For over four years, I have written the legal technology column for ABA Journal. Each month we cover different categories of legal software. It explains why lawyers should use it, what to know when choosing, and provides an overview of the options available in the legal tech market.
My column is just a starting point. From there, lawyers often conduct their own research. This typically involves asking fellow attorneys about the software her tools they use, attending trade shows, and doing Internet searches that lead to various software her directories.
These directories are the focus of this article. My goal in writing this column has always been to help lawyers choose their legal skills, and there are several online software directories that facilitate this purpose. However, some provide little relevant information.
If you’ve searched for legal software lately, you know what I mean. A lot of the less helpful sites tend to dominate search results regardless of the type of software you’re researching. A visit to this site quickly reveals the fact that whoever maintains the software listing knows very little about the legal industry and the software tools involved. You can often find random looking software groups. Sometimes you can find tools that are properly listed within a category, but often they are not.
If you’re looking for information about legal-specific software tools, the inconvenience of sifting through inaccurate generalist software directory sites is a laborious and tedious process at best, and inefficient at worst. It’s a waste of time.
As such, lawyers should focus on software directories that are limited to legal technology products. These sites focus on the legal industry and offer knowledgeable insights, accurate information, and well-categorized lists of legal software products.
Take a look at each category listed below to explore the site and its features, then check out one or two of the listed categories. Some directories may suit your needs and preferences better than others, but at least one site should guide and inform the decision-making process when embarking on the purchase of legal technology software. You will definitely find it useful. .
Who created the list?
So without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the top legal software directories online.
LawNext Legal Tech Directory
The LawNext Legal Tech Directory was co-founded by longtime legal technology veteran Bob Ambrogi. He has worked for decades as a journalist covering legal technology. As a result of his experience, he has a deep knowledge of legal technical software tools and the companies that create them. His feature-packed directory is an excellent resource for legal technology buyers.
Directories present information in a clear format that is easy to navigate. Each software listing contains information about the company that owns the software. This includes when it was founded, the name of the president or CEO, links to social media profiles, and a description of the software. Product features are well categorized and listed. It also provides access to product reviews, company coverage, and pricing information. Product resources such as product videos, white papers, e-books, and screenshots are also available.
Legal Technical Directory of Legal IT Professionals
This directory does not offer much in terms of functionality, but does provide a list covering various categories of legal software. The list consists of a brief description of each software program. increase. This directory is focused on larger enterprises and includes both cloud-based and premise-based software products.
If you are an individual or a small law firm attorney seeking legal software guidance, this directory may not be for you. You’ll find some software tools that should be on your list that are commonly used by smaller law firms. Companies are lost from this directory. However, if you are looking for legal technical guidance related to software for large enterprises, you are in luck and this is a very helpful resource.
Above the Law Legal Tech Directory
Above the Law, a law blog, also has a basic legal technology directory with many listings of software products that appeal to law firms of all sizes. Products are listed alphabetically and are not categorized. As such, we consider this site to be a secondary resource providing additional information on specific software tools that may be of interest to you.
It contains 59 products, and clicking a product takes you to a page that provides a description of the software along with a link to the company’s website. The list also indicates the size of the companies where the product is typically used and provides links to recent blog posts about software companies.
Legal Tech Hub
Last but not least, we have the Legaltech Hub. This legal technology directory covers a wide range of products, and like many other products, vendors must submit their software for inclusion. We cover a wide range of software categories for businesses of all sizes. Each listing includes a description, applicable practice area, target audience, videos and screenshots of the product in use, and pricing information.
If you are looking for new legal software, there are many legal software directory sites to choose from. Some are more robust than others and offer varying levels of coverage and functionality. Still, they generally provide useful information that informs the technology buying process far beyond what you’ll find on more typical software review sites.
The next time your company is ready to invest in new software, you’ll know where to start the process. You’re sure to find one that fits your company’s needs on one of these sites.
Nicole Black is a Rochester, NY-based attorney, author, journalist, and legal technology evangelist at MyCase, a company that provides legal practice management software for small businesses.she is a nationally recognized author Cloud Computing for Lawyers co-author of Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier, both published by the American Bar Association.She is also the co-author of her new york criminal law, Thomson Reuters article. She writes regular columns for her ABAJournal.com and her Above the Law. She has written hundreds of articles for other publications. She also speaks regularly at conferences on the intersection of law and emerging technologies. follow her on her twitter @nikiblackor you can contact her [email protected].
This column reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the ABA Journal or the American Bar Association.
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