Custom Software for Small Law Firms
You bill for your time. Stop spending it on operations.
Intake, deadlines, time entry, status calls — none of it is billable, and all of it is eating your day. We build the operations layer that handles it, so the practice of law gets your attention back.
Sound familiar?
- New matters arrive scattered across email, voicemail, and the occasional walk-in note — and somebody has to remember to chase each one down.
- Deadlines live in calendars that don't talk to case files. The date is in Outlook; the context is in a folder; the risk is in the gap between them.
- Time entry happens at month end, reconstructed from memory, sent emails, and guesswork. Every forgotten six-minute increment is revenue that quietly evaporates.
- "Any update on my case?" calls interrupt the exact work that would produce the update.
What we build for small law firms
Client intake portal that routes matters
One front door for new business. Prospects answer the questions you'd ask anyway, possible conflicts get flagged for your review, and the matter lands with the right attorney with a complete file — not a voicemail transcription.
Deadline & statute tracker tied to each matter
Every date lives on the matter it belongs to, with the filings and context attached. Escalating reminders go to the responsible attorney and a backup, because a missed statute isn't a scheduling problem — it's a malpractice problem. Your staff enter and confirm every date; the tracker sends reminders. It doesn't calculate deadlines or replace your docketing review.
Passive time-capture helpers
Small tools that log what you worked on in the systems we can connect to — matters opened, documents drafted, calls taken — and hand you a draft of your day to confirm or correct. You review time daily instead of rebuilding a month from memory.
Client status portal
Clients log in and see where their matter stands, what happened last, and what's next — the answer to "any update?" without a phone call.
To be clear about scope: these are operations tools that work alongside your existing legal research and document management systems. We don't build legal advice systems — we build the machinery around the practice, under the confidentiality terms in our agreement. Curious how firms decide which of these steps to automate first? Start with our automation guide for small businesses.
Frequently asked questions
What does custom software cost for a small law firm?
Standard rates are a $650/month platform fee plus $49/month for each attorney or staff member who signs in, adjusted to the firm and confirmed in a written quote before work begins. A firm with five people signing in is $895/month, and how client-portal access is priced is spelled out in the same quote. The monthly fees cover hosting, monitoring, backups, security updates, bug fixes, and email support. Text messaging, if you use it, is billed separately. Changes after launch are billed at $150/hour — tracked, reported, and done only after you approve them in writing — and a larger build can carry a one-time fee, quoted up front. Here's a detailed look at what custom software really costs.
Does this replace our practice management or research tools?
No. We build practice-operations tools — intake, deadlines, time capture, client communication — that sit alongside your existing legal research and document management systems. We don't build legal advice systems, and we don't ask you to rip out what already works.
How do you handle client confidentiality?
Client confidentiality is covered by the confidentiality terms in our agreement. The agreement also commits us to encryption in transit (TLS), encryption at rest for designated sensitive fields, risk-based two-factor authentication, and role-based access controls. Limiting staff to the matters they work on can be built in. Your data is backed up automatically; your written quote states how often and how long backups are kept. Audit trails can be built in where you need them. Your data is yours: we claim no ownership of it, and if you leave, it's made available for export in a common format; you have 30 days after the agreement ends to take it.
We can't afford downtime during a build. How disruptive is this?
The build happens outside your workflow — you review progress, not manage a project. A focused tool typically takes 1–2 weeks and a fuller system 4–8 weeks; those are ranges from our past projects in other industries, not promises. We migrate existing matter lists and contacts before launch — the migration is scoped and priced in your written quote — and schedule the switchover around your calendar. Email support is included, and hands-on training for your team can be added to your quote.
Put the unbillable work on software
Describe the operational drag in your firm — intake, deadlines, time entry, the phone. We'll send a written quote for the tools to handle it. And unlike yours, our first consultation is free.
Get a Quote