Smokeball

RATING:

4.8

(249)

About Smokeball

Smokeball is the only cloud-based legal case management software that also runs from your desktop. Manage all of your matters with collaborative case management; customize your commonly used forms with a single click in document automation; pull up-to-date local forms from our library of 20,000+ court documents; track your billable hours across programs without a single click; bill, e-file, and collect all in one place. Try Smokeball law manager software and see all of its benefits for yourself!

Smokeball Pricing

Smokeball offers different solutions depending on your needs, from cloud-based billing to complete firm management.

Starting price: 

$39.00 per month

Free trial: 

Available

Free version: 

Not Available

Smokeball homescreen

Smokeball Reviews

Overall Rating

4.8

Ratings Breakdown

Secondary Ratings

Ease-of-use

4.5

Customer Support

4.5

Value for money

4.5

Functionality

4.5

Most Helpful Reviews for Smokeball

1 - 5 of 249 Reviews

User Profile

Furqan

Verified reviewer

Legal Services, 2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed November 2020

SmallLaw Review

Overall, an excellent software and definitely worth considering for your law firm, especially if you handle real estate transactions.

PROS

1. Smokeball is an "everything" platform. We realized we were only using the other softwares for billing/invoicing, but found little use for them otherwise. Smokeball, on the other hand, is much more versatile. We track our to-dos there, create workflows, assign tasks/projects to others at the firm (it avoids the back-and-forth internal emails), share our draft documents with client through a secure portal, and much more! 2. If you are a real estate transactions law firm (as we are), Smokeball is the only platform specifically designed for that practice area. We love that it automatically calendars deadlines, has templates built in, and otherwise automates much of the closing process for us (and avoids costly mistakes such as missing a deadline).

CONS

1. Cost (yup, it's one of the more expensive options you'll find out there). But when evaluating options, the thought process should be whether you will save some time by implementing the features of the software. And if so, a few extra bucks monthly is well worth it. 2. A little glitchy at times. We sometimes would create an invoice but would not be able to load it or send to a client until the next day. I have no idea why this happens, though it hasnt been a big issue for us. 3. Requires you to invest a lot of time to set up to automate your documents and learn how to modify them as you go. But, again, it is time well spent.

Reasons for switching to Smokeball

Looking for a more versatile platform for legal management.

Vendor Response

Thanks for the review, Furqan.

Replied June 2022

Allyson

Law Practice, 11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed February 2024

Would recommend!

PROS

Well-organized system, and customer support is very responsive and helpful. Possible to customize templates and task work-flows to save time.

CONS

I wish it were easier to export and reorganize certain lists (e.g. organize by case number instead of internal reference number--no line item in "matters" to input case number exists now

Vendor Response

Thanks for your 5-star review, Allyson. We're thrilled Smokeball is saving you time, and I'll pass your feedback about the ability to organize lists on to our product team. Thank you!

Replied February 2024

Alex

Legal Services, 2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered

OVERALL RATING:

2

EASE OF USE

4

VALUE FOR MONEY

1

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

3

FUNCTIONALITY

3

Reviewed December 2022

Disingenuous Company. Dead End Product. Stay Away

I said I wanted API access. They said, "what's an API?" I sent them a link to their website showing where they provide API access to developers. They refused. This became an issue because they will not provide your client and matter data in a useful format. It's a lawyer-run company. The support staff is legalistic and misleading. I would not do business with them again. I don't think "they'll make it right" if you have an issue. I know I sound like a crank. But I feel pretty badly treated by them and in 2023 the lack of an open API is insane. Now that I have my data out of their system, I am no longer hostage to their garbage. If I had read a review like this during my evaluation, I hope that I would have hesitated and made a different choice.

PROS

The software has a point of view. Its ideal user is a middle-aged tech-phobic lawyer that needs most decisions made for him.For that reason, the software makes a lot of choices for you. And mostly they are fine choices if you want a desktop-based app and a forms-heavy practice.They oversell their integration with MS Word and Outlook. Their custom add-ins are slow to load and unimpressive.If you truly want to play in the MS Dataverse, which I think is a smart long-term play, then use a product that integrates with Sharepoint and Teams. Also, the app is a POS.

CONS

This software is a technical dead end. They will never have an open API and integrate with the web. But if you ask for it, they "will submit a feature request" despite the fact they actually have an API that developers can use.They will not help you export your data. They provide you with your files in an unstructured mess of separate .csv files and client folders.They answer the customer service number 1 out of 5 calls. They shuttle you to email, where the support doesn't read the emails you send.Their document automation team screwed up my documents. I sent templates in Georgia 11 and got back documents with a mixture of Times New Roman 12 and Georgia. I sent over documents with tables for signature blocks and got back documents where the signature block was done with an underline and space bar.

Reason for choosing Smokeball

I made a mistake; should have stuck with Clio, despite its flaws.

Vendor Response

Alex, we're very sorry to not be able to count you among our satisfied clients. We pride ourselves on excellent customer service with an average <30-minute response time to support tickets as well as a high satisfaction rating on automation of client documents. In an effort to preserve the integrity of our system for our clients, we have intentionally chosen to properly vet any integrations to our software resulting in developer only access to our API by approved tech companies. Our clients absolutely have access to their data and have the option to remove that data from their account using the methods provided in the software. Again, we're sorry if you felt the available options didn't meet your needs. We appreciate your feedback on our product, and the process of retrieving your data, and wish you the best.

Replied February 2023

Jonathan

Law Practice, 2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed November 2023

Never Practice Without It

PROS

Complete end to end practice management solution. Fantastic tech support and client account managers. Constantly improving the product for users. Actually does legal template automation (caption and proof of service etc) as opposed to Clio.

CONS

Cost of entry seemed very steep on 3-year contract basis. Because Smokeball integrates with all accounting processes except for operating accounts payable there is a great deal of work to get it stood up. Both of these hurdles are surmountable and worthwhile given the excellent product and service.

Reasons for switching to Smokeball

Clio was cheaper than Smokeball in 2020 but Clio did not deliver on document templating and automation. Smokeball does.

Vendor Response

Thanks for your 5-star review, Jonathan. We're so glad that Smokeball is providing high-value, end-to-end solutions for your firm. We'll share your positive feedback with our client teams, who are always here for you!

Replied November 2023

Kristin

Law Practice, 2-10 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review Source: Capterra

OVERALL RATING:

5

EASE OF USE

5

VALUE FOR MONEY

5

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

5

FUNCTIONALITY

5

Reviewed February 2024

Smokeball Review for Boutique Law Firm

PROS

My law firm began using smokeball after not having a formal practice management software. Smokeballhas been very responsive and made the sign-up/transfer process seamless. Smokeball has allowed my firm to keep everything in one place, track records, dates and files at a click of a button. The billing tracker is the biggest time-saver to date. I highly recommend Smokeball.

CONS

I do not have any cons re Smokeball software.

Vendor Response

Thanks for your review and recommendation, Kristin. We're so glad that Smokeball is helping your firm be more organized and efficient.

Replied February 2024