After months of research and free trials, I have found that cloud based time and documents management programs, while in theory a great idea, to be limiting and frustrating.  Every program that we tried had some drawback or limitation that did not work with 1 or more aspects of our law practice.  None of them seemed to be conducive to large litigations and there "quick fixes" of incorporating Box or Dropbox for the large quantity of documents seemed to negate the attractiveness of having an all-in-one program. 

Other weaknesses included limiting naming conventions, especially when dealing with a client that had many matters.  The billing practices were also limiting, especially for batch billing and for creating editable proof bills.  The programs seemed to be missing that crucial middle editing step.  Unique billing arrangements were also difficult. leaving much of the arrangements to individual changes, thereby relying on the memory of the attorney or bill keeper. 

I am hoping that we can soon move to one of the cloud based programs, but for now, I prefer to stick with separate programs that allow more flexibility.  I think that Microsoft on the cloud combined with a strong billing program is the current answer for a law firm with a varied practice.

Amber Kelso, Office Manager