What is AbacusLaw?

AbacusNext’s on-premise legal practice management solution, AbacusLaw, is used by thousands of legal professionals. In general, AbacusLaw is used by small to medium sized firms with 1 to 20 attorneys. AbacusLaw includes features such as a rules-based calendar, time tracking, billing & invoicing, and online payment processing.

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Table of Contents

• What is AbacusLaw?
• AbacusLaw Review Summary
• AbacusLaw Pricing & Cost
• AbacusLaw Features
  • Dashboard
  • Case Management
  • Contact Management
  • Calendar
  • Task Management
  • Document Management
  • Time and Expense Tracking
  • Billing and Invoicing
  • Online Payments
  • Online Client Portal
  • Accounting
  • Reporting
  • Integrations
• AbacusLaw Alternatives & Competitors
• Is AbacusLaw Right For You?

AbacusLaw Review Summary

AbacusNext was founded by Judd Kessler in 1983. One of AbacusNext's most popular products is Abacus Law, and is currently used by thousands of legal professionals worldwide.

AbacusLaw includes practice management features that help legal professionals efficiently manage their firms. These features include a rules-based calendar, time tracking, billing & invoicing, and online payment processing.

AbacusLaw is generally used by small to medium sized firms with 1 to 20 attorneys. AbacusLaw pricing starts at $69.99 per user per month.

AbacusLaw is an on-premise solution, but you can host this solution on the Abacus Private Cloud. Abacus Private Cloud costs an additional $250 to $300 per user per month.

If you are searching for an all-in-one on-premise legal practice management solution that includes built-in accounting, we recommend AbacusLaw. If you prefer an AbacusNext solution that integrates with QuickBooks, consider testing Amicus Attorney. If you desire a cloud-based legal practice management solution, then Clio Manage and PracticePanther are the best options for you.

AbacusLaw Pricing & Cost

AbacusLaw pricing starts at $69.99 per user per month. If you would like to host AbacusLaw off-site on AbacusNext’s cloud servers, you can purchase a subscription to Abacus Private Cloud for an additional $250 to $300 per user per month.

AbacusLaw Features

Below, we'll discuss the key features of AbacusLaw, and how they can streamline your workflow and automate many of your day-to-day tasks. We include screenshots of the product to give you a sense of its design and layout.

Dashboard

AbacusLaw’s dashboard provides a broad snapshot of your law firm’s operations. The dashboard includes several modules that showcase your team’s priorities, operational metrics, financial metrics, and more. Examples of modules found in the dashboard include:

Case Management

AbacusLaw helps law firms track all critical information related to a matter, case, file, or project in one centralized database. Here are some of the items you can manage for any given matter and case:

Contact Management

AbacusLaw’s contact management feature allows you to efficiently organize your client information. In the Names modules, you can create a contact for any person that interacts with your firm including clients, prospects, vendors, and judges. You can store important information for each contact such as:

AbacusLaw includes a contact search tool that allows you to quickly find the contact you are looking for. Also, you can store notes for each contact in AbacusLaw. Because notes are stored in a linked database, you can add virtually unlimited notes for each contact.

Calendar

AbacusLaw includes a drag-and-drop calendar that allows you to schedule and track key events, deadlines, and appointments. The calendar is color-coded and includes views for days, week, and month. Also, you can view your firm members’ calendars, and monitor their schedules directly in AbacusLaw.

AbacusLaw’s rules-based calendaring automatically adds events and deadlines into your schedule based on appropriate federal, state, and local court rules. When an event is changed, AbacusLaw will automatically change all related dates.

Task Management

AbacusLaw includes several task management features that optimizes your firm’s operations. AbacusLaw includes to-do lists that organize the most important action items for your firm members. To-do lists can be created and shared directly in the Abacus Law application.

AbacusLaw also includes automated reminders to keep your firm members on schedule. Reminders can be sent through pop-up notifications in the application or by email.

Document Management

AbacusLaw includes document management tools that allow you to securely store and edit your key legal files. You can store various document types in AbacusLaw including word files, images, and spreadsheets.

AbacusLaw includes search and filtering tools to help you quickly find the documents you desire. You can add notes onto each document, and link documents to specific team members and matters.

In addition to storing digital documents, AbacusLaw includes tools to track paper documents. You can input paper document information into AbacusLaw to help you track storage information and box location.

Time and Expense Tracking

AbacusLaw includes time tracking tools to help you accurately record billable hours. AbacusLaw stores all time tickets that are added to any matter. You attach notes, client information, and matter numbers to each time ticket.

You can also link timers to specific team members, and set default hourly rates to accelerate the billing process. You can include up to 25 different rate levels of each team member.

Billing and Invoicing

AbacusLaw includes features to help you quickly bill and invoice for your services regardless of client or matter type. AbacusLaw includes different billing modes based on the type of case. Here are some of the billing modes offered by AbacusLaw:

You can also add billing frequencies for recurring work. Here are some of the frequency types you can include in AbacusLaw:

All billing data captured by your timekeepers are automatically stored in the database and ready to be invoiced by your staff. When invoicing, your staff will perform AbacusLaw’s three-step billing run that will create drafts of invoices that can be printed or sent to your clients by email.

Online Payments

APX, Abacus Payment Exchange, is a PCI compliant online payment processing service that allows you to accept payments from your clients electronically. Here are the costs associated with APX:

Online Client Portal

AbacusLaw’s online client portal allows your clients to securely access files and information from your AbacusLaw database. Additionally, you clients are able to send electronic payments for invoices directly through this portal. Here are some of the files and information your clients can access:

Accounting

AbacusLaw includes a fully-featured double-entry accounting tool that allows you to manage your client’s trust and operating accounts. Here are some of the capabilities that are including in AbacusLaw’s accounting feature:

AbacusLaw is an all-in-one solution best suited for customers that desire built-in accounting. For this reason, AbacusLaw does not offer an integration with any third-party accounting solutions. If you desire an AbacusNext product that includes an integration with QuickBooks, we recommend testing Amicus Attorney instead.

Reporting

AbacusLaw includes a variety of built-in reports to help you organize and analyze your firm’s critical data. Here are some of the report types you can generate in AbacusLaw:

Integrations

AbacusLaw offers several integrations with third-party solutions. Here are some of AbacusLaw’s integrations:

AbacusLaw Alternatives & Competitors

AbacusLaw competes with a variety of legal solutions that offer similar functionality. The best choice for you will depend on your budget and feature preferences.

AbacusLaw's top competitors are:

We've analyzed AbacusLaw compared to its top competitors. Read these in-depth analyses that evaluate AbacusLaw's cost, features and ease of use compared to alternatives:

Is AbacusLaw Right For You?

AbacusLaw is a popular on-premise legal practice management solution used by thousands of legal professionals worldwide. This solution includes a rules-based calendar, time tracking, billing & invoicing, and online payment processing. The majority of AbacusLaw customers are solo to medium sized law firms with 1 to 20 attorneys.

If you are searching for an on-premise solution that includes built-in accounting, we recommend AbacusLaw. If you desire an AbacusNext product that integrates with QuickBooks, consider testing Amicus Attorney. If you are looking for a cloud-based legal solution, we strongly suggest Clio Manage or PracticePanther.

If you're interested, you can try AbacusLaw today.