Law Firm Software Requirements Checklist

Use these 24 checks to compare legal practice management software, prepare a vendor demonstration, and document what your team has actually seen. The checklist covers intake, matter management, legal billing, documents, access controls, and rollout. It works for a solo practice or a small firm comparing a connected platform with its existing tools.

No signup is required. Mark an item only after your team demonstrates it with fictional records. Selections stay in this page’s memory and reset when you leave or reload; download the CSV to keep your results. A checked item records your observation, not a certification, vendor endorsement, or statement that AttorneyCore provides every listed capability.

How to use the checklist in a software demonstration

Ask the attorney, intake coordinator, billing administrator, and staff to identify their must-have workflows. Separate essential requirements from features for a later rollout.
Use one fictional client and two matters to test relationships. Do not put confidential case facts into a sales demonstration.
Request an allowed action and a denied action. Include corrections, partial payments, reassignment, revoked access, and export—not just the happy path.
Download your results and add notes to the CSV about evidence, required plan, provider dependencies, unresolved questions, and a review owner.

Client intake and legal CRM

Start with a fictional inquiry. Intake staff should know who owns follow-up, while the attorney decides whether the firm can accept the representation. A lead, a contact, a client, and a matter should not be interchangeable records.

Capture a lead with source, owner, stage, and next follow-up; find it again without making a duplicate contact.
Document the attorney’s conflict-review decision before converting a prospect into accepted client work.
Associate one client with two separate matters and keep their documents, balances, and communication distinct.
Record a call or meeting with the correct date and time; confirm the history remains understandable after editing.

Read the client intake and legal crm guide

Legal matter management and deadlines

Use the same test matter throughout the demonstration. Ask an attorney and a staff member to complete their actual handoffs. Software reminders assist the process; the firm still verifies rules, jurisdiction, source dates, and filing obligations.

Open a matter with the correct client, responsible attorney, practice area, status, and fee arrangement.
Assign a task, change its owner, complete it, and confirm the next action appears for the right person.
Record and correct an attorney-reviewed deadline, including its source and responsibility for verification.
Close a matter after reviewing outstanding tasks and balances; retrieve the record and check the export.

Read the legal matter management and deadlines guide

Legal billing, invoicing, and receivables

Test hourly and fixed-fee work separately. Use a draft, an issued invoice, a partial payment, and a cancelled item to check totals. If online payment processing is proposed, request a provider demonstration rather than treating a payment button as proof.

Distinguish billable time, non-billable time, fixed fees, and expenses on the correct matter.
Review and approve invoice line items, rates, credits, due dates, and the billing recipient before sending.
Record a partial payment and an adjustment; confirm that the invoice balance agrees with receivables.
Reconcile aging totals for a chosen date range; check that draft and cancelled invoices are excluded.

Read the legal billing, invoicing, and receivables guide

Document management and client communication

A document upload is only the start of the workflow. Confirm naming, association, review, permissions, and retrieval. Provider-based signing and messaging need their own configuration, costs, consent requirements, and delivery-status checks.

Upload a fictional file to a matter, retrieve it, and distinguish the working draft from the approved copy.
Demonstrate that an unrelated client or denied staff user cannot open the file or use its download URL.
Check a client-visible update and shared file using a synthetic client account; verify revoked access too.
Identify which signatures, messages, storage limits, scanning, and retention controls require separate providers or setup.

Read the document management and client communication guide

Permissions, trust records, and professional review

Match permissions to the people doing the work. Test allowed and denied actions, not just account creation. Trust and accounting tools assist firm processes and do not establish compliance with a jurisdiction’s rules or replace accountant and attorney review.

Compare attorney, administrator, staff, and client access; test denied reads, writes, searches, and exports.
Switch between two authorized workspaces and confirm the active firm, role, and saved record each time.
Review the history of a material financial or permission change, including who acted and which firm was affected.
Confirm trust-ledger and reconciliation scope, review ownership, jurisdiction-specific requirements, and the plan needed.

Read the permissions, trust records, and professional review guide

Pricing, migration, and an exit plan

Seat price is only one part of the decision. Put required plans, provider charges, storage, implementation, training, and support in writing. Review an export before importing live data so that the firm understands both adoption and departure.

Calculate the total cost for actual users, required plan, integrations, payment fees, migration, and support.
Map a sample export, import synthetic records, and compare counts, relationships, dates, and balances.
Confirm backup and restore responsibility, retention, support scope, and the fallback process during rollout.
Export a usable client, matter, document, and financial sample; agree on success criteria before moving live client data.

Read the pricing, migration, and an exit plan guide

Turn demonstration results into a rollout decision

A high checkbox count is not a substitute for fit. Give priority to the requirements that affect your daily casework, financial accuracy, access boundaries, and ability to leave the system. For an unmet requirement, decide whether the firm can accept a documented manual process, needs a configured provider, or should defer adoption. Confirm the plan, scope, total cost, and acceptance criteria in writing.

AttorneyCore supports evaluation of connected intake, matters, documents, calendars, billing records, and client communication. Available workflows, integrations, and onboarding scope should be confirmed for the proposed deployment. Attorneys remain responsible for legal decisions and deadlines; trust and accounting processes require the firm’s professional review.

Request a guided workflow demonstration Review published plan pricing Software for small law firms

Law firm software requirements checklist