PracticePanther Legal Software Reviews

Pros

Before PracticePanther we had started an Excel spreadsheet to log our contacts for conflicts checks. We created a joint email account with Gmail so our email would be centralized and that also gave us a central calendar that we all had access to in order to set appointments, record deadlines, etc. We also created a Dropbox account for file storage.

While everything was low cost or free, all the parts felt scattered. PracticePanther pulls it all together in one beautiful, user-friendly interface. Now, instead of having to pull up 5 or 6 different apps/websites, we are able to pull up just one site and have everything right there. All of the components of PracticePanther are really easy to use. The entire program is designed for efficiency and ease of use. Color-coding allows you to see and understand your financial details in mere seconds. Tasks, events, and timekeeping are easy.

Cons

I would like to see the software integrate with more programs. Quickbooks is great, but my brain works better with Wave Accounting; LawPay is great, but being able to integrate with PayPal also, would be even better. However, these are minor things and not worth seeking a different program I like as much as Practice Panther. I had shopped around quite a bit before choosing Practice Panther; I doubt I would find anything I like as much.

Hands down, our favorite thing about PracticePanther is the superior support staff. If you have a problem and leave a message after hours in the chat box, you get a response generally within the hour. There is also training videos and a help center that will help you find the help that you need.

Pros

Price - either $59/mo or $49/mo if paid the year in full.
Fee to bill clients on-line: $.20 per transaction plus 1.95%
Workflow customizable - Yes, you can customize the workflow on different case-types.
Activity Log - easy access history.
Create Contact on the fly as creating matter - easy to create a Contact during the process of creating a matter.
Intake form for new clients - Yes, can put a link on your website so new clients can fill-out a new client form, and that info will auto fill into the client's PP account.
Time tracking timers - you can have multiple different timers open and running at the same time and assign them.
Mobile App - there is no mobile App, but the site is mobile optimized.
E-file integration - there is No e-file integration.
Color assignments - there are up to 6 colors that you can assign to parties & roles.
Task customizable - Yes, you can customize task flows.
Easy to create and merge documents - Yes, it's very easy to create and merge documents with the program.
PDF-auto convert - No, it cannot auto PDF convert a document.
Create documents that can merged - Yes. This program makes it easy to create documents that can be merged.
Support - Yes, support seems to be free.
Notify client when upload a document - Yes, you can notify a client a document gets uploaded that you want them to review or be aware of.
Email syncing - very good syncing with Gmail and Outlook.
Emails linked to a matter - Yes. Easy to link emails to a matter.
Client Portal - Yes.

Cons

The only thing that kept me from staying with PracticePanther, is that MyCase allows you to be able to set future billing to go out to a client(s) and forget it.
PracticePanther has a bit of a 'workaround' if you get the client's Visa/Debit card on file, but many times clients are uneasy giving you their card number.
With Criminal Defense clients that need to make monthly (or future) payments on a retainer amount, MyCase allows you to set-up future dates where a client will be emailed a bill, which they can tap on a button and pay on-line. This is the main thing that made me go with MyCase.
But if not for that, I would have stayed with either PracticePanther or Smokeball. Smokeball had/has the slickest software for being able to send emails from (either) Outlook or Gmail, and a small window at the bottom allows you to connect that email to a matter. Smokeball's software also made/makes it very easy to sync a Word document with a Client/Matter.

Alternatives Considered

MyCase and Smokeball

Reasons for Switching to PracticePanther Legal Software

I ended up going with MyCase because it has the auto future filling of clients. But if MC didn't have that, I would have gone with PracticePanther or Smokeball.

Pros

It's easy to learn the basics. The calendar is good, it's helpful that they show tasks there. Searching is great. It's totally adequate if all you do is bill for time and integrate with Quickbooks.

Cons

Panther has no report on Items (e.g. how much of your revenue is from Document Drafting vs Litigation). To get such a report, you MUST integrate with Quickbooks. But the biggest problem is that Fixed Price billing (what they call "Flat Fee") is worthless.

Fixed Price billing was clearly an afterthought, and their implementation has not changed at all since the early days when I started using it: 1) It does not let you assign an Item as you can with time entries, so you can't easily tell Quickbooks that a Fixed Price invoice was for a trademark application, not doc review; 2) You can't assign a lawyer to a Fixed Price billing, so you cannot get a report to help you pay everyone proportionally to their Fixed Price billings; 3) Fixed Price matters become immediately billable even if no work has been done, so you must manually keep track of when it's time to invoice for a Fixed Price matter, and there's no report on billable Fixed Price matters; 4) When entering time on a Fixed Price matter, there's way no way to check whether you are about to exceed the budget, and no way anywhere to compare budgeted vs actual.

If you're a modern firm moving to fixed price as much as possible, you'll spend a LOT of time looking for work-arounds, and you'll find that implementing your work-arounds will chew up any time saving you might have gotten from using the rest of the software.

I can't wait to change to software that does Fixed Price right.

Pros

Super easy to use! We love that we can create custom fields for a contact or matter and have really enjoyed the automation portion of the software. The templates are easy to create and automatically pull the information from the contact and matter sections that we need.

Cons

Under Matter, instead of editing the whole section, it would be nice if I could hoover over the field I only need to update.

I also wish I could highlight text in the matter or notes section.

I create multiple matters under one client and some of the information in the fields is always the same. It would be nice if I could select an option so any time I create a new matter for that client, the information in the matter auto fills for any new case going forward.

Alternatives Considered

CosmoLex, Smokeball, Tabs3 and Clio

Reasons for Choosing PracticePanther Legal Software

Had to upgrade every so often and had to log onto our server to use. With PracticePanther, I log in from anywhere.

Switched From

Tabs3

Reasons for Switching to PracticePanther Legal Software

Price and ease of use

Pros

I've been a PracticePanther user for four years now. The most important factor in my selecting PracticePanther was the ease of use. With my prior software, I had to hire independent contractors and pay for "maintenance agreements" just to have access to the help desk. With PracticePanther, their support team can assist. More important, they have videos that will walk you through the process of setting up the various systems and integrations. Finally, I love the integrations. PracticePanther integrates with Microsoft Office, Box, Dropbox and Quickbooks. Your information stays in it's original locate with seamless access from PracticePanther.

Cons

Initially, there was a big push to produce new features. I'm not seeing new features coming out as frequently. However, I would note the quality of the new features, e.g., workflows with conditional logic and e-signatures.

Pros

I like being able to bill, take credit/debit card payments, and tell clients their balance with the app while in court. There are simple reports and a great dashboard to see how much is outstanding, to be billed, and the amount in my trust account. Practice panther has cut down on the time it takes for billing and made my office more efficient.

Cons

I print checks directly from practice panther, which takes several steps, but it makes it easy to add the cost to the client's billing. I would like the software to allow a report of vendors/payees' payments over various time periods as it does with tags and categories.

Alternatives Considered

Clio

Reasons for Choosing PracticePanther Legal Software

I used to use quick books for billing, but it is not as geared to attorneys as practice panther. Contingency cases were especially difficult. Practice panther even has a feature for evergreen retainers.

Reasons for Switching to PracticePanther Legal Software

quick books was overly cumbersome with numerous unnecessary features. Practice panther has needed features for a law firm that are not available in quick books. It is much easier to use than quick books.

Pros

I like the intuitive interface, clean look, and the ability to customize my own workflows.

Cons

I would like to see a private server capability added in instead of having to rely on Box. One that we can access via VPN would be helpful. I wish we could add in a bit more automation customization. For example, I would like to be able to send my clients a customized email with attachments and helpful info before specific events, rather than the generic reminder email. I would also like the ability to create conditional logic in certain events.

Alternatives Considered

Clio

Reasons for Choosing PracticePanther Legal Software

There was much more functionality and customization available with PP than Abacus.

Switched From

Abacus Private Cloud

Reasons for Switching to PracticePanther Legal Software

The main reason I initially chose it was price and interface look. Now I wouldn't change for anything because it is constantly evolving with my firm's growth and provides all the support we need.

Pros

They add features on a regular basis and have loads of training. The support staff is super helpful and if they don't know the answer they will try to find it. I understand that every system is different and every one has it's pros and cons. I really think once we utilize every single feature this program has we will be a much better law firm.

Cons

The email integrations phase in and out on working. It may simply be the plugin I have for Gmail but that can be a struggle.

Alternatives Considered

CosmoLex and Clio

Reasons for Choosing PracticePanther Legal Software

Leap was far too expensive for what they provided.

Switched From

LEAP

Reasons for Switching to PracticePanther Legal Software

The pricing and some of the features. I think Cosmolex may have the accounting side better locked down but I liked the ease of PracticePanther.

Pros

PracticePanther has helped keep my firm organized. We handle a large number of cases and we needed software that could help us manage them all, stay on top of tasks, and store information efficiently. PracticePanther has also been key in allowing for rapid growth in my practice.

My favorite feature is the payment plans through PantherPayments. My collections are significantly higher than some of my colleagues and it helped simplify this process. We can easily set up payment plans that automatically pull funds from a credit card or bank account which means I don't have to spend a ton of time chasing clients for money that I could be spending on their case.

Cons

I started out practicing solo and quickly grew to more staff. Every firm has growing pains, so I was initially worried about acclimating new staff to PracticePanther. Thankfully, those hesitations were put at bay and we've been able to use the platform with ease.

Alternatives Considered

Clio

Reasons for Switching to PracticePanther Legal Software

I researched several different software options, such as Clio, before making my final decision. I found that PracticePanther provides all of the same features as Clio and more, but at half the price. No other software in PracticePanther’s price range is anywhere near as robust.

Pros

The user experience from the moment a client logs onto our website, uses the embedded intake form, to create a client profile to PP is seamless. This is just one of the time-saving tools we have discovered. This automated way of working and being able to integrate systems has forced M Legal to rethink how we work and more importantly, how to we can simplify our working processes.
While many of us worked with CRMs in the past, most of them were clunky and stand-alone systems that could not work with other applications or software. PP has made managing clients much easier, where our lawyers are in control from the moment a case is initiated, all the way through to billing clients.
We have experienced our fair share of poor technical support teams when using other software programs. With PP, despite the time differences between Miami and Sydney, their technical support team are always available, whether it is through the chat portal, email or by phone. Each technical person is professional, knowledgeable and continues to take care of your matter until it is resolved. Further, they always have something new to teach you about the PP system on each call. I cannot express how impressed we are, with what we consider as stellar service from this tech support team.

Cons

Naturally, a product such as this is not going to have universal application across all legal fields. I would say that in the immigration space the status of a case is really important, so having a status bar that is customisable would be a feature that could be improved. Also, a lot of our data from clients are taken from in-take forms - we require intake forms that are easier to build and that have the capability of storing more information. While these are work in progress type issues, this certainly does not take away from PP's product, which we believe is a well designed and thought through CRM system.

Pros

Practice Panther out performs on integration with Outlook. Users can send email from within the platform and the email will send in outlook, as well as be saved in the PP file. Similarly, emails that are received can be added by a drag and drop that resides on the Outlook side.

It also has better document automation and work flows than the competitive products.

Cons

The dash board at the matter level could be better. All of the information is there, but one has to move from tab to tab to find it. I'd like a "status" feed at the top (with the ability to generate reports for all open matters and current status) instead of the feed that is at the bottom of the case dashboard (which we don't seem to use).

Alternatives Considered

Firm Central, MyCase, AbacusLaw, Rocket Matter and Clio

Reasons for Switching to PracticePanther Legal Software

Pricing, ease of use, and Office Integration.

Pros

This software is intuitive, easy to navigate and very user-friendly. Tech support is promptly available and they are very patient. Practice Panther continues to make improvements on the software and they listen to their customers feedback. They have fixed our issues with our calendar being very slow to load. It's fast now and working very well.

Cons

There are still room for improvement in terms of features and functions. (1) The format (layout) of the calendar is not user-friendly for mid to large firms with more than 10 employees. Everyone's events are scattered across the calendar and overlap with each other which makes difficult to identify availability for specific staff. Events are displayed with different colors assigned to each staff. It's hard to follow 10+ different colors on computer screen and it is definitely not working for staff who are color-blind. It's really difficult to see who has appointments at each hour throughout the day. We suggested to have columns for each staff so that it only takes a glance to identify who is available when, just like how calendars are in Time Matters from Lexis Nexis. (2) Sorting function for customized fields is not available unfortunately. What makes this software great is the customization you can make to fit it to your exact needs. However, customized fields are not sort-able, and without the sorting function for the customized fields, data is not as valuable and usable as it should be. As a legal administrator who manages the data and runs productivity report for legal staff, we are currently spending a lot of time downloading the information from the software to MS Excel, sorting and manipulating the data in Excel, and finally coming back to the PracticePanther to make necessary changes within the software. (Continues to overall experience)

Pros

I love the IT help, the invoicing system and the templates feature. I had a lot of questions and needed a lot of help in the beginning. Being able to schedule times to discuss my issues with the IT guys at PracticePanther was great. The fact that they can take over your computer remotely so they can see what you see in real time is even better. Their response time to non-scheduled issues is pretty fast. I have also found their FAQs and how to videos to be extremely helpful but having a live person to speak with who can access your computer is just as good as having someone standing next to me while I work.

The invoicing system is phenomenal. It keeps track of all of my client banking accounts. I can see at any time how much is in my IOLTA account, how much is in my operating account, how much a client owes, how much a client has paid and how much I have billed a client but not yet invoiced. I can do this client by client, matter by matter or as an overall total. LawPay is free if you sign up through PracticePanther which is awesome because it handles my credit card transactions and when a client pays, it automatically updates my invoicing and accounts. PracticePanther also knows how to deduct things from a client's retainer when sending out an invoice so you don't have to worry about that either. Their timing device feeds right into the system. It is awesome.

Pros

I like using it - it's easy to use and people on my team enjoy it too. Easy for billing and time managements, which is primarily what my law firm uses it for. We have had it since about 2018, and overall, I'm satisfied with the functionality. I haven't tried any of the competitors so I don't know how it compares.

Cons

Customer support is highly inadequate. I've had an issue with uploading billing entries and costs onto invoices on my iPad. It can only be done on a computer or laptop, but it doesn't work on iPad. When I open an invoice to edit it, and click on the link that states "add unbilled time, expenses and flat fees" to upload the billing entries and costs, nothing happens and therefore they can't be added to the invoices. It's frustrating that this feature doesn't work on iPad as I can do everything else on my iPad. I informed Practice Panther of the issue over a year ago, gave them technician access probably over ten times, talked to customer support on the phone repeatedly in the course of months as well as exchanged dozens of emails with multiple customer support reps - and nothing. Eventually, they failed to resolve the problem and stopped getting back to me. Notably, over a year later, the issue is still UNRESOLVED. So although I enjoy the software overall, I find their customer support inadequate and it hinders my business that I still can't add the billing entries to my invoices whenever using the software on my iPad.

Alternatives Considered

Clio

Pros

Clients can pay online.
I honestly can't think of anything else to say.

Cons

Where do I start?

The time keeping function is terrible. You cannot edit start and stop times. You cannot start and stop multiple timers in the mobile app. The software auto-saves frequently, and when it does, it moves the cursor in the entry to the end of the text. This is annoying. You cannot start a timer and then add the client-matter without causing the time to round up.

The syncing with G Suite is bad. The software will not sync with all the fields in Google Contacts, and the "custom fields" in PracticePanther do not sync into Google Contacts. This results in a lot of duplicate data entry, which is what I was trying to void with practice management software. The software does not sync will with Google Drive well at all either. Apparently, you can't have any folders in Google Drive with the same name. For example, Client_01\general and Client_02\general would result in an error and none of your Google Drive documents will be visible in PracticePanther.

The software billing feature is terrible. First, you cannot have multiple companies or entities tied to the same individual. Thus, if you have a contact who owns multiple businesses that are clients, you will not be able to list all those businesses under the client's name. To make matters worse, you can only email invoices to individuals who are listed under the company. I had to create multiple dummy contacts called "Accounts Payable" just so that I could email my clients their invoices.

I ran out of space.

Pros

Before PracticePanther, there was no aggregation of data that would allow me to analyze in real-time how we were performing, and we were leaving a lot of pennies on the table because of it. We were able to take an outdated, paper-based reporting system and modernize it. This allowed us to get a clear picture and make adjustments as needed. In a world where there is more remote work, it becomes more important than ever to be able to track those things so that your business is maximizing its profitability and efficiency with its employees.

Cons

The most stressful part for us was getting all the data into the system in a format that would work. Once it’s in there and rolling, it cuts down on so much work. There’s a little pain upfront, but you’ll find that with any software like this, that it takes a bit of time to get it right, once it’s in there you really do wonder how you lived without it.

Pros

It's very intuitive which makes it easy to use.
It integrates well with Law Pay.

Cons

It gets hung up a lot.
The program is down for long stretches during the workday.

Pros

I really like two features the most. First, is the absolutely fabulous customer support that I receive. I get answers within less than 60 minutes from the time I contact them. Second is the ease of use. Practice Panther is almost intuitive in its use. If the answer doesn't jump out at you, there are tons of training videos available and the online customer help is spot on.

Cons

I use the basic Essential Monthly Plan. It is the lowest cost but the value is exceptional. I do wish I had some of the additional features in the higher priced plans but those don't fit my budget currently. Those features I can supplement with my own documents or programs.

Pros

The ease of PP is paramount! I have found it very simple to use, invite clients to use, and for staff to train and use.

Cons

I dislike the cost of using PP to collect credit card payments from clients, and I dislike that I cannot assign more than a single email to a client account/matter.

Alternatives Considered

Dropbox Business, Clio and Google Meet

Pros

Other than it being a "one stop shop" and the ease of accessibility, I have been impressed with Practice Panther's ability to respond to my specific needs. A significant amount of my work is for unions and clients with multiple matters. Initially, Practice Panther was unable handle invoicing and billing for an individual contact with multiple matters. However, I approached them with my needs and they created a "fix" to their system within a week. They also followed up to ensure that I was satisfied. I was certainly impressed by Practice Panther's speed and attentiveness.

Cons

I am still trying to learn all of the ins and outs. I need a bit more tutelage on the nuances. At times, customer service may not answer all of the questions, however, they have been very responsive to my needs once I call or make them known.

Pros

The look and feel was one of our deciding factors to go with PracticePanther. It’s incredibly intuitive, and most of your data is available whenever you need it. In immigration law, there’s a lot of very important dates and information that need to be tracked, so being able to create all the custom fields we needed was a big win. I also love how easy it is to track our billing. We can automatically track who has paid, and then follow-up with anyone we still need to collect from. Giving extra transparency to our clients really showcases our ability to use technology to enhance our services.

Cons

When starting with any new software you need to approach it with some patience. There’s a lot of training available, both videos and text-based. So getting ramped-up and knowing that we needed to experiment with customization and intake forms, and get the team to support using it was going to take some time.

Pros

This software is great right out of the box, so to speak; there is no box. But as I have needed something extra I have made suggestions and the company actually improves the program. New additions come up as other users make suggestions as well. The program is very intuitive and therefore easy to learn and use when you are a new user. But with time I have learned that it can do so much more than I realized at first. The customer support is great at teaching users how to do some new task and the You Tube training videos is a great way to learn how to make your practice more efficient using options that you might not otherwise know are available. Overall, this is the best law office management software I have used over the last 15 years.

Cons

Rarely, there have been times when I wanted to create a report that the program was not able to generate and I would need to export a current report to excel and then modify or add data to get the report that I needed.

Pros

At this point, nothing. They are not responding via telephone nor their support online

Cons

My header changed and no state or zip code now appears. I did nothing to change it.

Pros

Our team has a number of favorite features, being able to access Box via the Panther Mobile app is a big one, and being able to shoot text reminders to clients about appointments and deadlines is another favorite, but how much time Panther has shaved off of our billing cycle is definitely the top. Using Panther, we have cut in half the time it takes to review and approve pre-bills, invoice the client, and get paid.

Cons

Being a larger firm and having migrated case management software several times already made the transition and adoption challenging. Practice Panther allows for very easy import and export of information as csv files, which is great for producing your own reports, but created a lot of front end work massaging data from the previous system in order to import into Panther. As of Summer 2018, the QuickBooks integration is a little basic and still needs some work.

Pros

Billing is easy to complete with PP. It sometimes syncs with QB (when it doesn't it causes major issues)

Cons

The customer service is horrible and has gotten progressively worse over the years. It seems like when the company changed ownership there was no money put into development to make the system better and it is constantly getting beat by competitors. The customer service is almost non existent and there seems to be constant turnover.