PracticePanther Legal Software

Vorteile

PracticePanther is intuitive and very user friendly. It has a ton of features that expedite minuscule tasks and free up admin time. It syncs with all my favorite resources, like QBO, MailChimp, and Box, making communication with clients a lot easier and keeps routine mailings operational. If you use a lot of form templates, the template builder is a major time saver and cuts down on user error and oversights. I use this program every day in my law office and am very grateful for how easy it is. Even better, the customer support team is phenomenal. I rarely have any issues with the program (it is easy to use), but when I run into something I need help with, a quick message to the PP team is responded to within minutes and the problem is solved or at a minimum I am given an update and expected time of completion. I couldn't recommend this program more to a solo or small legal practice.

Nachteile

Nothing, the team is constantly updating its software and programs that it connects to. They provide online videos to help and I frequently learn of new ways to use the program from regular updates by the team.

Vorteile

Price - either $59/mo or $49/mo if paid the year in full.
Fee to bill clients on-line: $.20 per transaction plus 1.95%
Workflow customizable - Yes, you can customize the workflow on different case-types.
Activity Log - easy access history.
Create Contact on the fly as creating matter - easy to create a Contact during the process of creating a matter.
Intake form for new clients - Yes, can put a link on your website so new clients can fill-out a new client form, and that info will auto fill into the client's PP account.
Time tracking timers - you can have multiple different timers open and running at the same time and assign them.
Mobile App - there is no mobile App, but the site is mobile optimized.
E-file integration - there is No e-file integration.
Color assignments - there are up to 6 colors that you can assign to parties & roles.
Task customizable - Yes, you can customize task flows.
Easy to create and merge documents - Yes, it's very easy to create and merge documents with the program.
PDF-auto convert - No, it cannot auto PDF convert a document.
Create documents that can merged - Yes. This program makes it easy to create documents that can be merged.
Support - Yes, support seems to be free.
Notify client when upload a document - Yes, you can notify a client a document gets uploaded that you want them to review or be aware of.
Email syncing - very good syncing with Gmail and Outlook.
Emails linked to a matter - Yes. Easy to link emails to a matter.
Client Portal - Yes.

Nachteile

The only thing that kept me from staying with PracticePanther, is that MyCase allows you to be able to set future billing to go out to a client(s) and forget it.
PracticePanther has a bit of a 'workaround' if you get the client's Visa/Debit card on file, but many times clients are uneasy giving you their card number.
With Criminal Defense clients that need to make monthly (or future) payments on a retainer amount, MyCase allows you to set-up future dates where a client will be emailed a bill, which they can tap on a button and pay on-line. This is the main thing that made me go with MyCase.
But if not for that, I would have stayed with either PracticePanther or Smokeball. Smokeball had/has the slickest software for being able to send emails from (either) Outlook or Gmail, and a small window at the bottom allows you to connect that email to a matter. Smokeball's software also made/makes it very easy to sync a Word document with a Client/Matter.

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Vorteile

We like the client portal where we can send clients messages and documents. The software is not easy to use. The reports are not user friendly, they do not meet our needs. It is difficult to maneuver.

Nachteile

I have to keep a separate data base for my clients because there is no way to print an envelope from PP. Our software automatically renewed annually and we had a staff member who left our company shortly thereafter. We decided not to replace the position. I contacted PP almost immediately thereafter and have been trying to get a refund of that user's account fees and after a month, they finally got back to me and they will not refund the annual subscription fee. So, if you are on an annual plan, you cannot reduce the number of user accounts you have. The three way trust account reconciliation is not a true reconciliation that complies with the Rules of Professional Responsibility, so we have to still reconcile using other software. The email sync only works with limited versions of Outlook. When we signed up, we were assured their customer service was top notch and the longer I am with them, the longer it takes to get answers. Many times, they will close my help tickets without answering the questions. If you leave a bad review for their company they will call and address the review immediately, but they will not address the underlying issue that resulted in the bad review. Despite me raising my concerns over the software, no changes have been made.

Vorteile

Time-keeping, billing, and contact management are our most-used features.

Nachteile

The templates are ridiculous! There is not nearly enough flexibility in fields to make them useful.

Vorteile

Being able to integrate all of the features expected of a legal management software in one, but in such a intuitive way.

Nachteile

Nothing. I am very happy with it. We've been using it for 2 years and they keep adding great additional features as we and other request them, but its still not clunky.

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