Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for intellectual property law firms.
A checklist built from how intellectual property law firms work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Deadline docket
- Client instruction tracker
- Portfolio view per client
- Renewal calendar
- Associate billing
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For senior partners and proprietors
- For junior lawyers
- For clerks
- For office managers and accounts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Tomorrow’s and this week’s hearings, by court and by lawyer
- Matters with no next date recorded
- Adjournment history for a matter, with the reason each time
- Unbilled time and unbilled expenses, by matter and by client
- Fee bills raised, received and outstanding, client by client
- Court fees and out-of-pocket expenses paid from office cash
- Matters by stage, from filing through evidence to disposal
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp click-to-chat
- Google Calendar for hearing dates
- Email for client updates
- Accounting software, through an export agreed at set-up
- Bank transfer and wallet records
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is it built around court and tribunal matters?
- Does it file cases or pull case status from a court portal?
- Is there a phone app for the day’s list?
- How does it handle a matter adjourned many times?
- Can we bill a retainer, a fixed fee and a per-appearance rate?
- Is there a link to the firm’s accounting software?
- Can hundreds of running matters be moved from registers?
- Who can see a matter, and who owns the file?
- What does it cost?
- Is it worthwhile for a two-lawyer office?
- How long before the clerk is entering hearing dates on it?
- What should the firm gather before we start?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- The docket is a spreadsheet
- Clients do not reply in time
- Journal watching is manual
- Foreign associate billing is untidy
Prefer to talk it through? See the intellectual property law firms page.