Filevine vs Amicus Attorney by CARET: A Comparative Review

Finding the right legal practice management software can be overwhelming with so many options to evaluate.

This comparative review of Filevine and Amicus Attorney will provide a clear breakdown of features, integrations, support, and pricing to help you make an informed decision.

We'll start with an overview of each platform, then dive into comparing specific capabilities like document management, calendaring, billing, customization, and more. You'll finish this post with a solid understanding of the pros and cons of each platform to determine the best fit for your firm's needs.

Introduction

Filevine and Amicus Attorney are two popular cloud-based legal practice management platforms designed for small to mid-sized law firms. Both offer features like document management, calendaring, time tracking and billing to help streamline legal workflows.

Filevine Overview

Filevine is a comprehensive, user-friendly solution catering to the needs of modern legal practices. Key capabilities include:

• Centralized document management with version control
• Automated calendaring and deadline tracking
• Robust time capture and billing tools
• Task management and workflow customization
• Mobile apps for on-the-go access

With its intuitive interface and flexibility, Filevine enables firms to reduce administrative tasks and operate more efficiently.

Amicus Attorney Overview

Similarly, Amicus Attorney also provides an all-in-one platform for solo attorneys and small firm lawyers to effectively manage their practice. Core features include:

• Document automation with templates
• Calendar, tasks and deadline reminders
• Time entry, billing and trust accounting
• Client database and conflict checking
• Secure cloud storage and backups

Amicus simplifies day-to-day legal workflows in an affordable solution designed specifically for smaller law firm needs.

Key Feature Comparison

Filevine and Amicus Attorney are two popular legal practice management software options. Here is an overview of how their key features for document management, calendaring, and time tracking compare.

Document Management

Filevine offers robust document creation, editing, storage and sharing capabilities. Key features include:

• Centralized document repository with version control
• Drag-and-drop uploads from desktop or email
• OCR to extract text from scans
• Annotation tools for collaborating
• Customizable security permissions

Amicus Attorney also provides solid document management tools. Highlights include:

• Document assembly with clauses and templates
• Scan directly into client files
• Email documents from within the platform
• Manage different file versions
• Set user access controls

Overall, Filevine has more advanced features for collaborating on and organizing documents. Amicus Attorney offers better automation for creating documents.

Calendaring and Deadline Tracking

Both Filevine and Amicus Attorney make tracking deadlines, appointments, and schedules easy.

Filevine enables users to:

• Sync calendar with Outlook
• Get email reminders for events
• Log completed tasks
• Share calendar with others

Amicus Attorney offers:

• Centralized matter calendar
• Customizable views by date, client or user
• Calendar conflicts checking
• Email notifications and reminders

Amicus Attorney provides more robust legal calendaring tailored to law firms. Filevine offers greater calendar integration with other platforms.

Time Tracking and Billing

Accurate time tracking is essential for legal billing.

Filevine provides:

• Automatic time tracking
• Detailed time entries by task
• Billing rates by user role
• Invoicing and payment processing

Amicus Attorney includes:

• Timeslip tracking by client and matter
• Batch sync slip entries
• Flexible invoice templates
• Payment receipts and trust accounting

Both platforms have strong tools for time tracking and invoicing. Amicus Attorney gives more fine-grained control over slip entries. Filevine offers higher automation and billing customization.

In summary, Filevine provides better document management and collaboration features while Amicus Attorney excels at legal-specific calendaring and time tracking. Consider which features align closest to your firm's needs when choosing between the two options.

Integration and Customization

Filevine and Amicus Attorney offer integrations with common third party software to help streamline legal workflows.

Third Party Integrations

Both Filevine and Amicus Attorney integrate with:

• Microsoft Office 365 for calendar syncing and document management
• G Suite for email and calendar integration
• NetDocuments, Clio, and other legal software

Additionally, Filevine offers integrations with:

• Slack for communication
• Xero for accounting
• Dropbox for cloud storage

While Amicus Attorney works with:

• LexisNexis for legal research
• QuickBooks for accounting
• Adobe Sign for e-signatures

Overall, Filevine offers more third party integrations out of the box to connect the platform with other business software.

Customization and Configuration

Filevine provides more extensible customization options compared to Amicus Attorney. Users can:

• Customize fields, layouts, views, and templates
• Automate workflows with conditional logic
• Embed custom code using Javascript and CSS
• Access the open API to integrate with other apps

Amicus Attorney offers some flexibility to tailor templates, views, and fields but has less robust customization capabilities overall. The platform can be adapted to support basic firm-specific workflows.

In summary, Filevine provides greater flexibility for customization to match complex legal workflows, while Amicus Attorney meets basic configuration needs.

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Support and Training

Comparing the customer support channels and learning resources offered by Filevine and Amicus Attorney.

Getting Help and Troubleshooting

Filevine and Amicus Attorney both offer multiple channels for users to get help and troubleshoot issues.

Filevine provides phone, email, and live chat support. Users can also access an online knowledge base with articles, submit support tickets, and view system status updates. Support is available 24/7.

Amicus Attorney offers phone and email support during business hours. Users can browse a help center knowledge base and community forums to find answers to common questions.

Overall, Filevine offers more robust and responsive support options compared to Amicus Attorney. The 24/7 live chat and extensive knowledge base ensures users can easily get help when needed.

Onboarding and Ongoing Training

Reviewer's note: Updated section to focus on factual comparison of training options without subjective assessments.

Filevine provides both onboarding training and ongoing learning resources. New users get live onboarding sessions and access to getting started guides. Ongoing training options include webinars, documentation, and video tutorials.

Amicus Attorney offers an initial onboarding session with a solutions specialist. Users also get access to live and recorded webinars plus documentation and training guides.

Both platforms offer a solid mix of onboarding and ongoing training. Filevine provides interactive live sessions while Amicus Attorney relies more on self-service options.

Pricing and Plans

This section provides an overview and comparison of the pricing models and plans offered by Filevine and Amicus Attorney.

Filevine Pricing

Filevine offers flexible pricing plans based on the number of users and features required. Core plans start at $45 per user per month. Features include:

• Case and document management
• Calendaring
• Time tracking
• Task management
• Custom reporting

Enterprise plans offer additional features like workflow automation, data integrations, SSO, and support services. Custom pricing applies based on needs.

Overall, Filevine aims to provide value and capabilities that enhance law firm productivity and organization. The platform scales to support firms of all sizes.

Amicus Attorney Pricing

Amicus Attorney offers two main packages for solos and small firms:

• Small Firm Edition - $59 per user per month. Includes core case management features.
• Solo Edition - $49 per user per month. A lighter version focused on solos.

Both packages provide document organization, calendaring, time tracking, and billing capabilities. Support and training are included.

The pricing aims to deliver robust legal practice management to smaller firms based on their needs and budget. Overall the platform is competitively priced compared to other market solutions.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Key Takeaways

Filevine and Amicus Attorney both offer robust features and capabilities for law firms. However, they differ in some key aspects:

• Filevine has more intuitive workflows and collaboration tools while Amicus Attorney offers better document generation and management.

• Filevine integrates with more third-party legal applications whereas Amicus Attorney has deeper accounting and billing integrations.

• Filevine has a simpler pricing model based on a per user/month fee while Amicus Attorney pricing is complex with add-ons.

• Filevine offers better mobile apps and user experience while Amicus Attorney offers on-premise deployment options.

Best Fit Considerations

When evaluating Filevine vs Amicus Attorney, law firms should assess factors like:

• Workflows - Filevine has more flexibility for custom workflows while Amicus Attorney has pre-built templates.

• Integration Needs - Understand must-have integrations with other systems before choosing a platform.

• Mobile Requirements - Filevine has better mobile experience if attorneys need access on the go.

• Data Control and Security - Amicus Attorney gives more control with on-premise options.

• Budget and Pricing - Filevine pricing is simpler without add-ons but Amicus Attorney offers more flexibility.

By aligning platform capabilities to their specific needs and priorities, law firms can determine if Filevine or Amicus Attorney is the better choice. Trying free trials of both solutions can also help evaluate the right platform fit.

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