The right legal document management software (DMS) can bring many benefits to your legal practice. It can improve the efficiency, productivity, and compliance of your firm. When choosing the right kind of DMS for your firm, you need to look for certain key features.
Here, we will briefly explore some of these features. Then, we’ll discuss why Amberlo software is the right choice for your firm.
5 Key Features of a Legal Document Management System
Businesses in all industries can leverage the benefits of a DMS. Not to mention the fact that it assists your organization in going paperless! A general DMS should always improve:
- Useability
- Scalability
- Security
- Disaster Recovery
- Collaboration
- Document Scanning
- Version Control
But we’re interested in a DMS that caters to the specific requirements of the legal industry. Here are what features you need in your legal document management system:
1. Matter-centric Software
The best legal DMS will be able to integrate with your firm’s workflow. It should also manage documents according to their corresponding matter.
The software must also recognize and sort files not only by matter but by speciality. For example, disputes and litigation, contracts and transactions, claims, legal research, compliance, etc.
2. Email Linking
Most legal communication between stakeholders involved in a matter takes place over email. An excellent legal DMS should thus be able to integrate with your email platform of choice.
It should then file each relevant email according to matter and category e.g. cases, disputes, or a summons.
3. Integration with Business Platforms
Your legal document management system must also integrate with other relevant software platforms.
Thorough integration boosts efficiency and productivity, saving your firm time and money. More importantly, though, it reduces room for error. This is particularly important in the legal industry. We all know mistakes can result in disastrous security risks or compliance breaches.
Developers that specialize in legal DMS understand the other software utilized by firms. As such, they know what their software will need to integrate with, and thus can customize their design.
This feature works to highlight the benefits of choosing industry-specific software.
4. Document Tagging
The document tagging feature of a DMS is of particular relevance to law firms. Lawyers must organize files according to matter and document content. For example:
- Summons
- Motions
- Complaints
- Contracts
Accurate document tagging will allow attorneys quick access to all relevant documents required. This saves time and money in the long run.
The document tagging feature should allow for many tags at once. These tags should also be easily updatable, as the matter progresses. In other words, you want a document tagging feature that is all-encompassing and adaptable.
5. Compliance and Security
All DMS should ideally ensure the security of a company’s files. But in the legal industry, security is of utmost importance.
Security breaches can be devastating to the reputation of a firm. Failing to meet industry-specific requirements and standards can bring down your whole business. For instance, you could lose all your clients and can even face legal action.
One of the compliance regulations that a firm must meet relates to encryption. Strong encryption will ensure that all matters remain confidential. As such, attorney-client privilege is always maintained.
These days, most firms upload all key documents onto the cloud. As a result, you’ll want to ensure that your legal document management system of choice includes cloud-based encryption.
Another useful compliance feature is the timestamping of all articles with key access dates. This will ensure the accuracy and transparency of timekeeping and billing systems.
Why Your Firm Should Choose Amberlo’s DMS
At Amberlo, we specialize in all things legal software. We understand and cater to the unique needs of the industry.
Our document management software boasts all the above features. This means that you can store, edit, and sync all your documents by matter and content, with ease. You can also upload a template in advance. From there, you can automatically fill in all contact and matter details as you go. This will save you time and reduce errors.
To book a free demo of this, please visit here.
Final Thoughts
Ensuring that documents are well-organized, accessible, and secure is important for any business. This is no different for law firms.
A Legal DMS, like what we offer here at Amberlo, allows you to meet the compliance requirements of the industry. Let us help you manage your documents with ease and efficiency. Try our state-of-the-art legal document management software as soon as possible!
