Item: Time Matters
Rating: 1
Author: Jason Shindler

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

The whole organization uses Time Matters. It is used for billing, calendaring, document storage and general record keeping. We 4 offices with 20 staff that are regularly using it for many years. We're using the latest version and basically locked into using it for the foreseeable future due to all of the data that it holds.

Pros and Cons

It stores data that the law firm uses.
It really doesn't do anything really well, so it is hard to answer this question.

The software crashes a lot.
The plugins for Office and Adobe are unstable.
The whole software package appears to be built for the year 1995.

Return on Investment

It has a positive ROI because it does the job we ask it to do. We just wish there was a newer version of the package that supported more modern things.
Some of the instability and slowness of the program makes the ROI decrease.

Alternatives Considered

Clio

Clio appears to be the more modern program that TimeMatters really ought to be -- it is web based, it is fast, it has modern features and design. Unfortunately, the pain necessary to migrate an established practice to this new program, with data migration, procedure changes, and training -- it is too much at this time for our firm to take on.

Other Software Used

Google Analytics, Google Data Studio, Google Ads (formerly AdWords)

Likelihood to Recommend

If you had a time machine and were planning on starting a law firm in the year 1995, this would be the perfect software package for you. It does everything that you would expect a law firm practice management software package would do in the year 1995. Unfortunately, it is the year 2018.

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Wells Anderson
commented 3 years ago
It is good to hear that Jason says Time Matters does the job they ask it to do and has a positive ROI. That suggests that the 1-star rating is emotional rather than fair. When properly configured, Time Matters does not "crash a lot." That is a reflection of the firm's technology and configuration, not the product. The same is true of the plugins for Word, Excel and Acrobat. I can't say that the program will never crash, but thousands of people use it every day without issues.
Jason Shindler
commented 3 years ago
We called tech support many times over the 1.5 years I was there. They never had any solution to why it crashed, and staff had said that's how the program worked for years before I was there -- also with many calls to Tech Support. My rating wasn't emotional, it was based on my experience in the firm. It could be a great program, but it if crashes all of the time, it makes it not a very good program to use.
Wells Anderson
commented 3 years ago
Jason, how unfortunate for your old firm and frustrating for you when you were there! Thank you for the follow-up. Various law firms have contacted me over the years about their Time Matters issues. Some had received ineffective service from Level 1 Technical Support. I have been able either to resolve their issues or escalate the problems to the Level 2 Time Matters engineers. As you know, Time Matters runs on Microsoft SQL Server, a solid, reliable, complex database. When properly configured on appropriate hardware, MS SQL Server is stable. Perhaps your old firm had issues because of corrupted records. The Level 2 engineers and we certified consultants can track those down and eliminate them. Having worked with hundreds of law firms using Time Matters, I've never had one that "crashes all the time" or more than very occasionally after addressing their issues.

TimeMatters -- the Software Package for you if you are from the year 1995.

Overall Satisfaction with LexisNexis Time Matters