CASEpeer vs Caret LEGAL: A Comparative Review

published on 14 January 2024

Selecting the right legal practice management software is a challenging task that all law firms face.

This comparative review promises to simplify your decision making by directly contrasting two leading options: CASEpeer and CARET Legal.

You'll get an in-depth analysis of features, integrations, support, pricing, and more. By the end, you'll have clear and tailored recommendations to help your firm choose the best solution.

Introduction to Law Practice Management Software

Law practice management software helps law firms streamline operations, improve productivity, and provide better service to clients. This comparative review analyzes two popular options - CASEpeer and CARET Legal - to help legal professionals determine the best solution for their needs.

CASEpeer offers robust features for legal practice management including:

  • Case and document management
  • Billing and accounting
  • Calendaring and task tracking
  • Client portal and collaboration

It provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface to improve law firm productivity. However, some users report issues with technical support responsiveness.

Understanding CARET Legal: A Comprehensive Attorney Software Tool

CARET Legal provides all-in-one software with key capabilities such as:

  • Legal case management
  • Document automation
  • Billing and invoicing
  • Calendaring and deadlines

It focuses heavily on document generation and law firm workflows. But it lacks some reporting features offered in other solutions.

Comparative Review Focus: What Will Be Analyzed

This review will dive deeper into comparing core features, pricing models, level of support, third-party integrations, and overall usability of CASEpeer vs CARET Legal. It will aim to provide legal professionals with the details to determine the best software for their firm's needs.

Both CASEpeer and Caret LEGAL provide robust legal case management functionality to streamline matter organization.

Key features include:

  • Custom matter types to categorize cases
  • Configurable folder structures to organize matters
  • Dashboards to view key matter details
  • Task management with reminders
  • Team collaboration tools

Overall, CASEpeer offers more flexibility to customize matter workflows, while Caret LEGAL provides a simpler out-of-the-box solution. Those needing complex matter management may lean towards CASEpeer, while Caret LEGAL suits less complex needs.

For document management, the platforms share similarities around core features:

  • Version control and history
  • Annotations and markups
  • OCR to extract text from scans
  • Email documents into matters

CASEpeer has more advanced capabilities like optical character recognition and automated document naming. However, Caret LEGAL offers a simpler drag-and-drop interface that may suit less tech-savvy users.

So for advanced document handling, CASEpeer has an edge. But Caret LEGAL still provides fundamental functionality.

Calendaring and Deadline Tracking: Keeping Law Firms On Schedule

Both tools provide calendar features to track key dates, deadlines, events and schedules with reminders.

Highlights include:

  • Calendar views by day, week, month
  • Date reminders and notifications
  • Integration with matter details

The calendaring functionality is comparable between the two platforms. CASEpeer offers more flexibility for custom reminders while Caret LEGAL focuses more on simplicity.

For legal billing, CASEpeer has more advanced invoicing automation and payment tracking. Features include:

  • Automated invoice generation
  • Payment tracking
  • Integrated accounting
  • Flexible invoice customization

Caret LEGAL offers more basic billing capabilities focused around manual invoice creation. So those needing advanced billing tools may prefer CASEpeer.

Data-Driven Law Practice: Reporting and Analytics Tools

Finally, for analytics and reporting, CASEpeer has more built-in customizable reports spanning matters, documents, invoices, and more.

Caret LEGAL focuses less on reporting, offering basic out-of-the-box reports. So those needing data-driven insights will get more from CASEpeer.

In summary, CASEpeer provides greater customization and flexibility but at the cost of complexity. Caret LEGAL opts for simplicity in the core feature set. So legal teams should weigh their specific needs and maturity.

Both CASEpeer and Caret LEGAL offer app marketplaces with integrations to extend functionality.

CASEpeer has over 50 legal industry integrations through its app marketplace. Popular apps include document automation, e-signature, online payments, and practice management tools tailored for law firms.

Caret LEGAL also provides an app marketplace, but has fewer available integrations compared to CASEpeer. Top apps cover areas like time tracking, document management, and accounting.

Overall, CASEpeer offers a wider variety of apps and pre-built integrations to legal industry solutions. This makes it easier for law firms to connect their tech stack.

Bespoke Solutions: API and Custom Integration Capabilities

In terms of custom integrations, both platforms provide API access. However, CASEpeer has more extensive capabilities.

CASEpeer offers open API access to build custom integrations with other systems. Their integration options support real-time syncing of data between tools.

Caret LEGAL has API access to pull client and matter data. But it lacks robust API capabilities for pushing data or building custom solutions.

So CASEpeer provides more flexibility for law firms to create tailored integrations between other legal software tools via API.

Effortless Coordination: Email and Document Management System Integrations

For out-of-the-box integrations, CASEpeer and Caret LEGAL both connect with email and popular document management platforms.

CASEpeer offers deep Gmail and Outlook integration for tracking emails. It also connects with Dropbox, Box, NetDocuments and iManage for smooth document coordination.

Caret LEGAL provides integration with Outlook email and offers plugins for document management systems like NetDocuments, Clio Grow, and Lawcus.

In summary, both platforms make it easy to integrate email and documents into legal workflows. CASEpeer has a slight edge with its deep Gmail integration.

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Getting Started: Onboarding and Implementation Support

Both CASEpeer and CARET Legal offer onboarding support to help new users get started.

CASEpeer provides one-on-one onboarding sessions with a dedicated specialist who will guide new users through the platform, assist with data migration, and answer questions. Users report that the onboarding process is smooth and tailored to their specific needs.

CARET Legal also provides one-on-one onboarding support with an implementation manager. They focus on data migration, integration with other systems, and customizing workflows. The onboarding process can take 1-2 weeks depending on the complexity of the firm's needs.

Overall, both platforms offer robust onboarding support to ensure a successful transition to their legal software. CASEpeer may have an edge for smaller firms needing a faster, more streamlined onboarding experience.

Ongoing Customer Support: Accessibility and Expertise

In terms of ongoing support, CASEpeer provides 24/7 chat, email, and phone support. Users mention quick response times and easy access to the support team. Support agents are knowledgeable about the platform's features and legal workflows.

CARET Legal offers support during business hours via email, chat, and phone. Most users are pleased with the expertise of support staff in resolving platform issues. Average response times are within 24 hours. Those needing urgent assistance can call for priority support.

When it comes to specialized legal knowledge and understanding client workflows, both platforms offer capable ongoing support. CASEpeer's 24/7 availability gives them an advantage for users needing out-of-hours assistance.

Empowering Users: Knowledge Base and Training Resources

CASEpeer provides an extensive knowledge base with searchable support articles, user guides, and video tutorials. The resources cover platform navigation, features, legal workflows, integrations, and troubleshooting. Users mention the knowledge base helps them quickly self-serve answers to questions.

CARET Legal also has a comprehensive knowledge base with user manuals, setup guides, release notes, and training videos. However users have commented that some of the documentation could be better structured and more searchable.

Both platforms empower users through training resources, with CASEpeer having an edge from easier knowledge base search and navigation. Users of both platforms would benefit from expanded training materials tailored to legal workflows.

Understanding Pricing Models: Transparency and Value

When evaluating law practice management software, it's important to understand the pricing model and ensure there is transparency around costs. CASEpeer and Caret LEGAL take different approaches:

  • CASEpeer uses a straightforward per-user model based on the number of licenses purchased. Their pricing is clearly listed on their website.

  • Caret LEGAL does not publicly list pricing. They use a customized percentage of collections model, meaning firms pay a percentage of what they collect from clients each month. The exact percentage varies case-by-case.

While Caret LEGAL's pricing adjusts based on firm performance, some firms may prefer the predictability and consistency of CASEpeer's transparent, per-user pricing. When comparing costs, be sure to analyze total spend over 1-3 years to determine the best value.

Plan Levels and Features: Tailoring to Law Firm Needs

Both CASEpeer and Caret LEGAL offer multiple plan levels with increasing features:

  • CASEpeer has Starter, Professional and Enterprise plans. Key differences include amount of storage, integrations, priority support, and advanced reporting.

  • Caret LEGAL has Basic, Pro and Elite plans. Higher plans add features like process automation tools, OCR document scanning, and API access.

Evaluate which features your firm needs today and may need in the future when selecting a plan level. For example, a small firm just starting out may be best served by CASEpeer's low-cost Starter plan, while an established firm may benefit more from Caret LEGAL's automation capabilities offered in higher-priced plans.

To compare total costs, let's look at a hypothetical 3-person law firm using CASEpeer vs Caret LEGAL over 1 year:

  • With CASEpeer's published pricing of $40 per user monthly, this firm's annual cost would be $1,440.

  • Estimating Caret LEGAL's percentage of collections pricing is harder since every firm pays a different percentage. However, typical percentages range from 2-5% of collections. If we estimate 3% of $500k in collections, the annual cost would be $15,000.

While CASEpeer offers predictable per-user pricing, Caret LEGAL's percentage-based pricing results in costs scaling with the success of a firm. Consider both pricing models and expected firm growth when budgeting for new legal practice management software.

CASEpeer and CARET Legal both offer robust legal practice management solutions catering to law firms of different sizes and specializations. Based on the detailed comparison, key highlights include:

  • CASEpeer provides an end-to-end suite covering case management, document automation, billing and more at competitive pricing. It may be better suited for solos to mid-sized firms.

  • CARET Legal specializes in intuitive and customizable billing and accounting. It integrates with other legal tools and is ideal for enterprise law firms.

  • Both platforms offer core features like calendaring, task management, document storage and more. CASEpeer has more template varieties while CARET Legal offers advanced reporting.

  • CASEpeer pricing starts at $39 per month while CARET Legal has custom quotes. CASEpeer offers better value for smaller firms.

Tailored Recommendations: Choosing the Right Law Practice Management Software

When selecting between CASEpeer and CARET Legal, law firms should evaluate their budget, size, focus areas and specific requirements.

  • Solo practitioners and small law firms on a tight budget will benefit more from CASEpeer's affordability, breadth of features and flexibility.

  • Medium to large firms needing advanced accounting and billing should opt for CARET Legal despite the higher costs. Integrations allow combining it with other tools.

  • Niche firms dealing with high volumes of transactional documents can leverage CASEpeer's templates for efficiency. CARET Legal suits litigation-focused firms better.

Carefully outlining must-have features and ideal workflows is key before investing in legal software. Free trials allow testing products hands-on to determine the best fit.

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