Law firms run on deadlines, documents and billable time. A good practice management system brings these together so advocates spend time on clients, not admin.
1. Client and matter management
Every client should have matters (files) with parties, opposing counsel, status and assigned advocates — with conflict checks at intake.
2. Court diary and deadlines
Hearing dates, mentions and filing deadlines must never be missed. Look for a shared diary, automatic reminders by email or SMS, and a daily cause-list view.
3. Time and expense tracking
Advocates should be able to record time from a phone or desktop in seconds. Time entries flow straight into fee notes, reducing write-offs.
4. Billing and trust accounting
Invoices, receipts and statements per matter, plus client trust (escrow) accounts kept separate from office accounts, with clear reconciliation — essential for conveyancing and settlements.
5. Document management
Templates for common documents, version control, full-text search, and secure sharing with clients. Scanned documents should be searchable.
6. Security and confidentiality
Role-based access, audit trails, encrypted backups and MFA. Client confidentiality is non-negotiable, and data-protection law applies to the personal data you hold.
7. Reporting
Partners need work-in-progress, billed vs collected, matter profitability and advocate utilisation at a glance.
8. Integrations
Mobile-money payments, email, SMS reminders and accounting integration remove double entry.
Turtle Technologies delivers law firm management and legal case management systems for firms and legal departments. Book a free 15-minute health check to see one in action.