Legal practice · Use case
Software for Australian Law Firms
Custom client portals, structured intake, and document automation for practices that have outgrown the limits of LEAP, ActionStep and similar PMS platforms.
The problem
What we usually see when a law firm reaches out.
Most Australian firms run on LEAP, ActionStep, Smokeball or Affinity — fine for matter management, increasingly limiting once a firm needs anything bespoke. A client portal that matches the firm's brand, structured intake that pre-populates the matter file, document automation built around the firm's actual templates, integration with Office 365, accounting and billing — the off-the-shelf platforms either don't extend that way or charge per-user fees that don't scale. The result is double-entry, manual document handling, and slow onboarding that costs the firm hours every week.
The landscape
Where the gap lives.
The Australian legal-tech market is dominated by a handful of practice management systems (LEAP, ActionStep, Smokeball, Affinity, Open Practice) plus the Microsoft 365 / SharePoint stack that almost every firm runs underneath. Each PMS has strengths — LEAP for high-volume conveyancing, ActionStep for workflow flexibility, Smokeball for document-driven small firms — but none extend gracefully into the bespoke layer above. Firms that try to live entirely inside the PMS end up stretching the product past its design, paying per-user fees that punish growth, and importing/exporting data that should be flowing automatically.
The firms that win the next decade are the ones whose digital experience matches the seriousness of the legal advice. That means a branded portal where clients log in to see their matter — not a generic one with the PMS vendor's branding. It means intake that captures structured data the first time rather than chasing fact-finds across email. It means document automation that uses the firm's actual template library and produces drafts the lawyer just needs to review. None of that exists off-the-shelf at the quality bar a serious practice needs.
Our approach
How we think about it.
We start with the firm's actual workflow — how intake works, how matters move through the practice, where information lives, where time gets lost. Then we build the bespoke layer that sits alongside the existing PMS rather than replacing it. The PMS keeps doing what it's good at; we add the parts that differentiate the firm.
Why bespoke
Where off-the-shelf falls short.
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PMS client portals are templated and don't match the firm's brand or visual standard
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Intake forms in PMS systems lack conditional logic and don't map cleanly to specific matter types (family law, commercial, conveyancing each need different intake shapes)
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Document automation in most PMS platforms uses the vendor's template engine, not Word — most firms keep their real templates in Word and double-key the data
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Integrations between PMS, Office 365, accounting (Xero/MYOB), e-signature (DocuSign/Adobe Sign), and CRM are usually shallow or one-way
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Per-seat pricing on premium PMS tiers becomes prohibitive past 15-20 lawyers; bespoke layers don't carry that cost curve
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AI-assisted document review and correspondence classification require API access most PMS platforms don't expose
What we typically build
Concrete examples.
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Branded client portal for matter status, document exchange, and secure messaging
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Structured intake forms with conditional logic that pre-populate the matter file in LEAP, ActionStep or Smokeball
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Document automation tied to the firm's actual Word template library (briefs, advice letters, retainer agreements, conveyancing packs)
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Integration between PMS and Office 365 / SharePoint so matter folders stay in one place across both surfaces
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Lead-to-matter conversion workflow with billing system handover (Xero, MYOB, custom)
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AI-assisted document classification and triage for inbound correspondence with auto-routing to the right fee earner
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Conflicts-of-interest checks integrated into the intake flow
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E-signature workflow integrated with retainer agreement generation (DocuSign, Adobe Sign)
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Trust accounting reconciliation tooling for jurisdictions where the PMS doesn't handle it natively
Common integrations
Platforms we typically connect.
The platforms most law firms engagements involve. Vendor-specific tools (where law firms have specialist software) plus the general-purpose integrations they sit alongside.
LEAP
Practice management for high-volume conveyancing and small-to-mid firms
Integration page →
ActionStep
Workflow-flexible PMS for firms with bespoke matter types
Integration page →
Smokeball
Document-driven PMS popular with small firms and sole practitioners
Integration page →
Microsoft 365
SharePoint for matter folders, Outlook for correspondence, Teams for collaboration
Integration page →
Xero
Trust accounting and firm operating-account reconciliation
Integration page →
MYOB
Alternative accounting platform, common in older or larger firms
Integration page →
HubSpot
Marketing CRM for lead nurturing before conversion to a matter
Integration page →
DocuSign
E-signature for retainer agreements and engagement letters
Integration page →
Adobe Sign
Alternative e-signature platform, often preferred where Adobe Acrobat is already in use
OpenAI
Document classification, correspondence triage, summarisation (enterprise tier with no-training)
Integration page →
Anthropic
Long-context document review and clause comparison (Claude family)
Integration page →
Twilio
SMS appointment reminders and secure two-factor for client portal
Integration page →
Don't see what you use? See the full integrations catalogue or tell us what you run — if it has an API, we connect to it.
Services involved
What this draws on.
Custom Web Apps
Custom-built web applications when off-the-shelf SaaS forces you to compromise.
Typical projects $20K–$120K
API Integrations
Wire your business systems together so data flows automatically — no more copy-paste.
Typical projects $8K–$45K
AI Automations
Real AI automations engineered for reliability — not demo-ware that breaks at the second edge case.
Typical projects $5K–$40K
Web Development
Performance-first websites and ecommerce — across modern frameworks, WordPress, and WooCommerce.
Typical projects $10K–$60K
Indicative pricing
Most law-firm engagements fall between $20K and $80K depending on the breadth of integration and the complexity of automated workflows. Larger multi-office rollouts scale higher.
Real pricing is set after a scoping call. We give honest ranges up front rather than hiding behind "contact us" — the actual quote may land lower or higher depending on what discovery surfaces.
FAQs
The questions we usually get.
Do you replace LEAP or ActionStep?
No — we build alongside them. The PMS stays the source of truth for matters; we add the bespoke parts (portal, intake, automation, integrations) the off-the-shelf product can't deliver.
Are AI tools privacy-compliant for legal practice?
Yes — we use enterprise tiers of OpenAI, Anthropic and Azure that meet APP and overseas-transfer obligations, with explicit data-handling agreements. Client confidentiality is non-negotiable; we engineer for it from the schema up.
Can you integrate with our existing accounting or billing platform?
Yes — Xero, MYOB, and most practice-billing systems have APIs we work with regularly. Honest discovery first confirms what's actually possible before quoting.
How long does a typical engagement take?
A scoping pass (1–2 weeks), then a phased build of 8–16 weeks for most engagements. Substantial firm-wide rollouts run longer and we phase delivery so value lands incrementally.
Do you sign confidentiality agreements?
Yes — every engagement includes mutual NDAs and standard professional confidentiality terms. We've worked with practices on regulator-facing matters; we understand the bar.
Written and delivered by
Andrew Roper — Founder & Technical Director
22+ years of practice across SaaS, ecommerce, healthcare information systems, manufacturing platforms, and government-adjacent compliance software. Every engagement is led personally — not handed off.
Let’s build something
The right system,
built once, properly.
If your business is ready to scale beyond what off-the-shelf tools can support — we should talk.