CARET Legal Erfahrungen

Great CARET Legal!

Kommentare: My experience with Caret Legal has been incredible. I've gained in promotion and efficiency thanks to all the features it offers. I manage my files efficiently, organize my documents and track my time. Everything is perfect with Caret Legal!

Vorteile:

This software is just incredible. With Caret Legal, I manage my legal files brilliantly. Accounting, generating basic reports and time management are just some of the advantages this software offers me.

Nachteile:

So far, I don't have much to complain about with Caret Legal.

Significant upgrade from our last billing software

Kommentare: Zola Suite is significantly improving the efficiency of our timekeeping and billing processes. We are spending less time to get bills out, and they are going out faster. I am very happy we made the switch.

Vorteile:

First and foremost, being able to access the software via a web-based login is extremely useful, especially when so many of us are working from home. Time entry is straightforward and easy. I do feel like it is helping us capture a higher percentage of our billable work than we did in the past. Most of the reporting functionality is really great. Customer support has been extremely responsive and helpful. Integration with Quickbooks Online is really nice.

Nachteile:

The transition from our old software to the new (e.g., data migration) was tough. To be fair, we expected it to be tough: we used the old software for almost 15 years so it had a lot of data and we were heavily reliant on it and very used to the way it worked. The Zola customer service folks worked with us tirelessly to make it happen and that was great, but even though we expected the transition to be difficult, it was slightly more difficult than we expected. Access to historical data (data imported from our old software) is more limited than I was hoping for. The default user types are a little too limited (there's no middle ground between "has all access and all rights" and "doesn't have sufficient access to do essential tasks") but the customer support team very quickly found a custom solution for us, which was great.

Problems Never Seem to End

Kommentare: Overall - Be very careful before going Zola Suite. It's not a panacea. I'm currently looking into other programs that may be a bit more expensive, simply because Zolasuite has made me lose too much client chargeable time dealing with all their random quirks. I'm a solo practitioner and, literally, time is money for me. I don't have an IT department to deal with the growing pains that Zola Suite is making their users experience.

Vorteile:

Robust all-in-one package, which makes it very unique in the law practice management sphere. Very reasonably priced for the functionality. Relatively easy to use once you get past the learning curve. US-based support that is very responsive (more on that below).

Nachteile:

Where do I begin?! I have had nothing but problems since the beginning - and I've only been using it for about 4 months. I prepaid for a year and now I regret it. I wanted an all-in-one reasonably priced software that includes CRM, accounting/billing, and time tracking without having to integrate with other apps. However, the program is a bit slow and clunky (I have a new laptop, so it's not the specs of the laptop). At one point I could not access Ad--be pdf files, and I was on with support for about 3 hours trying to get it fixed. Turns out - they never saw this before. They fixed it, but it cost me 3 hours of client chargeable time. Next issue was billing. Apparently, I had to SET UP bulk billing (which is free), if I wanted bulk billing. No one actually told me that through the whirlwind of training I initially received. First month I sent manual bills - no biggie. Next month, I had my web developer set it up on the back end as instructed. Turns out we ran into problems. BIG PROBLEMS. First, emails wouldn't go out b/c ONE client didn't have an email address. Their response - just add a dummy email. So I put in a dummy address - result: emails with invoices were sent to the clients, BUT they had NO ACCESS TO PAY ONLINE via email link. I spent hours with them to deal with the various billing matters. Again - their response - we've never had this issue before. FINALLY - they removed Enterprise access to edit documents within Zola WITHOUT notifying me.

Best overall in case management software, but has minor UI annoyances

Kommentare: After using Clio, MyCase, and PracticePanther at various points in my career (and testing CosmoLex and RocketMatters most recently when opening a new firm), none of the CMS programs on the market have come close to ZolaSuite's comprehensive functionality. Having the ability to do not just case management and billing, but complete firm accounting/reconciliation is a godsend. The integrated CRM in the Enterprise Plus tier is fantastic - no need to have an outside CRM that may or may not fully integrate with your CMS. The email feature is the clencher - having an actual, FULL email inbox that syncs with Gsuite email makes keeping case-related correspondence a snap.

Vorteile:

Robust program that covers everything from case management to client lead intake to comprehensive firm accounting. Easy to use and navigate for the most part. Integrated CRM and FULL accounting of all operating and trust accounts with triple reconciliation keeps the entire process streamlined and accessible without having to utilize a dozen different programs and hoping nothing falls through the cracks.

Nachteile:

Has minor UI issues that can be annoying, particularly the inability to active a full subscription without going through a multi-step process involving both the sales department and support team at Zola. This should be a "click here, pick your plan, enter your payment method" process with no need to have it "activated" by the company before being able to use it. That being said, there are some additional features that I would love to see Zola add/integrate/improve ASAP (which I am sending to Zola as suggestions for future improvements). If these features were incorporated, ZolaSuite would certainly be a category killer and rapidly take over the entire market, but they are not "dealbreaker" items as far as I'm concerned for overall ratings.

Cloud-based practice management

Vorteile:

Built-in accounting was important and Zola's accounting features are excellent, though we'd occasionally like to be able to customize reports. Even so, we can get the info we need. Time entry is easy and set up to facilitate completeness. The automatic time entry windows help us not to lose time. Matters management is simple and flexible. Document upload and management is good, with features to avoid duplication, track versions, view documents easily, automatic OCR, integration with Word. Email handling and the ability to associate emails with matters is good. but the change from server-based management comes with

Nachteile:

Some of the issues are simply the result of being a web-based program, so navigating and using requires people to change habits, and some features of local server-based management are not available. OCR is not always consistent - some documents that OCR in a local pdf editing app do not seem to OCR on Zola. Wish list: a plug-in to permit creation of a spreadsheet in Excel and direct upload to Zola like the Word plug-in; Outlook shared calendar integration so the entire firm calendar would synch with the shared Microsoft Exchange Outlook calendar; an invite mechanism like Outlook; the ability to save all email attachments at once to a matter folder; the ability to move documents from a matter to another matter subfolder; the ability to change the document menu from white lettering on grey to black lettering on white; the ability to import V-cards; icon notification of email receipt; document searching by date created/modified

Too many issues and bugs with the program

Kommentare: It has been a nightmare having this program. The amount of stress caused, plus time and money lost when simple program tasks such as billing for your time cannot be achieved or the invoicing function doesn’t work is insurmountable.

Vorteile:

Theoretically the program is supposed to ease the billing process for clients, keep track of billable time and allow a central location wherein documents, emails and case notes can be accessed as well as accounting records and reports.

Nachteile:

The program does not function correctly. There are errors constantly and productivity is impacted because of all the issues we face daily with the program.

Zola Helps Greatly with Productivity

Kommentare: Zola has definitely made billing and invoicing much more efficient. Not just for us, but also for the client. Being able to easily pay their invoices has been very helpful. Also, Zola has a variety of reports you can run to see all aspects of your firm's financial and billing records. There are so many reports which you can create to determine how your company is being run.

Vorteile:

The customer service is excellent. Sometimes a software can be good, but if the customer service is not as good or better, it can make working with it more difficult. I have always had great customer support whenever calling Zola, and I called a lot at the beginning of the software implementation. I don't call as often now, but I know when I do call, I will get the same customer support as I did when I called more often. The Customer Support team is very good!

Nachteile:

In the Documents section, there is no way to easily blackline documents and keep newer versions. Zola's software does not recognize the newer versions of documents. I'm hoping they will change this in the future.

Great Product!

Kommentare: Time management has been greatly improved. I was very nervous to change software as I have been using the same software for just short of 20 years (we used the same software in our prior firm). The Zola Suite team was amazing at holding my hand through the process and making sure that we were satisfied with everything.

Vorteile:

Zola Suite saves us time that we didn't realize we were wasting before. We're able to efficiently maintain and manage clients, files and leads all in one place. It also makes working from home as efficient as working in the office. Further customer support is amazing. They promptly answer every single question and concern.

Nachteile:

There is very little that we dislike about Zola Suite. Anything that we have concerns about, they try to address and show us a proper way to manage. There are definitely some areas that are different than our prior software but that's to be expected. There are so many benefits to Zola Suite that we are not actually able to take full advantage of them yet as we are still working on transitioning to the system and learning the ins and outs.

Former (long time) Clio User Converting to Zola Suite

Kommentare: I have been a Clio user for approximately 8 years. I have gone to all but two of the cloud conferences. I think it is a good product. However, Zola Suite does three things better (for me- a sole practitioner) and that is: 1. Better email management; 2. Better dashboard for seeing my practice at a glance, and 3- Managing and utilizing Intake forms and Custom matter fields for quick input and access to matter details and using those details to create merge documents. Clio is good, but for me, Zola Suite is better.

Vorteile:

First and foremost is the email system. All emails (both incoming and sent) are easily attached to the file with a click of the mouse. it is also very easy to attach a file document (a Z-doc) to an outgoing email or to download an email attachment directly to the file. Using the Intake forms (both shared and internal) are handy ways to have the quick information (critical dates, expenses, etc) at your fingertips. Finally, the dashboard is what I need to run my practice. It has the incoming emails, the tasks and the calendar. Clio's dashboard is 70% billing statistics. I concede that is useful information, but my home screen should be my day at hand and that is what I get with Zola Suite. Using the Matter-Specific Custom fields allow me to quickly (almost effortlessly) insert key data into a matter. Those fields are then easily incorporated into merge forms. The process in Clio (where you have to open to the fields and then search for them is time-consuming. (I use a lot of fields and create a lot of merge forms so having the ability to insert the field data quickly and easily is a big plus).

Nachteile:

The inability to connect with services like Zapier. I have a love-hate relationship with Clio and Zapier. I enjoyed linking Google forms and Smartsheet and Clio. I miss having that ability. I am also having challenges utilizing virtual assistants with the system. However, I am getting used to, and preferring using just one system.

Best Practice Management System with Integrated Features

Kommentare: We've been with them for 4 years and Zola management is always working with us on solutions to make the system work better for our needs.

Vorteile:

Everything you need for a matter is integrated into one fantastic page, which allows you to stay on top of everything.

Nachteile:

I wish you could customize a home page for each matter to provide a smattering of information from other tabs.

Intuitive and useful software for managing a law practice

Kommentare: We are solving matters falling through the cracks. We are able to save all emails to the file and organize documents in a centralized spot. Documents can be organized into specific categories. The accounting feature allows employees and supervisors to track progress and productivity. Invoices are sent directly from the platform to the email address on file for the client. The client portal allows clients to upload files directly. Payments made by clients are reconciled immediately. Matters are managed and tracked from a single place. The time keeping functions are helpful, i.e. tracking phone call and email lengths, with the option to auto-create a tyime entry. This is great product for solo and small firms.

Vorteile:

The support staff is incredibly knowledgeable and quick to respond to any inquiries. If a feature is missing, they are quick to fix or add it. Billing is quick and easy, as is jumping to various matters. The calendar syncs to other calendar apps, making scheduling accurate. The reporting feature shows many different metrics of productivity. You can email directly from a matter and create a time entry, making accurate billing easy. Client demographics are saved and can be imported into new matters. The software detects email from case related contacts. Form documents can be added as templates that are auto-filled. The interface is nice looking and intuitive. Their customer service is unmatched. Client and admin functions are outstanding. It also integrates with Law Pay. You get exactly what they tell you you're doing to get. There are so many features, I'm sure we are actually underutilizing the platform. The mobile app is very easy to use and has all of the relevant features.

Nachteile:

The task feature is helpful for remembering deadlines and setting reminders, but does not send alerts when a task becomes due or overdue. Sometimes there is a delay between an email being received in my inbox and showing in Zola. Email glitches happen with some regularity. There is no ability to pop emails out in a separate window. When we have had an issue in the past, Zola has been fast to respond and resolve the issue. They have added functions and features based on our requests. There are bugs, but they work hard to correct them.

Zola Suite is Perfect for Small and Solo Law Firms

Kommentare: Zola Suite has saved me quite a bit of overhead, as I have cut out all third party providers with the exception of payroll.

Vorteile:

Zola Suite allows me to manage both the clients side and the business side of my practice with ease. When I moved to solo practice I knew I would need a solid and easy to use practice management system and Zola has been a perfect fit for my needs. I also love the support Zola provides with real humans who are knowledgable about the product. Their follow up is outstanding.

Nachteile:

I wish Zola had a better means for client to push a tab on my invoices and pay by credit card. Zola does integrate with Law Pay which has that feature, but the process gets clunky. That said, it is entirely possible that Zola has implemented a better process for credit cards and I am just unaware of it.

Worst customer service experience

Kommentare: Zolasuite has been, by far, the WORST customer support experience I have had. I won't get in to the shortcomings of the software in too detail, but suffice it to say, the interface is very slow, the use of the software is clunky (try getting a doc e-signed and you will see what I mean, especially compared to the ease of use that I get with CLIO, who I will be staying with now), you either have to have a word press website or be a web design expert to connect the CRM part of the software to your website, the help articles are sparse and worthless, and even worse, there is "no current method to send out an invoice for a trust request" in this software. Ridiculous!Because of these shortcomings, and many more, I decided to end my subscription to the software. This has been a nightmare. There is no way to cancel online, the instructions tell you to do this, but when you get to the point of actually canceling online, the software instructs you to call them. I did this on December 12th. The person who answered the phone indicated that he could not cancel my account and it had to go to a different department.I finally get a call back, from some account rep, whose sole purpose was to talk me in to staying with zolasuite. I indicated to her that I was not interested and wanted my account canceled. Her tune changed after that and she told me she would check with the proper department to 'see what they could do". 2 weeks later no cancelation and still charged my card.

Vorteile:

Pricing was decent. But afterwards, even pricing did not justify shortcomings in the software.

Nachteile:

Functionality was limited. Interface was very slow. Many processes were not intuitive or easy.

Practice management that understands that this is a business I'm running

Vorteile:

The two big things that Zola gets right are the accounting component and work flow for billing. Before trying Zola, I tried manual spreadsheets, FreshBooks, Harvest, CaseOne, Clio, Xero, ebility, and probably some others. None of them got out of the way and let me run a business like Zola does. Yes, they assume that I have a dedicated office manager, but even when I do, why would I want to do that to them? Clio is close, because it understands the way that legal cases files flow, and if Clio were starting now, I think they would handle matters and clients like Zola Suite does. The alternatives I spend the most time with, Clio and Xero, are married to their cloud integration such that it seems that they can't add really obvious features because they would cannibalize (aka "Sherlock") their partners. Zola is a better platform because other sites that relay on integrations to other apps mean they have one-way sync and one-way is stupid for billing because I need it to be in one place not two.

Nachteile:

There are some user interface things that I think will improve in the coming year. (For example, I don't use Zola for email, the fact that it is front and center doesn't help me, but that is not something I have to work around.) They publish their roadmap so I know that the platform is going to develop.

I have used almost every legal software available. Zola is by far the most user friendly!

Kommentare: Time keeping is the biggest!

Vorteile:

Zola customer service is prompt and very helpful. The software is user friendly and easy to navigate through. Time keeping and invoicing is very simple. We used to miss a lot of billable time not logging all emails, but with Zola once you open your email and select a matter the timer begins and is added to your matter time sheet when you click send! Zola seems to be updating their software often and offers new helpful features.

Nachteile:

Caseway can use some work. Our clients find it difficult to set up their Caseway accounts. But it is constantly being improved with updates. The other, (although a minor issue) it would be nice to open attachments to view before downloading or saving to Zola docs.

Need a manual to help with main features. It is good software, just not customer friendly at times

Kommentare: It does help me stay organized with time schedules, tasks to do, and client matters. It had good points, but is not very user friendly.

Vorteile:

The software provides the ability to keep track of which area is bringing in more clients. Setting up the matters is a good function. Finally syncing the calendar with google is a plus (even if it did double everything at first..

Nachteile:

Billing is difficult and does not integrate with bank accounts. Doubles the time. Also making corrections to information or adding information to the client matter is not easy and has no clear directions. Need a how-to manual.

Zola Suite is sweet

Kommentare: I was able to remove myself from quickbooks and begin more document merging than in the past.

Vorteile:

integration of accounting, document prep and merge, matters time tracking and billing features.

Nachteile:

Integration with Best Case bankruptcy program would be great and help me tremendously

All in one practice management software

Kommentare: Very responsive. Love the software.

Vorteile:

Everything you need to run your practice on 1 platform. Integrated email allow one less software program and saving communications directly to client file.

Nachteile:

Email can have glitches at times but the Zola team is constantly updating, fixing bugs and adding new features.

It has been an easy, yet not smooth, transition to Zola Suite from Practice Panther.

Vorteile:

I like how fast the search engine pulls up names of contacts and matters. The functionality of the search engine works really well for our purposes, especially when we need to search a phone number or e-mail address, or any identifying information other than a name. The easy access to time entries is also very useful as a office manager. I also appreciate how readily accessible communications, notes, events, tasks, documents, invoices, and expenses are in the client matter.

Nachteile:

We had hoped to change our template software but this was not possible because the fields merged by Zola aren't of any use to us in our firm. I would also like to be able to click on a matter name anywhere in the program and be sent directly to the matter page. Additionally, I would like to be able to link events, tasks, and e-mails to closed matters without having to re-open and close them every time.

We have been impressed with ZolaSuite after switching from using Amicus Attorney for over 10 years.

Vorteile:

The document management integration and email integration are extremely useful to allow our team to work remotely whether from home or court. I have also been extremely impressed by Zola's customer support as well as the constant innovations.

Nachteile:

I wish Zola had a separate tab for phone messages and the ability to add multiple team members to events. Zola also limits the number of timers a team member can have up at a time to 5. This creates a problem if a person is working between more than five cases.

Make remote practice easy

Kommentare: The experience has been great and has allowed me to work from home as if I was in the office.

Vorteile:

This product has allowed my firm to work remotely and assists me in keep tracking of what everyone is working on without being in the same office

Nachteile:

Create and saving new documents are a little difficult at first, but eventually you get used to it.

I like Zola; however, I wish it didnt require so many clicks to navigate through

Vorteile:

I like the Zola is very user friendly and easy to use. I also like that the customer support responds in a very prompt manner.

Nachteile:

I don't like that you have to click the matters tab every time you would like to switch matters you are working in. I would like Zola better if you could search new matters from anywhere on the website.

Zola was the answer I was looking for - big firm software functionality at a reasonable price.

Kommentare: Zola provides seamless integration with my existing Google Calendar and Gmail. The calendar and task management functions are robust with reminder options via Email or SMS. Zola provides big firm software functionality at an extremely competitive rate.

Vorteile:

The seamless integration with Gmail and Google Calendar sets Zola above the competition. For anyone who currently relies on Gmail and Google Calendar Zola is a no-brainer. The calendaring features and task management tools are robust and the reminder options for SMS and Email put Zola over the top.

Nachteile:

The e-mail association function appears to be manual only (no automatic filters/tagging option for incoming email) so the manual sorting of e-mails to associate them with files can be time consuming.

This is QUALITY

Kommentare: I have tried virtually every case management software in a search to find one that suits my small law firm's needs. Zola Suite was the last on my list and I won't be trying any others. Zola Suite has everything I need - accounting, tracking for billable hours, compact and sleek storage for the firm's contacts, and an intuitive matter management system. It has a pretty great internal email too that syncs with my gmail and allows me to save emails to cases. Basically, it's beautiful and it saves time. It's great. Of course, it's not perfect - nothing ever is. But the difference with Zola is it's customer service. The software can be improved, of course, and Zola understands this. That's why Zola encourages its users to submit comments and suggestions regarding the software - so that they can actively make it better. And they most certainly do. The customer service is incredible. These guys really care about their users and they definitely strive to make mine and our experience a great one. I strongly recommend Zola to everyone in need of a case management software. Trust me, once you try it, you'll be wondering how you could ever work without it.

Very easy to learn how to use. Customer Service is very helpful.

Kommentare: This software has helped ease me into the workings of this company as I am a new employee myself. Furthermore, as it is a works-in-progress, and a learning experience for everyone here, it encourages us to work together to work out any issues that may arise in implementing this software.

Vorteile:

Timekeeping, remote access, ease of file searches, organization are four of the few many aspects of this software that allows us to continue our day-to-day operations with much efficiency and success.

Nachteile:

The only con is that all documents have not yet been rolled over on to the software, however, this is a new program, and from my understanding, this feature will be available shortly. Once they are accessible, it will speed up productivity tenfold!