Choosing the Right Legal Docketing Solution for Your Firm

Legal Docketing Software Highlights

Legal docketing software is a tool designed to help law firms better manage their cases and client appointments. It allows attorneys, paralegals and legal assistants to keep track of their schedules and to-do lists from a central, secure location. By streamlining important legal deadlines and daily tasks, law firms can better serve clients, as well as improve their individual productivity.
Essentially, this software takes the place of the legal calendar methods that firms have employed over the years. Calendar systems are constitutionally dictated, meaning they must adhere to strict state laws. Because of this, legal deadlines can be sometimes hard to keep track of or are simple to overlook. Attorneys face the worst case scenario when they miss court appearances , hearings or statute-based deadlines. The right software can help ensure it doesn’t happen.
Docketing software can help by monitoring and reminding attorneys of important dates and deadlines related to each client. It will help track court appearances and allow reminders for any pertinent information related to that appearance. Other tasks set for reminders include sending information to a client about an upcoming court hearing or a new law relevant to their case. The software will also record the results of those hearings, including notes on how the matter proceeded, dates of new hearings, verdicts and final documents required.
The right legal docketing software will also provide an easily navigable client list categorized by filters, such as name, number and type of case. Firms can quickly sort through clients to find and access case information. This information should include electronic copies of written documents in MS Word or PDF format. Documents should also include filled-in legal documents, email correspondence and FAX information.

What to Look For in Legal Docketing Software

When it comes to choosing the best legal docketing software for your law firm, there are some key features you should look for. First and foremost, your docketing software should seamlessly integrate into your existing case and practice management system. The goal of being able to complete all tasks from one platform is to implement a whole-legality strategy. Your calendar should sync with case deadlines to ensure you don’t miss anything.
Another major feature to look for is automated reminders. This is critical in a practice full of deadlines, you definitely don’t want to miss a client meeting or court deadline because of missed alerts. Automated reminders should easily sync with a shared office calendar as well so that everyone in the firm can stay in the loop.
Secure document storage; you never know when legal holds or discovery may arise, so you should be prepared to produce documents upon request. Secure document storage is essential in the case of an emergency. Automatic updates to court rules is critical as missing important deadlines can have devastating consequences. Finally, you should be able to access deadline updates, court rule changes, and alerts via an easy to use interface. It doesn’t’ matter how great the features are if no one wants to use it. Training is certainly important as well, but if there is no incentive to learn how to use the software you’re wasting time and money.

Advantages of Legal Docketing Software

Legal docketing software comes with a toolkit of benefits that are invaluable to any law firm. It helps increase productivity by making it easy to quickly refer to matters, deadlines, and events, which allows firms to capitalize on time and ensure nothing is missed.
Docketing software helps eliminate errors that could lead to missed deadlines or missed court appearances, saving your firm from possibly going to court unprepared or losing millions of dollars in a single action.
A centralized repository library of firm knowledge, court calendars, and best practices organizes your information so that you can easily find what you need when you’re stressed and pressed for time.
No longer shall calendaring and docketing be the most dreaded of tasks for legal professionals. With a centralized calendaring solution, attorneys and support staff can easily share calendars and check on deadlines. That goes a long way to providing an environment of teamwork and support that can be the difference between a positive culture and a stale or negative one.
Law firms that use an integrated legal document or case management solution can take advantage of streamlined workflows that support best practices and integrate with others that are necessary for ensuring a successful practice. Those workflows can be monitored and customized so that they match the firm’s strategies and objectives.

Leading Legal Docketing Software Companies

When it comes to choosing legal docketing software for your law firm, you’re not short on choice. There are lots of providers out there, and they all want your business. Unfortunately, they often have wildly differing features and pricing models. TimeSolv is just one of the many software providers that focus on legal practice management. One of the most popular time keeping platforms on the market, TimeSolv allows you to manage employee hours, clients, and projects from anywhere on any device. The firm owner or manager can track and verify time entries with the software’s time verification tools and various reporting options. Litify has many similar features to TimeSolv, but in addition it also includes a range of client and matter management tools. Like TimeSolv, Litify is accessible on the go via mobile device, and allows you to track time entries, whether they are billable or not. Juicer Law helps firms manage their deadlines to create an efficient workflow. The platform helps you create accurate court calendars quickly , and maintains a centralized, at-a-glance view of all pending cases so that nothing falls through the cracks. LexisNexis time entry tools helps firms manage time spent on cases digitally, as well as print invoices that contain the full logs for clients. The Investigator tool helps you expose the truth about your case by assessing the assets of your client’s opponent. LawGro helps firms track the various activities in their workflows, and allows you to view the entire progress through a case via a Kanban-style interface. The software also includes an option for automation and tracking commitments. In addition to its docketing services, Thomson Reuter’s Westlaw platform also offers powerful document assembly tools and a docketing assistant that can help you move cases along efficiently. Regardless of which platform you go with, having a thorough understanding of your legal practice management needs will help you to make the right decision for your firm.

Integrating Docketing Software into Your Firm

The introduction of legal docketing software into an already established law firm does not have to be problematic. Many law firms, especially smaller ones, fear the disruption that will occur when implementing legal technology. However, this is a misconception. In reality, implementing patent docketing software can save your firm time, office space and money. There are a number of ways to make implementation of legal docketing software go smoothly. First, you should make sure that there is a plan in place for the implementation of the software. The plan should clearly stipulate the timeline of the integration, the personnel responsible for the actual task, how the implementation will impact the daily operations of the firm, as well as deadlines and milestones which will help in monitoring the progress of the implementation. Sticking to the timeline is crucial, as it allows you to avoid unplanned disruptions to your firm’s daily activities. Second, it is important to train your staff on the use of the new software. The training schedule should correspond with your implementation timeline. Staff training should occur on an individualized basis, as each staff member may have a slightly different outlook and relationship with the technology. It is important to identify any concerns, issues or questions before full implementation. Finally, it is important to monitor the use of the software. Make sure that the users are using the software as desired and in accordance with the plan initially laid out. This step is very important, as you cannot know the full functionality of the software and its effects on your practice until implementation is complete.

Assessing the Return on Investment for Legal Docketing Software

Once the legal docketing software is in place, it is time to evaluate the return on investment (ROI) from the software installation. Using several factors, such as increased efficiency, greater accuracy, and improved client satisfaction, you can quickly calculate if the new software is a winning solution for your firm or if it is time to move on to a new software product.
One of the major areas of consideration for the ROI is the increase in efficiency you will notice with good legal docketing software. First, using timeline features of the software will significantly reduce the amount of manpower that had to go into timely docketing before the software installation. Typically, you need fewer people and have fewer issues with deadlines when the software is in place. There are also features in the software that allow for repetitive calendar reminders for items such as documentation required or scheduled meetings , which help you and your staff to stay on track and communicate effectively.
The increase in accuracy can also be measured to calculate ROI. People are human and make mistakes. The software solutions reduce the potential for human error. When there are fewer mistakes to worry about, it enhances the reputation of your firm, and is something your clients will appreciate about your firm.
Client satisfaction is the final consideration when evaluating the ROI on legal docketing software. Your clients are paying for services performed accurately and on time. Clients will notice when appointment dates aren’t met and they are more likely to select another firm for their legal needs when they are unhappy. By effectively implementing the legal docketing software in your firm, you are more likely to keep happy clients.