When law firms talk about technology, the word “ease” doesn’t always come up. But Elisabeth Alonzi, Senior Solutions Consultant at CARET Legal, made a convincing case that the company’s all-in-one practice management platform has cracked the code.
“Every firm has some kind of heartburn with getting paid, managing matters or tracking time,” Alonzi said. “And all types of law firms work very differently, even if they’re in the same practice area. So we really focus on consolidation, which is where we play really well.”
CARET Legal is a cloud-based practice management platform that combines case management, document management, time tracking, billing, accounting, analytics, and payments in a single system. It includes built-in email and calendar integrations with Outlook and Gmail, allowing lawyers to save emails to a matter, create tasks, and track billable time automatically.
Having all those features in one place adds up to saving hundreds, if not thousands, of billable hours per year. During a recent demo with Above the Law, Alonzi showed us how.
Getting Started
In one view on the firm Dashboard, users can get a global view of everything on their plate. The navigation bar on the left allows quick access to case matters, calendar, contacts, analytics, tasks, documents, and more.
Firms can customize what they see upon opening the platform. For example, the Analytics view below is based on business intelligence insights, which a client previously spent hours per month running manually. Now their business analytics update automatically, and they can see them first thing in the morning.
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“It’s really the art of the possible,” Alonzi said.
A Platform Lawyers Can Actually Use Without an IT Degree
Ease of use was a constant refrain throughout Alonzi’s walkthrough. “A managing partner once told me, ‘The CARET Legal interface looks so easy to use, I could easily see a fast return on investment,’” Alonzi said.
That simplicity carries through every layer of the platform.
CARET Legal integrates directly with Microsoft 365 and Gmail, so users can manage emails, link them to matters, create tasks for others by checking a box, and even capture billable time from within their inbox. It beats manually exporting emails as PDFs to put them into a folder.
“This is truly your inbox,” she said. “With this, you just open an email and link it to any matter you need to.”
CARET also offers 15 ways to record time, accommodating users at every tech comfort level. “That’s not to overwhelm, but to say you all have different comfort levels with technology. We work with what works best for you.”
Time entries are prepopulated with the rate you’re charging for the case. For instance, if it were a personal injury case, it could be programmed to say “no charge” if the action were unbillable hours.
The timer also automatically starts any time an attorney starts writing an email, catching those moments when they may have forgotten to start the time.
“That’s a revenue leakage that you don’t even know that’s happening in your day-to-day, but we do,” Alonzi said. “And so we’ve built in those fail-safes to help you organically increase your billables with work you’re doing anyway.”
No More ‘Toggle Tax’—for All Departments
CARET Legal’s central selling point is its all-in-one design. Attorneys working on case matters, paralegals helping with research, and accountants in the back office all use the same software, eliminating the need for different subscriptions for different departments.
“We’re not a modular platform,” Alonzi said. “It’s really all-in-one, to avoid what I would call a toggle tax or a click tax on what attorneys are doing and how they’re spending their time.”
The system combines matter management, document storage, accounting, reporting, and payment processing in one interface. And all the features are included in the base price, including payment processing.
CARET’s built-in accounting tools follow generally accepted accounting principles and are designed with the legal industry in mind. “We know state bar requirements, we know IOLTA compliance requirements,” Alonzi said. “We understand certain ways this needs to be done, more so than a generic QuickBooks.”
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That integration extends to billing and payments as well. When a client pays through CARET’s payment processor, the invoice is automatically updated as paid, eliminating the need for manual entry.
Alonzi highlighted one firm that told her payments started arriving as they were still running their second billing batch because invoices were being processed and reconciled in real time.
“You get workflows, document management, text messaging, reporting, and analytics—it all lives in a single platform,” Alonzi said.
Automation and Analytics That Boost the Bottom Line
If ease of use and consolidation make CARET Legal approachable, automation and analytics make it powerful.
“Our analytics are built right into the platform,” Alonzi explained. “Sometimes people forget that they actually are a business, but how are you managing the business side of the firm?”
The analytics engine turns raw data into living dashboards based on custom fields that depend on whatever the firm needs. “I set this specific report up one time,” she said. “Then it will continue running as information continues to update.” That means no more exporting spreadsheets or manually refreshing reports.
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The analytics suite also helps firms monitor key financial metrics like days to payment. With CARET’s built-in payment processor, firms get paid faster, Alonzi said.
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The Financial Health dashboard (pictured above) provides deep insights into the business of your law firm, helping you keep a pulse on key financial trends and metrics like year-to-date revenue and revenue by practice area. Predictive modeling shows where you’re headed and helps set targets. With real-time alerts when data changes, the dashboard illuminates hidden reporting needs and adapts to your firm’s unique requirements through powerful customization and configurability – without complexity.
Automation extends beyond reporting. When documents are uploaded to the system, they are automatically processed and scanned for easier recall and searching later. When the latest version of the document is saved, it updates to the newest version in all locations for all users, highlighting the change.
CARET also has customizable workflows that automatically create tasks and events based on predefined templates, keeping everyone on schedule.
“Workflows are very configurable and very easy to do,” Alonzi said. “You can create one for document preparation, client intake, or financial reporting. Once the first task is completed, the next one automatically populates.”
Firms that still manage tasks through email threads or spreadsheets would particularly benefit from CARET’s built-in task and reminder tools. It ensures no one misses a deadline because an email got lost in an inbox.
This automation also supports better onboarding and training. Especially for attorneys who are particular about their workflow, they can create a custom workflow in their profile.
Alonzi offered the example of one attorney who had a special “Michael Workflow” that CARET was able to program into the system. When a new paralegal or associate joined the firm, he assigned them the workflow. It clearly outlined their tasks and timelines, and he got a faster return on his investment because he wasn’t constantly reminding people how he works.
Efficiency Without the Growing Pains
From CARET Legal’s in-app support agent and 24/7 phone assistance to their knowledge base and other online resources, their support team is with you every step of the way.
Lawyers will be surprised at how fast they see a return on their investment, Alonzi said.
“You know how to do the law,” Alonzi said. “We’re your business partner to help your business run more efficiently—and to get you paid faster for the work you’re already doing.”
Ready to see for yourself? Schedule a personalized demo.