PracticePanther Legal Software

A well designed CRM and so far, we cannot be happier with the product

Kommentare: Part of M Legal's mission is to stay innovative. Practice Panther (PP) as a case relationship management (CRM) tool has redesigned how the firm works overall. The user experience from the moment a client logs onto our website, uses the embedded intake form, to create a client profile to PP is seamless. This is just one of the time-saving tools we have discovered. This automated way of working and being able to integrate systems has forced M Legal to rethink how we work and more importantly, how to we can simplify our working processes. This has been a real game-changer for the business. While many of us worked with CRMs in the past, most of them were clunky and stand-alone systems that could not work with other applications or software. PP has made managing clients much easier, where our lawyers are in control from the moment a case is initiated, all the way through to billing clients. This has also given a level of transparency across the practice as lawyers can pick up any file from where the last person left off and delegate their work during absences. This transparency was a key selling point for us as we believe it is a core component of running an effective law firm.

Vorteile:

The user experience from the moment a client logs onto our website, uses the embedded intake form, to create a client profile to PP is seamless. This is just one of the time-saving tools we have discovered. This automated way of working and being able to integrate systems has forced M Legal to rethink how we work and more importantly, how to we can simplify our working processes. While many of us worked with CRMs in the past, most of them were clunky and stand-alone systems that could not work with other applications or software. PP has made managing clients much easier, where our lawyers are in control from the moment a case is initiated, all the way through to billing clients. We have experienced our fair share of poor technical support teams when using other software programs. With PP, despite the time differences between Miami and Sydney, their technical support team are always available, whether it is through the chat portal, email or by phone. Each technical person is professional, knowledgeable and continues to take care of your matter until it is resolved. Further, they always have something new to teach you about the PP system on each call. I cannot express how impressed we are, with what we consider as stellar service from this tech support team.

Nachteile:

Naturally, a product such as this is not going to have universal application across all legal fields. I would say that in the immigration space the status of a case is really important, so having a status bar that is customisable would be a feature that could be improved. Also, a lot of our data from clients are taken from in-take forms - we require intake forms that are easier to build and that have the capability of storing more information. While these are work in progress type issues, this certainly does not take away from PP's product, which we believe is a well designed and thought through CRM system.

PracticePanther is so easy, it feels like you're cheating!

Vorteile:

Everything. From the calendar to contacts, to matters to invoicing, this program has it all. The interface is easy and intuitive. I can usually accomplish whatever I want without trouble. When I have questions or don't understand how something works, PP has lots of online tutorials that include both video and text / image guidance. Very useful.

Nachteile:

When saving emails, there is a max file size when uploading attachments. Most of the time my attachments are too large to upload to PP.

Not Impressed

Kommentare: PP is my worst experience with a file management program. I have nothing positive to say other than the billing system isn't the worst I have used.

Vorteile:

Nothing and I would never opt for this file management system.

Nachteile:

Customer service is terrible. It takes forever to get a response and PP doesn't really want to have phone call to discuss a PP issue. Instead, PP prefers to engage in time consuming and unhelpful texting through its platform. This is a file management program for a tiny law office that doesn't really need to keep good records or track of dates.

PracticePanther is great for Law Firms!

Kommentare: We have been using it for a few years now and it has really streamlined a lot of our client management and billing and made it easy to function day to day.

Vorteile:

It is an easy to use software that makes client management and billing easier. I like the simplistic design/look of it and ease of use. It is very intuitive and there are multiple ways to go about accomplishing any task.

Nachteile:

I don't really have any "cons" to list. I really can't think of any.

Practice Panther is Perfect for Small/Medium Law Firms

Vorteile:

Ease of use. The platform is user friendly and we love that it is integrated with LeadDocket.

Nachteile:

There isn't anything that I really dislike.

Law Firm Owner

Kommentare: I researched and tested several similar law practice management programs, having never been exposed to anything prior to opening my own firm (old firm used calendar and a phone book, combined with Outlook). I found PP to be the easiest to implement, learn the features (and plenty of online guides and tutorials) and most cost-effective option!

Vorteile:

The ease of PP is paramount! I have found it very simple to use, invite clients to use, and for staff to train and use.

Nachteile:

I dislike the cost of using PP to collect credit card payments from clients, and I dislike that I cannot assign more than a single email to a client account/matter.

Best Legal Practice Software on the Market

Kommentare: Excellent. I used another competition at a different firm (LEAP) and this blows it away!

Vorteile:

Ease of use and integration of one drive.

Nachteile:

Occasionally i have trouble with some features like uploading documents for signatures. I would also like to see the subject line change to the law firms name when sendign docs for signatures instead of manually having to change it each time.

Awesome Legal Software

Kommentare: I am enjoying this software, and how easy it is to navigate.

Vorteile:

It is very user friendly and makes my job easier. I am new in the legal field, and this software has made my transition into this field smooth.

Nachteile:

I would love if there were a feature to add pop up alerts to specific client accounts.

Great software. Highly recommend it for small businesses

Kommentare: Very good. Human beings actually helped and knew what to do. Not very common in the software industry. Great customer support.

Vorteile:

It was so easy to retrieve client information and edit it. Invoicing was a dream. Loved the online pay option.

Nachteile:

I could not batch invoice. This was a real pain as I sent out hundreds of invoices.

It has really changed the way we interact with our customers

Kommentare: My overall experience is amazing. I love this software and it makes my life so much easier. I would recommend him to anyone who owns a law firm.

Vorteile:

Look and experience became one in every of our figuring out elements to align with PracticePanther. It's exceedingly smooth to use, and maximum of your facts is to be had on every occasion you want it. In immigration law, there are a variety of very vital dates and data to hold music of, so being capable of create all of the custom fields we wanted became a large win. I additionally love how smooth it's miles to hold music of our bills. We can mechanically music who made the payment, after which comply with up with every person we nonetheless want to get hold of from. Giving our clients greater transparency actually indicates that we will use generation to enhance our services.

Nachteile:

There are very few things I don't like about this software. One of the most important things when you want to switch editions is that you have to go back to the customer profile and then back to the editions before switching to a new one. It's very time consuming because you have to wait for it to load.

Great practice management software. The only short-fall is that it doesn't allow auto future billing

Kommentare: PracticePanther is a great platform and you should definitely give it a good try during a free trial period.
It also has Rules of Court deadline figuring if you're a Civil firm.
PP has great integration with QuickBooks on-line.
You can print checks directly from PP, or QB online to pay other legal vendors (Chiros, etc.)

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.

Amazing Software

Kommentare: Fantastic experience. We started on the lowest pricing tier (which already comes with 90% of what you need) and as our practice grew and we wanted to add some additional efficiencies (like automating through Zapier and ToDoist, etc.), we slowly grew to the highest tier, which adds a lot more integration. Also, their customer service is great.

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.

Long Term PracticePanther User

Kommentare: It has been a wonderful experience.

Vorteile:

I've been a PracticePanther user for four years now. The most important factor in my selecting PracticePanther was the ease of use. With my prior software, I had to hire independent contractors and pay for "maintenance agreements" just to have access to the help desk. With PracticePanther, their support team can assist. More important, they have videos that will walk you through the process of setting up the various systems and integrations. Finally, I love the integrations. PracticePanther integrates with Microsoft Office, Box, Dropbox and Quickbooks. Your information stays in it's original locate with seamless access from PracticePanther.

Nachteile:

Initially, there was a big push to produce new features. I'm not seeing new features coming out as frequently. However, I would note the quality of the new features, e.g., workflows with conditional logic and e-signatures.

Best practice management system I have used

Kommentare: I use Practice Panther as my main case managment system. My team and I LIVE on this software. It is far better than the alternatives I have used in the past and in other firms. We have it downloaded on all computers and phones for easy access in court at all times.

Vorteile:

I like the intuitive interface, clean look, and the ability to customize my own workflows.

Nachteile:

I would like to see a private server capability added in instead of having to rely on Box. One that we can access via VPN would be helpful. I wish we could add in a bit more automation customization. For example, I would like to be able to send my clients a customized email with attachments and helpful info before specific events, rather than the generic reminder email. I would also like the ability to create conditional logic in certain events.

Glad I signed up!

Kommentare: Solves my problems and I have already recommended them to an attorney I know that is looking for a new system.

Vorteile:

Case Management, Time Management, Hours log

Nachteile:

Did not like duplication of clients from spreadsheet and using Quickbooks. Should be a better solution.

Amazing Case Management!

Kommentare: This has allowed our office to track the necessary billing and time input so that we are able to detail it when clients request.

Vorteile:

The product is easy to use and navigate, allows for detailed input and storage of necessary information, and allows for the best time tracking.

Nachteile:

I don't have any cons with the software.

PracticePanther is worth every penny!

Kommentare: I rely on PracticePanther everyday to make sure that I am on top of my law practice and that I am not behind on what my clients deserve.

Vorteile:

PracticePanther is the first application I open up on my computer every morning! I look at my matters, and then what is scheduled on my calendar. Billing and invoicing is so easy with PracticePanther, and its integration with Quickbooks makes it a valuable piece of software for my business!

Nachteile:

I wish updating document templates was easier. It seems that I have to update the document template on my computer and then upload it again into PracticePanther. If there is a way to just update the template in PracticePanther that would be great!

Missed the boat

Kommentare: It’s got a long way to go to meet the expectations of a multi attorney practice.

Vorteile:

The software sure does “look” nice. But it really missed the boat on some of the more nuanced features of a law practice. For example, when applying a discount to an invoice, the discount must be applied to the total invoice (fees AND costs). Discounts cannot be applied to just the fees. Why in the world would any attorney want to apply a discount to client costs advanced on behalf of the client??? When I inquired about this, their answer was “just put in a discounted custom rate for the matter”. This response is completely unacceptable since I may only want to apply a discount to one invoice rather than all work done on the matter! This is just one small example of the half hearted attempt of this company to make a legal management software. This is just one of several problems with the “features” of the software. The timers are always so buggy. The software is just not refined at all. None of the features were well thought out. It’s like the programmers decided “Hey! This is a cool feature to add!” But never really fined tuned any of them to a fully functioning feature that could work well. They all sort of work to only about 50-60 percent functionality. It should not come as any surprise, though, since neither the founders nor anyone else on the management team has any experience in the legal industry. The company would be well served to hire some actual attorneys to advise them on how to fine tune their software to make it a truly great legal software.

Nachteile:

The lack of any real understanding of the nuances of a legal practice by the founders and creators of the company and software.

Practice Panther is a Great Cloud Solution for Solo Practitioners

Kommentare: I still had an excellent experience. I suspect that in time PracticePanther will address these issues and I will gladly give it a 5-Star rating.

Vorteile:

Practice Panther has a fairly intuitive interface for daily billing entries, templates for monthly billing and accounting for your trust and operating accounts for your clients. The learning curve was minimal in comparison to other systems I tried and the program was more responsive over other programs I tried over the internet. Tech Support and help files are easily available on every page. I found daily entries both fast and easy and the online billing system linked with LawPay is magnificent and has worked flawlessly for me. I was very skeptical of "secure" cloud-based billing and accounting but after more than a year it would take a lot to pull me away from Practice Panther.

Nachteile:

There are two cons to this software to be aware of. First, there is no single backup system to backup and restore all your files with just a few clicks. While complete backup is available, it requires you to go through far too many steps to make sure you back up everything. I have not yet had to restore anything to Practice Panther but I am wary that a system that requires multiple steps could have glitches in trying to restore from their backups. It is more than possible that if a restoration were required it might involve more "downtime" for a practitioner than he or she would like in order to get back up and running. This is where I think they need to most work. Secondarily, their billing review system has an issue that will throw practitioners off. If you create a bill several months ago and you go back to look at the bill to see what the retainer balance was at the time of that bill, the historical bill actually pulls up the retainer that exists now. That should not occur on a historical bill. Once a bill has been saved, the bill should not change unless you intentionally change other things in your billing. An old bill should never show the current balance of the retainer. It should show the remaining balance of the retainer at the time the specific bill is generated.

Powerful program and well worth the money!

Kommentare: PracticePanther has resolved issues with missed appointments and deadlines by easily tracking the same on a shared calendar that all members of the firm can see at a glance while in office and remotely when away.

Vorteile:

Easy to integrate from previous case management system, and a dream to use since doing so. Couldn't ask for a better, more user friendly product.

Nachteile:

Only thing we haven't liked is the ability to calendar multiple cases on one event, but PracticePanther software developers have promised to look into this feature.

Can’t practice law without PP

Kommentare: We have been able to manage 2 large group cases (895 clients and 683 clients) using PP. this included receiving payments, bundling payments, executing engagement letters for each client, storing and retrieving client docs, managing trust accounts for each group. Really amazing product!

Vorteile:

This product is awesome! We literally could not practice law without all its features

Nachteile:

We had a had time integrating multiple small payments into a single account. Everything as manual

Terrible practice management software

Kommentare: When you sign up, you'll get an invitation to a live webinar two weeks out. Totally unhelpful for someone trying to get up and running. I have been using PracticePanther for about one month, and I'm already considering changing to another PMS. The money I spent on PracticePanther is a sunk cost. I really think I should just cut my losses because if I don't, I'll end up spending a lot of time trying to manage and work around the software. I really don't feel like it's saving me any time at all. I would probably be better off with T-sheets, Quickbooks, and Law Pay only.

Vorteile:

Clients can pay online. I honestly can't think of anything else to say.

Nachteile:

Where do I start? The time keeping function is terrible. You cannot edit start and stop times. You cannot start and stop multiple timers in the mobile app. The software auto-saves frequently, and when it does, it moves the cursor in the entry to the end of the text. This is annoying. You cannot start a timer and then add the client-matter without causing the time to round up. The syncing with G Suite is bad. The software will not sync with all the fields in Google Contacts, and the "custom fields" in PracticePanther do not sync into Google Contacts. This results in a lot of duplicate data entry, which is what I was trying to void with practice management software. The software does not sync will with Google Drive well at all either. Apparently, you can't have any folders in Google Drive with the same name. For example, Client_01\general and Client_02\general would result in an error and none of your Google Drive documents will be visible in PracticePanther. The software billing feature is terrible. First, you cannot have multiple companies or entities tied to the same individual. Thus, if you have a contact who owns multiple businesses that are clients, you will not be able to list all those businesses under the client's name. To make matters worse, you can only email invoices to individuals who are listed under the company. I had to create multiple dummy contacts called "Accounts Payable" just so that I could email my clients their invoices. I ran out of space.

Slow and often times down.

Kommentare: When it's working properly, it is easy to use and intuitive. Unfortunately, it gets hung up a lot when you're trying to sort activities and task lists. It seems to be down quite often on Monday mornings. At least once or twice a month in the last six weeks or so. It's down right now (Tuesday, July 2, 2019) and my firm of 27 people cannot use the software. It was down last week for over an hour. Yesterday, it was getting hung up when I was trying to view the "task list" and there are several tasks that I needed to complete for my clients. In the past, the calendar kept getting hung up and our front desk team of three people had to keep our clients on hold for extended periods while they were waiting for the program to load. We went through their customer service channels and ask them nicely and with increasing urgency to please resolve the issue. Nothing happened until we posted a negative review and they fixed it within a day. Then they caused by telephone and asked us to take down the negative review. I'm starting to wonder whether they actually work weekends in order to do system maintenance of the program is not down during the week.

Vorteile:

It's very intuitive which makes it easy to use. It integrates well with Law Pay.

Nachteile:

It gets hung up a lot. The program is down for long stretches during the workday.

Legal Software - Very Complete

Kommentare: My overall experience with Practice Panther is that it makes our work tracking and communication in between the team and with clients SO easy. I would recommend this platform because it is a very friendly software with a good price.

Vorteile:

What I loved about this software is that it is very complete. It allows you to have a database of all your clients with all the information you will need to work on their case. Also, time tracker to track work time for every client. It doesn't only do that, it allows you to issue an invoice and send it to clients. In addition to this, the program allows to create matters, this makes it very easy to track the work and very useful because every client we had could have several matters open. The task assignment is amazing and the calendar features incredible. The support I received whenever I had an issue, was very good quality.

Nachteile:

What I didn't like was that it has an amazing sync with your dropbox and email BUT if you deleted any matter the whole folder in dropbox erased. So, if we deleted something just to close the case it would be deleted from our database in dropbox. We as lawyer, needed to keep files for at least 3 years.

Practice Panther is excellent law firm software

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.