Database Software Memo

1) Practice Panther

a) Functions – Practice Panther is a software designed specifically for law offices

to help legal professionals better organize and manage their cases, data, clients,
billing, and anything pertaining to these items. Through Practice Panther, law
offices can track and send invoices, as well as receive payments online. Clients are
able to log in to their portal to check their invoices, chat with attorneys/legal
assistants, and view updates about their case. Other features include client intake
forms, task management, event tracking, calendaring, and multi-platform
integration.

b) Utility – This software allows for better, more succinct workflow in and out of
the office. It is an embellishment that can be added on to systems that many law
offices already use. With its integration abilities, a law office can link programs
like Microsoft Office, Onedrive, Adobe Acrobat, G-mail, Dropbox, Calendars, and
more to Practice Panther, creating access to all the software from one place. This
helps to stream line the programs.

Practice Panther lets you edit and manage documents from any of the
abovementioned programs through one program that can be accessed both from
computers and mobile devices. Not only can you access documents, but you can
give document access to clients as well as have them sign them securely.

As far as security goes, Practice Panther has it locked down. They use “military
grade” encryption, they are HIPAA compliant, and they allow you to password
protect all your documents.

c) Training – Practice Panther has very attentive and responsive customer service.
Even visiting their webpage, a chat bubble pops up where you can discuss any
questions you have with a representative. This aside, before purchasing the
software, Practice Panther offers a demo in which a representative helps explain
the various aspects of the program. With the Business package, they provide
unlimited training and support, however that is the most expensive package. The
Essentials package offers three live trainings, and it’s in the mid-range price.

d) Pricing – There are three tiers of pricing for Practice Panther: Solo, Essential,
and Business – respectively priced at $39/user/month, $59, and $79.

e) Law Firm Size – There sometimes is a struggle when a program charges “per
user per month” is that no matter what size firm you have, pricing can become a
serious problem. Small firms may not bring in as many cases, so there may not be
the revenue to invest even if it would be for 4-6 users. However, a large firm runs
 into the same problem – even though they may have the revenue for investing in
a program, it becomes quite costly for 10-30 users.

f) Final Impression – I think a law firm would have to do a cost benefit analysis.
If the firm has a system in place, and this program would only make them 10%
more efficient, the cost may not be worth it. If a firm doesn’t have a system in
place and they need help organizing, it may be worth the cost.

2) Microsoft Access

a) Initial Thoughts – If a firm has Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint,

Outlook), and an organized filing system that is either cloud based or on a shared
server, I don’t think any other software is necessary. The tools in Office, if used
correctly offer everything a law firm could ever need. However, it requires front
loading a lot of work, which is what software like Practice Panther or Microsoft
Access attempt to simplify or put in place for you.

b) Functions – Similar to Practice Panther (and probably other data management

software), Access helps its users by essentially eliminating user error. Access
creates a central place for all information to be stored and organized.

c) Utility – Because of its ability to store and organize information sets in one
place, firms can create case tables that outline and connect to people and matters
along with all the documents related to those things. You can share these with
other people, and also create forms related to the dataset for others to fill out.

Access is most useful for large data sets. In a law firm, Access would be most
useful in organizing cases and discovery. Access can help with deduping, sorting
out spelling errors, and finding related material is a large data set. From what it
sounds like, Access has similar functions to LexisNexis CaseMap.

d) Pricing – The great thing about Access is the price. If a law firm is already
paying for the Microsoft Office Suite ($12.50/user/month), then they already
have Access. However, this application can only be used on PCs.

e) Access vs Practice Panther – Pricewise, Access is a much better investment

than Practice Panther. The main drawbacks of Access though are that training
isn’t provided, and there is a learning curve. In this age of google, both of the
drawbacks of Access become a nonconcern. It’s absolutely feasible that a law firm
that already has Microsoft Office could (and should) use Access instead of
purchasing Practice Panther.