Law Practice Management Software Comparison Chart 2020

A review of select features of the most popular legal practice management software applications. While evaluating each application, consider Zola Suite’s next generation practice management platform that puts greater emphasis on built-in features as opposed to reliance on integrations with third-party applications.

- Overview
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Cloud-Based
- iPhone and Android App
- - (limited capabilities)
- Create one or more configurable matter views

- Billing & Accounting
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Trust Accounting
- Trust Checks
- 3-Way Reconciliation of Trust Accounts
- Accounts Payable Management
- Cash and Accrual Business Accounting
- Chart of Accounts, General Ledger, Profit & Loss Report, Balance Sheet & More
- Consolidated Billing
- Split Billing
- Split Originating/ Responsible Report
- - Originating only (no split responsible)
- Rate Cards
- Download bank and credit card activity from Major Financial Institutions to reconcile and convert to billable expense
- - (1 account included with subscription)
- Apply Trust Funds in Bulk
- Location and Departmental Accounting
- - Departmental only
- LawPay® Support
- LEDES Invoices Support
- - (must be custom-written)
- Advanced Productivity Reports
- Bulk Email Invoices

- Email
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Method
- Outlook plugin and native email client directly connects to your existing account.
- - Uses special forwarding address for each matter. Have to manually forward or BCC each email.
  - Add a setting to automatically forward emails to CosmoLex mailbox.
  - Uses special forwarding address for each matter. Have to manually forward or BCC each email.
  - Uses special forwarding address for each matter. Have to manually forward or BCC each email.
  - Outlook plugin only
  - Outlook plugin only
  - Outlook plugin only
  - Uses special forwarding address for each matter. Have to manually forward or BCC each email.
  - Outlook plugin only
- Built-in email client
- Smart Suggest Compose feature shows matter related contacts
- * Patented
- Convert Email to Task/Event
- Auto create time entry when drafting email messages
- - Mark as “billable” and record time.
- Sent messages use your actual account and show in your sent items
- Microsoft Outlook® Plugin

- Tasks
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Assign to more than one recipient
- Ability to tag tasks
- QuickTask “mind-dump”
- SMS Reminders
- Alerts for assignor when deadline missed
- Due Time
- Recurrence
- Task Templates
- Rich Text descriptions
- Smart filters including view of overdue tasks you’ve delegated
- Attach Documents

- Calendar
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Custom event categories
- Ability to send real invites that can be “Accepted”
- Invites sent using users’ actual email account
- SMS Reminders
- Auto-suggest Addresses from Google Maps
- Subscribe to other users' calendars
- Support for recurring events
- Date calculator

- Notes
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Foldering
- Drag and drop
- Rich text editing with ability to add images
- - (rich text only)
  - (text only)
  - (text only)
  - (text only)
- Auto Save
- Note Fields
- Create Date, Subject, Created By, Last Edited By, Last Edited Date
- - Create Date and Subject only
  - Create Date and Subject only
  - Create Date and Subject only
  - Create Date and Subject only
  - Create Date and Subject only
  - N/A
  - Create Date and Subject only
  - Subject and Body only
  - Create Date and Subject only

- Mobile Apps
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Built-in multi-page PDF Scanner
- Business Card Scanner with OCR
- Send and receive email using your actual account
- Built-in email client with auto-timer and ability to save to matter
- Apple Watch application

- Document Management & Assembly
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Drag & drop into folders
- Open/Save documents directly to Microsoft Word for Windows
- Open, edit and automatically save documents back to the respective matter; no uploading required
- Document Assembly
- Drag and Drop Form Builder for Data Collection
- Document Assembly can generate pronouns to avoid awkwardly-worded content
- Integrations with Box, DropBox, GDrive, OneDrive
- - (DropBox only)
  - (Box and DropBox only)
- Document versioning, tagging, commenting
- - (versioning and tagging only)
  - (versioning and commenting only)
  - (tagging only)
  - (versioning only)
  - (versioning only)
- In-document searching with AI enabled search
- (coming soon)
- - (text search only)

- Portal
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Client Portal
- Native, Branded Portal Apps for your firm
- (available)
- Two-factor authentication on initial invite

- CRM
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Manage prospects and automate intake
- - (additional purchase required)
  - (basic lead management only)
  - (intake form sharing only)

- Pricing
- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
- Monthly Per-User Fee (based on annual prepayment)
- $59-$99
- - $39-$99
  - $59
  - $39
  - $39-$79
  - $55
  - Complex license pricing + server costs
  - Complex license pricing + server costs
  - Complex license pricing + server costs
  - Complex license pricing + server costs

- - Clio
  - CosmoLex
  - MyCase
  - Practice Panther
  - Rocket Matter
  - ProLaw
  - Tabs3/Practice Master
  - PCLaw
  - Time Matters
Overview
- Cloud-Based
- iPhone and Android App
- - (limited capabilities)
- Create one or more configurable matter views

Billing & Accounting
- Trust Accounting
- Trust Checks
- 3-Way Reconciliation of Trust Accounts
- Accounts Payable Management
- Cash and Accrual Business Accounting
- Chart of Accounts, General Ledger, Profit & Loss Report, Balance Sheet & More
- Consolidated Billing
- Split Billing
- Split Originating/ Responsible Report
- - Originating only (no split responsible)
- Rate Cards
- Download bank and credit card activity from Major Financial Institutions to reconcile and convert to billable expense
- - (1 account included with subscription)
- Apply Trust Funds in Bulk
- Location and Departmental Accounting
- - Departmental only
- LawPay® Support
- LEDES Invoices Support
- - (must be custom-written)
- Advanced Productivity Reports
- Bulk Email Invoices

Email
- Method
- Outlook plugin and native email client directly connects to your existing account.
- - Uses special forwarding address for each matter. Have to manually forward or BCC each email.
  - Add a setting to automatically forward emails to CosmoLex mailbox.
  - Uses special forwarding address for each matter. Have to manually forward or BCC each email.
  - Uses special forwarding address for each matter. Have to manually forward or BCC each email.
  - Outlook plugin only
  - Outlook plugin only
  - Outlook plugin only
  - Uses special forwarding address for each matter. Have to manually forward or BCC each email.
  - Outlook plugin only
- Built-in email client
- Smart Suggest Compose feature shows matter related contacts
- * Patented
- Convert Email to Task/Event
- Auto create time entry when drafting email messages
- - Mark as “billable” and record time.
- Sent messages use your actual account and show in your sent items
- Microsoft Outlook® Plugin

Tasks
- Assign to more than one recipient
- Ability to tag tasks
- QuickTask “mind-dump”
- SMS Reminders
- Alerts for assignor when deadline missed
- Due Time
- Recurrence
- Task Templates
- Rich Text descriptions
- Smart filters including view of overdue tasks you’ve delegated
- Attach Documents

Calendar
- Custom event categories
- Ability to send real invites that can be “Accepted”
- Invites sent using users’ actual email account
- SMS Reminders
- Auto-suggest Addresses from Google Maps
- Subscribe to other users' calendars
- Support for recurring events
- Date calculator

Notes
- Foldering
- Drag and drop
- Rich text editing with ability to add images
- - (rich text only)
  - (text only)
  - (text only)
  - (text only)
- Auto Save
- Note Fields
- Create Date, Subject, Created By, Last Edited By, Last Edited Date
- - Create Date and Subject only
  - Create Date and Subject only
  - Create Date and Subject only
  - Create Date and Subject only
  - Create Date and Subject only
  - N/A
  - Create Date and Subject only
  - Subject and Body only
  - Create Date and Subject only

Mobile Apps
- Built-in multi-page PDF Scanner
- Business Card Scanner with OCR
- Send and receive email using your actual account
- Built-in email client with auto-timer and ability to save to matter
- Apple Watch application

Document Management & Assembly
- Drag & drop into folders
- Open/Save documents directly to Microsoft Word for Windows
- Open, edit and automatically save documents back to the respective matter; no uploading required
- Document Assembly
- Drag and Drop Form Builder for Data Collection
- Document Assembly can generate pronouns to avoid awkwardly-worded content
- Integrations with Box, DropBox, GDrive, OneDrive
- - (DropBox only)
  - (Box and DropBox only)
- Document versioning, tagging, commenting
- - (versioning and tagging only)
  - (versioning and commenting only)
  - (tagging only)
  - (versioning only)
  - (versioning only)
- In-document searching with AI enabled search
- (coming soon)
- - (text search only)

Portal
- Client Portal
- Native, Branded Portal Apps for your firm
- (available)
- Two-factor authentication on initial invite

CRM
- Manage prospects and automate intake
- - (additional purchase required)
  - (basic lead management only)
  - (intake form sharing only)

Pricing
- Monthly Per-User Fee (based on annual prepayment)
- $59-$99
- - $39-$99
  - $59
  - $39
  - $39-$79
  - $55
  - Complex license pricing + server costs
  - Complex license pricing + server costs
  - Complex license pricing + server costs
  - Complex license pricing + server costs

*Certain features are available only on Enterprise and EnterprisePlus plans.

Make the Switch with Peace of Mind

With so many practice management options on the market, it can be overwhelming to choose the one that best meets your practice’s needs. If you’ve been using another case management system, you may be concerned that switching to new software will result in a loss of critical data and hours of training for your entire firm.

Core migrations from these software applications are efficient and affordable:

…and many other applications.

Learn More…

* Core Migration includes contacts, calendars and matters. More comprehensive migrations including unbilled time and expense and firm financial information are available. Some restrictions and 3rd party data extraction fees may apply.

Updated October 10, 2019.

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Law Practice Management Software Comparison Chart 2020

Make the Switch with Peace of Mind

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