Choosing practice software for a small firm
How to compare practice management and AI software without a buying team, and the questions about data, money and leaving to ask every vendor, including us.
Choosing practice software is one of the bigger decisions a small firm makes. It's expensive to switch, your whole team lives in it every day, and it holds your clients' most sensitive information. Yet most small firms choose it the way they'd choose a printer: a demo, a price and a gut feeling.
This guide offers a more reliable way to decide, without needing a procurement team. It applies to any vendor, including us.
Start with your week, not the feature list
Before you look at any software, write down where your firm's time actually goes. For a PI firm, it's often:
- Answering and qualifying new enquiries.
- Requesting, chasing and reading medical records.
- Building chronologies and totalling specials.
- Drafting demands.
- Tracking deadlines.
- Keeping clients updated.
- Recording time and billing, if you bill hourly for some work.
Rank them by hours lost and by risk. The top three are what any new software must improve. Everything else is a bonus.
Run a real trial
Demos are designed to look good. A trial with your own work tells you much more.
- Pick two or three closed matters (with appropriate confidentiality protections in place) or realistic sample files.
- Have the people who'll use the software every day, usually paralegals and case managers, do the actual work in it.
- Time it, and compare with how long it takes today.
- Note every point where someone had to leave the software to get something done.
Questions to ask about security and confidentiality
Your duty of confidentiality doesn't transfer to a vendor. Ask in writing:
- Where is our data stored, and in which country?
- Is our data kept separate from other firms' data, and how is that enforced?
- Is two-factor sign-in available, and can we require it for everyone?
- Is there an audit log of who did what, and can it be changed?
- Can we restrict access to specific matters for ethical walls?
- Will you sign a HIPAA business associate agreement? If you handle medical records, you'll want one.
- What independent security audits have you completed? Ask to see reports, not logos. A newer vendor may not have one yet; ask what's planned and when.
Questions to ask about AI
- Is our data used to train any AI model, the vendor's or a provider's?
- Do the AI providers keep our data? Ask about retention agreements specifically.
- How does the AI show its sources? Can you check every fact it produces?
- What does the AI do on its own, and what needs approval? Know what can leave your office without a person seeing it.
- How do you test accuracy?
Questions to ask about money
- What's the total annual cost for your firm, including staff seats, add-ons and AI?
- Are there per-case, per-page or per-document fees? Model a busy year as well as a normal one. We wrote about why per-case fees add up.
- What's included in "AI included"? Ask for the allowance.
- What's the contract term, and what happens at renewal?
Questions to ask about leaving
The best time to ask how to leave is before you join.
- Can we export all of our data, including documents, notes and history, in a usable format?
- How long do you keep our data after we leave, and how is it deleted?
- Will you help us migrate in? Ask what's included and what it costs.
Red flags
- Vague answers about AI training or data retention.
- Claims of certifications that can't be backed up with a report.
- Pricing that's hard to work out before you sign.
- No way to try it with your own workflow.
- Features that send things to clients or courts without a lawyer's approval.
A note on us
We'd like Meruit to pass this test, and we'd rather you ask us hard questions than take our word for it. Our Security & trust page sets out our commitments, including what we haven't done yet: we'll sign a HIPAA business associate agreement before you upload real medical records, and a SOC 2 audit is planned, not complete. Our current pricing, a monthly price for the whole firm with a free plan, is on the pricing page. If you run a personal injury practice, our page on what to look for in PI case management software goes further. If something on this list matters to you and we haven't answered it, ask us.