its cloud storage which makes creating and sharing documents simple. The feature that makes Google drive stand out is its direct integration with GoogleDocs.

That means you can easily edit all documents from your browser without any other program. It is secure and keeps your important documents safe. You can rest assured that the documents or files you need for the cases will not get compromised.

Dropbox

Dropbox is arguably one of the most essential file-sharing apps to incorporate in your legal practice. Gone are the days when lawyers had to carry or drag piles of paper files to court.

The great app allows attorneys to store their important documents in Dropbox’s cloud. It includes an easy-to-use interface to keep documents secure with all the security protocols, allowing lawyers to respect the confidentiality of the clients.

That is to say, you can notate the files right on the smartphone or tablet, and share them across many devices simply by downloading Dropbox.

Clio

Clio is typically law management software that comes with a great design to help solve law firms’ different case management issues. Clio manager is extremely user-friendly, powerful, and innovative software to help legal professionals manage the case details, secure client information, share documents, create and streamline day-to-day workflow. With this smart app, you can get everything under one roof.

The app’s strongest forte is its feature that can integrate a host of other legal tech applications used in law firms. An Open API and extensive App Directory, for instance, are two features that let lawyers integrate the app with several other applications that can improve the operation of the firm.

MyCase

MyCase, last but not least, is another all-in-one LPMS application that can help you organize the requirements of the case in a scalable and efficient manner. It comes loaded with plenty of case management tools to let you manage cases, calendars, emails, documents, contacts, and invoices.

You may find operating My Case overwhelming at first as it includes many tools and features. However, once you get familiar with all of them, it becomes very easy to use. It has a user interface that makes learning about the app extremely simple. That means you can explore all its functionalities within the first few hours of use.

MyCase is an excellent app to improve the efficiency of a legal team and deal with complicated cases without wasting time and energy in meeting the basic requirements.

Summing Up

With smart cloud-based technology, you can now optimize your customer service and valuable hours by improving your availability. All you need is to download the apps mentioned above and help your firm achieve its goals.

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About the Author:

Lyle Solomon is a principal attorney for the Oak View Law Group in California, where he specializes in consumer bankruptcy. In addition to his extensive litigation experience, Solomon has written several articles on financial well-being.

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