What a year for web-based legal practice management! After so many years of the same desktop-based options, in 2008 the field was broken wide open by
Rocket Matter and other new online, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for law firms.
Looking back at 2008, it's clear that law firms were in need for a solution like ours. For years, SaaS has been successfully applied to sales force automation, HR and payroll, project management, and other mission critical businesses. The legal industry, traditionally slow to adopt technology, was ready.
2008 was a year of getting started, dipping the toes, and commencing a dialog about online practice management. But as 2009 draws near, the concept of web-based legal practice management will no longer be brand new. So what's in store for the coming year? Here are some of my thoughts:
1) Expect more features.
What you'll most likely see over the course of the next year is increased feature parity among the online legal practice management and time and billing providers. As the online apps begin to approach the functionality of their desktop counterparts, watch for a trend towards standard features, such as documents and increased integration with standard apps. You will also see web-only features gain prominence, such as integration with other online applications (i.e.
Google Maps) and client portals.