When I discuss using Macs in my law office, one of the questions I am always asked is “what do you use for your case management software?” It certainly is no secret that busy attorneys are interested in the best ways to manage their clients and their caseload.
When I used PCs, I used Amicus Attorney for over eight years, and it worked pretty well for the most part. I then tried Time Matters and Billing Matters based on all the good things I heard about them, but I absolutely hated them. In fact, it was after using the Time Matters combo for a few months that I got so fed up with PCs and all the headaches that they cause that I decided to switch my firm to Macs in August of 2005.
Once we became a Mac firm, we tried several different options before finding the one that works for us. We initially used an amalgamation of Circus Ponies Notebook for case organization; Address Book for contact management; and iCal (and later Google Calendar) for scheduling. While Notebook worked great for compiling information about each file, it only allows one user to be in a given Notebook at a given time, which poses problems for a busy firm. The calendar solutions were less than perfect when it came to synching and staying current at all times.
We then turned to LawStream, which we initially used for both case management and time/billing purposes. We were able to import all of our data from our PC programs into LawStream, with assistance from Bill Pope at LawStream. That program is very comprehensive, and it has many great features. However, my staff balked at several aspects of LawStream and they never got comfortable using it for various reasons. We still use LawStream for billing purposes, and it performs well in that capacity with few complaints from us.
Earlier this year, I began using Daylite by Marketcircle for our case management, and we still use it to this day. All of our calendars, contacts, and tasks are handled well by Daylite. One of the best things about this program is how intuitive and easy to use it is. The “Daylite Productivity Suite” offers full integration with Apple Mail, and automatically links all emails to the appropriate person and/or file. In fact, the only “major” thing that Daylite doesn’t do is time and billing. It is not perfect, but it is close enough for our firm.
Daylite just released Version 3.2 last week, and as part of the upgrade, I recently received an Overview which gave a detailed explanation of its features. If you are interested in learning more about Daylite, you can download this document by clicking HERE. Daylite offers a fully functional 30 day trial, which you can learn more about at its website.
Thank you so much for posting your experiences with addressing case management issues on the Mac!
I am testing Daylite 3 and I am disappointed in it. I find that file reference links to client files do not work over my network and there is nothing in the manual that I have found that addresses this problem.
Support is also disappointing because it is so hard to get.
My opinion is that Daylite 3 is not as good as I thought it should be and I will not recommend it nor buy it.
Jan:
I have been using Daylite for almost a year, and I have found the file reference links to work perfectly. I can’t really speculate as to why your are having a problem, but I believe that you have something funny in your setup.
With regard to Daylite’s technical support, I agree that it could be better, but that can be said with virtually all tech support, in my opinion. Marketcircle offers email support for free and phone support for a reasonable fee.
Thanks for your input though. Daylite isn’t perfect for everyone, but in my opinion it’s the best program of its sort available today.
Ben Stevens
I have a small hotel outside Yosemite National Park and I do the sales & marketing for the business. I switched to Mac and to Daylite and I’m having a real hard time with it, I love mac but Daylite is testing my patience. I’m looking for someone to teach me the basics, I live half my time in San Francisco so you would need to live in the Bay Area or in the Yosemite area. Let me know if there is any one out there looking to pick up a side job for a little while.
Ben,
You mentioned the one thing lacking in DayLite was a billing feature. Are you using Billings2 now and if so, what do you think?
Laurie
I absolutely love Daylite and I have consistently recommend it to other local Mac attorneys looking for a solid case-management system.
By contrast, I found LawStream to be very buggy. We tried to get our money back after a few months because we were completely dissatisfied. We were unable to do so, and as a result , we simply walked away from that investment. Daylite is the much better choice–costs less and works better.
Laurie:
I do not use Billings 2, as it is not network compatible. For a solo attorney with no staff, it looks like it would be a good option. However, for most law office where multiple people need to enter and track time, it does not appear to be a practical solution due to the inability to be networked.
I am a recent convert from PC to Mac; I am trying to find a contact management system that will sync with my blackberry..what are you guys using to sync phones?
We can help any user of Daylite to gain more from the program. Please visit our website. We work in person or over the Internet for extremely reasonalbe rates. Daylite is a life-changing Mac application.
http://www.elitemaccare.com
Hi Ben,
I’ve been using another Mac case management software for about 10yrs. Unfortunately it won’t work with the newer Macs so I’m looking to change. Daylite is quite interesting, but what do you use for your General Office and Trust Accounting? My old program did it all.
Thanks for your input,
Bob
Hi,
We are looking for some case management software that works w/ Mac. Do you still think Daylite is the best option? Does anyone know about Legal Suite?
Thanks,
Ashley
LawAlign is a great case management system which includes calendar, case management, billing and invoices, document generation, automatic task scheduling and much much more! Everyone check it out! I found that there are not many case management softwares for MAC’s and LawAlign works on both Macs & PC’s. I work for a medium sized PI firm and we switched over from Needles because we were sick of the IT costs that came with having PC’s. We absolutely love it!