Matter, parties and assigned lawyer
Once the conflict check is complete, the team can open the matter and assign staff. Linking the engagement, document and deadline helps hand the matter over to a colleague with the appropriate access.
Custom Development
CRM for Law Firms
Before work begins, a partner needs to check the parties involved, assign responsibility and record deadlines. We’ll build a CRM for your legal practice where an inquiry becomes a matter with restricted access and a clear approval history.
What happens when deadlines and document versions are tracked separately
- Filing deadlines, hearings and procedural steps are scattered across calendars and notes.
- Matter documents are scattered across email, shared drives and lawyers’ own computers.
- Time tracking and billing get put off, leaving billable hours and revenue unaccounted for.
- Clients who can’t see their matter’s progress call for updates, taking up staff time and losing confidence in the firm.
- Contact drops off when a matter closes, even though the client might come back or refer the firm.
Matter records, deadline tracking and client billing
These modules can be included in the project. We’ll agree on the scope and workflow rules after reviewing your processes.
Deadlines with source documents and verification
The lawyer records the document supporting the deadline and assigns an owner. If the date needs to change, the approval history remains visible.
Time approval before billing
The team logs time against tasks under the engagement terms. The lead approves which entries to bill, and accounting receives the approved version.
Additional Features
- Advance payments and matter billing
- Finance can link an advance payment to the engagement agreement and see how much approved work it covers. Invoice adjustments and transfers of balances between engagements record the reason and partner approval. Payments are reconciled against the designated accounting source.
- Client updates and documents
- The lawyer selects the status and documents that can be shared with the designated client representative. Internal notes stay private. Requests for additional materials include a response deadline and an owner for follow-up.
- Team access to matter files
- The partner can approve the team roster and grant separate access to documents, fee terms and correspondence. When a matter changes hands, the incoming lawyer’s access is checked and the former lawyer’s access is revoked. The log records who made the change.
CRM Workflow Examples
How teams can divide responsibilities and handle exceptions after rollout.
A new court order changes a deadline
The lawyer attaches the order and records the reason and revised deadline. An assistant is assigned to check the calendar, and the previous date remains in the history.
Time approval before billing
The team logs time for each piece of work. The partner sends a disputed entry back for clarification, and finance receives the total once it’s approved.
What to Include in the First Release
In the pilot, we’ll take a new inquiry through partner acceptance to matter closure. An assistant records the parties, the assigned lawyer confirms deadlines, and finance receives time entries approved for billing. We’ll check reassignment and access to confidential files after closure.
Once we agree on the requirements, we design the screens, build a pilot, and try it against the agreed use cases. We plan the rollout and follow-on modules with your team.
Discuss the First PhaseDevelopment FAQ
Can we check for potential conflicts of interest?
The CRM can compare new parties’ names and identifiers with the matter register and flag matches. An authorized lawyer records the decision following the check.
How do we handle several fee arrangements in one matter?
Stages can be billed hourly, at a fixed fee or as part of an ongoing retainer. The partner approves entries before invoicing. We’ll agree on rounding rules when setting the requirements.
How do we migrate active matters with their deadlines intact?
We’ll first match clients, parties and matter numbers to the source register. On a sample, assigned lawyers will compare active deadlines with the source documents and review attachments and access. Duplicates and unconfirmed dates will go to manual review before launch.
What determines the scope of a law firm CRM project?
Scope depends on the matter structure, fee arrangements, deadline approval rules and file access. To estimate the work, we’ll review anonymized examples of a matter, an invoice and a handover. Archive migration and document management integration will be estimated separately after reviewing the sources.
Let’s Discuss Your CRM
Tell us your industry, describe one process you want to automate, and let us know which tools your team already uses.