Accounting & Reporting

Inspired by the latest Netflix binge craze, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” millions of Americans are decluttering. In the series, organizing expert Kondo travels to homes of stressed-out Americans to help them discard items that no longer spark joy and organize their living spaces in a meaningful way. Kondo contends that having little time or energy to organize can lead to anxiety and tension. As she explains in her best-selling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing: “In essence, tidying ought to be the act of restoring balance among people, their possessions, and the house they live in.”

Here at CARET Legal, we can understand why so many legal practice management programs make grand claims of being fully integrated, all-in-one solutions. Software with capabilities to meet all your law practice management needs in one user-friendly interface is appealing. The fact of the matter is that these claims are often misleading. You end up stuck with practice management software that relies on third-party applications and integrations to meet many of your key needs. The bottom line is - you can’t be an all-in-one practice management solution if you are relying on third party applications for important functions such as email, accounting, and document management.

What is an evergreen retainer? An evergreen retainer is a type of security retainer. Just like other types of retainer, your client pays you a sum up front and you are able to use this money to pay your fees and expenses. The difference is with an evergreen retainer, your client needs to keep a predetermined minimum balance on the account.

Does your firm rely on a bookkeeping service to manage your books? Have you experienced data syncing issues or do you have concerns that your provider doesn’t have sufficient experience to manage your books in compliance with your state bar’s client trust (IOLTA) rules and regulations? If so, then it’s time to take your firm’s legal billing and legal accounting into your own hands.

When searching for the best legal practice management software, you need to consider which application will best improve your firm’s efficiency. One factor to look at is whether the software can take care of all your firm’s needs from a single platform. Many practice management platforms integrate with multiple third-party applications as a means to increase functionality for their users and draw in prospects. Although it may seem as though your firm would benefit greatly from software that integrates with many other applications, this may not be the case.

There are so many benefits to keeping track of your time: efficiency, organization, and responsibility. Once you figure out where specifically you are spending your time, you can then determine where improvements in your time management need to be made. Budgeting your time and allotting more time for higher priority tasks, will lead to fewer distractions, better organization, and more responsibility (and accountability).

At long last, the legal sector is getting with the program. Adoption of legal technology is on the rise. Lawyers are starting to use legal practice management software to enhance the productivity of their practices. With cloud-based applications, lawyers can easily store and access all of their legal documents and client information in one portable device in any location at any time of the day.

As an attorney, you are trained to keep track of every minute and bill accordingly. But what if you decide that you don’t want to bill your client for the extra time it has taken your new associate to research a topic related to their case? Or perhaps you’re feeling super generous and want to write-off the 20-minute conversation you had with your client updating them about their case. While you should be aware of every second spent sending emails, following up on payments, and learning a new skill, every second spent on a case may not be worth a check from your client.

Every day there is more evidence that in order to stay competitive, lawyers need to harness technology to streamline their processes. The more sophisticated the client, the less tolerance they have for inefficiency. In our never ending quest to provide the right tools for law firms, CARET Legal is thrilled to now support electronic LEDES invoices with Uniform Task-Based Management System (UTBMS) Codes.