Legal practice management software: how to choose

Usually covers

Matters, time, billing, legal accounts and documents

If you hold client money

It must support the SRA Accounts Rules

Accounting records kept for

At least six years (rule 13.1)

Supplier contract

UK GDPR, Article 28

What does legal practice management software do?

It holds each client and matter, and the work and money that go with them, so fee earners, support staff and the accounts team work from the same record. Most systems cover:

1. 01

   Matters and clients

   File opening, conflict checks, key dates and tasks.

2. 02

   Time and billing

   Time recording, bills and bill narratives, and chasing payment.

3. 03

   Legal accounts

   Client and office ledgers, the cash book and client account reconciliations.

4. 04

   Documents

   Templates and precedents, email filing and a document store for each matter.

5. 05

   Compliance

   ID and AML checks, risk notes, file reviews and complaints.

6. 06

   Reporting

   Work in progress, unpaid bills, and figures by fee earner and department.

Some firms run case management and accounts as separate systems. If you do, check how the two link.

Do you need a new system?

Not always. Start with what your current system and Microsoft 365 already do, and ask your supplier what you pay for but don't use. A move is a project in itself, with data, training and two systems running side by side, so the reasons should be clear: accounts that can't keep up with the rules, a supplier ending support, or jobs your current system can't help with.

How do you choose a practice management system?

Start from your work, not the feature lists.

1. 01List your work types, users and offices, and who handles the accounts.
2. 02Write down the jobs that take the most time today.
3. 03Ask a few suppliers to show those jobs on your own kinds of matter, not their standard demo.
4. 04Put the data, migration and accounts questions below to each one, in writing.
5. 05Speak to firms of your size and work type that use the system.
6. 06Get the full cost: licences, set-up, migration, training, integrations and any AI features charged separately.
7. 07Agree who leads the project and how long the old and new systems will run side by side.

The free check finds the jobs that cost your firm the most hours, which gives you something concrete to ask suppliers to show.

What should you ask about your data?

Client files are confidential (paragraph 6.3 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms), and a supplier that holds them processes personal data for you. Article 28 of the UK GDPR requires a contract that, among other things, has the supplier act only on your instructions, keep the data secure, and delete or return it all when the service ends.

1. 01Where is the data held, and does any of it leave the UK?
2. 02Who at the supplier, and which of its subcontractors, can see it?
3. 03How is it backed up, and how quickly can it be restored?
4. 04Can you export everything, including documents and accounts history, in a usable format, and at what cost?
5. 05What happens to the data when you leave?
6. 06Is any of your data used to train AI models?

What should you ask about migration?

Get these answers in writing before you sign.

1. 01What moves: open and closed matters, contacts, documents, precedents, time, bills and ledger balances?
2. 02Who cleans the data before the move, and who checks it after?
3. 03How will client balances be proved at the switch? A final reconciliation in the old system should match the opening balances in the new one.
4. 04How long can you still read the old system? Accounting records must be kept for at least six years (rule 13.1 of the SRA Accounts Rules).
5. 05Who trains your team, and when?

Does it support the SRA Accounts Rules?

If you hold client money, the accounts side matters most. Ask to see it produce what the rules ask for:

1. 01Client ledgers by client and matter, with client and business sides (rule 8.1).
2. 02A running list of client balances and a client cash book (rule 8.1).
3. 03A reconciliation of bank, cash book and client ledger total at least every five weeks, signed off by the COFA or a manager (rule 8.3).
4. 04A central record of every bill (rule 8.4).
5. 05A block or warning before a payment would overdraw a client's ledger (rule 5.3).
6. 06Controls on who can authorise withdrawals from client account (rule 5.2).
7. 07A report of old balances still held for clients (rule 2.5).

Software doesn't make a firm compliant. The COFA and the managers stay responsible. Our guide to the SRA Accounts Rules covers the rules themselves.

Which integrations matter?

The ones your team uses every day: email and calendar, document storage, e-signature, ID and AML checks, online payments, searches and the Land Registry for conveyancing, and your payroll or bookkeeping. For each, ask who builds and maintains it, what it costs, and what data passes between the systems.

Where do AI features fit?

Several suppliers now build AI into the system for drafting, summarising and searching matters, or turning time entries into draft bills. That can be the easiest place to start, because your data is already there. It's still an AI tool under the SRA's AI warning notice of 17 August 2026. Client information should only go into it with the right contractual, technical and organisational safeguards, and shouldn't be used to train AI models unless you've explicitly authorised it.

1. 01Is it switched on by default, and can you control it by user or team?
2. 02Which AI provider processes the data, and where?
3. 03Is your data used for training, and does the contract say so?
4. 04Does it show its sources, so a fee earner can check the output?
5. 05Is it in the price or charged separately?

Add any AI feature you switch on to the approved tools in your AI policy, and name who checks its output.

Which practice management systems are sold to UK law firms?

Many. Here are four, in alphabetical order, described from their own UK websites in October 2026. This isn't a full list or a recommendation.

• Clio

  Clio Manage: cloud-based practice management with case management, documents, time recording, billing and a client portal, with AI built in.

• Insight Legal

  Cloud-based accounting, case management and practice management software.

• LEAP

  Practice management and document automation on one cloud platform for all areas of law, including legal accounting, with AI tools.

• Osprey Approach

  A cloud system for small and medium-sized firms that combines case management, practice management, legal accounting and client management.