Item: PCLaw
Rating: 8
Author: Sean Conroy

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

As a small firm, and being the office manager, I am the main user of PCLaw. I input the time that our attorneys forward, expenses, invoices, and bill at the end of the month. At my previous firm, we had 40-50 employees, so multiple people would have access to PCLaw in order to input time and work on billing. Usually, the accounting department would have full access, and the support staff/attorneys would be able to input time and run reports.

This software is easy enough to use that we do not need to hire an accounting professional to be able to run on a day-to-day basis. It is very easy to put in lawyer's time and get bills out quickly to clients, which helps our cash flow.

Pros and Cons

The software can hold a decent amount of matters, which works great being an IP firm with multiple (sometimes hundreds) of matters for each client.
Entry of time/expenses/invoices is very easy once the software is initially set up.
The software allows you to fully customize your invoices.

Like I said in my pros, it can hold a lot of matters. But, if your firm is very large, PCLaw may not be the best option. My old firm grew to the point where they had to switch because they had too many matters for the system to hold.
The software is definitely dated, and I have some issues with crashing and other weird/buggy behavior. I have to set the default printer every time I log on in order to avoid multiple pop-ups when trying to print a document/report (which definitely doesn't take much time, but it can get annoying).

Return on Investment

We are able to send out bills efficiently, which helps our cash flow and keeps receivables down (depending on the client).
We are able to pull detailed accounting reports, which helps us populate our end of the quarter/year spreadsheet for partner's net income.
Our attorneys are very comfortable with the pre-bill/billing process, so it saves them time, allowing them to bill more.

Alternatives Considered

LexisNexis Juris

Juris seems to be a larger version of PCLaw. It's very similar as far as inputting time/expenses into the system. The software is more modern than PCLaw, but I've had peers mention that it is a lot more buggy for that reason. They have had issues with Juris, mentioning that they wish they could move back to PCLaw.

Likelihood to Recommend

If you're a law firm who has a lot of clients/matters, PCLaw may not be available for you. My old firm grew to a point where they had to switch to Juris because they had too many matters in the system. If you're a smaller firm who needs an accounting software that is easy to use and can quickly get bills out to get you paid, this is a great product.

Support Rating

I've always had positive phone calls with PCLaw support. I usually have my questions answered within a few minutes of my phone call, and rarely have to go into very much detail.

PCLaw Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved No escalation required Immediate help available Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response	None

Premium Support

Yes - I feel that it is good to have professional support. There will always be times where you run into an issue that you've never seen before, and most likely, someone at the support center knows how to help. It doesn't cost much either, which is a plus for a smaller firm.

PCLaw is a good find for a smaller firm

Overall Satisfaction with LexisNexis PCLaw