MerusCase is a cloud-based law practice, case and legal document management platform that boasts centralized, secured and HIPAA compliant access to every device. The system claims to enable attorneys and practice staff alike to run legal operations from the office, court or field, leveraging wholly customizable preferences and features. Role-based user access fits the way each individual works while adding specific support around custom case workflows, tracking unique tasks and To-Do lists most effectively. Firm-wide calendaring then syncs planned events, reminders, notes and contacts across the entire staff base while an integrated email system keeps related communications within a single space.
MerusCase goes on to incorporate time tracking and electronic billing capabilities, utilizing a built-in bookkeeping system to raise invoices, accept payments and manage balances. A Case Ledger tracks expenses while billable time is automatically logged as soon as any associated work action commences. Similarly, document management tools encourage paperless office workflows with autonomous batch scanning and the ability to auto-populate PDF court forms, saving time and raising accuracy. Firm-wide document search then puts staff in touch with required case files quickly while integrated with Microsoft Word acknowledges the use of familiar word processing tools when merging letters or documents.
Pros
1) Customer Support is Exceptional! Just AWESOME! They are very responsive and helpful.
2) Emailing from the case and attaching documents from the case as a PDF/Word documents is seamless, saving valuable time.
3) Ability to easily select documents to combine into a zip file or single PDF document.
4) Jet Filing is incredibly easy with Merus (get feedback either validating or rejecting your filed documents in a matter of minutes). File a DOR and the next morning get an email with a Notice of Hearing from the Board (if you elect to be served by email). (All documents Jet Filed can be easily located)
5) Subpoenaing records through Merus (All outstanding subpoenas can be easily located)
6) Creating Tasks/Reminder
7) Ability to create custom templates
8) VISUALLY - Merus looks great!
Cons
1) The ability to Drag and Drop Activity notes into whatever order you want would be nice. If you entered PDF docs and want to reorganize them in reverse chronological order this would be a nice feature. Combining PDFs into a single doc is done by the order they are entered in Merus. It woud be more user friendly to drag and drop into whatever order we want the PDF documents combined. Also PDF viewer features are non-existent (can't search, skip pages, etc).
2) How best to edit/save/delete parties and contacts is not intuitive and can cause grief. You can limit each user's ability to make changes but if allowing your staff the flexibility to make those changes, make sure they are trained how to properly edit parties without making changes to other cases.
3) Addingl label features for addresses would be helpful. Many doctors (esp. QMEs) have multiple addresses. Some want the records sent to a different address than the address of the exam, while some have yet another address if records are sent overnight. Being able to label which address is primary for each or if we could type a description by the address it could help.
4) Their Log Call feature is nice for party contacts and I'd like to see that feature added to Company contacts
5) Had some issues with hyperlinks and some content not visually appearing in Merus
Pros
It is a program that is easy to work with, pretty user-friendly for people with experience or no experience.
Cons
For me, something I have noticed from the beginning was that after every update the software has crashed.
- I work for the Personal Injury Department it is not as user-friendly as it is for WC.
- Has at times a huge delay updating and uploading e-mails
- When searching for a contact (company) when having several named the same but with different addresses when trying to link it to a person contact it does not give you the option because the list its only like 10 option, for the PI department that is very difficult because we work with a lot of insurance companies that have several locations and by not being able to link an adjuster to the correct company and address it creates issues.
- In the incident tab I feel that should be larger and easier to write down and be able to see it, the filed that is given to writing being only one line it makes it difficult to be able to read it all and proofread it due to the fact that you cannot look at the whole thing at once.
- For PI Dept should give the option to create add more fields and also when creating a new case PI case should automatically add before the case # a PI to facilitate and make it easier to identify the case without having to manually go and change it.
Hi Marieli,
Thank you for your feedback. Emails sent in Merus are always received instantaneously. Slow emails are due to slow email servers which are unfortunately, outside of Merus¿ control.
For contacts and companies with the same name, there is a Dedupe tool which combines case information under one rolodex entry. All you need to do is click on Settings (gear icon) > Data Management > Remove Duplicates > Contacts or Companies.
For the creation of an automatic case #, you can set a secondary case identifier as ¿Use the `File Number¿ set in the case¿. It¿s under Settings > Firm Display Options > Display Options: Case ID & Parties. Please reach out to our Support Team if you need help with this.
As for your other concerns, would you mind sending a screenshot to our Support Team, along with notes that point out the specifics of your feature request? This will provide more context for us so that we can learn your exact needs so that we can create an even better product.
The simple interface and clear training session allowed me and my staff to become proficient in the software in a short amount of time. I love having the recording of our initial training session to give to new hires, so I spend almost no time training them directly on the software.
My staff have all contacted the support team and gotten clear, workable responses to their questions in minutes. That means they can get back to work quickly without having to wait for me to answer their questions or contact support for them.
MerusCase has all the features I needed for my small immigration firm. They work hard to make the product even better with each release. I'm looking forward to seeing even more benefits in the future!
Pros
I have used a few different case management software platforms, and what I like best about MerusCase is their customer support. They are quick to respond to my questions, and the front-line customer support team almost always answers my questions with one email. They can even make some changes directly to the software, something that previous companies did not offer.
The template creator is one of my favorite features. It is easy to use and allows me and my staff to quickly generate common letters, basic court filings, and other documents. This allows us to use our time and energy less on pure data entry and more on higher-level functions.
As an immigration lawyer, I appreciate having the immigration forms already organized into common filing packets. We also have a large volume of cases, and the workflow function allows us to automate certain reminders to make sure our cases are all moving forward on time.
I have staff in my office, across town, and overseas. With MerusCase, it's easy to upload documents, access case notes, and keep everyone on the same page.
Cons
Even though MerusCase has a number of powerful features from a time-tracking and billing perspective, I found it to be geared more for larger-sized law firms. Their support team was great and worked closely with me to answer all my accounting questions, but in the end, I decided to stick with my current billing software, since it fits my particular accounting method a bit better.
Too many to list, but the most important ones are: HIPAA compliance, automatic document field merging, accessibility from anywhere, scale-ability, billing flexibility to keep our larger clients happy, and management oversight of all tasks.
Pros
Meruscase is very easy to setup and use, and their support department is stellar in case you have any questions. I have yet to work with a support department that is more willing to help than these guys!
Meruscase was extremely helpful in our transition to digital case files, and the features it has are a godsend for management. The platform is extremely scale-able, allowing larger firms and smaller firms to take advantage of its features. The templates are a fantastic feature; save time, money and streamline a process which is highly susceptible to errors. The batch scanning feature is great for making mail processing more efficient. Email integration with automatic linking of email chains to cases based on linking the initial email has been very well received by our attorneys. Their update cycle is about every 2 weeks, and they really do listen to their users and implement features/updates accordingly, which I must say is extremely refreshing!
Their billing platform is robust, and allows firms to implement a wide array of billing workflows. You can also set UTBMS and short code references to help attorneys and staff bill more efficiently (and to keep the larger clients happy). They allow exporting to most major billing platforms, including Timeslips so you can continue to use your billing software while implementing Meruscase for other workflows.
Overall Meruscase is an excellent value for the money and I highly recommend it!
Cons
The planning and setup can be tedious, but when all of the pieces of information are in place, the word template merging is phenomenal. I would recommend at least a month of planning and setup before considering cutting the office workflows over.
First and foremost, MerusCase is cloud based, which keeps from eating up the resources on my computer - which is pretty common these days - but I have also used some terrible on premise Matter Management systems throughout my career. From a managing attorney perspective I like the ability to monitor my teams data and activities and easily export them to excel. From a practitioner perspective - I love the integration that allow notes/activities and billable time to be easily recorded inline and alongside the interactions points with my clients... especially the tightly coupled email tools.
As for dislikes... I did have a tiny bit of a learning curve getting organized around how MerusCase organizes things. This was ultimately a benefit for my firm -- they provided some logical operational guidelines that actually made my team more efficient. So, I guess this is ultimately not a dislike -- it helped us out! -- but it did take several days of push back from my staff before we had an all-hands meeting and I had to tell them to get with the program.
In summary, MerusCase is great for running a growing firm. Aside from my word processor and iPhone, there's not much else I use on a daily basis. There are also a pretty big set of features I take for granted, like how it turns all my documents into PDFs automatically and has all of the court forms I regularly use integrated.
Finally, I haven't needed to call support much, but they seem to be pretty responsive. They also seem to be "real people" -- not faceless robots in a call center far away, which is a nice change.
Pros
Flexibility exists where I really need it, but the somewhat rigid organizational framework is a godsend for getting my staff to work together.
I also really like the subtle things. MerusCase has a lot of care in it, and I feel like there is personality in the error messages. They get how attorneys work.
Cons
Sometimes I have trouble because there is unexpected automation. For instance, the product de-duplicates my contacts automatically, which I found confusing when my rolodex items count didn't go up the first time I encountered the feature.
Hi John! Thank you for your support! We're thrilled that you're enjoying MerusCase, and that you found the learning curve worth pushing through. We understand that, because MerusCase simply does so much, learning to use it can seem intimidating. However, as you mentioned, every component was designed to save you time, reduce your costs, and maximize your efficiency. Ultimately, we strive to empower each of our users with a dynamic suite of features, structures, and automations that will truly make life easier - and we're so glad it's working for you!
MerusCase has a standard retail rate of $49 per user, per month with an annual commitment.
Below are some frequently asked questions for MerusCase.
MerusCase offers the following pricing plans:
Starting from: $49/month
Pricing model: Subscription
Free Trial: Available
MerusCase has a standard retail rate of $49 per user, per month with an annual commitment.
MerusCase offers the following features:
MerusCase has the following typical customers:
Mid Size Business, Small Business
MerusCase supports the following languages:
English
MerusCase has the following pricing plans:
Subscription
We do not have any information about what devices MerusCase supports
MerusCase integrates with the following applications:
Gmail, Google Drive, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, Office 365
MerusCase offers the following support options:
FAQs, Knowledge Base, Online Support, Phone Support, Video Tutorials
Overall, I'm thrilled we're using Meruscase and can't imagine working again without it.