Best CRM for Law Firms

Running a legal services business is complex. Each individual case you work on may be subject to many twists, turns and unexpected delays before there’s a final resolution. Often, multiple colleagues work on the same case and, if they’re working from different locations, sharing information can be difficult. Clients expect immediate responses too, putting further pressure on your people’s time and demanding a high degree of internal organization to be able to deliver to service users’ satisfaction.

Implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system can remove many of the complexities of running a law firm and the room for error that can harm client confidence in a practice. We’ve reviewed dozens of CRMs and, below, we’ve selected our five top picks for law firms.

Below, find the pricing tiers offered by each provider we reviewed above.

The higher the pricing plan you select, the more services you have access to. Some features, like Einstein AI on Salesforce, are add-ons that you’ll need to pay an additional fee to access. The same is true for third-party apps that extend the functionality of each CRM. While some are free, others are chargeable on either a per-user or company basis.

The monthly prices shown are for annual upfront payments. Most platforms require a year’s commitment and don’t offer payment by the month. There are exceptions like HubSpot’s Essentials tariff.

There may be other charges, such as HubSpot’s onboarding service, which is compulsory and starts at $750. Zoho charges for enhanced 24-hour customer services at a premium of 20 percent of your monthly fees.

When purchasing a CRM for your law firm, try to ensure that it has the features you need to make running your practice more efficient. Look out for these features when making your choice:

Client and case management tools

Select a system that has effective contact management tools that allow you to maintain detailed client profiles and case histories.

By having one central source of data in your practice, every person working on an individual case is working from the latest and most accurate information. If a client gets in touch and wants an update, everything your co-worker needs to help them is there. Whenever a change is made to a client or case record or new information is added, it’s there for everyone to see.

The best CRMs log phone calls, emails and other types of communication and then add them to both client profiles and case histories so that there are no gaps in history. Some systems will now transcribe calls between your colleagues and clients and place them in the particular client’s folder for later retrieval.

Effective and efficient client and case management can lead to more successful case outcomes as well as closer relationships with clients.

Document management features or integrations

When representing clients, law firms generate volumes of documents, many of which contain sensitive client material like wills, commercial secrets and intellectual property. Many CRM systems offer native or third-party document management and tracking tools making it easier for your staff to organize and retrieve documents when needed. These online vaults are secure and searchable too.

The ability to access the right documents quickly is important for maintaining client trust when you’re representing them on a case.

On a wider organizational level, having access to your firm’s entire legal output is like having your own LexisNexis type of repository ― an electronic and accessible form of your firm’s experience and expertise.

Workflow automation functions

CRMs allow practices to streamline and automate their legal processes. By handing organizational responsibility over to a CRM, you reduce human error and ensure that important tasks like client follow-ups, chasing documents from third parties and providing case status updates aren’t forgotten.

CRMs are adaptable and you can create their own area-of-law-specific workflows to accommodate the various types of cases you work with clients on. You can also streamline marketing communications and billing leaving your legal professionals with more time to spend on core, billable work.

Reporting and analytics tools

Gain valuable insights into your law firm’s performance in areas like won/loss rates, client satisfaction score and hours billed by departments and the individuals working for you. Use comparative analytics to understand how well various practice areas like litigation and corporate law are doing. As a law firm partner or senior manager, the reporting and analytics tools in your CRM allow you to identify growth opportunities and allocate resources better.

On a more specific level, your marketing team can run email, SMS and social media marketing as well as SEO drives from a CRM and monitor how every campaign performs. You can also track how clients respond to communication requests during cases to determine which method individuals respond to fastest to enhance workflow and efficiency.

On-the-road connectivity

Modern CRMs now feature on-the-road connectivity as a core service allowing lawyers to access case notes and documents when they’re out of the office. As the number of law firms has mushroomed in recent years, there’s a growing expectation among clients for face-to-face interactions, often at the client’s home or business premises.

Thanks to how CRMs centralize data storage and update it whenever a colleague amends or adds to a record, your lawyers and attorneys can host more productive client meetings and be better briefed in court.

When choosing a CRM, adopt a structured process to ensure that the system you choose meets your firm’s needs. Follow these steps.

1. Be clear on your requirements

Identify and define the primary objectives that you want your CRM to deliver on.

Specify your exact requirements beyond managing client interactions better or being more efficient in time tracking or case and matter management. Set actual targets for what it is you want to achieve in each area and try to understand how much of the heavy lifting you want your CRM to do.

2. Shortlist potential CRMs

Search online for what CRMs are available, taking note when at each site of the system’s scalability, capabilities and the levels of customization it offers. Try to find out how complex onboarding the system will be too as you’ll need to spend time making the CRM work how you want it to.

Be sure to check each CRM’s app store for law-specific plug-ins, such as legal billing, e-discovery and marketing, as well as other plug-ins that would give you the functionality you require. At this point, you should have a strong idea of which CRMs are suitable to take through to the next stage.

3. Test drive each shortlisted CRM

Contact each vendor on your new shortlist. Take advantage of any free trials on offer ― some offer trials lasting up to a month so you can put the system through its paces before having to commit.

If no free trial is available, ask for a comprehensive demonstration. Ask the rep to show you how the CRM will do what you need it to do and get them to show you the process live. On any demo, get all the reassurance you need that the system can meet your requirements.

4. Gather and compare quotes

After the free trials and demonstrations, narrow down your options further to the most suitable systems. Get detailed pricing information and quotes from each vendor and ask them to include costs for additional features and plug-ins.

If you can, get quotes from at least three vendors to use later in negotiations to get the price down.

5. Do your due diligence

Before you make your final choice, consult with legal professionals at other firms if they’re using a system you’re considering.

Check for independent reviews online as well as reviews from customers, including those outside the legal sector to get a fuller picture on issues like user satisfaction, platform reliability and customer service responsiveness.

Investing in a CRM offers many benefits for legal firms. Five of the most significant are:

Better client management

With a CRM, lawyers and attorneys have fingertip access to comprehensive information on every client in addition to their past and ongoing cases. Everyone with the practice sees the same information on each client leading to improved and more accurate interactions.

The automation tools in CRM systems offer significant benefits too, especially when a case is ongoing. CRMs streamline tasks like follow-up communications, sending reminders and scheduling appointments, key components in providing first-class client care.

Bottom line: Clients pursuing personal legal cases or who are subject to one are often nervous and upset through the period. Sensitive and timely contact management can offer them comfort and reassurance throughout the process.

Improved case handling

All cases require some degree of micromanagement which is made all the more complicated if multiple colleagues are working on it at different times.

The ability to assign tasks to other colleagues on the team and access to a central source of up-to-date information, data and documents greatly improve the speed and quality of service. Clients are happier because their cases are better handled which could lead to more favorable outcomes.

Internal and external communications

CRMs improve communication between colleagues and communication with clients. Colleagues share information and insights faster leading to better decision-making as a team.

They also provide insight into individual client responsiveness depending on the channel used. If lawyers and attorneys know a phone call with a particular client gets things done quicker, for example, they can keep case momentum going. If marketers know that a client opens each email on a particular subject, they can follow up with products and services of interest.