Lawyers are busy. With so much to keep track of in their daily work, the last thing they should be complaining about is the process by which they track their billable hours. Whether you are in charge of the purchasing decision for time tracking software at a small, medium, or large law firm, give your lawyers one less thing to worry about by offering them a time tracking solution that make their jobs easier, not more stressful. We’ve compiled a list of some leading options for you to consider below.

Top Eight Best Law Firm Time Tracking Software

  1. Bonsai – Best For Saving Time On Recording Working Hours
  2. LawBillity– Best Overall Time Tracking Capabilities
  3. Time Analytics– Best for Budget
  4. Time Doctor– Best for Oversight
  5. Myhours– Best for Budget
  6. Timely– Best for Features
  7. RescueTime – Best for Productivity
  8. Clio Manage– Best Cloud-Based Law Firm Time Tracking

1.   Bonsai – Best For Saving Time On Recording Working Hours

Best Law Firm Time Tracking Software

PRICING: Pay $24 per month to enjoy various time-tracking features of Bonsai.

Your law firm may be working on various cases, some of which can be significantly time-consuming. This is why it is necessary to record the working hours accurately to get paid the right amount. Bonsai will let you do this with its automatic timer.

The platform lets you set an hourly rate for each project and track time easily. You can also pause the timer on specific days if you’re offering extra unpaid service to your customer. This will ensure the generated invoice includes the right amount.

With this feature, you can save more time because your workers will not have to record their individual hours. It will also make it easy to calculate the billed time at the end of the project. You will also get a record of unbilled time to ensure all your payments are accounted for.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Start a project’s time tracker to understand your working hours
  • Get real-time reports to know the things your lawyers have spent their time on
  • Add collaborators to your Bonsai and track their working hours too
  • Round off the time for more accurate billing

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Easy to use
  • An app on mobile phones and desktops is also available for time tracking
  • Centralize timesheets of collaborators for tracking all business hours
  • Supports your workflow

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Beginners may need to watch a tutorial for using the software
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2. LawBillity– Best Overall Time Tracking Capabilities

PRICING: Subscriptions start at $30 per user per month with an annual subscription discount available.

LawBillity is a customized solution under the umbrella of the time tracking software eBillity that was specifically designed for the way that attorneys work. Since their subscription model operates on a per-user basis, attorneys at firms of any size and even solo practitioners can take advantage of the cutting-edge technology that this comprehensive solution offers.

KEY FEATURES: 

  • Timesheets and timer options
  • Ability to approve hours and leave requests
  • GPS tracking

REASONS TO BUY: 

  • Mobile app allows you to track on the go
  • Free trial with no credit card required
  • Customizable integration offerings

REASONS TO AVOID: 

  • The number of features can feel overwhelming for new users
  • Cost may be prohibitive to smaller operations

3. Time Analytics– Best for Budget

PRICING: Free version available for up to five users. Paid version ranges from $5-$13 per user per month

Even though Time Analytics wasn’t created specifically for the legal industry, it ranks as one of the top options on our list due to its simplicity and ease of use. Many legal clients choose Time Analytics to track their firm’s hours and performance, finding their features largely applicable to the needs of their work environment.

KEY FEATURES: 

  • Performance dashboard with utilization rates, graphs tracking billing movement over time, and total hours
  • Invoicing assistant to reduce task work
  • Project cost analytics

REASONS TO BUY: 

  • Free trial with no credit card required
  • Options to customize the way you track work, by project, task, employee, and more
  • Client monitoring to track profitability and improve efficiency
  • Additional discounts offered for teams with over 50 users

REASONS TO AVOID: 

  • No mobile option

4. Time Doctor – Best for Oversight

PRICING: Three subscription tiers ranging from $7-$20 per user per month. Annual subscription discount available.

Time Doctor offers a strong solution for tracking hours, generating reports for projects and tasks like most other product do. What sets Time Doctor apart is its focus on monitoring employee time and activity, allowing supervisors key insight into their team’s behavior. This solution may not be the most popular with employees, but managers will find the information that Time Doctor provides useful.

KEY FEATURES: 

  • Task and Project Reports
  • Screenshots capturing how employees spend their screen time
  • Report generator for websites and applications used

REASONS TO BUY: 

  • Free trial with no credit card required
  • Mobile app available for on-the-go tracking
  • Tracks in real-time with reminder notifications when employees are using recreational or personal applications

REASONS TO AVOID: 

  • Associates or other highly managed positions may resent the prying nature of the solution and flag as a privacy concern
  • Reminders and notifications are configured as invasive pop-ups

 5. Myhours– Best for Budget

PRICING: Free version. Pro is $6 per user per month.

The best thing about Myhours is that it offers a free version of its product that includes most of its important features and has no limits on team members or projects! You’ll definitely want to upgrade your team to the affordable Pro tier in order to gain access to client invoicing, but if you’re on a tight budget, look no further than this handy software solution.

KEY FEATURES: 

  • Project and task reports
  • Ability to set billable hours and budgets
  • Report generation, including client invoices

REASONS TO BUY: 

  • Free trial
  • Mobile app for remote tracking
  • Can integrate with over 1,000 other tools for customizable results

REASONS TO AVOID: 

  • Back-dating time entries can be cumbersome
  • Default calendar is set to Monday and can be confusing to change

6. Timely– Best for Employees

PRICING: Three tiers available ranging from $10-$26 per user per month.

Timely’s time tracking app has specialized features for lawyers and law firms, capturing activity in a way that respects employee privacy. Teams will respect the transparent notifications from the software and the philosophy of the company to avoid surveillance tactics like keystroke monitoring and employee screenshots.

KEY FEATURES: 

  • Automatic, real-time tracking to reduce task management
  • Drag and drop tool for faster timesheet completion
  • Dashboards analyzing billable and non-billable activity

REASONS TO BUY: 

  • Free trial
  • Privacy-first approach puts employees first
  • Speedy onboarding process

REASONS TO AVOID: 

  • Difficulty organizing and maintaining separation between billable and non-billable activity
  • Can’t mass edit hours for projects

7. RescueTime– Best for Productivity

PRICING: Starts at $16,600 subscription for one year

The legal field is not known for its strength in teleworking, but the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated accommodating remote work across almost every industry, including law. RescueTime offers a strong time tracking solution for teams not grounded to a single office space.

KEY FEATURES: 

  • Focus Zone reminders to keep employees on track during peak productivity hours
  • Custom goal management individualized for the employee
  • Builds a daily summary report of employee activity to track progress

REASONS TO BUY: 

  • Focused on building growth-oriented mindsets for employees as they track their time
  • Reminds lawyers to take breaks from screen to prevent eye strain

REASONS TO AVOID: 

  • Lacks the same level of detail that other solutions offer
  • Limited customization opportunities

 8. Clio Manage– Best Cloud-Based Law Firm Time Tracking

PRICING: Tiers ranging from $49-$149 per user per month

If your firm’s IT solutions operate in the cloud, Clio Manage is hands down the best option for tracking your lawyers’ time. With an interface built intentionally for attorneys and improving their ability to prioritize, this software earns the final spot on our list.

KEY FEATURES: 

  • Case and document management with real-time update feature to track changes over time
  • Invoice management
  • Ability to enhance firm profitability with add-on capabilities like document drafting and client intake and CRM

REASONS TO BUY: 

  • Free trial
  • Pricing model is based on firm size
  • Unlimited document storage
  • Over 200 supported integrations

REASONS TO AVOID: 

  • Expensive compared to other market solutions
  • Customizing the billing formatting can be time consuming

References and Links

  • https://www.g2.com/products/time-tracker-by-ebillity/reviews
  • https://timeanalyticssoftware.com/why-time-analytics-online-timesheet-software/
  • https://lawbillity.com/customer-reviews/
  • https://myhours.com/pricing
  • https://www.g2.com/products/timely-time-tracking/reviews#survey-response-5303790
  • https://www.rescuetime.com/
  • https://www.clio.com/
  • https://www.trustradius.com/products/clio/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons#product-details
  • https://biz30.timedoctor.com/attorney-time-tracking-software/