AbacusLaw reviews

AbacusLaw User

Opmerkingen: This program has been very user friendly. Info is easy to add or delete from a file in this program. It keeps issues very organized. Tabs can be customized to your firm.

Pluspunten:

This software allows us to keep our client's files organized. We can tailor this program to what we need in our client's files based on what out firm does, and/or what type of case it is. We can keep up with our calendars and everyone can log in from wherever they are and see the daily organizer for all or individuals. It allows us to keep notes in files, monitors for conflicts, and is very useful for setting ticklers to use as reminders. I find it very useful that it keeps up with all the players and their info under "linked names". Also keeps up w/ events, docs, & emails in one place.

Minpunten:

If things are moved on the main drive, it breaks the links in abacus and they are no longer able to be found or traced if whomever moves the doc or breaks the link doesn't make a new one at that time.

This Saved My Business

Pluspunten:

As a small law firm you would think that software and a private cloud are luxuries reserved only for "big" firms but you are wrong. To be efficient, organized, avoid malpractice, and spend more time billing and less time on admin, a small firm needs legal software like AbacusLaw. When I wanted to add staff, the Abacus Private Cloud let all of my team utilize the AbacusLaw software with ease, from home and from other states where I am also licensed. And when COVID-19 hit, it was the AbacusLaw software and the Abacus Private Cloud that let us continue work uninterrupted, serving clients and not having to lay off a single person.

Minpunten:

I wish there was a way to keep two separate books of business in AbacusLaw's accounting software since many small law firms are not "traditional" firms but several separate solo practitioners working together but with different accounting. The only "bad" part about having such a versatile and essential piece of software is on the occasion where it isn't working life seems to end. It has become indispensable. If that is a "con" that would be the biggest one!

Worst Experience Ever. If I could give zero stars I would!

Opmerkingen: Do not make the mistake of believing that this product will do anything for you other than cause you countless hours of grief.

Pluspunten:

Any pros of this software are so far outweighed by the cons that they are not worthy of even mention.

Minpunten:

This software is absolutely horrible. I had high hopes for this software after having been given rave reviews about Amicus Attorney and calling to get more information. The salesperson convinced me that after describing my firm's needs, we were better suited for Abacus, which was owned by the same company. After purchasing the software, it took more than 8 months for them to figure out how to migrate our data from our existing billing software, a process that they represented they were very familiar with during the sales calls. When we finally made the transition to this software we quickly learned that it is not at all user-friendly, they provide no guidance on how to use the software or how to set it up, large portions of data mysteriously changes by itself (today the originating attorneys on hundreds of our chases mysteriously changed to reflect the names of our support staff members). The calendaring system is supposed to be able to sync seamlessly with Outlook. This is a joke. Items randomly disappear from attorneys' calendars or appear on the wrong attorneys calendars, when entered. Some items sync from Abacus to Outlook and others don't with no rhyme or reason. Their call center is horrible. You cannot get the same person on the phone twice, and you cannot request to speak with a particular person so there is no consistency of service. Each time you call to describe a problem you are having, you have to start from the beginning because they do not keep any records of your past calls. The people who answer the phone have no idea how the software works and always tell you that they have to research your question and get back to you. Oftentimes you never receive a call back and when you do they still don't know how to assist you. I could go on and on...

All the Bells and Whistles

Opmerkingen: I have been an AbacusLaw users since I opened my own firm in 2006. I have used the software and switched to APC. I went briefly with a competitor for four months because of the cost difference and learned quickly: you get what you pay for. I promptly switched back to Abacus and determined that the APC was worth it.

Pluspunten:

The ease of use, the triple reconciliation feature, and the linking items to client matters.

Minpunten:

I wish the calendar syncing feature with Google calendar/Outlook was easier and not manually required. I also wish the price point was lower for small firms. It's just me and a paralegal.

Abacus Law - A Year In

Opmerkingen: We wanted a product that allowed us to have a 360 view on our productivity, profitability, case management and accounting software. Abacus has provided us with this in one package.

Pluspunten:

The time ticket and notes functions have increased our accuracy and efficiency in billing, and provide attorneys and partners with the ability to provide clients with accurate status reports on their matters. The document management function mean that teams can access all information quickly. The software allows partners to track their teams productivity and evaluate work in progress.

Minpunten:

The software does not provide for multiple currency databases - although Abacus built several for us. The outlook function is not so stable and with us use several currency databases, you have to keep switching the outlook function in each database. The reports format takes some getting used to - they would be easier to use if they could be downloaded as excel spreadsheets.

Good not Great, but what is...

Opmerkingen: Our billable hours have increased, due to the ease of use of the timekeeper processes.

Pluspunten:

Linking ability between names, matters, the calendar and to email.

Minpunten:

Least favorite is so ironic. In Abacus Accounting retainers are painstaking and excruciatingly burdensome to keep track of and requires manual allocation to timekeepers.

Legal Software Tracker

Opmerkingen: Since using AbacusLaw calendaring for trials and deadlines is much easier than before

Pluspunten:

Relatively easy to use and set up. Calculates trials, deadlines for various reports and court filings

Minpunten:

The thing I dislike the most about AbacusLaw is the creating of new reports takes more computer knowledge then it should.

Do not buy AbacusLaw Case Management Software

Opmerkingen: Abacus is a disappointment and I strongly recommend against using it. The support blames its customer and Microsoft Abacus' failures. Our program crashes constantly and the supposed case management and document management features are too complicated to use. The phone calendar and contact updates no longer work, which was a major purchase consideration when we purchased Abacus. Now the company will not support its outdated system and is using its failure to extort upgrades from its long-term customers. We started using Abacus over five years ago and experienced many headaches thought that term. Now the system constantly crashes. As an example, for the past week or so we have not been able to add new client contacts or calendar events. Imagine trying to run a law office and you cannot open a file or put an event on the calendar. Abacus support was rude and cavalier about our problems and tried to put the blame on Microsoft Windows 10 and blamed our office for deleting something on our computer -- an utter impossibility. I cannot strongly impress upon anyone considering teaming up with Abacus my disappointment and hope you will steer clear of AbacusLaw.

Minpunten:

The company seems to have abandoned us. We purchased AbacusLaw five years ago and now the program keeps crashing and the rude support personnel blame us for using an outdated version which Abacus says it is trying to faze out an no longer support. We bought the program because it offered case management and document management capabilities, and automatically updated contacts and calendar on the phone. Over the years, we constantly needed to contact support because the calendar and contact update functionality constantly broke down. Now the software crashes all of the time. I could not enter new clients nor could I make calendar entries for the past five (5) days. I called support and they complained that Abacus no longer wants to support this version and claimed my staff must have "deleted something" -- which is an impossibility! and the support blames Microsoft updates. We are beyond frustrated with Abacus. The program is so poorly designed there is no way to utilize many of the features it claims to have. Frankly we gave up on linking documents, producing case management reports, etc. because the software is too complicated to understand. Abacus now wants to up-sell us on its new software products and the pricing could not be more noncompetitive. I sincerely discourage anyone from using Abacus Law and this is the advice from a long term user who gave Abacus an honest and fair chance.

AbacusLaw

Pluspunten:

For me, the software runs without a hitch. There are many functions, some of which I haven't yet fully utilized.The scheduling tool is fantastic and very flexible to my needs. Most functionalities are simple to learn how to use. You can carry your job everywhere you go thanks to it.Additionally, the application has a fantastic client database with notes .

Minpunten:

This software usage is effective. apart from The only drawback I can mention is that updating can occasionally be a horrific experience.

Support going down hill

Opmerkingen: I've been 10 year plus user and beta tester; support was excellent before they become AbacusNext. Now they have so many products to support that the level one folks just don't have answers to anything but simple questions. Also you cannot get them on the phone in most cases or if you do it is after a very long wait (up to 30 minutes).

Pluspunten:

Full featured product with links to Outlook.

Minpunten:

Support used to be excellent when you had a question; due to company growth and buying other business it is no longer possible to get phone support in a timely manner. When you get it and it is complicated issue level one isn't able to solve the problem as in the past.

Abacus Can Help

Pluspunten:

We have used Abacus since 2010, so 10 years. Abacus helped us to automate law billing. The program also features an excellent data base for notes as well as emails per client. It is fast in terms of locating electronic documents. Its technical support is also helpful.

Minpunten:

The biggest feature to improve would be Abacus message slips. I have been trying for over a year to fix the app's propensity to suddenly disappear and then, days later, inform me of the number of messages I have received. BIlling software can be improved dramatically to make it more user friendly.

I love Abacus!

Pluspunten:

I was first introduced to Abacus at my prior law firm. I was familiar with a different case management software from another law firm. I was happy to be able to convince my current employer to obtain this very useful tool for our firm. I use it daily and am nearly lost without it. The main function for our office is the calendaring system which is amazing and is easily customizable for our needs. I am aware that the software does 80% more; however, it is an excellent value just the way we utilize it.

Minpunten:

The only negative thing I have to report is, years ago for some odd reason, the customizing I had done to the trial calendar disappeared. Customer service individual who was extremely patient and knowledgeable, was able to correct it and return it to my customized settings.

ABACUS PRIVATE CLOUD - A GREAT COMPUTING PLATFORM FOR LAWYERS!!

Opmerkingen: For the last 20 months my entire law office has been run on Abacus Private Cloud. It has worked flawlessly, with great, responsive, USA-based tech support (for set up issues and as needed thereafter). APC enabled me to put my entire law office into a private cloud environment, in an industrial data center custom-built solely for this purpose, dedicated to the legal profession, and managed by top-notch professionals in the data center industry; this is something I could never have achieved on my own, or through another vendor. The benefits to my law practice from Abacus Private Cloud are:
- - My data is secure and safe in the Abacus Private Cloud data center. No more local data backups, because all data is on the private cloud server, and is backed up there.
- - My local equipment costs are drastically lower than before I switched to a private cloud. I eliminated the three desktop computers that I was previously accessing remotely.
- - I don't need costly application software on each local access device. All law office applications can be run on the private cloud server, not on local hardware. The local devices are there simply to display and interact with the private cloud server.
- - My private cloud server can run any software, whether related to Abacus or not. Therefore, I can run the application software that my meets the specific needs of my law practice, regardless of the vendor.
- - My local IT and tech support costs are $0.
- - My staff and I have become totally mobile, without sacrificing efficiency. This means that each employee, as needed, can work on their own schedule, and from any location with cell phone coverage, electricity, and an Internet connection. This creates a flexible, modern, and dynamic work environment, resulting in a better quality of life, happier attorneys and staff, and a better work vs. life balance for all involved.
- - All law office applications and data are accessible 24×7 for each user via any device: desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
- - Private cloud technical requests (e.g., email configuration, remote access from a new device, etc.) are promptly resolved by the Abacus Private Cloud support staff.
- - System reliability (uptime) is outstanding. In sum, this is a truly great product, at a reasonable price, with great customer support. I highly recommend you get it!! Thanks.

Good if you make additional significant investment into tailoring it to your firm's needs.

Opmerkingen: Abacus is probably best for an office with existing procedures and forms that is willing to make a significant investment into customizing and maintaining Abacus, including having at least one Abacus-designated point person who develops intensive understanding of Abacus. A point about customization: you need to think through your process. For some, a more "plug and play" program may help you to figure out your process.

Pluspunten:

Potential flexibility because of many functionalities. We use it every day to track matter activity, coordinate schedules, meet deadlines, retrieve critical information, and bill clients.

Minpunten:

Cannot use many features without hiring expensive Abacus professional because program is not intuitive. Numerous online resources, including knowledge base and trainings, but difficult to find what I need when I need it. Reports and queries: Odd that in our present "plug and play" world, reports are poorly formatted and queries difficult to use. Email integration: Does not integrate with our google suite, only Outlook. Customer Support: Expertise and availability has declined, although still reasonable, if more time consuming.

Abacus Cloud

Opmerkingen: I am a sole practitioner concentrating on Worker's Compensation, Personal Injury, and Municipal Court cases. My calendar and "corporate knowledge" of my cases has improved a lot. My staff likes the software. I highly recommend it.

Pluspunten:

I have been using Abacus since 2004. I just transitioned from using on my local server to having it and my IT hosted on the Cloud. Abacus is logically organized in a flexible way that allows me to categorize my notes in a way which really suits my practice. It is pretty easy for my staff to learn. It has an abundance of features, including some that I have not yet explored. As an Attorney, I really like the calendar and reports function. As an employer, I really like its document production feature.

Minpunten:

Occasionally I have problems printing envelopes from a separate envelope printer, especially when adding a new computer to the network.

Great Salesmen, Terrible Service - a business liability

Opmerkingen: Time capture for billing, full accounting software.

Pluspunten:

Strong database with a lot of features and the unique Outlook add-in to bill emails straight into the integrated accounting software. The add-in will make you very dependent really quickly if you bill for time reading and responding to emails.

Minpunten:

Horrible support and inaccurate sales information. Each time there is an update, we had to end up calling in to fix the problem. If we were lucky, we got an experienced tech. Otherwise we ended up going through several until the problem was fixed. We would spend hours on the phone each time for days in a row and the problems would completely prevent us from working for a day or more. The down time was costing us too much money and client retention issues. Finally after 5 years we had enough and cancelled the program based upon the original salesman's representations that we paid for the program for 2 years, then after that we could pay for maintenance but we would have a usable stand alone program. We found out that is untrue when we cancelled. We were not given the opportunity to retrieve our information, billing or financials unless we paid for a month-to-month account and tech fee. In response, the company would not return our phone calls.

Do NOT BUY IT

Opmerkingen: I am in the process of finding a different database. I pay almost money per month for technical support. I have been waiting for a week for an answer back from them currently. When they did the update it converted all the date of births to 2000 .... so if you were born in 1995 it shows your date of birth 2095. They tried to tell me a year ago that my contract had expired and wanted me to sign another 5 year contract. I was willing to sign a 3 year and they refused. They continued to charge my credit card for their support after that date. Turns out I did have another year with them and my contract was not expiring. They are HORRIBLE!!!

Pluspunten:

It's a database. It does what it is supposed to do... when it is working. However, it is impossible to get technical service.

Minpunten:

Technical support is non-existent. I have tried multiple times to get an answer to a simple problem, and have been told everything from I don't have a contract with them to it's not their problem. Instead of attempting to help, they smart off and are rude and ridiculous in their responses. My IT people were working with abacus to install an update. It did not work and abacus did not respond to calls or emails for a full week. Then after refusing to get off the phone until someone spoke to me, the guy said they just needed to do a couple things and would I like him to do it then. Thirty minutes later it was working. We spent an entire week without it because they simply would not respond to us. They kept saying someone else had our account but that person was always on the phone with another customer, Managers did not return my phone call either.

Everything was fine until we went to the Abacus Private Cloud

Opmerkingen: Check out other options if you want a cloud bases case management program before going with APC. I am waiting for my 5 year contract to expire and then reevaluate my options. I would like to have more control over "my cloud" and have local, on the scene tech support like we used to enjoy before we were forced to upgrade to APC, or else pay a high price for non-supported, prior versions of the software.

Pluspunten:

It is nice to be able to access the case management software through the cloud. It allows you to take you work with you where ever you go - which can be a good thing or a bad one.

Minpunten:

Abacus Private Cloud does not play well with anything but MS Office 365. I had to buy a more expensive version of Dragon Naturally Speaking Legal and there is such a lag between dictation and text, that the Dragon software never gets used. We also use Essential Forms for our Judicial Council Forms in CA. APC tech support has left me hanging for over 2 weeks, and countless hours trying to figure out software that they had previously installed on their server for our use. It also seems like every time I call support to change something, there is a horrendous charge.

Abacus Law Is an Excellent Software Program that Enables Users to Link Important Information

Opmerkingen: Abacus Law is an important tool that assists with making certain there are multiple ways o access and check information that has been entered. It allows for quick search methods due to various features. Last names care linked to matters, so a potential client file may be entered in names prior to being entered a client in the matters feature. Any entity or person associated with a case can be linked, also providing another method of cross referencing other people associated with an individual case. Linked emails provides another easy way to check emails sent regarding a specific client.

Pluspunten:

Once client information is entered, other information may be linked and is very helpful when looking up a memo, phone message , email etc. for each client. Once an appointment is scheduled, it also is linked to the events feature, so the program allows for multiple ways to check that important information is stores and is accessible.

Minpunten:

At this time the features provided are working well to allow for ease of sending messages, linking client information and researching stored client information.

My experience with Abacus

Opmerkingen: Generally Abacus suits my purposes well. I cannot imagine the effort it would take to switch to another system, there is so much critical information in my system that has accumulated over the years and which I can, and do, access.

Pluspunten:

I have been using this software since 2000, I think. I don't know all the tricks, but to manage time and client information it is wonderful.

Minpunten:

When not updated regularly it doesn't function as well. Sometimes updating can be a nightmare.

Longtime user very satisfied

Opmerkingen: My experience with Abacus has been great, so I'll very likely continue to use it until I retire, probably within the next ten years.

Pluspunten:

The close coordination of the client management software with the accounting software is very nice... I've used Abacus for close to eleven years and like it very much.

Minpunten:

There are a few little quirks here and there, but not serious, and if I did a little more research or asked for help I could probably figure them out, like how to automatically put my letterhead on invoices printed from Abacus.

AbacusLaw Review

Pluspunten:

I appreciate that the court rules are listed/referenced in the events. I have found the program fairly easy to use; however, other staff in the office have struggled with it over the years.

Minpunten:

As stated above, several staff in my office have found the software confusing and difficult to use. I've found some court rules in the software program do not match current laws - most specifically within the local court rules.

Help received

Opmerkingen: To whom it may concern,
I just had to take a moment to send an email to thank Dean for his invaluable, over and beyond customer service, he is a true asset to your company, and I hope that Abacus customer service management knows what a devoted, knowledgeable employee you have. I attended Dean's webinar on Mail Merge in Abacus on Wednesday on 12/16/2015, which was great, and a real informative webinar, that was well planned, easy to follow, and full of useful information. However, I am writing this email to acknowledge what Dean did for me afterwards. After the webinar, I had emailed Dean asking if he could help me create a query to generate a client list, (past, and current), that have an email address, with their phone number's and if he could help me make a excel spreadsheet with this information, which was not something my employer had paid for, but we desperately needed. She had been asking me to generate this list for the past two weeks, and despite my endless attempts, I could not figure out how to generate a query that would do this correctly. Within minutes Dean had generated a query, showed me how to use it, how to modify it, and how Abacus could assist our office in the future to generate letters, emails and help turn potential leads into paying clients. I was amazed, and so completely grateful, I joked with him that he single handily may have saved my job! I had to take this time to send this email because it is not often that I come across someone that is so good at their job, not to mention completely dedicated, with such excellent customer service skills. I will be recommending to the attorney I work for that we attend more webinars, and utilize Abacus and all its features for her practice, and as a tool to run a smooth, successful law firm. Again, thank you Dean, I cannot express my gratitude to you for going over and beyond to help me help my employer!!! Have a great holiday, and a Happy New Year!

Abacus Law has grown with my business!

Opmerkingen: Exceptional. The software is useful, practical and designed specifically for attorneys. The customer service is unparalleled across the board. Fast, efficient, professional, knowledgeable. Always there, always helpful and always cheerful (no matter how many times I call!).

Pluspunten:

I love the format and the ease with which I can create new matters, organize my contacts and bill my matters. I started with AbacusLaw as a solo practitioner and have grown my firm to include two other attorneys and an admin. The attorneys are all networked in the cloud now, and Abacus was able to grow with me and provide additional support solutions for our small firm. The Abacus Accounting has given me great billing capacity and kept my accounts in order.

Minpunten:

I have not found the forms functionality very accessible. I was an experienced attorney when I signed on with AbacusLaw, so this is not something that I particularly need.

AbacusLaw is a essential tool for Offices

Opmerkingen: My over all experience has been great. I can see the work staff on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule and assign task with ease.

Pluspunten:

The ease of use for this software makes it a wonderful program to use with our company.

Minpunten:

Too many steps to edit some entries, and also if someone adds a change to the schedule, you may not see the update quick. You have to refresh the program and maybe if there was a flashing icon that lets you know there was a change in the schedule it may be easier to see it.