CARET Legal typical implementation process:
Initial Setup and Welcome: After signing up for CARET Legal, your firm receives a Welcome email and is assigned a dedicated Onboarding Project Manager. This person is your main guide throughout setup and migration, providing personalized support and a clear roadmap for your onboarding process.
Discovery and Kickoff Call: The process begins with a kickoff meeting to review your firm’s goals, existing systems, and data migration needs. During this meeting, CARET Legal staff will help you prepare for data extraction and collect essential firm information.
Data Migration Planning: CARET Legal assists with preparing your data for migration from previous software. While for security reasons, they cannot log in to your prior system directly, your Onboarding Project Manager will walk you through how to export your data and will provide templates for an efficient transition. The quality of your initial data affects the timeline and migration complexity.
Account Setup: Your Onboarding Project Manager will help you set up user accounts, configure permissions, and map firm-specific workflows, contacts, and matter data inside CARET Legal.
Training Sessions: CARET Legal offers a range of training—live instructor-led sessions, self-paced online courses, and webinars—tailored by user role (e.g., Attorneys, Paralegals, Billing Staff). Training can begin as soon as you receive your Welcome email, and is scheduled based on your team’s preference and availability. Specialized training for billing and accounting personnel is also available.
System Configuration: During this stage, your firm’s calendars, task lists, document templates, email integrations, accounting settings, and workflows are configured according to your operational requirements and preferences.
Data Validation and Clean-up: After migration, you’ll review your imported data with CARET Legal’s team to ensure accuracy, resolve discrepancies, and finalize your system setup.
CARET Legal offers a broad range of customization options to meet diverse business needs across law firms of varying sizes and specialties. Here are key data points outlining its flexibility:
Custom Workflows and Task Automation: Firms can tailor workflows to match specific case types, practice areas, or internal processes. Automated task lists, reminders, and triggers can be designed for recurring or unique procedures, enabling firms to adapt the platform to their operational styles.
Field and Template Customization: CARET Legal allows for the customization of fields on matters, contacts, invoices, and other records. Custom matter types, document templates, intake forms, and communication templates ensure alignment with firm-specific requirements for data and branding.
Role-Based Access and Permissions: Administrative controls enable the assignment of highly granular, role-based permissions. Firms can define which users access, edit, or approve certain records, tailoring security and workflow to differing team structures or compliance needs.
Integrations with Third-Party Apps: The platform supports tight integrations with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, QuickBooks Online, NetDocuments, and other software. An open API further enables custom integrations to connect CARET Legal with internal or niche legal/business applications.
Customizable Client Portal: Firms can brand their secure client portal with logos/colors, control document sharing permissions, and configure client notification preferences to match their client experience strategy.
Billing and Accounting Flexibility: CARET Legal supports customizable billing templates (hourly, flat fee, contingency, LEDES), split billing, consolidated invoices, and configurable trust accounting features to fit diverse law firm accounting policies.
Analytics and Dashboards: Dashboards and analytics can be customized to show KPIs most relevant to your firm. Users can create saved reports and widgets to monitor productivity, revenue, open tasks, or compliance metrics as needed.
Document Management and Automation: Document templates (including HotDocs-powered automation) can be custom-built to automate firm-specific contracts or standard filings. Control over versioning, folder structures, and sharing further increases adaptability.
Calendar, Task, and Notification Settings: Calendar categories, recurring event types, and custom notifications/alerts help tailor scheduling and case-tracking to the unique logistics of each practice.
CARET Legal offers a training and support experience for new users, designed to ensure a smooth transition and successful ongoing usage:
Dedicated Onboarding Project Manager: Every new firm is assigned a personal Onboarding Project Manager who guides the setup, helps coordinate data migration, and provides a clear roadmap from kickoff through go-live.
Personalized Training Sessions: CARET Legal provides live, instructor-led training tailored to different roles within the law firm (attorneys, paralegals, billing staff). These sessions can be scheduled based on user availability and firm needs, ensuring all staff are comfortable with key features before rollout.
Self-Paced Online Training & Webinars: In addition to live sessions, users are given access to recorded webinars and an extensive library of self-guided online courses. This allows new users to learn at their own pace or revisit materials as needed.
Comprehensive Onboarding Resources: Firms receive detailed step-by-step walkthroughs, guides, and templates for importing data, setting up workflows, configuring accounting, billing, document management, and user permissions. These resources simplify the process and reduce setup complexity.
End-to-End Migration Support: The Onboarding Project Manager assists with migration from previous software, helping users prepare and import their data securely and efficiently, with validation and troubleshooting provided throughout.
Ongoing Support and Help Desk: CARET Legal’s support channels remain available post-launch, offering live chat, email, and phone support for any questions or troubleshooting. Customer service is noted for being responsive and knowledgeable, helping resolve issues quickly.
User-Focused Design: The platform is structured to be user-friendly and intuitive, minimizing the learning curve, with contextual help and tooltips available directly within the application.
Continuous Education: Updated documentation, knowledge base articles, and webinars ensure that users stay informed about new features, best practices, and platform updates. Specialized training for new product areas or advanced users is available on request.
CARET Legal implements a suite of security measures to protect sensitive law firm and client data, in line with best practices for legal SaaS and cloud platforms:
Data Encryption: All confidential information—both at rest and in transit—is encrypted using industry-standard protocols (such as SSL/TLS), ensuring that data remains secure during transfer between devices and while stored on servers.
Role-Based Access Control: CARET Legal employs granular, role-based permission settings, enabling firms to control who can view or modify specific data. This “least privilege” approach limits risk by preventing unauthorized access to case files, financial data, and communications.
Audit Trails and Logging: The software maintains detailed logs of system access, document changes, and user actions. This auditability enhances compliance with law firm confidentiality rules, supports dispute resolution, and deters unauthorized modifications.
Document Security and Version Control: All document actions are tracked, with robust version controls to prevent loss, enable recovery, and maintain integrity when collaborating on legal files.
Secure Cloud Hosting: CARET Legal’s data is hosted in leading cloud environments with high standards for physical and network security, redundancy, and disaster recovery. Cloud infrastructure is monitored for threats and protected using multiple layers of firewalls and intrusion detection systems.
Continuous Monitoring and Updates: The platform is continually updated and monitored for vulnerabilities. Security patches and improvements are deployed automatically, reducing the risk of known exploits and maintaining compliance with evolving standards.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): 2FA can be enabled to require a second verification step beyond username and password, adding an extra barrier against unauthorized account access.
Data Backup and Recovery: Regular encrypted backups ensure that, in the event of accidental deletion or system failure, firm and client data can be rapidly restored without loss.
Privacy Compliance: CARET Legal aligns with applicable data privacy laws such as the GDPR and state bar requirements, transparently outlining rights and options for data export, deletion, and management.
CARET Legal operates as a modern, cloud-based SaaS legal practice management platform, which means updates are released frequently and managed centrally by the CARET engineering and product teams. The platform employs the following update and release management practices:
Automatic, Cloud-Based Updates: All software updates—including feature enhancements, security patches, bug fixes, and compliance improvements—are deployed automatically on the server side. Users always have access to the latest version without needing to download or install anything manually.
Rolling and Agile Releases: Updates are rolled out regularly, often on a rolling or agile basis (sometimes weekly or monthly). Larger features or integrations may be bundled into periodic major releases, while minor improvements and patches are pushed live as soon as they are ready.
Non-Disruptive and Transparent: Updates are designed to be seamless and non-intrusive, with no disruption or required downtime for users. Notification of significant new features, changes, or scheduled maintenance is communicated through in-app messages, emails, or status portal updates.
Continuous Security and Compliance: Security updates and regulatory compliance improvements are prioritized for rapid deployment to ensure data protection and sustained legal compliance.
CARET Legal establishes a clear, client-focused policy on data ownership and portability, aligning with legal industry best practices and data privacy regulations:
Data Ownership: All data that law firms and their users input into CARET Legal—including client records, documents, billing information, and correspondence—remains the property of the firm or user. CARET Legal serves only as the data processor, meaning it stores, manages, and processes information solely to deliver its services, without claiming ownership or rights over client data. The company does not sell or share client information outside of what is necessary to provide and support the platform.
Data Access and Control: Users retain full control over their data. Firms can access, update, and manage their information at any time via the CARET Legal platform. Role-based permissions and audit trails also allow firms to tightly manage who within their organization controls different categories of data.
Data Portability: CARET Legal supports firms' rights to data portability. Upon request (such as during offboarding or system migration), clients can export their own data in commonly used, machine-readable formats like CSV or PDFs. This feature is designed to facilitate a smooth transition should a firm decide to move to another platform or maintain independent records.
Data Retention and Deletion: If a firm terminates its subscription, CARET Legal provides a window of time—typically specified by contract or regulatory guidelines—for the client to export or backup its data. After this period, CARET Legal deletes the data from its systems according to its privacy and security policies, while also complying with applicable legal and ethical data retention requirements.
No Vendor Lock-In: The combination of clear data ownership, export capabilities, and deletion protocols ensures that there are no artificial barriers to switching providers or maintaining compliance with jurisdictional data management laws.
CARET Legal is structured to support flexible scaling for law firms as their organizational needs evolve, both in terms of adding or reducing users, features, or practice areas:
Subscription Flexibility: CARET Legal offers subscription plans that allow firms to easily add or remove users, adjust modules, or increase storage and feature access according to current requirements. Upgrades and downgrades can typically be made by contacting CARET Legal’s support or through the account management portal, aligning software access with actual staffing and business needs.
No Vendor Lock-In: Firms retain full ownership and portability of their data, so scaling down does not mean losing access to your information. Data export in commonly used formats is offered, and there are clear, contractually defined data retention and deletion policies in place after termination.
Role and Permission Management: Firms can assign or revoke user roles and permissions as teams grow or contract, matching access levels to job functions. This ensures new or departing employees don’t require a complete system change—just a permissions update.
No Penalty for Downscaling: Reviewing contract terms and customer feedback, CARET Legal does not impose penalty fees for reducing the number of users or scaling down functionality within the terms of your current subscription agreement. Most changes to the subscription level become effective at the end of the billing period.
Seamless Upgrades: As your firm expands—whether adding new attorneys, paralegals, practice groups, or more complex workflow needs—you can upgrade your subscription to access additional features (e.g., expanded storage, advanced analytics, more integrations) at any time, with new levels of service applied immediately or at the next renewal.
Cloud-Based Infrastructure: CARET Legal’s SaaS cloud architecture means there are no hardware limits or infrastructure constraints tied to scaling. Firms can scale up or down rapidly without the need for IT reconfiguration or data migration projects.
Terms and conditions for contract renewal and cancellation for CARET Legal based on available data points from customer feedback, industry practices, and supporting information:
Automatic Renewal: CARET Legal’s subscription agreements (often monthly or annual) are typically set to automatically renew at the end of each billing period unless action is taken to cancel.
Renewal Notice: Clients are generally expected to provide written notice of their intent not to renew, customarily 30 days before the renewal date for annual contracts, or at least before the next billing cycle for monthly plans.
Subscription Adjustments: Firms can often modify their number of licenses/users, add or remove modules, and adjust their subscription level before renewal. Upgrades and downgrades usually take effect at the next renewal or billing cycle.
Pricing and Terms Changes: CARET Legal reserves the right to update contract terms, pricing, or features with advance notice. Continued use of the platform after such changes is considered acceptance of the new terms.
No Penalty for Scaling Down: Reducing user count or features is generally penalty-free, taking effect at the next billing cycle.
How to Cancel: Cancellations must be made in writing, by contacting CARET Legal support or through the client’s account management portal. Explicit confirmation from CARET Legal is typically required for cancellation to be processed.
Notice Period: Most contracts require advance notice (usually 30 days for monthly, or a specified period for annual contracts) before the next billing cycle to avoid auto-renewal and associated charges.
Cancellation Fees: There are generally no penalty fees for canceling at the end of your agreed term. Early termination (before the contract period ends) may incur fees unless otherwise negotiated or clearly waived in your agreement.
Refunds: CARET Legal often does not refund previously paid subscription fees once a billing period has started. Any unused time after cancellation is typically not prorated or refunded, except for rare cases where agreed by contract.
Data Access Post-Cancellation: Firms retain access to export their data for a defined window (exact period specified by contract, typically up to 30–90 days) before their account is deactivated and data is deleted per CARET Legal’s data retention policy.
CARET Legal meets a comprehensive range of compliance standards and certifications to ensure data security, privacy, and regulatory alignment for law firms:
SOC 2 Compliance: CARET Legal is SOC 2 certified, meaning it has undergone independent audits to verify that it meets strict criteria for security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of customer data. This is a key benchmark for SaaS platforms handling sensitive information.
SOC 1/ISAE 3402 Compliance: In addition to SOC 2, CARET Legal holds SOC 1/ISAE 3402 certification, which attests to internal control processes related to financial reporting—vital for legal practice management and accounting functions.
ISO 27001 & ISO 9001: The company utilizes Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure, which is certified to globally recognized standards, including ISO 27001 (information security management) and ISO 9001 (quality management), adding further layers of compliance and security.
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard): CARET Legal is PCI DSS compliant, ensuring the secure processing and handling of payment information, such as credit card data, within its platform.
GDPR Compliance: CARET Legal complies with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ensuring user rights to access, delete, correct, and export personal data, and enforcing strict protocols around data processing, privacy, and breach notification.
U.S. Data Privacy Regulations: The platform is designed to support compliance with other jurisdictional privacy regulations, such as U.S. state privacy laws (e.g., California’s CCPA) and applicable bar association requirements for data security, confidentiality, and trust accounting.
Data Processing and Subject Rights: CARET Legal enables clients to audit its compliance annually, respond to data subject requests (access, erasure, etc.), and receive notifications of any data breaches within legally required timeframes.
