Amazing program!

I bought this program when I first opened my practice about 2.5 years ago. I knew going into my own firm that I wanted a comprehensive client management tool. After spending hours online reviewing various programs, I decided to give the 30-day free trial a shot. I think I purchased the monthly subscription immediately after starting to use the program. Since that time, I have built on my knowledge, incorporating the MailChimp and QBO features first, then started learning how to streamline my document preparation through the template feature. What would have previously taken me multiple hours a week to manage, now takes minutes.

Pros

PracticePanther is intuitive and very user friendly. It has a ton of features that expedite minuscule tasks and free up admin time. It syncs with all my favorite resources, like QBO, MailChimp, and Box, making communication with clients a lot easier and keeps routine mailings operational. If you use a lot of form templates, the template builder is a major time saver and cuts down on user error and oversights. I use this program every day in my law office and am very grateful for how easy it is. Even better, the customer support team is phenomenal. I rarely have any issues with the program (it is easy to use), but when I run into something I need help with, a quick message to the PP team is responded to within minutes and the problem is solved or at a minimum I am given an update and expected time of completion. I couldn't recommend this program more to a solo or small legal practice.

Cons

Nothing, the team is constantly updating its software and programs that it connects to. They provide online videos to help and I frequently learn of new ways to use the program from regular updates by the team.

Easy to use practice management software with top-end functionality at low price

Easy of keeping track of deadlines and client contacts. Overall, the best practice management software I have seen for the price. I would say this performs better than CLIO (I've used it with ALL of the add-ons), way better than AMICUS and MyCase and similar to ABACUS. They need to add a matter pre-billing function to run attorney's fees reports and allow you to copy/paste e-mails into the matter, but otherwise this is a perfect solution for most practitioners. Unless you are using the rules-based calendaring in ABACUS or Westlaw's Firm Central, I have not seen a product that is nearly as useful on the market.

Pros

Unlike a number of the cheaper practice management software programs on the market today, Practice Panther has a wide range of functions within the software which are easy to use. Instead of just having "Tasks" or "to-dos", PP allows you to create Activities which can be "Events" "E-mails" "Phone calls" or "Tasks". On the Task front, PP allows you to set sub-reminders that can send you e-mails or text messages in advance, like say "7 days before," and "3 days before," for a filing deadline. I also think it is pretty fantastic that PP shows whether a time entry has been completed for EVERY SINGLE ACTIVITY marked "completed" or "in progress". This would be incredibly useful for practitioners (mostly civil) managing staff and trying to deal with staff not accounting for all of their time in billing. The "mail sync" function is also easy to use, and allows you to e-mail out of your native software (MS Outlook, GMAIL, etc) and simply "bcc" the client matter itself. When you do this, the e-mail is automatically saved into the matter. Almost every other program out there that I have used requires you to use their client messaging portal to get the same functionality.

The templates are easy to use for creating documents to merge out of PP also. Think client engagement letters, releases, and basic letterheads that you use in every file. We don't use PP for accepting payments so I cannot comment on that portion.

Cons

1. Matter pre-bills or invoicing. In many civil cases there will be a time when you need to prepare a billing report to present to the court solely for a claim of attorney's fees. In other software that I have used, you can run a report for a set period of time or type of billing entries which will then create a printable draft invoice-looking document. You would then be able to slap an exhibit sticker on that document and use it for your attorney's fee request. I haven't found a way to easily do this in PP yet, and it seems like you would have to utilize a draft invoice which captures all time billed in the matter. I could be wrong.

2. No Batch Entry System for E-mails. PP has a GREAT syncing system that works with your native e-mail so you can BCC messages into the matter when you send or receive them. However, if you forget to include the mail-sync in your BCC line, or don't forward a message to the mail-sync, there is no easy way to subsequently get the e-mails into the matter in PP. What I mean is this: say you have a number of e-mails from someone that weren't saved into a client PP matter and instead lived in your Outlook before the client actually hired. You would have to manually forward each one of your emails to the mail-sync to get them into PP.

Additionally, if you are a federal criminal lawyer and use CORRLINKS to communicate with your clients you will know that you can't forward out of that system. PP doesn't let you copy/paste emails so your stuck.

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

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.

Pros

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.

Cons

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 has cut the amount of time I spend on my office management duties by about 65%.

Before PracticePanther my client information was all over my computer. I kept track of billable hours and financials in Exel, client emails in Google, and my forms (intake, representation, agreements, court filings etc) in Word. This meant in order to have everything as it pertained to a specific client in one place, I had to print everything out. And, I was using nonlegal software to send out billing invoices which lead to long hours of transcribing information from Excel to the service I was using. The rate of error of retyping information like addresses or agreements or billable hours into different software programs was high. I am a solo practitioner who does not have a clerk, secretary or paralegal. So after a long day of work, I then had to become the marketing, IT and accounting departments. I spent a lot of time doing things two and three times. I knew I needed a case management system but was afraid it would be too expensive or time consuming to learn. After doing my due diligence I found PracticePanther. Not only was PP one of the most affordable options out there, they had very intuitive methods of doing things so the learning curve did not take much time. Now anything and everything pertaining to a specific client is kept in one place. All billables, emails, evidence, representation agreements I even enter details of phone calls and meetings I have on matters in the Notes section for each matter so I have a documented history of what was discussed on what day. PracticePanther has cut the amount of time I spend on my office management duties by about 65%. I use that time to grow my practice, network or do pro bono work.

Pros

I love the IT help, the invoicing system and the templates feature. I had a lot of questions and needed a lot of help in the beginning. Being able to schedule times to discuss my issues with the IT guys at PracticePanther was great. The fact that they can take over your computer remotely so they can see what you see in real time is even better. Their response time to non-scheduled issues is pretty fast. I have also found their FAQs and how to videos to be extremely helpful but having a live person to speak with who can access your computer is just as good as having someone standing next to me while I work.

The invoicing system is phenomenal. It keeps track of all of my client banking accounts. I can see at any time how much is in my IOLTA account, how much is in my operating account, how much a client owes, how much a client has paid and how much I have billed a client but not yet invoiced. I can do this client by client, matter by matter or as an overall total. LawPay is free if you sign up through PracticePanther which is awesome because it handles my credit card transactions and when a client pays, it automatically updates my invoicing and accounts. PracticePanther also knows how to deduct things from a client's retainer when sending out an invoice so you don't have to worry about that either. Their timing device feeds right into the system. It is awesome.

Great Legal Practice Management software that is not expensive

I'm a sole practitioner and I was looking for legal practice management software that was easy to use and reasonably comprehensive. Previously I had recommended ActionStep to my previous colleagues in a 4-5 lawyer lawfirm. This was also a good product, but PracticePanther in my view is better in many ways. For cloud storage I use Box, and this connects easily with PracticePanther so that I can see all the documents that relate to a matter. PracticePanther uses a simple tab structure for each matter so that you can easily and quickly look at notes, activities, time records, payments, invoices etc. I'm really quite impressed with the software and would recommend it to anyone. It is very easy to see what you have been paid in a given period, what you are owed, and what you have to bill. I'm only one user, but you can have many users and each can see this from the dashboard screen. I'm a bit of a techie person and I've spent many hours investigating the different legal practice management software systems. PracticePanther comes a clear first, for my needs.

Pros

There are many things I like about the software. The main ones are:
- The search function. This makes searching for contacts or matters very easy. This is available on many of the screens as well as the dashboard.
- The price is very reasonable for a sole practitioner, and cheaper than the other software I have investigated
- Easy to create templates
- The screens are easy to understand and its a joy to use the software
- its relatively easy to import contacts (which i did from my gmail)
- billing is really good
- the client portal is amazing (you can even see when your client's read their invoices)
- it is improving all the time - there are regular weekly and monthly updates
- I find the relationships tab really useful to keep all my contacts related to the matter together for each of use
- there are many other pros about this software - try it and see for yourself

Cons

- the software is not perfect - it would be good if viewing emails from external email (e.g. gmail) could be improved so that they are more readable
- secure messages could be improved to allow attaching multiple files without the need to zip
- greater connection with Box so that Box's sharing could be linked to a contact without the need to manually enter the contacts email address when you are inside the contact's matter

Great and improving all the time!

This is an update to a previous review I made. The folks at Panther are impressive. They've taken recommendations I and others have made and implemented them; they've quickly addressed issues I've had; and they are always courteous and responsive. The overall layout has vastly improved since my first review, and looks downright beautiful. We live by the search feature and it now works on custom fields. Custom fields can now also be listed in reports. You can now group custom fields so that you may show only those fields in a matter or contact that pertain to their specific situation. We have structured Panther so we can use it as a basic CRM...which is an immense work-flow savings for us. We asked for Dropbox integration and what they produced is perfect (considering the limitations of Dropbox). Time keeping is a snap and reachable from any screen. We asked to be able to a log call without assigning it to a matter, and they changed that so now we can. The tasking feature and its integration with the calendar is fantastic, I could not service so many clients without it. And the Panther folks have taken it on themselves to make some minor changes that have made the workflow of using the program much faster than in my previous review. I now can answer the question I posed in my earlier review of whether I love or hate Panther: We love it. I admit that it's not perfect (a couple of basic features in billing need to be addressed before I am willing to use that portion of the program), but Panther saves us many hours a week. I tried many firm management products before settling on Practice Panther, and I am glad I stayed with them. It's already better than the others, and it keeps getting better all the time thanks to their team. You cannot go wrong choosing Practice Panther. Final note: To my surprise one lawyer told me Panther seemed expensive. Really?! It seems well priced to me, and if you try to save a few dollars a month with some inferior product you will pay dearly for that choice in lost time.

Pros

Beautiful layout, easy to use, functions as a basic CRM, matter and time management, and billing program all in one.

Cons

Flat fee billing is not well thought out, and the billing module presents clients with a reckoning of my operating account as well as their trust account. (I understand Panther may have made the operating account info optional by now, or that is in their near term plan.)

Working with Practice Panther

The user-interface is designed for quick and easy navigation. You can look at your dashboard and very clearly see everything you need to know for your day to run smoothly (well as smoothly as possible). It is cost effective and the onboarding and training are taken care of with Practice Panther's incredible customer service.

Pros

Before PracticePanther we had started an Excel spreadsheet to log our contacts for conflicts checks. We created a joint email account with Gmail so our email would be centralized and that also gave us a central calendar that we all had access to in order to set appointments, record deadlines, etc. We also created a Dropbox account for file storage.

While everything was low cost or free, all the parts felt scattered. PracticePanther pulls it all together in one beautiful, user-friendly interface. Now, instead of having to pull up 5 or 6 different apps/websites, we are able to pull up just one site and have everything right there. All of the components of PracticePanther are really easy to use. The entire program is designed for efficiency and ease of use. Color-coding allows you to see and understand your financial details in mere seconds. Tasks, events, and timekeeping are easy.

Cons

I would like to see the software integrate with more programs. Quickbooks is great, but my brain works better with Wave Accounting; LawPay is great, but being able to integrate with PayPal also, would be even better. However, these are minor things and not worth seeking a different program I like as much as Practice Panther. I had shopped around quite a bit before choosing Practice Panther; I doubt I would find anything I like as much.

Hands down, our favorite thing about PracticePanther is the superior support staff. If you have a problem and leave a message after hours in the chat box, you get a response generally within the hour. There is also training videos and a help center that will help you find the help that you need.

Simple sophisticated software that will simplify your practice

This is a complete solution for my practice. I am a single solo so the document automation, notes, time entries and billing are a great way to save time and effort.

Pros

One of the best features of the software is not so much a feature but the logic employed in designing the flow of data. I have used a number of the more popular programs and can heartily recommend this as the best I have found. The ease of use makes it a top choice if you have staff that will use it. I am a single solo and it is not one of my concerns yet. But, I can't see anyone not understanding the flow of information. The automation is superb. Document assembly is easy and logical. One of the best features is the Forms generator. Email the form to your client or prospective client - they fill it out - and it goes right into your data. No need to waste time inputting names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and any other data you would like to have handy in your file.

Tracking time is a breeze as is generating invoices, tracking retainer accounts, tracking trust accounts and more (I find the accounting component more than meets my needs).

Over time you will come to rely on the information in the program over the physical file. It has become my organizational hub for all that I do.

Cons

I would like to see a thick book explaining all the capabilities and limits. The support people are great and can answer any question - I just like to read it and push the software to its limits. I have used PP for some time - moving to another package for some time. At twice the price - it did less. In my brief time away the product dramatically improved & I am back and very happy.

Great Product!

I recently switched to PracticePanther after 20 years using different version of Amicus Attorney. While Amicus helped me to keep my practice moving for years, the lack of continuing support for the product and meaningful changes caused me to start looking at alternatives. After researching the current crop of practice management programs and downloading several demo's, I ended subscribing to the PracticePanther team. The first reason I chose PP was the fact that I was able to create "workflows" that automate a ton of the tasks required for several practices areas. For example, a new misdemeanor criminal case can have the misdemeanor workflow that I created applied and all of the steps for the cases are automatically generated. The scheduling of the first client meeting, initial hearing, filing of our appearance, requesting discovery, sending discovery, attending the pretrial conference, plea meeting with client and change of plea hearing all become tasks or calendar events with just the touch of a button. My assistant then just needs to coordinate the dates for all of the auto-generated tasks or events in order to have the file completely organized. The workflow also assigns the responsibility for completion of tasks automatically to me or my staff so we all are reminded of what needs to take place next. The second selling feature for me was the automated email and text-message reminders that can be generated to the client (and to staff if desired). I like that I receive a text reminder from my dentist's office and wanted something similar. For all events that I create within the workflow, I can assign the reminder details. This has significantly lowered the number of no-shows that I have for office meetings and court hearings and reduces the staff time that was spent before calling to remind clients of court dates and meetings. The third key feature that I really wanted was the secure client portal feature. The portal allows me to hand incoming clients an Ipad to have them fill out their intake information that we would need to create a new client file. Once the client has completed the information on the Ipad, it automatically creates a new contact within the PP system and we can then easily generate a new matter if we are hired. For clients that we choose to work with, they are also sent an email invitation to open their secure portal, thus allowing them access to their online file within the PP system. Clients love it.

Pros

Great tools, great automation, great customer support

Cons

There are continuing areas that we could further automate to make the product even more amazing.