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Actionstep vs. LEAP Legal Software vs. Smokeball

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Actionstep

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AActionstep in Richmond offers their flagship legal practice management software as an end-to-end solution, containing both matter management tools and business administration automation, with an internal billing and accounting system.N/A

    LEAP Legal Software

    Score7 out of 10
    N/ALEAP is a legal practice management software designed to combine time tracking, document and email management, automated legal forms, accounting, billing, and customer relationship management into one single software solution.N/A

    Smokeball

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/ASmokeball in Chicago offers their flagship cloud-based legal case management application featuring time tracking, file and document management, billing, and legal form generation.N/A
    Pricing
    ActionstepLEAP Legal SoftwareSmokeball
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    ActionstepLEAP Legal SoftwareSmokeball
    Free Trial
    NoNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Request a demonstration on LEAP’s website to get a pricing quote, as they do not publicly share pricing information.—
    More Pricing Information
    User Ratings
    ActionstepLEAP Legal SoftwareSmokeball
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    ActionstepLEAP Legal SoftwareSmokeball
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Actionstep
    ActionStep is a powerful CRM and matter management tool. It provides many other good benefits too. For example powerful accounting and billing, time tracking and document management. Only in highly specific areas, like multiple many to many contact relations has it fallen short. But even in this highly specialized area, so many other benefits are provided that it hardly matters.
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    LEAP Legal Software
    LEAP is a really good option for small to medium sized firms. Most products on the market are expensive document management systems designed for large law firms. The other are case management software that are great for billing, contacts and calendaring. LEAP seems to combine both of the options in an easy to use system. It is customizable but is fully functional as an "off the shelf" product unlike IManage or similar products.
    Incentivized
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    Smokeball
    1. Small and medium-sized law firms: Smokeball is specifically designed for small and medium-sized law firms, making it well suited for this type of organization. 2. Firms looking to streamline their workflow: Smokeball's range of features, including document management, time tracking, email management, calendar management, and task management, make it well suited for firms looking to streamline their operations and increase efficiency. 3. Firms looking to improve collaboration: Smokeball's centralized document repository and task management system make it easy for teams to collaborate and access information, making it well suited for firms looking to improve collaboration among team members.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Actionstep
    • The workflows are great to automate simple tasks like notifying people when an engagement letter is signed.
    • Mobility. Because it's in the cloud it's easy to access from anywhere.
    • The scratch pad is a good way to take quick notes.
    • ActionStep lets you create custom fields so you can make sure the data you need is collected.
    Read full review
    LEAP Legal Software
    • document management
    • client contacts
    • billing
    • integration with QBO
    Incentivized
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    Smokeball
    • Document Management: Smokeball provides a centralized document repository where users can store and organize all their case-related documents. This helps to improve document accessibility and collaboration among team members.
    • Time Tracking: Smokeball automatically tracks time spent on a case, eliminating the need for manual time tracking. This results in improved billing accuracy and helps the firm to accurately bill clients for the time spent on their cases.
    • Email Management: Smokeball integrates with a user's email account and automatically categorizes emails as they come in. This helps users to quickly find and access important emails, reducing the amount of time spent searching for information.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Actionstep
    • ActionStep is difficult to setup. I suggest working with a consultant which increases cost.
    • Needs mobile app.
    • One of our practice areas, Property Law, request we have a many to many contact relation. ActionStep cannot accommodate this. However, no other software I have reviewed can do this either. ActionStep is the most robust that I have seen and comes closest to making this work.
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    LEAP Legal Software
    • it has trouble with some non-Microsoft programs
    • It has trouble with EXE files
    • support is primarily on-line versus phone
    Incentivized
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    Smokeball
    • User Interface: Some users have reported that the user interface could be improved to make it more user-friendly and intuitive.
    • Customer Support: Some users have reported long response times and inconsistent quality of customer support, which could be improved to provide better service to users
    • Mobile Accessibility: Currently, Smokeball does not have a mobile app, which limits accessibility for users who are frequently on the go.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Actionstep
    No answers on this topic
    LEAP Legal Software
    No answers on this topic
    Smokeball
    Smokeball just works! It's very user-friends and they have techs and videos to help you with everything
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Actionstep
    I have worked with a lot of software. Each one has a different focus. ActionStep is better at workflow and task automation that the items above, in my opinion. However, having gone through many different deployments, what really matters is identifying your key requirements and needs. Then evaluation software against those. Once you have your requirements and software, focus on using that software to fix issues in existing workflow. This, when compared with ongoing training, is what it means to invest in software. Simply purchasing ActionStep or any software without identifying needs, problems in workflow or an investment in training is not a good plan. Neither is comparing the vendors to one another without knowing all of your specific needs.
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    LEAP Legal Software
    IManage was great but we were quoted up to $40,000 to "customize" it to perform as it did in demonstrations. IManage was clearly designed/priced for large, multi-offices. LexWorkplace was another program that worked really well. It had real problems converting emails and certain files from our old program, Time Matters. LEAP was a reasonable, comprehensive program. It offered customer service, training and data conversion as part of the package.
    Incentivized
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    Smokeball
    Smokeball felt simpler for us because the automatic time tracking works better than Clio’s.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Actionstep
    • I love the workflows that can be deployed for practice areas to ensure consistency. This has reduced new employee onboarding time and increased the speed at which we can complete matters.
    • Since ActionStep lives in the cloud, and we have O365 our firm is very mobile without spending lots of money in TS or other such infrastructure.
    • Creating the workflows is a bit complex, so this increases the overall cost and makes an ROI take longer. I suggest spending a bit more initially to get everything setup and working with a consultant to learn how to do this on your own during that initial setup.
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    LEAP Legal Software
    • integrated system
    • Ease of billing
    • Syncs with Quickbooks Online
    Incentivized
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    Smokeball
    • Keeping track of time lets us spend more time on law and less on tracking!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    LEAP Legal Software Screenshots

    Screenshot of Example of LEAP’s real-time collaboration and internal chat interface.Screenshot of Example of LEAP's email and correspondence management interface.Screenshot of Example of LEAP’s accounting and billing interface.Screenshot of Example of legal forms accessed through LEAP’s library.