HoudiniESQ Reviews

It just isn't as "clean" as some other programs that I've used. Again, it serves it's purpose but it's nothing to write home about.

It's been seven years since we made the switch from Time Matters to HoudiniEsq, and we're not looking back. HoudiniEsq has provided us with an easy to use system to manage our law practice. I recommend HoudiniEsq to my colleagues regardless of the size of your firm or practice area. I don't have time to try to figure out complex systems that require vendor technicians to get me going. I needed something that was user-friendly and intuitive, and found both in HoudiniEsq. Thanks the support staff at HoudiniESQ for making our lives a little easier. In today's fast-paced legal enviroment where time management and billing are so critical, it's a relief to know that HoudiniESQ is on the ball with cutting technology to make my life simpler.

I have used HoudiniEsq for a year. I love the features that this software provides. However, there are a number of bugs and glitches. For example, some of the reporting screens don't translate correctly from the actual accounts receivables or balance due on when creating two invoices for a matter.

Additionally, a number of the features take more time to use then doing the task the long way. For example, when linking matter information to a word document, it takes more time fixing the spacing issues and bugs then it is to just type in the name and address yourself. Sometimes, the names don't have a space in between them, sometimes the first name doesn't show up etc.

I think now that HoudiniEsq has a good setup, they should work on simplifying the program and work out the kinks in the many features.

pros:
Integrates with so many different programs
easy to navigate and user-friendly
Very easy to customize and add specific categories, types, color customize a calendar, etc.
Runs in the background - keep it open all day long w/o slowing down computer and other programs
Creating and sending invoices is incredibly simple.
Trust Account, Billables, and Accounts Receivable is always available so it's easy to keep track of money.
Individual client ledgers makes accounting for each client's expenses, fees, payments, and trust easy to track and very clear and understandable.
Keeps everything up to date daily, instead of just at end of month.
Ability to link to matters from integrated programs allows maximum billing and the process is quick and painless
Support is great - can read articles and topics on any issue related to the program and telephone support is great.

cons:
Requires patience at first until you understand how the program thinks and operates.
Every now and then there is some small glitch that requires me to visit the support page or make a phone call.
Have had to install approx. 2 updates in past year - I guess it's a good thing they update the product, but taking the time to install the update is somewhat annoying.

Overall:
Great product that includes everything you'd need to manage your practice, all in one place. Can create memos while on phone, while the timer is on - takes the burden out of billing time because you're using it throughout the day as you work. Has increased income through ability to "capture" time by linking events, e-mails, documents to matters. For me, it somewhat takes away the panic at the end of the day I used to feel when trying to recall and write down everything I'd done that day. Now, it is all recorded for me as I work throughout the day and contributes hugely to overall organization.

I would recommend this product to anyone wanting to transition to cloud based practice management.

I manage a high volume bankruptcy practice in California and HoudiniESQ is living up to Mr. Rivera's statement he once made to me, "If you can think of it, we can get HoudiniESQ to do it for you." So far, I continue to be impressed. I highly recommend this product for law office management. Actually, it could be used for virtually any industry. I used to walk into court with a dolly. Now I carry only my laptop and can access my entire office from any browser (Explorer, Safari, Mozilla, etc). Best thing, I can access my office from anywhere in the world with any computer that has an internet connection. Or, I can access my office through my mobile phone with the HoudiniESQ mobile app. Way cool. Don't take my word for it... you can download it free from Houdiniesq.com. Whether you're a solo practitioner (like I used to be) or a firm with 17 offices and expanding (like we are now), HoudiniESQ can handle the load.

the office is better organized and everyone is aware of what is happening from one moment to the next throughout the day. It is great to be able to have all the information so easily accessible.

Complete office management, including file organization and billing.

HoudiniESQ is by far the most feature rich law practice management tool for solo firms. I am very impressed with the robustness of the application and the ability to maximize billable hours and tracking. I initially installed HoudineESQ because it was a 'free' (for Solo Firms) management tool and I was looking for a system to merge case related information. After a few hours I immediately knew that this was a keeper.

Setup was incredibly simple and I can access Houdini on any internet connected computer, tablet or smart phone. I can now keep my Google calendar (using Outlook and Google Sync) updated from within Houdini (and vice versa), client communication, and documents all in one place.

Using the downloadable plugins I can now merge Houdini data fields into my own custom documents in Microsoft Office. (Huge time saver!)

Also, Houdini provides a way to keep clients updated using Remote Client Access (RCA) that allows the client to login to Houdini and review their case.

We use Houdini at our law firm. It is easy to use and helps make our firm run smoothly. I am a paralegal here at the firm and for me, Houdini is wonderful because it helps me keep the attorneys on track. There are minor things that could be changed or updated with the new 2.0 system, but overall this program is excellent and we enjoy it here at the office. :)

HoudiniEsq is easy to learn and use, and because it costs so much less than what we were using before, every user in our organization can have a seat, rather than just 3 of us as we had before. It syncs with Outlook and QuickBooks, and customer support is always free!

Our law firm has been using HoudiniESQ for years. We love it! It is so easy to use and so helpful. Thank you for a great software!!!!

We began our journey with HoudiniESQ back in November 2012. It was a little bumpy getting started; we are a small general practice (3 to 4 attorneys) running QuickBooks Pro on a cash basis, and we do a lot of Matrimonial and Family Law that includes NYS Assigned and Attorney for Child cases. We didn't want to run our data in the Cloud so we chose to host on-site (which we were very pleased HoudiniESQ offered). Getting our data transferred from QuickBooks Pro into Houdini was the biggest hurdle; but Eric and Kevin from HoudiniESQ were both great help in walking us through the transition. I will not lie -- it took us nearly 3 months to get all the bugs worked out; but I have to say I'm really pleased with the end result. And, most of our challenges presented because we were already operating with QuickBooks Pro and we wanted to continue to do so. HoudiniESQ is really amazing software; and, we've figured out some work-arounds so that we are now running smoothly most of the time. I also really like the links to Outlook Calendar and Word, as well as how every invoice saves as a PDF to the matter in Houdini. We've been able to significantly reduce the amount of paper filing we are doing in our office.

"The future of legal case management is HoudiniESQ... The HoudiniESQ team understands how case management software is supposed to improve a law firms workflow.

What is different about HoudiniESQ is that everything you do is an event. Everything is an event that is billable. Read an email, it gets billed. That's right, as you read your email it gets billed. If you draft a document it automatically gets billed. Schedule an appointment, not only is it automatically billed, click a button when you schedule it and an email is sent telling the client the date and time of the event. I can go on and on.

This application is the future of PMS. This is the way to practice.

Update is quick but missing some features and options that would make my life easier. I need to multi-task to do my job and I am not able to multi-task as well with the update. I also don't like how I cannot search my contacts.

The Software is the best value on the market and is very intuitive and full featured. There is a steep learning curve, however after some time using the software you will find out how amazing this software can be: Whether Organizing your case Documents; Document automation, or Automated Tasks, this software is very robust. Additionally, the software does some things that other software do not do at all, such as the automatic billing for email function that is built into the Outlook add-in. I am very happy with this investment. One suggestion, though, they need to add a quick bill tab to every screen to capture billable time.

The product is simply amazing. I often forget that I'm using a web browser. The product has rich easy to use features and the support is top notch.

The product acts and feels like a desktop application. HoudiniESQ seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Office an Quickbooks. It supports calendaring, email management, document management, contact management, document assembly, email and document merges and template creation. Trust accounting, billing and invoicing. I can't list all the features. It does what 30K legal practice managements systems at a fraction of the cost.

I have used HoudiniEsq for 2 1/2 years, and I'm sorry it took me so long to switch. I was a TimeMatters user dating back to 2000, and was very happy for the first several years. But once I switched to a Cloud Based system, I could never imagine going back to a server based.
But what sets Houdiniesq apart is it's customer service. Last summer I asked for a small change to the program - something new. The head tech guy contacted me, and the change was implemented in a few weeks! I really could not believe that I asked a software company to change their product and they did.
I haven't used the other products, but if you are looking for a case management system where you can communicate with the CEO and suggest changes that are implemented, HoudiniEsq is it.
Ricky Gallagher

I love this app. It really helps me and my staff stay on top of all our cases. It has an uncanny ability to streamline our workflow. Everything I need to do is always just a click away. If its a more complex task I can create a automated workflow that completes the task for me.

Pros: it is clear you guys are serious about creating a good product and doing right; flexibility for those of us who are willing to take the time to customize; guys were great when I got them on the phone

Cons: integrations with Microsoft and Quickbooks tended to lose their "links", so we were redoing the mapping fairly regularly; configuration was difficult in that it required many steps and alterations of many tabs; sometimes difficult to get someone on the phone and the fix often required a remote programmer/dba who never ultimately fixed the problem.

Overall, I think the software is well on its way to be a great solution for law firms. It wasn't quite there for us.

Overall it's a functional product and I love that it's free for solos. It could be more intuitive, my experiences with RocketMatter and Clio have been much better than Houdini in this regard. I use Houdini on a limited basis because it isn't as easy to use in certain areas as other software programs. I use QuickBooks for all my invoicing because it's easier. I keep documents in an encrypted cloud base service because Houdini won't allow me to access it online for free. The product has potential, but until it's the path of least resistance it won't be the full office solution for my practice and won't be worth a monthly subscription when I expand.