ALB is a comprehensive UK Legal Practice Case Management solution that integrates all law firm processes into one system, including legal accounting, document management, time recording and client / matter management. The vendor states that their system is used by 700+ UK legal firms, and 68 per cent of them reported that ALB helps their fee earners save time every single day. They further state their customers gain real benefits in improved efficiencies, better management, consistent customer…
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Amicus Attorney by CARET
Score 9.6 out of 10
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Amicus Attorney is a legal practice management platform which focuses on growth and business development, from AbacusNext in San Diego.
It has all you need built in right out of the box with all the core features you'd expect; Client Matter Inception process, Time Recording, Diary, Customisable Workflow modules, Billing, etc. Then there's all the extra modules which other products don't necessarily have; Wills and Deeds databases, Purchase Ledger (Accounts and Cashiers love everything to do with the accounts side), Laserform Integration, pdfDocs integration, OverVu integration for easy reporting.
Inevitably there will be compromises as with any piece of software. Especially one that covers off so many angles. The development tools could be stronger, the way addresses are handled seems to me to be overly complex. Having said that though, the software's primary purpose is to help Fee Earners and support staff provide services to clients and it does this admirably. You can't expect Visual Studio. I've seen users make a mess of the simplest of address databases with strong training provided so it might not be to my taste but I imagine they didn't develop it for fun.
My biggest gripe with the software is that some errors look severe. Other software would trap them in a more gentle manner. However, users quickly adjust to this and Advanced do some very clear monitoring to reduce them as the product mores forward.
Amicus Attorney can probably be deployed very well in a law office that has a manager specifically dedicated to making it run smoothly, and who can keep track of the contacts, etc. In our firm, no one can spend the time to do this, so the information stored by Amicus gets a little disorganized, which has the effect of slowing us down
Very efficient calendaring with sync to Outlook calendar (option of Exchange or Outlook level synchronization).
Case management including contacts, emails, documents, etc. to keep everything in one consolidated place.
Document automation including Word merging or HotDocs (third party). Take case data including custom pages and fields and instantly create documents based on templates with ease.
At times the dashboard and User Experience and User Interface do not follow a logical pathway. It can be confusing at times, but not extremely detrimental.
The client portal has also experienced some issues with the User interface and user experience functions as well.
The usability is slightly above average. The all-in-one approach has been great and useful, but some of the functionality and user experience and user interface issues can affect usability. Some might be nitpicky, but not following logical pathways or ones that may pose issues for those that have disabilities can really create issues.
The support, if we are talking about technical support with the product itself when issues arise, is average. It's not terrible, but not great either. It is average and what you might expect. Some issues are delayed in getting responses and we constantly have to be upgrading to higher tiers or developers. Some responses are quick though. Response time could be improved, much like other organizations.
ALB Legal Software is a more efficient product than MyCase and PracticePanther mostly for the integration it allows and the "all in one" approach that it takes. It takes several different areas and functions of legal practice and puts in one platform eliminating the need to leverage 2-3 platforms sometimes i.e. timekeeping, document management, mobile access, client portal, etc. Keeping it under one roof helps.
In the time that I have been with my firm, we have not used any other comparable software. As a result I can't compare it to anything else that is out there
Large software investment, if not properly configured and utilized this can be a time and money vacuum.
If law firm does not have a consistent personality among employees, buy-in may be difficult as it's a significant workflow change for users.
Can greatly benefit law firm if used properly and across board for all employees. Uniform data organization for cases and custom pages add to personalizing software for firm.
