Nearly every facet of legal practice management is touched by cloud computing. Some law firms have cobbled together complete online legal case management packages from bits and pieces of various software applications, but that approach can be flawed. The best web-based legal case management software rolls all the functionality you need to manage one legal case or 200 into one easy-to-use solution - at a cost that's as affordable for the non-lawyer as it is for an enormous law practice that bills thousands of hours daily. If your web-based legal case management software doesn't offer all of these functions, you may not be getting a solid return on investment.
Legal Document Storage Online
The most basic web-based legal case management software provides secure online storage for documents. This may be the single most important and most useful part of any software. Whether you're an individual who wants easy access to all the legal documentation related to a child custody or worker's comp case or a legal practice that needs ready access to the case files for hundreds of clients, the ability to store and access important legal documents securely and safely is the most vital aspect of online management software.
Specifically for the Legal Community
If you're storing legal forms and documents online, you likely need stringent security to conform to the ethical and practical concerns of a law practice. Thus, online software goes above and beyond the privacy and security practices used by most online providers. The service level agreements and security measures used in backup, storage and collaboration software created specifically for use in legal practices are of the very highest level.
Journaling
The best software includes a journal function that allows you to enter and track important events that occur over the course of a case. Integrating a journal into a case management solution can reduce the amount of bookkeeping associated with running a law practice through automation. A journal that links time, billing and invoicing to the time spent working on the case in the web-based legal case management software package takes care of business and lets you concentrate on the legal end of practicing law.
Project Management Components
Project management and legal case management software have much in common. The best case management software includes the most important features of project management software. It likely includes a personalized dashboard where you can view the overall progress of your case or cases, see your upcoming tasks and your schedule at a glance, share documents with clients or co-workers, run reports, search for documents, schedule new tasks, and monitor your progress toward your goals. In addition, contact management and document management technology allows you to track and manage all relevant contacts, organize your legal correspondence and track all the time that you've spent on managing, researching and working on your legal case - including your expenses.
Access Anywhere, Anytime
With web-based legal case management software, you'll never have to cart a rolling file storage cart with you again, nor will you have to wait until you get back to the office to research an aspect of your case. Remote access to your case management software provides the functionality you need from any Internet-enabled device - even those that don't have your software application installed on them.
Scalability
The very best software solutions are extremely scalable, providing all the functions and access you need to manage one legal case, three legal cases or an unlimited number of ongoing cases. Don't tie yourself to the office or to boxes and boxes of documents. Choose a scalable, convenient web-based solution to free you from drudgery while providing you with access to your files from anywhere.
Author Resource:
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the world's MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.