Final Verdict:
The 6 Best Software for Legal Management

Written by Asim Qureshi
By Asim Qureshi, CEO Jibble

As a CEO of a time tracking and attendance app company, my team and I are constantly looking at the best B2B software to know what’s going on in the market. That means we’re often researching about and/or playing around with their products, you know, it’s part of the job. Here, I share my findings of that research, giving credit to those products where credit is due and being honest about which products I believe you really need to avoid. And so, there you have it, this review, and in it, I try to be honest, fair, and insightful. I hope it helps you make the right decision…

In the fast-paced world of legal practice, every minute counts—literally. For law firms, effective time tracking is not just about billing; it’s about maximizing efficiency, ensuring compliance, and providing clients with transparent, accurate invoicing.

Find, in this review, the leading apps on the market, evaluating their features, usability, and overall value for legal professionals.

The definitive list

1. Jibble

Jibble is one of the best time and billing software for lawyers that can track time from any device and any location. It has an easy-to-use interface, dedicated customer support and highly flexible features that can be tailored to suit your firm’s requirements. 

And we’ve gotta say, the project time tracking feature is a game-changer.  By tracking hours according to project, activity or client, lawyers can understand exactly where billable hours are going and work on what needs to be adjusted. They can also easily customise billing rates accordingly. 

Another cool feature is Jibble’s offline time tracker, which will track time even without an internet connection.  And as soon as you’re back online, the time tracking data gets updated with Jibble’s cloud database. This way, Jibble makes sure timesheets are payroll-ready with no billable hour missed.

This legal management software also integrates seamlessly with leading software like Wave, ADP Payroll, Xero and Quickbooks Online, making payroll, accounting and invoicing a breeze. Other integrations include Any.do, Asana, Clickup, Microsoft Office 365 which streamline workflows and increase collaboration within teams.  

Look, we know Jibble is our product, but independently, it is the highest rated time tracking software for lawyers according to an aggregate of reviews from Capterra, GetApp, G2, App Store and Play Store. And the obvious advantage with Jibble is that it’s 100% FREE for an unlimited number of users.

What Users Like

  • Free for unlimited users 
  • Detailed timesheets and automated reports
  • Highly customisable features
  • Automated reminders for punching in/out
  • Facial recognition attendance
  • Multiple integrations
  • Excellent customer support
  • Easy on-boarding

What Users Don’t Like

  • The CEO wears these crazy white glasses

Ratings

  • GetApp: 4.8/5
  • PlayStore: 4.6/5
  • Software Advice: 5/5
  • AppStore: 4.8/5
  • Capterra: 4.8/5

Time tracking for payroll dashboard

2. Smokeball

Smokeball’s legal management software really does the heavy work for lawyers with features like file and document management, streamlined workflows, case analysis, lead management, client intake, firm insight reports and form automation. 

But we think that the Legal Tasks + Workflows feature is why the software is worth your attention. We love how lawyers can keep very close track of case progress, delegate tasks between teams and share case-progress updates with clients automatically. Workflows are so precisely outlined for every case type, that even new team members can navigate them without a hassle. The software also offers more than 20,000 pre-configured forms and document templates with their legal form library – pretty cool!

And we have to give a shoutout to Smokeball’s automatic time and activity tracking feature which can accurately track billable hours with Microsoft Office, Outlook as well as with calls made through Smokeball. The billing software is flexible too, supporting fixed-fee, hourly, contingency, LEDES or custom billing. Smokeball also has a very reliable support hub available 24/7.

What Users Like

  • Reliable customer support
  • Built-in court forms per state
  • Integration with Microsoft Office and Outlook
  • Automated workflows
  • Custom fields for intake forms
  • Easy collaboration with file notes and email tracking

What Users Don’t Like

  • Glitchy invoice and legal documentation feature
  • Lack of integrations
  • Not available for macOS

Ratings

  • Software Advice:  4.8/ 5
  • GetApp: 4.8/ 5
  • G2: 4.8/5
  • Capterra: 4.8/5

Time tracking report displaying tracked hours using Smokeball

3. Clio

Clio is another popular legal case management software with solutions such as Clio Grow, Clio Manage and Lawyaw that offer a great deal of customisation for legal workflows. We love that Clio Grow is client-centric and provides top-notch features for CRM like client intake, firm marketing, workflow and email automation, and website building.

On the other hand, Clio Manage handles practice management like a pro with features like client, case and document management, time and expense tracking, task management, law firm insights and client-attorney communication. It also integrates with Quickbooks Online and Xero. 

Lawyaw is a pretty neat feature that auto-fills client forms with data from Clio, saving time and reducing the chance for manual errors. The software also has a mobile app that functions very well with both Android and iOS, tracking time and enabling access to case files on-the-go. 

And listen, Clio is constantly adding new features to their roster which is pretty exciting, with the latest additions including website builder enhancements and direct payments by scanning QR codes from bill PDFs.

What Users Like

  • Document merging software is useful
  • Helpful customer service
  • Open API 
  • Kanban style display for leads
  • Seamless transition of data from Clio Grow to Clio Manage
  • Simplified invoicing process

What Users Don’t Like

  • Limited reporting capability
  • Document templates have limited customisations
  • Calendaring feature needs work

Ratings

  • G2: 4.6/5
  • Capterra: 4.7/5
  • Software Advice: 4.5/5
  • GetApp: 4.7/5

Dashboard display of Clio's schedule management software

4. MyCase

MyCase’s cloud-based case management software for lawyers includes an impressive range of features including case insights, financial reports, built-in text messaging, time tracking, calendaring, legal CRM and automated workflows. 

The legal invoicing software lets lawyers keep track of monthly billing and set automatic reminders for due payments. We really love the software’s automation feature with monthly invoicing, which makes scheduled invoicing for long-term clients pretty smooth. An extremely user-friendly accounting system maintains expense reports, trust accounts, reconciliation as well as detailed insights into your firm’s financial performance.

The software’s built-in texting feature enables hassle-free communication with clients. With the workflow automation software, lawyers can seamlessly assign tasks and set reminders for deadlines. It also has Woodpecker, a document automation tool that simplifies legal document drafting by creating smart Word templates – very cool!

What Users Like

  • Generous 30-day free trial
  • Integrations with Outlook and QuickBooks Online
  • Automated monthly billing and invoicing
  • Good customer service
  • Extensive training videos and how-to articles
  • Easy to retrieve case documents per request

What Users Don’t Like

  • Document automation is clunky
  • Limited integrations
  • Google Calendar integration is buggy

Ratings

  • G2: 4.4/5
  • Capterra: 4.7/5
  • Software Advice: 4.5/5
  • GetApp: 4.7/5

Automated invoices for multiple employees using MyCase

5. PracticePanther

PracticePanther’s comprehensive legal practice management software is ideal for small to midsize law firms. We think the software’s highly intuitive interface is brilliant! And automated workflows, robust case management, event scheduling, and customisable tags for financial reports as well as easy in-house payments, which are made seamless with PantherPay, are also some top-tier features that make PracticePanther a great solution for lawyers.

Furthermore, its integration with LawToolBox is a genuine time-saver for lawyers to automatically set deadlines and schedule events according to court rulesets. The software’s two-way business texting feature is also great for improving client-attorney communication with chats, notes, text messaging and secure client portals. 

What Users Like

  • Open API for integrations
  • Comprehensive case management tools
  • Very, very user-friendly interface
  • Customisable task flows and document management
  • Informative dashboard
  • Smooth billing and payment collection

What Users Don’t Like

  • Difficult to handle multiple interactions such as contacts or payments at the same time.
  • Limited reporting for case matters
  • QuickBooks Online integration is buggy

Ratings

  • G2: 4.2/5
  • Capterra: 4.7/5
  • Software Advice: 4.5/5
  • GetApp: 4.7/5

Dashboard display of PracticePanther's contact management for clients

6. CosmoLex

Cosmolex is an all-in-one software for lawyers with efficient legal accounting, time tracking tools, secure payments and file sharing. What makes Cosmolex really shine is its in-built legal accounting feature with cash and accrual-based accounting, legal-specific chart of accounts, write-offs tracking and automatic bank data feed.  

Along with very comprehensive reporting and trust account management, the software also offers CosmoLex Pay for smooth payment processing. Cosmolex has legal-specific CRM that is very useful for streamlining client intake, retaining clients and managing marketing campaigns for maximum profitability and outreach. 

Cosmolex’s integrations with cloud-based storage platforms such as OneDrive, Microsoft 365, NetDocuments, Google Drive and Dropbox allow users to create, manage and access documents online. But CosmoLex is pricey compared to the other software on the list, however, for the built-in accounting feature, we think it is really worth the buck!

What Users Like

  • Excellent built-in accounting system
  • Reliable trust accounting 
  • Responsive customer service
  • Integrated payment system
  • Bulk entry of timeslips
  • Easy to prepare and print checks

What Users Don’t Like

  • No mobile application
  • Closed API
  • Slight learning curve for new users
  • Data entries can be difficult to edit

Ratings

  • G2: 4.2/5    
  • Capterra: 4.7/5   
  • Software Advice: 4.5/5
  • GetApp: 4.7/5

Display of workflow management using calendar software