The two main challenges faced by the systems of legal document management of law firms are the quick retrieval of documents and file storage. The legal document management softwares are the key to counter these challenges. These softwares not only increase the productivity but also make it easier for professionals and employees to write case files and store them with common word processing. The numbering is automatically controlled by this software and each law practice is archived and versioned without any manual input.
The legal document management software also provides the facility of maintaining the copies of all previous versions of the document thus allowing the inspection or review of these whenever required. A matter centric solution for management of legal documents also helps your uptime legal.
What is legal document management?
Before moving up to the main part of our article, let’s get you some knowhow of what a legal document management entails.
Legal documents require proper and careful management which follows the standard operating procedures and regulations of an organization or a company. Although some companies may use a management system developed to manage legal matters, advanced legal document management software is usually required for the proper working of many legal departments.
A good document management software will not only help you to track files and folders, but also a variety of other tasks such as client, legal matters and more. A good DMS will require only a minimal number of steps or click for doing all of this and that too automatically.
Features that legal document management software should have
Legal professionals usually look for certain additional features in a management software depending on the nature of their work. These include:
Matter-centric software
It is vital to look for software that manages the document workflow or the company’s needs when you are choosing legal document management software. This includes all the disputes and litigation, governance and compliance, claims, legal research, contracts and transactions and intellectual property.
Email linking
Another feature that most companies or law firms look for in legal document management software is the ‘email linking’. In this era of internet and online working, most consumers and clients want online communication as compared to snail mail. So it is required that legal document system should properly and securely integrate with your email platforms.
Integration with business platforms
Another feature that is similar to the email linking is the integration of various business platforms by the use of legal document management software. This feature can save a lot of your time as well as your money. Apart from these benefits it can also reduce the potential errors that may occur during the clerical work. Also there is a need of platforms that can integrate to reduce the compliance errors and security risks in areas such as law firms, finance companies and healthcare facilities.
Document tagging
It is especially important for the legal industry to have document management systems with document tagging features so that they can organize their document according to the content and the type of file. Several forms of documents are used in different law firms; these need to be tagged and organized. That is why document tagging is an essential feature of legal document management software.
Cost for Legal Document Management Software
Different legal document management software is priced based on various factors and according to the type of legal practices. The factors on which the cost of a legal DMS depends include the storage size fees, monthly subscriptions, one-time licensing fee, monthly subscriptions per users and others.
Several legal DMS also have functions like practice management software and case management software. With the additional costs other functions for legal document management can be added to this software.
The cost of legal document management software can range from $15/month/user up to $250/month and higher. Some free legal document management software are also available which have limited users, storage space, and/or features.
Types of Legal Document Management Software
Document management software for in-house legal departments
As you know that about every legal department has its own unique elements and this leads to a need of legal document management software that adresses specifically to the law firms needs. However, it’s not always a viable option to have a specifically designed document management system as per company’s needs, which may be different from company to company. Expert opinions about the best document management software for in-house legal departments show that Legal Files is one of the most effective DMS that caters to institutional law practices including fortune 500 companies, state agencies and several other organizations.
Laserfiche is another recommended DMS which is an easy-to-use platform having features such as clean interface, folder organization and search functions. Other suggestions include CaseFox or Filevine for in-house legal document management requirements.
Document management software for small legal practices
The best legal DMS for small law firms are tailor-made for each company. A few effective options for you to consider if you are a small legal practice holder include Uptime’s new LexWorkplace which is a highly effective, online solution that can be used by law firms of all sizes. Also it is a valid option if you plan on growing your legal practice.
White-label legal case management software
Various legal departments or law firms have different needs and workloads as per the number of their staff and their work requirements. This is the reason why every law firm likes to choose custom document management software. There are several such software available on the internet which can cater your needs and give you a custom plan in affordable price to address all your needs.
References
https://www.softwareadvice.com/legal/document-management-comparison/
