Checklist for the purchase of legal software - Essay Example

Checklist for the Purchase of Legal Software Affiliation: Technology integration into management practices plays a fundamental role in enhancing effectiveness, efficiency and overall productivity of the activity being undertaken. The idea is to reduce operational costs while the quality of output is improved. In this regard, managing a law office necessitates the use and relevant legal computer software. Specifically, calendaring and accounting constitute crucial practices in managing a law firm (Quinn, Bailey & Gaulin, 2004).

Purchasing legal software to aid the management of the two aspects should account for the following checklist:Purpose of the softwareManaging calendaring and accounting practices are the main purposes of the required software. The software purchased for these purposes should exhibit characteristics reflects the interests of law firm purchasing it. This is because different software that serve the same purpose are developed, suitable for various management practices.Cost of the softwareThe law firm intending to purchase the legal software should be well aware of the costs to be incurred.

In other words, cost allocations made for management software should match the potential and affordability of the firm acquiring the software (Roper, 2007). Cost is evaluated alongside purpose and features exhibited by the software.End-user favorability Technological advancements are ever leading to software and hardware sophistication. In this regard, it is important to evaluate the technical knowhow of the parties involved, so that the software purchased is fully utilized as it should be. In other words, software that favors end usability should be purchased (Roper, 2006).

Degree of practice enhancement Acquiring the software should be expected to change the practice efficiency for the better. In other words, calendaring and accounting practices in the management of a law office should not remain the same with or without the software. The software’s degree of enhancing the management of calendaring and accounting should be predetermined (Cornick, 2011). Fundamentally, the software should depict a scenario of operational cost reduction upon its purchase in relation to software licensing and law office management.

Timeframe and time savedData capturing is essential, and purchasing the software at an early stage is essential. The software should be purchased and installed when the workload and data volumes are low, so that its integration into the management system is easier. This also means that the software to be purchased should have a long life span to minimize cases of changing software every now and then on a mid-practice basis.ReferencesCornick, S. (2011). Using Computers in the Law Office – Advanced.

New York: Cengage Learning.Quinn, P., Bailey, A. & Gaulin, E. (2004). Law Firm Accounting and Financial Management. New York: Law Journal Press.Roper, D. (2006). Practical Law Office Management. New York: Cengage Learning.Roper, D. (2007).Using Computers in the Law Office. New York: Cengage Learning.