Legal Practice Management Software: What to Look for, and How Filevine and Litify Compare
Legal practice management software runs the business of a law firm: matters and contacts, documents, calendars and deadlines, tasks, time and billing, intake, reporting, and the client communication around all of it. The right choice depends on practice type (a plaintiff personal injury firm, a defense firm and a family law practice need different things), on the size of the team, and on what the firm already runs for email, documents and accounting.
Filevine and Litify are the two platforms Micronetbd implements and supports. Both are built for firms with volume and process; Litify runs on Salesforce, Filevine is its own platform with a large integration ecosystem. This guide explains what to score, and how the two fit different firms.
What practice management software covers
- Matters and contacts. The case record, the parties, the related organisations and every touch with them.
- Documents. Storage, templates, generation, version history and where the firm’s documents actually live (in the platform, or in SharePoint, OneDrive or Google Drive alongside it).
- Calendars, deadlines and tasks. Statutes, court rules, deadline chains, task assignment and the reports that show who is behind.
- Intake. Lead capture, qualification, conflict checks, engagement and the handoff into a matter.
- Time, billing and trust. Time capture, invoicing, trust accounting, or the connection to the accounting system that does it.
- Communication. Email filing, texting, client portals, and the record that shows what was said and when.
- Reporting. Caseload, aging, settlements, fees, marketing source, per attorney and per practice area.
What to score, by practice type
| Practice type | What matters most | Ask the vendor |
|---|---|---|
| Plaintiff personal injury | Intake volume, medical records and treatment tracking, settlement and disbursement, marketing attribution | Show me a demand package built from records in the platform |
| Mass tort | Thousands of claimants, census and questionnaire data, bulk actions, document management at scale | Bulk-update 2,000 matters and show me the audit trail |
| Family and estate | Calendaring, document generation, client communication, billing by the hour | Generate a pleading from matter data and bill the time in one step |
| Defense and insurance | Budgets, guideline compliance, e-billing, reporting to carriers | Produce a LEDES invoice against a carrier guideline |
| Multi-office firms | Permissions by office, standard processes, reporting across offices | Show me the same report for one office and for all |
How Filevine and Litify fit
Filevine is a case and practice management platform with configurable project types, sections and deadline chains, document management and generation, texting and calling, and a large ecosystem of integrations (Lead Docket for intake, Vinesign for signatures, and partners for document sync, records retrieval and accounting). It suits firms that want a purpose-built legal platform with room to configure their own process. Micronetbd is a certified Filevine partner: see Filevine implementation and managed services.
Litify is a legal practice management platform built on Salesforce: matters, intake, documents (Docrio), time and billing, and reporting, with the Salesforce platform underneath for automation, integration and analytics. It suits firms that want Salesforce’s platform capabilities (flows, Experience Cloud portals, the AppExchange) behind a legal front end, and firms with a Salesforce team or partner already. Micronetbd is a certified Salesforce and Litify partner: see Litify implementation and managed services.
Neither is a bad choice for a firm with volume and process; the decision usually turns on whether the firm wants the Salesforce platform underneath (Litify) or a purpose-built platform with an integration ecosystem (Filevine), and on which one the firm’s other systems connect to more naturally.
What an implementation involves
The platform is the smaller part of the effort. The larger part is deciding the firm’s process (matter stages, sections, deadline rules, intake questions, document templates, reports) and migrating the data and documents from the old system. Micronetbd runs migrations with a written field map and a signed reconciliation report before go-live; the steps are on the law firm data migration page. Plan for training by role, a first release for one practice group, and administration after go-live, either in-house or on a managed services retainer with a named admin.
Adding AI without changing platforms
Most firms do not need a new platform to get AI into the practice. Intake can be answered around the clock by an agent that runs the firm’s questionnaire on the website and the phone (AI legal intake); documents can be kept in sync between Filevine and SharePoint, OneDrive or Google Drive (MatterOrbit); and the platforms themselves ship AI features for summaries and drafting. Choose the platform on the fundamentals above, then add AI where the firm loses time.
Questions people ask
What is legal practice management software?
Software that runs the business of a law firm: matters, contacts, documents, calendars and deadlines, tasks, intake, time and billing, reporting and client communication, in one system of record.
What is the difference between practice management and case management software?
The terms overlap. Case management usually means the matter-level work (documents, deadlines, tasks, the file); practice management adds the business side (intake, billing, trust, reporting). Most modern platforms, Filevine and Litify included, cover both.
Filevine or Litify: which is better?
Neither is better in general. Litify runs on Salesforce and suits firms that want that platform underneath; Filevine is purpose-built with a large integration ecosystem. The right answer depends on practice type, the firm’s other systems and who will administer it. Micronetbd implements both and will say which fits.
How long does a practice management implementation take?
A first release for one practice group is typically weeks to a few months depending on the data and documents to migrate and the process decisions the firm still has to make. The migration and the process design drive the timeline, not the software.
Can we keep our documents in SharePoint or OneDrive?
Yes. Firms on Filevine keep documents in sync with SharePoint, OneDrive or Google Drive through MatterOrbit, so the platform and the document library both stay current.
Who administers the platform after go-live?
An in-house administrator, or a managed services retainer with a named admin who knows the firm’s build. Micronetbd runs that retainer for Filevine, Litify and Salesforce, with a ticket queue and a flat monthly fee.
