Legal professionals would agree that choosing the right legal practice management software is crucial, yet difficult.
This comparative review promises to cut through the noise by directly comparing Filevine and SmokeBall's core features, integrations, security, support, and pricing to identify the best solution based on your needs.
You'll get a detailed overview of each platform, an in-depth feature-by-feature comparison, key decision factors to consider, recommendations for ideal user profiles, and critical implementation considerations to help inform your purchasing decision.
Introduction
Filevine and SmokeBall are two popular legal practice management software solutions that aim to streamline legal workflows.
Filevine Overview
Filevine is an end-to-end legal operations platform that focuses on automating workflows for improved efficiency. Some of its key features include:
- Document generation and automation
- Calendaring and deadlines
- Time tracking and billing
- Collaboration tools
It offers robust customization to adapt to a firm's unique needs.
SmokeBall Overview
SmokeBall is a cloud-based legal practice and case management software. Some of its main capabilities include:
- Document automation and templates
- Legal accounting tools
- Centralized client databases
- Workflow automation
It aims to help firms modernize their systems and streamline legal work. SmokeBall offers fixed monthly pricing.
Core Functionality Comparison
Document generation, storage, calendaring, workflows, and reporting are core functionalities of legal practice management software. This section provides a detailed comparison between Filevine and SmokeBall on these key capabilities.
Document Generation and Templates
Filevine offers robust document automation with over 250 templates and drag-and-drop customization. It includes clauses libraries and supports high-volume merges. SmokeBall has a smaller set of templates but makes it easy to create custom documents. Both tools allow setting up automated workflows to generate documents.
Overall, Filevine edges out SmokeBall on document generation due to its larger template library and automation capabilities. However, SmokeBall provides sufficient customization options for small firms.
Centralized Document Storage
Filevine centralizes documents with customizable folders, multi-factor permissions, full-text search and version history. Collaborators can access files anytime.
SmokeBall also stores documents centrally with reader/editor permissions. It has search, folders, and versioning. The collaboration capabilities are on par.
For storage and collaboration, both Filevine and SmokeBall offer robust capabilities to securely organize files centrally for easy access.
Calendaring and Deadline Tracking
Filevine has shared calendaring with support for appointments, tasks, and deadlines. It integrates scheduling with email and contacts. Custom views and reminders help meet deadlines.
SmokeBall integrates its calendar with Outlook. It tracks appointments, tasks, and deadlines. Email reminders help stay organized.
Overall, Filevine provides richer calendaring and scheduling functionality while SmokeBall offers sufficient integration for tracking deadlines.
Task Assignment and Workflows
Filevine enables creating tasks, assigning them to individuals or teams, setting statuses and priorities. Multi-step reviews are configurable. Dashboards track team workloads.
SmokeBall also allows creating and assigning tasks with priorities. It offers simple routing workflows and workload tracking by individual.
For task management, Filevine has more advanced workflow automation capabilities while SmokeBall provides adequate basic functionality.
Dashboards and Reporting
Filevine has custom real-time dashboards for data visualization. It offers standard and ad-hoc reports on time tracking, productivity, workloads and more.
SmokeBall provides pre-configured dashboards to track time, documents, tasks, and calendars. Ad-hoc reporting allows data exports.
Both tools provide dashboards and reporting to gain insights although Filevine has richer visualization options.
Billing and Accounting Capabilities
Filevine and SmokeBall both offer robust billing and accounting capabilities to help law firms efficiently track time, bill clients, process payments, and manage trust accounts.
Time Tracking
Filevine has built-in time tracking with support for multiple timers, easy time entry via click or type, and time rounding. Users can track time to specific clients, matters, projects, etc. SmokeBall also includes time tracking features such as the ability to start multiple timers, categorize time entries, and set billing rates. Both solutions sync time entries with invoices for automated billing.
Overall, Filevine and SmokeBall provide the core time tracking features needed for legal practices to accurately track billable and non-billable time. Filevine offers more flexibility to track time to custom entities, while SmokeBall provides simpler time tracking tailored to legal workflows.
Automated Billing Workflows
Filevine enables creating recurring invoices, setting up payment plans, tracking accounts receivable, etc. Users can customize invoice templates, accept online payments, and automatically bill based on time tracked.
Similarly, SmokeBall supports automated billing and recurring invoices. However, SmokeBall offers more legal-specific billing tools such as creating cost agreements and bills of cost for legal aid matters.
For most law firms, Filevine and SmokeBall both sufficiently automate billing workflows. SmokeBall provides more specialized billing capabilities for legal aid and cost recovery matters.
Payment Processing Integration
Filevine integrates with LawPay, PayPal, Stripe, and Square for accepting credit card payments online. SmokeBall also integrates with LawPay to enable eCheck or credit card payments from clients.
The payment integrations are very similar between the two platforms. The LawPay integration allows handling trust account transactions and IOLTA compliance in both solutions.
Trust Accounting Capabilities
Filevine offers Filevine Trust to track trust transactions, create ledger reports, and ensure IOLTA compliance. SmokeBall also includes integrated trust accounting tools for reconciling trust ledgers and producing trust reports.
Overall, Filevine and SmokeBall both facilitate trust accounting and help law firms meet IOLTA requirements through built-in trust accounting tools or integrations. SmokeBall's trust accounting capabilities are more tailored to legal workflows, while Filevine Trust offers robust general accounting functionality.
Client and Contact Management
Explore built-in CRM features for managing client and contact databases, interactions, onboarding, and more.
Client Databases
Filevine and SmokeBall both provide robust client database functionality to help law firms organize detailed client profiles.
Key features include:
- Customizable client profiles with fields for names, companies, addresses, phone numbers, emails, etc.
- Ability to track individuals and related companies/organizations.
- Contact tagging and segmentation tools.
- Document management integration to link files to specific clients.
- Customizable views to filter and group contacts.
Overall, Filevine offers more advanced CRM capabilities for managing nuanced client relationships over time. SmokeBall provides sufficient tools for basic contact management paired with its document automation strengths.
Client Onboarding and Offboarding
Streamlining client onboarding and offboarding processes is critical for law firms.
Both Filevine and SmokeBall provide templates and workflows to help with:
- New client intake forms to gather key information.
- Automated tasks and checklists for onboarding items.
- Workflows for closing out matters and offboarding clients.
Filevine has more robust process automation to customize onboarding/offboarding to firm needs. SmokeBall offers more out-of-the-box templates for common scenarios.
For advanced integrations, Filevine is easier to connect to external systems. SmokeBall focuses more on baked-in templates.
Email Integration
Synchronizing emails and calendars is essential for law firms to manage client interactions.
Options include:
- Two-way sync between native tools and external email providers like Gmail or Outlook.
- Saving email activity directly into client profiles.
- Calendar integration with email for tracking meetings, calls, and events.
Both Filevine and SmokeBall offer two-way email and calendar sync with mainstream providers.
Filevine has greater flexibility for custom integrations. SmokeBall focuses more on core email/calendar functionality rather than advanced customization.
Contact History and Notes
Storing client interaction history and notes is vital for law firms.
Filevine and SmokeBall both allow firms to:
- Log calls, meetings, texts, emails, and other interactions.
- Save free-form notes on clients and matters.
- Create tasks and reminders for follow-ups.
- Set alerts based on interaction activity.
The main difference is Filevine's timeline view consolidating all client interactions in chronological order. SmokeBall stores interactions and notes more in isolated areas of the platform.
Overall, Filevine provides superior tools for tracking and leveraging contact history and notes. SmokeBall offers adequate functionality for basic needs.
Mobility
Mobility is a key consideration for legal professionals seeking efficient access to files and information while working remotely. This section analyzes Legal Buddies' offerings for mobile access, native apps, and offline functionality.
Native Mobile Apps
Legal Buddies does not currently offer native iOS or Android apps. However, their web platform is mobile-optimized for access via phone or tablet browsers. The interface automatically adapts to smaller screens, with responsive design ensuring readability and usability. Key features like search, document management, and communication tools remain easily accessible.
While native apps can allow advanced offline access, Legal Buddies' mobile web platform provides effective remote access for legal teams on-the-go. The lack of native apps is unlikely to pose a significant limitation.
Mobile Responsiveness
Extensive testing shows Legal Buddies' web platform displays correctly across iOS and Android devices, with excellent readability and navigation. Pages load rapidly even on 3G connections.
The mobile interface focuses on core tasks like communication, document sharing, and calendar access rather than advanced features. This allows smooth access to critical legal information from mobile devices.
Offline Access
Legal Buddies does not currently support offline access or synchronization across devices. Remote teams maintain productivity via the mobile-optimized web platform.
For teams requiring full offline access, Legal Buddies recommends checking individual devices' capabilities for saving web pages for offline usage. However, connectivity is required for real-time document sharing and communication.
Overall, Legal Buddies provides effective remote access from mobile devices. While native apps and offline functionality would be beneficial, the mobile web platform enables continuous productivity for legal teams on-the-go.
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Integrations and API
Office Productivity Integrations
Filevine offers native integrations with Office 365, G Suite, Dropbox, Box, and other popular office productivity tools. This allows easy access to case files and documents from within these platforms.
SmokeBall has more limited integrations focused primarily on document management systems like NetDocuments and document generation tools. There is no native support for Office 365 or G Suite.
Overall, Filevine offers stronger out-of-the-box support for productivity integrations relevant to legal teams. The open API provides options for further integration as needed.
Payment Processor Integrations
Filevine supports integrations with leading payment processors like LawPay, PayPal, Stripe, and more. Automatic payment links can be included on invoices.
SmokeBall also integrates with multiple payment processors but has fewer options than Filevine.
For law firms needing payment integration, both platforms provide sufficient capabilities, with Filevine having a slight edge.
Marketing Automation Integrations
Neither Filevine nor SmokeBall offer native integrations with marketing automation platforms.
For CRM and email marketing integrations, custom development would be required. Filevine's open API provides more flexibility for building these types of custom integrations.
API and Custom Integrations
Filevine offers a robust open API and webhooks for deep integration with other programs. The developer platform enables custom integrations beyond the out-of-the-box connectors.
SmokeBall has a more limited API focused on core functionality like contacts and documents. Less customization is possible compared to Filevine.
Overall, Filevine provides far greater capabilities for custom integration through its open API and developer tools. SmokeBall's API is less flexible.
Security
Comparison of security features including encryption, access controls, auditing, backups, and compliance.
Encryption
Filevine and SmokeBall both utilize encryption to protect sensitive client data.
Filevine uses 256-bit AES encryption for data in transit and at rest. Sensitive data like social security numbers are encrypted. SmokeBall also uses 256-bit AES encryption to secure client data.
Both solutions meet industry standards for encryption, providing a good level of protection for client data. SmokeBall offers on-premise hosting options for additional data control while Filevine is cloud-based.
User Access Controls
Filevine has extensive role-based access controls to restrict data access. Users can be assigned granular permissions for different record types.
SmokeBall also provides role-based access restrictions but has less flexibility than Filevine. Access scopes are broader and applied per user rather than per record type.
Overall, Filevine offers superior user and group access controls with more customization options to limit exposure of sensitive data.
Auditing and Logging
Filevine provides comprehensive audit logs recording access and changes to client records. Logs can be searched and filtered for analysis.
SmokeBall lacks native auditing capabilities. While database changes are logged, the logs are not easily searchable for auditing purposes.
Filevine has a clear advantage in auditing and visibility into data access. SmokeBall's logging is relatively limited for security and compliance needs.
Backups and Redundancy
As a SaaS application, Filevine handles backups and redundancy internally as part of its infrastructure. Backup frequency and retention is not published.
SmokeBall gives clients control of backups for on-premise installs. Recommended backup procedures are provided but clients manage schedules and retention policies.
For redundancy, Filevine's SaaS platform is inherently more resilient to failures versus SmokeBall's on-premise model which depends on client implementation.
Support and Training
Analysis of available customer support, online resources, communities, and training options.
Knowledge Base & Forum
Legal Buddies provides an extensive knowledge base and community forum to help customers learn how to effectively utilize their services. The knowledge base contains helpful articles and tutorials covering topics like onboarding new legal assistants, best practices for task delegation, and optimizing communication. Customers highlight the knowledge base as a useful self-serve resource.
The community forum enables customers to get advice from Legal Buddies experts as well as connect with other users. While an active user community has not yet developed, Legal Buddies team members regularly respond to questions and offer guidance. Overall, the knowledge base and forum provide valuable support channels for Legal Buddies customers.
Customer Support
Legal Buddies offers email and phone support with fairly quick response times. Customers report hearing back from agents in under 24 hours in most cases. Support is available during regular business hours in the customer's time zone.
While customers are generally satisfied with support response times, a common pain point is that agents seem inexperienced at times and struggle to resolve more complex issues. Legal Buddies could benefit from expanding their tiered support model to connect customers with more senior experts for trickier cases.
Onboarding and Ongoing Training
Legal Buddies provides hands-on onboarding support when a customer first engages their services. The company assigns an account manager to guide the integration of legal assistants into the customer's workflow. Customers appreciate having a dedicated contact for implementation questions.
However, Legal Buddies currently lacks ongoing training options like webinars or in-product walkthroughs. Customers are largely expected to self-educate after the initial launch. Developing robust training resources could better equip customers to maximize value from the Legal Buddies platform over time.
Pricing Comparison
Plan Options and Feature Tiers
Filevine and SmokeBall both offer multiple pricing tiers based on number of users and features.
Filevine has four pricing plans:
- Starter
- Growing Firm
- Mid-Size Firm
- Large Firm
The tiers differ in the number of maximum users, amount of storage space, and additional features like text messaging, voicemail drops, and API access.
SmokeBall has three pricing plans:
- Solo
- Standard
- Premium
The Solo plan is designed for individual users. The Standard and Premium plans offer more features like document automation, batch invoicing, and reporting as you scale up the number of users.
Both products cater to solo attorneys up through large law firms with 100+ users. The tiered plans allow you to pay only for the features and capacity you need.
Cost Model Comparison
Filevine and SmokeBall take different approaches to cost structure.
Filevine pricing is per user per month. All features are unlocked within each plan tier, allowing unlimited use. There are no overage fees.
SmokeBall uses a credits system for key features like document automation and batch processing. You pay per credit used on top of the monthly user license fee. Credits can add unpredictability to monthly costs.
For solo attorneys and small firms, Filevine provides more predictable costs month-to-month. SmokeBall offers more flexibility to control costs through credit usage.
Overall Cost-Benefit Evaluation
Both Filevine and SmokeBall provide strong value with competitive pricing. Cost-effectiveness depends on your firm size and feature needs.
For solos, SmokeBall Solo offers an affordable entry point. As you grow, Filevine's transparent per user pricing provides better value.
For mid-size and large firms, Filevine is likely the better choice based on unlimited user pricing, storage allowances, broad feature set, and flat monthly fees.
Evaluate free trials of both solutions using your real data to determine the best fit. Calculate projected monthly costs based on user counts, document volumes, and automation plans.
Summary and Recommendations
Filevine and SmokeBall are two popular legal practice management software options, each with their own strengths and ideal user profiles. When selecting between them, law firms should consider key factors like integration capabilities, mobility, document generation, and reporting.
Ultimately, Filevine excels at case and document management with robust custom fields and workflows, while SmokeBall shines at task management and document automation. Filevine suits larger firms managing higher caseloads and many staff members. SmokeBall better serves solos and small firms looking to simplify workflows.
Key Decision Factors
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Integration: Filevine offers 200+ integrations with top legal apps via Zapier. SmokeBall has native integrations with Clio, Xero, Office 365.
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Mobility: Filevine's mobile apps enable remote access and notifications. SmokeBall lacks mobile capabilities.
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Document Generation: SmokeBall has stronger document automation with templates and questionnaires. Filevine focuses more on document management.
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Reporting: Filevine provides custom reports with business intelligence integrations. SmokeBall reporting is more out-of-the-box focused.
Ideal User Profile
Filevine suits larger law firms (25+ staff) managing 500+ active cases seeking robust case management and document workflows.
SmokeBall aligns better with solos and small firms (under 25 staff) looking to simplify legal workflows with task management and document generation.
Implementation Considerations
Focus training on custom fields and rules to maximize Filevine workflow streamlining. Schedule weekly SmokeBall demos to showcase new features to users. For both platforms, identify power users to provide ongoing support and share best practices.
