feature · 3 July 2026
On the Atlas: five different ways to run a legal practice
Discover Actionstep, BarBooks, Clio, LEAP and Smokeball through five Atlas profiles, from a barrister’s fees to a firm’s matter workflows.
The Profession
2 min read
A practice management system becomes part of the working day so quickly that its assumptions can disappear from view. What counts as a matter? Who records the time? Where does the document belong? This week’s Atlas discoveries put five approaches beside one another, including a system built around the working life of Australian barristers. Start with the shape of the practice.
Actionstep: when the workflow matters
Logo: Actionstep; image used in its Atlas listing.
Actionstep combines practice administration with configurable workflows, connecting matter work with tasks and billing. Its Atlas profile identifies midsize firms as a particular audience. That makes it an interesting discovery for a practice whose existing software has begun to dictate an awkward sequence of work. Explore the configuration and implementation requirements as closely as the feature list: flexibility is most useful when someone has decided how the practice should operate.
Explore Actionstep on the Atlas
BarBooks: a view from chambers
BarBooks centres on fees, disbursements and chambers administration for Australian barristers. Its narrower audience is the reason to notice it. Counsel’s working arrangements can make a system built around a solicitor’s office feel unnecessarily elaborate. The Atlas entry offers a starting point for barristers examining the administrative side of independent practice, with the next step being a close look at the functions required by their own chambers arrangements.
Clio: the connected practice
Logo: Clio; image used in its Atlas listing.
Clio’s cloud software brings matter administration together with time recording, documents, billing and client communication. Its product family also includes separate capabilities for intake and document work. The discovery here is how those pieces relate to the core practice system. Follow the Atlas profile into the relevant product information and identify the actual plan being considered; a capability described somewhere in a product family may sit outside the proposed subscription.
LEAP: australian matter work and documents
LEAP combines practice management with Australian forms and precedents. Its Atlas profile covers matter and document management alongside time recording, billing and trust accounting. For readers exploring the relationship between the file and the documents produced from it, that combination is worth examining. A useful demonstration would follow an ordinary matter through the practice’s actual work, including the points where information is currently entered more than once.
Smokeball: the administrative thread through a matter
Smokeball brings emails and documents into a practice environment that also covers matters, calendars, workflows and financial administration. Its Atlas entry makes clear that features vary by tier and optional products. Look at the small transitions in a working day: an email becoming a task, or recorded work becoming a bill. Those transitions provide a more concrete basis for exploration than the length of a software comparison table.
Explore Smokeball on the Atlas
These are five places to begin a shortlist, with different audiences and commercial arrangements. The linked Atlas entries lead to further information. Obtain current Australian pricing and confirm the scope of the proposed product before making a purchasing decision.
The views expressed by contributing authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Profession.
