CARET Legal

Agrxis Review on CARET Legal

Comments: I've been using CARET Legal for a while, and I must say that overall, I've had an excellent experience. It was clear to me as soon as I began using the program that CARET Legal was developed with the requirements of legal practitioners in mind. It is quite simple to navigate and use all of the functionalities it offers because to the user-friendly features and straightforward interface. The wide variety of features, including case management, document organization, time tracking, and billing, have significantly increased my practice's effectiveness and organization. There is no longer a need for various software programs, and the likelihood of mistakes and inconsistencies has decreased thanks to the smooth integration of these elements into a single platform. Additionally, whenever I've needed advice or had issues, the quick and helpful customer care staff has been a great help. Overall, CARET Legal has surpassed my expectations by giving me a complete and dependable solution to efficiently run my law firm. Any legal professional looking to improve efficiency and optimize their process should definitely consider using it.

Pros:

I'm over the moon with CARET Legal! The way I run my law firm has been completely revolutionized by this all-encompassing software. The software's straightforward and user-friendly layout, which has made navigating and using it a breeze, is one of its major characteristics in my opinion. My efficiency and production have greatly increased as a result of the wide variety of tools and features it provides. CARET Legal can handle everything, from case management and document organization to time tracking and billing. I'm not forced to manage several platforms or struggle with manual tasks anymore. My process has been streamlined, and I have gained valuable time thanks to the smooth integration of all these functions into a single, coherent system.

Cons:

So far I have no complains about CARET Legal

Unmatched Practice Management Software with Crucial Features not Offered by Competitors

Comments: After extensive research and use of other practice management software at other firms, when I hung my own shingle I decided that ZolaSuite was the software my firm needed. I've never regretted my choice and have been a happy customer now for over two years.

Pros:

The best features of ZolaSuite for my firm is it's integration with Google Business for email, the fact that it has full-accounting including three-way reconciliation, its time keeping and billing features, and integration with law firm specific merchant services. I've tried Clio, which may be the closest competitor, and ZolaSuite beats their software, hands down.

Cons:

The color scheme for read/unread emails in the Gmail integration could use different colors to more easily tell what emails are read or not read.

Unreliable and slow but easy to navigate and has many features.

Comments: Zola was acquired by another company a few months ago. It was rebranded into CaRET and turned into complete garbage - it simply doesn't work. Salespeople send messages trying to upsell their credit card processing services and new subscription plans. Email on desktop software or mobile app has not been working for over a week! Customer service is useless and sends generic messages asking to perform various steps - none of which work. They ruined a good practice management program. I will not renew and do not recommend anyone else who cares about their practice and profitability.

Pros:

Easy to navigate and intuitive. Have lots of features and functions, such as bi-directional email integration, trust accounting, CRM, billing, time tracking, etc.

Cons:

Overall, the program is very slow and takes time to perform most tasks. Limits the number of credit cards you can sync with your bank; limits the billing/bulk options under certain plans; accounting module is very basic and light ages behind QuickBooks; CRM lacks depth and functionality of other CRMs.

Zola Helps Greatly with Productivity

Comments: 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.

Pros:

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!

Cons:

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.

Next-Level Program

Comments: We love the product.

Pros:

We love how Zola Suite is cloud-based. We can manage our firm from anywhere in the world. We also love the integration between Zola Suite and Outlook for calendar management, Zoom for coordinating Zoom meetings with our clients, the Courts, and opposing counsel, and LawPay for easing the collection process. The CRM features are new to us and we are just exploring them now.

Cons:

Zola Suite is a cutting-edge software platform. As such, it is growing and improving every day. There are certain features that we enjoyed with our prior practice management program that Zola has yet to implement. However, we have suggested these improvements and are optimistic that the suggestions will be implemented shortly.

A great legal management product for law office with awesome customer support!

Comments: Grow to love this product on a daily basis. Zola Suite continues to improve and update its functions and services offered. It makes billing and invoicing a lot easier. Highly recommend!

Pros:

There are so many things to rave about this legal management software. If we have to pick, I would say its awesome customer service and its basic accounting capabilities offered.

Cons:

Glitches and technical errors, especially with Zola Suite email system, happen more often than our liking; however, Zola Suite's awesome technical support team and their great availability and ease of accessibility make these problems bearable.

Former (long time) Clio User Converting to Zola Suite

Comments: 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.

Pros:

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).

Cons:

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.

Great Product!

Comments: 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.

Pros:

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.

Cons:

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.

Great Product

Pros:

Zola Suite has been super easy to use. Although they provided an onboarding specialist to walk me through the product, I didn't need the help. The product is very intuitive.

Cons:

There isn't anything that I don't like about the platform. But if I have to include something, I wish the Zola email offering would allow opened emails to pop out in a separate window or tab, making it easier to copy/paste content from other emails or search other emails for content while the one email is open. Not at all a big deal though, and it's easy to work around.

Great Product for Solo

Comments: My overall experience has been very satisfactory. Customer service is excellent. When I have a question, I just type it into the help section and I receive either a phone call or email very promptly. As a solo, this product is amazing and does so much. The ability to do accounting and generate basic reports, which is all that I need, is very convenient. There is so much more that it can do, and I learn something new every day.

Pros:

Zola Suites has helped me to be able to capture the time sending emails and making phone calls that ordinarily would slip through the cracks. This product more than pays for itself

Cons:

i wish that Contacts would automatically link to my contacts on my Iphone

Intuitive and useful software for managing a law practice

Comments: 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.

Pros:

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.

Cons:

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.

Be wary

Comments: Not great. The case management side isn't bad but the "all in one"/accounting feature costs me TONS of hours every month to try to manage it and try to fix issues and I went backwards, not forward when making this purchase. So many features that I took for granted in other programs as "standard" are just not functionalities in Zola.

Pros:

The ability to assign tasks to employees and to add opposing counsel or other connected parties to the client profile is very useful.

Cons:

The accounting functionality and largely not functional. It is not a user training issue as the company has stated for others with similar issues. I have spoken to customer service and was told that there is nothing that can be done as the functionality does not exist. When billing, I bulk bill and then it provides a print out of who got billed and what the total is, but then it doesn't print a check. You have to then HAND WRITE (from the trust account!) an actual check to transfer the funds. Then when reconciling the account, there is no bull check (even though it calculates the total in the PDF) - you then have to find EVERY SINGLE transfer that was part of the bulk billing to check it off. And because the system didn't issue a check, and it was handwritten, the check doesn't appear in ZOLA, so you have to hope that you wrote on hte check stub what each check was for so that you can find the entries to reconcile. Same with payments made through APX. The system says that the client paid, but to actually put the money in your operating account, you again have to HAND WRITE (form the trust account!!) a check to transfer the fees paid. Then we have issues where the client paid through APX, the system said that they received the payment, but yet the payment doesnt' appear on the bank statement (meaning that Zola received the funds and the client was credited with the payment but never deposited it to the account (ie. firm never got paid). I can go on ....

Zola Suite is Perfect for Small and Solo Law Firms

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

Pros:

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.

Cons:

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.

A case management system that truly works for solos.

Comments: Zola Suites is a comprehensive case management program that is constantly improving. Its affordable, easily accessible, loaded with guides and tutorials to help us slow and technologically challenged lawyers, and the customer service is top notch. As a solo practitioner it has been difficult to find a case management software company that truly cares about your practice and that is truly there to help you along the way. Zola does that to ensure you are getting the most out of its software to improve the efficiency and productivity of your practice. Your questions and concerns are immediately responded to and resolved, in a professional, nice and friendly manner. And Zola is constantly improving upon its features to grow with your practice and the legal industry. Though there are tons of legal case management programs on the market, Zola after only a little over a year since its inception, is one of the best.

Pros:

The task template which allows me to create specific templates based upon my practice and how I work versus a generic input system.

Cons:

I would like to see the task template updated to automatically populate a time schedule based upon the user's creation, in which of course the user should be able to revise it as needed for each entry. I would also like to see more customized billing. The current invoices are too generic. Lastly, document assembly and a document automation component is something Zola should consider as well.

A must have for every modern law office

Pros:

All the features Zola has to offer far exceed my expectations. The fact that you can tie every aspect of your law office in one central location makes everything so much easy in day to day operations. Document storage, data base, billing, expense tracking, template creation and usage, email. Everything you need in one location at the touch of a button

Cons:

Emailing has limits in that there is no delivery/read receipt. In this day of electronic filing and communication, these features are very important to a law office. The app has a significant amount of limits that make its use a bit frustrating for our attorneys as they can't utilize all the billing codes properly for our firm.

Very concerned owner

Comments: It has been one of the worst conversions we have ever experienced. I could not in good conscience recommend this product to anyone. I sit on committees with 100's of managing partners and technology is a constant topic of conversation. Our choice to go with Zola has backfired thus far. It has taken such a toll on my people and our management and tech teams. We need to see a change soon.

Pros:

The billing component of the software is user friendly.

Cons:

The conversion has been a nightmare, there is poor service on the back end, it has derailed out business for days on end with outages, it has yet to work wit lawpay, and took a ridiculously long time to integrate with Netdocs.

Love this software

Pros:

My favorite thing about this software is being able to access every case and document from anywhere. I also love the way that emails can be attached to cases eliminating the need to search through emails every time I have to go back.

Cons:

The only negative thing I have to say about this software is that I wish you could save attachments directly through Outlook. I find navigating outlook easier that the email associated with Zola and it would be nice to be able to save it directly into a file rather than saving it onto my desktop first.

From TimeMatters to Zola Suite

Comments: For over twenty years I have used TimeMatters to run by law firm, for both practice management and for billing. Recently, I switched to Zola Suite and couldn’t be happier with my decision. My main reason for switching, was to move my law firm from a local server to the cloud, and wanted a program that was matter based like TimeMatters, and processed email in the same manner as TimeMatters. ZolaSuite does both exceptionally well. ZolaSuite also helped migrate all of my data over, and worked to make sure everything was perfect. Lastly, the customer support and training has been beyond my expectations, with their quick responses and help. Overall a great product and only I wish I would have made the switch sooner.

Pros:

Access from the Cloud Easy to Use iOs App Great customer support Easy migration of data from TimeMatters to Zola Suite

Cons:

none - I like everything about the software so far

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

Comments: Time keeping is the biggest!

Pros:

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.

Cons:

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.

Law Office of J. Curtis Brown, LLC

Comments: I think the overall time that is saved by using Zola Suite is amazing. It streamlines most processes and you are able to capture time and do accounting for the firm all in one software.

Pros:

I like the ability to have both a place to record time and calendar events with the ability to have the accounting piece included.

Cons:

The thing i like the least is having to record a time entry and then check that a task has been completed. If it were all in one process it would be less time consuming.

Our office has started with Zola and we were able to combine 2 office systems into one software.

Pros:

I like that it can do the accounting functions and the client management functions as well, all in one software.

Cons:

I will need to continue to use this software to be able to determine if there are shortcomings to any of the functionalities, so far I have not come across any.

An extremely well crafted and deftly supported business suite

Comments: I think I've pretty well covered this in the previous questions, but Zola has really revolutionized and simplified how I do my work. I frequently have to work from home, and that always used to be a major hassle. Now, however, it is easy as can be.

Pros:

Zola allows for complete control of any aspect of your business from absolutely anywhere. Provided, of course, that you have access to the internet. No more dragging files to and from locations, or being unable to check on work from home or vacation. A simple log in to the service, and you can be anywhere while still being aware and up to date.

Cons:

There isn't much to say in terms of negative content that I personally have experienced. Any issues I can even remotely think of, such as site layout and template availability, for instance, have been deftly and quickly handled by the wonderful support staff.

Zola Suite - Accounting

Pros:

The billing and expenses aspects of Zola is very user friendly

Cons:

The accounting reports that Zola produces needs improvement.

Good Product -- would subscribe agan

Comments: Saves me about 3 hours a month on billing and other administrative tasks.

Pros:

I like the ability that this product gives me to blend different types of billing methods within the same client. I have been searching for a product that would allow both hourly and flat fee billing by matter and not client.

Cons:

Still trying to get my hands around the accounting module. Not sure if I am better to wait for full Quick Books integration to start using that functionality. Need to have some method for accounting for expense disbursement which does not require the entry of a check.

Zola suite for single practitoner

Comments: Had it for a year. Building a great client contact list. Providing tasks to the office on the go is very functional

Pros:

Calendar / task / mobile app really work well access by principal & staff — exchanging between staff works well

Cons:

Financial component is weakest part — ended up getting a simple program for trust accounting. Just didn’t integrate the billing component— felt other programs did it better