15 Top Tools for Lawyers To Help Grow Their Law Firms

While your time in law school gave you a strong legal foundation, chances are you didn’t learn much about the numerous lawyer tools that can simplify your job.

For instance, marketing may not seem essential when you’re pontificating about substantive issues in law school. But in the crowded legal market, you see the utility—especially for small firm lawyers whose livelihoods depend on client generation. It used to be as simple as phone book ads or networking events, but now technology is key to a strong legal marketing strategy.

Technology for lawyers has several benefits. For instance, per the 2024 Legal Industry Report, 75% of respondents say their firm has adopted general-use AI tools like ChatGPT to increase productivity. Whether you want to engage more clients, encourage productivity, or increase efficiency, consider the lawyer tools at your disposal. Read on to learn what legal technology is available and how you can benefit from it.

 1. Cloud Computing and Document Sharing Tools

One of the key benefits of legal software is the ability to transform traditional methods like scanning and faxing into more efficient and secure processes.

Leveraging cloud-based tools improves accessibility—making it easy for your team to access documents and information wherever they are. This is especially helpful if your team is remote, distributed, or frequently traveling. For example, a cloud-based case management tool helps lawyers securely access client data and files without relying on physical files or office-based servers.

Furthermore, cloud-based document management and sharing tools enhance collaboration by allowing team members to use the same file simultaneously. This ensures that everyone has access to the most up-to-date information and can work accordingly. Document management tools are also more secure, as many tools include access control, file backup, and encryption—things that traditional methods lack.

2. Law Firm Accounting Software

Law firm accounting software provides a streamlined way to manage a firm’s financial operations while remaining compliant with accounting laws and regulations. In addition, leveraging accounting software lets you track expenses, client payments, and all other financial data in a single place.

MyCase’s law firm accounting solution, for example, is designed to handle the specific requirements of law firms, ensuring compliance with state bar regulations. Plus, you can automate routine tasks—invoicing, reporting, etc.—and pull detailed financial reports to give you insight into the financial health of your practice in real-time.

3. Online Payments Processor

Adding an online payment processor to your arsenal of legal tools will let you streamline invoicing and payments—benefitting your firm and your clients. With scheduled payments and automated reminders, you’ll spend less time chasing down payments and more time on important legal work.

For example, a tool like LawPay’s payment solution is designed specifically for law firms and ensures compliance with trust accounting requirements, provides secure payments, and allows you to see real-time updates and tracking. In addition, the right payment provider will save time, reduce effort, and mitigate compliance risks all at once.

4. eDiscovery Tools

Legal research and eDiscovery tools give you a simpler and more efficient way to manage discovery and analysis. Unlike traditional discovery, which requires manual review of documents and evidence, eDiscovery lets you automate searches, categorization, and information gathering. By leveraging keyword searches and filtering software, you’ll spend much less time searching for information—leaving you time to focus on strategy and client work.

Some AI-driven software can also use machine learning to assess large datasets and find relevant case law, precedents, and legal documents, giving you a better chance of discovering every critical detail. These features make it easier to keep materials organized and keep your team on the same page, even when dealing with massive amounts of data.

5. Lead Tracking Software

Clients need your utmost care and attention, but keeping track of each client and their information can be challenging. Lead tracking software helps you more efficiently capture client leads and their data.

Legal software like MyCase’s client intake form, for example, gives you the ability to simplify information collection by letting leads input their details online. Then, MyCase’s legal CRM makes it easy to automate the rest of the process, assisting with:

• Setting reminders
• Client intake processes
• Automating communications
• Closing deals

Integrating lead tracking software with case management tools allows you to streamline the process even more by letting lead details seamlessly flow into your firm’s workflow as the case is accepted.

6. Invoicing Software

A streamlined law firm billing process is essential, but without the right invoicing software, this may be difficult.

Legal invoicing software, like the one offered by MyCase, simplifies the end-to-end invoicing process from invoice creation to tracking receipt of payments. You can also customize invoices to your brand’s specifications, offer several payment options to clients, and even automatically pull billable hours and expenses into your invoices to ensure complete and accurate billing.

Of course, you can also generate detailed reports to analyze billing trends and payment histories or unearth outstanding balances.

7. Hiring Software

Technology for lawyers doesn’t only reach those currently employed with your firm. In fact, such software can help streamline the hiring process and provide an improved experience to job candidates.

These tools can automate hiring tasks like job ad posting and interview scheduling—saving your firm’s leaders time and administrative burden. They also offer automated communications and updates, keeping candidates in the loop without wasting your valuable time.

Compliance matters in hiring, too, and using hiring software can centralize your data management and ensure that you’re tracking the necessary data to maintain compliance with employment laws.

The efficiency offered by hiring software can also improve your team’s ability to collaborate on hiring decisions—reviewing candidates and sharing interview feedback, for example—and lead to a quicker hiring process.

8. Client Communication Portal

Using a client portal lets you condense and share documents, messages, and important updates in a single platform, often with added security over traditional options. Another benefit is that many of these platforms allow clients 24/7 access, so they’re always updated on pertinent case updates and can upload documents as needed.

For instance, tools like MyCase’s client portal make it easy to share files between your firm and clients— and with secure messaging and encryption to ensure compliance and confidentiality. With the ability to set automatic notifications, clients will never feel in the dark.

9. Time Tracking Software

The use of time-tracking software is on the rise among law firms, with over 65% of firms using it in 2024—and for good reason. Rather than manually track billable time, you can rely on time-tracking tools to capture every minute in real time. Plus, many time-tracking products integrate with your billing system, making invoices a snap.

With many tools working across devices, attorneys can start and stop timers from whichever device they’re using, never missing a billable minute. Detailed reporting also provides a glimpse into where lawyers are spending their time, making it simple to gain insight into opportunities to optimize productivity or efficiency.

MyCase’s time tracking software, for instance, provides these benefits and also lets you keep an eye on non-billable time, so you get the whole picture of where your firm’s time goes.

10. Marketing Solutions

One of the most affordable ways to market your legal expertise is to start a blog. Blogs drive website traffic, and with plenty of blogging platforms available on the market, it’s easy to get started.

Search engines seek out relevant content, so it’s important to become fluent in SEO to understand which keywords will lead potential clients to your blog. The best way to do this is to carefully research keywords to determine which your target readers search for on Google. Social media is another affordable, effective way to reach your target audience.

If your firm doesn’t yet have a website, that’s the place to start. While there are several available tools to help you develop a web presence, a tool designed specifically for law firms (like MyCase’s website designer) is a great way to handle everything from site creation to SEO and analytics.

11. AI Tools

Legal AI tools provide numerous benefits to firms, from enhancing efficiency to streamlining workflows. Plus, as AI technology improves, it will be capable of doing nearly anything a human can.

If you’re looking for legal document generation,editing, or document summarization, MyCase’s legal AI software can assist. This tool takes manual effort out of human hands, saves costs, and allows your firm to achieve more for your clients without investing in additional staffing or resources.

12. Virtual Receptionists

Although AI is on the rise, there will always be a need for a human touch in the legal field. Thankfully, there are plenty of use cases for investing in law firm technology, like a virtual receptionist or legal answering service, to reduce some of your costs and efforts. According to our 2024 Legal Industry Report, 19% of law firms gained at least five leads per week just by using a virtual receptionist.

Leveraging this type of tool serves your firm in several ways. First, you can provide 24/7 availability to clients without paying overtime.

The flexibility of these tools means you can scale based on your firm or client’s needs—whether you want to offer simple call handling or more detailed legal assistant work.

13. eSignature Tools

Legal technology that you’re likely already using is eSignature software. These tools reduce the burden of gathering physical signatures on important documents—letting you request, sign, and manage documents entirely electronically. Legal eSignature software also complies with relevant laws and ensures the signatures are legally binding and secure.

Like other document-sharing tools, eSignature tools let you collaborate regardless of users’ locations, increasing efficiency and reducing turnaround time. Plus, with everything handled electronically, there is a strong information trail to help you audit materials and ensure accountability. Furthermore, by offering the ability to sign documents instantly, you’ll save monetary costs on postage and paper. Solutions like MyCase’s eSignature software provide these benefits and also allow you tocollect signatures through your phone with the swipe of a finger.

14. Video Conferencing Software

Video conferencing software helps law firms operate efficiently without requiring team members to be in the same location.

With this feature, you can conduct meetings from anywhere, allowing your team to collaborate and problem-solve regardless of location. Plus, most video conferencing tools let you share documents and presentations in real time, no paper-shuffling required.

With the addition of encryption and other security measures, your meetings will be just as private and secure as if you were sequestered in an office. Video conferencing also gives you the chance to safely and securely record and store meetings for future use or reference.

15. Legal Practice and Case Management Software

With so many different options for law firm technology, it’s tricky to determine which will best suit your needs. The clear solution is to consider an all-in-one platform. Tools like these marry internal processes like time tracking and financial management with client-facing ones like marketing and invoicing—allowing you to run the gamut of operations from a single system.

There are strong cost savings, too. By paying for one platform that does it all, you save the setup and ongoing costs you’d otherwise pay for multiple tools. And if your all-in-one tool leverages AI, you’ll see even more savings as you can spend less on human effort.

An all-in-one option is MyCase, which offers everything you need to generate new leads, get paid on time, manage cases and clients, stay organized, and improve your overall efficiency and productivity.

How To Choose the Right Tools for Your Law Firm

When assessing legal tools, you want to focus on solutions that will meet a firm’s specific needs and work well within existing workflows and processes.

For instance, consider:

• Your firm’s needs: Is your firm hoping for exponential growth (whether by engaging more clients or hiring more attorneys)? Have you struggled to adequately track time and bill appropriately? Think about what problems you want to solve and find a tool that will help.
• The user experience: Choose software that is intuitive to use and easy to navigate.
• Security: Legal work requires confidentiality, so seek out a tool that offers robust security and access management.
• Budget: While you want a system that offers as much as possible, search for a tool that balances value and cost. .
• Integration: Consider an all-in-one tool with everything you need, or identify a solution that integrates seamlessly with other tools and workflows you already use.
• Customer support: Be sure to find a tool with strong customer support and training resources.

Grow Your Firm’s Productivity with MyCase’s All-in-One Solution

There are many ways lawyer tools can transform the way your firm does business, from generating more clients to saving money and reducing non-billable hours. As technology advances, choosing the right tools and features for your firm is more important than ever.

Consider an all-in-one platform that includes everything you need to optimize your firm’s success. One excellent choice is MyCase; schedule a demo to learn how your firm can benefit from an all-in-one suite of lawyer tools.