The federal government currently employs nearly 35,640 attorneys, making the need for efficiency and effectiveness in public administration more critical than ever. According to a recent Government Law Agency Survey, 47 percent of respondents identified a major challenge: spending too much time on administrative tasks and not enough time practicing law.
This is where legal case management software is making a difference. By consolidating all essential legal data in one place, government legal professionals can more easily meet deadlines, stay compliant with regulations, and achieve more in less time.
However, with so many technology options available, choosing the right software can be a challenge. In this post, we’ll dive deeper into a few more important features to consider when selecting legal case management software for your department.
How to Select the Right Government Legal Case Management Software
In government legal administration, the need for efficiency and effectiveness has never been higher. In a recent Government Law Agency Survey, 47 percent of respondents cited a major challenge facing their department: spending too much time on administrative tasks and not enough time practicing law.
Legal case management software is transforming how government legal professionals work. By consolidating all essential legal data into one secure, centralized system, legal teams can more easily meet deadlines, comply with regulations and accomplish more in less time.
But with so many legal software options available, it can be difficult to know which solution is the right fit. In our previous blog post, we discussed three essential features to look for in a government case management software system. In this post, we’ll continue the conversation by exploring two more critical features and how they can help your department boost efficiency and performance.
Three Must-Have Features in Legal Case Management Software
1. Easy-to-Use Interface
An intuitive user interface is essential. A system that’s hard to use will likely be ignored or underutilized. A clean, user-friendly UI encourages adoption and ensures your team can quickly access the information they need.
2. Collaboration Tools
Modern legal software makes it easier to collaborate across departments. With everything stored in one place, there’s no more guessing who’s responsible for what or where documents are located. Team members can work together effectively—no matter where they’re located.
3. Legal Service Request Management
A strong system enables you to automate and streamline legal service requests. Requests are routed to the correct team members instantly, reducing bottlenecks and ensuring that all relevant information is included up front.
Two More Critical Features to Consider in Legal Software
Let’s take a look at two more powerful features that can significantly impact how your legal team manages cases and achieves its goals.
4. Dashboards: Turn Your Data into Action
Dashboards offer a centralized, visual view of your organization’s caseload and operations. They make it easier to track progress, meet deadlines and manage priorities.
Key Dashboard Capabilities:
Case Management
- Case Status Updates: Monitor progress, deadlines and critical dates in real time.
- Document Management: Access and version-control key legal documents.
- Timeline of Events: Visualize filings, calendar events and communication logs.
Reporting & Analytics
- Performance Metrics: See billing trends, attorney productivity and case profitability.
- Workload Tracking: Identify where resources are overextended or underutilized.
- Customizable Reports: Tailor insights to your department’s specific needs.
Collaboration & Communication
- Team Access: Share up-to-date information across departments.
- Communication Tools: Leverage internal messaging, client portals and secure communications.
Task Management
- Deadline Tracking: Never miss an important date again.
- Task Assignment: Assign tasks and track completion within the system.
- Reminders: Receive alerts for upcoming tasks and milestones.
Dashboards help you tell the story behind your data, enabling smarter decisions and clearer visibility into performance metrics.
5. Reporting: Insight That Drives Results
With legal case management software, reporting becomes faster, more accurate and more actionable. You can track trends, evaluate performance and make informed decisions based on real-time data.
Types of Reports You Can Generate:
Caseload & Workload Reports
- Caseload: See how many cases are active, opened or closed within a time frame.
- Workload: Evaluate assignments and deadlines across teams or individuals.
Performance & Efficiency Reports
- Cycle Time: Measure how long key case stages take—from review to settlement.
- Case Outcomes: Track the success of cases (won, lost, settled) and related costs.
- Team Performance: Identify high performers and areas needing development.
Compliance & Risk Reports
- Compliance: Monitor deadlines, procedures and regulatory benchmarks.
- Risk Assessment: Spot potential risks in high-profile or sensitive cases.
Financial Reports
- Billing & Invoicing: Review hours billed, expenses and client invoices.
- Expense Tracking: Manage budgets by tracking expert fees and other costs.
- Financial Summaries: Gain an overview of profitability and financial health.
These reports eliminate the need for tedious spreadsheets and provide high-impact, visual insights.
Why Legal Case Management Software Matters for Government Legal Teams
The benefits of using case management software in government agencies are extensive—more accurate data, advanced analytics and greater operational efficiency, just to name a few. With the right legal software in place, your legal professionals can spend less time on administrative burdens and more time practicing law.
Why Legal Files?
Legal Files serves as a comprehensive hub for government and public sector legal teams. It makes your information more accessible, reduces redundancy and streamlines collaboration across departments. Custom dashboards help guide your daily priorities, enabling your team to stay focused on serving constituents and meeting compliance deadlines.
With nearly 40 years of experience supporting federal, tribal, provincial, state, county and municipal agencies across the U.S. and Canada, Legal Files helps organizations do more with fewer resources—by as much as 40 percent. If you’re looking for a trusted, consultative partner in legal case management software, you’ve found one in Legal Files.
Legal Files has streamlined our process by centralizing all of the Department’s information, creating a high level of standardization. The consistent field names and naming conventions have made our work so much easier.
Ryan Saxby
City of Tucson, a Legal Files Customer
Request a demo to learn more about how we help government organizations like yours manage what matters most.