Your matters live in six systems that do not talk to each other

Case management is the matter-centred core: the record that holds a single case with its documents, deadlines, parties, notes, and status. Practice management is the wider system built around that core, adding the functions that run the firm as a business: client intake and conflict checks, time tracking, trust and operating accounting, billing, calendaring, and reporting. A case management system tells you where a matter stands; a practice management system also tells you whether the matter is profitable, whether the deadline is docketed, and whether the invoice went out. We build both, and most firms need the wider system even when they start by describing a case management problem.

Trust accounting is built as a separate ledger from operating funds, because commingling client money with firm money is a bar violation in every US jurisdiction. Each client and matter carries its own trust balance; the system blocks any disbursement that would overdraw a matter's trust, records every movement with a full audit trail, and produces three-way reconciliation reports matching the trust ledger, the client ledgers, and the bank statement. Retainer replenishment, earned-fee transfers from trust to operating, and jurisdiction-specific rules are configured to your bar's requirements rather than a generic template.

Yes. Migration from an existing platform is a defined phase, not an afterthought. We map your matters, contacts, documents, time entries, and trust balances to the new data model, run a test migration you review against the live system, then cut over on a scheduled date with balances reconciled. Open trust balances and work-in-progress time are migrated so nothing is lost in the transition and the first invoice cycle after go-live is clean. For document-heavy migrations, folder structures and matter links are preserved so historical files stay attached to the right matter.

The common integrations are QuickBooks or Xero for firm accounting, court e-filing systems where the jurisdiction supports an API, DocuSign or Adobe Sign for e-signature, Outlook and Google Workspace for email and calendar sync, and a payment processor such as LawPay for trust-compliant card payments. Email sync files correspondence to the right matter automatically; calendar sync pushes docketed deadlines to each attorney's own calendar. We scope the integrations you need at the start and build them into the fixed price rather than treating them as change requests later.

Off-the-shelf platforms fit the average firm well and a specific firm rarely. Firms outgrow them when their workflow does not match the platform's assumptions: a multi-entity structure the billing engine cannot model, a practice area with document and deadline logic the platform will not configure, a referral or intake process that lives in three other tools, or reporting the platform cannot produce. Custom is the right call when the cost of bending the firm to the software, in lost time and workarounds, exceeds the cost of software built around the firm. We scope that honestly before you commit; if an off-the-shelf tool fits, we will tell you.

A system covering matter management, client intake, time tracking, trust accounting, and billing typically runs $60,000 to $120,000 and delivers in 14 to 18 weeks. Adding rules-based docketing, court e-filing integration, and profitability analytics brings the range to $120,000 to $200,000. Migration from an existing platform is scoped separately based on data volume and the number of open trust balances. We scope every project before pricing and lock a fixed cost in writing before development starts.