Smokeball legal blog
Industry-leading Insights, trends, and expertise for the people practicing people-law.
Powering People-Law: a new look for who we’ve always been
Discover what "powering people-law" means, and why it hasn't changed who we are.
Same Smokeball, new look: A letter from Hunter Steele
A personal letter from Smokeball CEO Hunter Steele on our new look.
25 AI Starter Prompts for Lawyers
Learn how to use AI in your law firm with 25 beginner-friendly AI prompts for lawyers. Draft emails, summarize documents, brainstorm ideas, and more.
Celebrating Smokeball’s 2026 Beacon Award Winners: Lawyers Making a Difference
Meet the 2026 Smokeball Beacon Award winners and discover how these inspiring lawyers are expanding access to justice through pro bono work, mentorship, and community leadership
World-Renowned Leadership Keynote Sterling Hawkins to Headline Smokeball Spark 2026
Global leadership keynote Sterling Hawkins headlines inaugural event as legal professionals gather in Chicago for a day of innovation, CLE, and firm growth
5 Ways Law Firms Are Using AI to Stay Productive During Summer Vacations
Discover how law firms use AI to maintain billable hours, prevent matter delays, improve client responsiveness, and keep work moving during summer vacation season.
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Archie AI for Word: AI-Powered Legal Drafting, Embedded Directly in Microsoft Word
Discover Archie AI for Word, Smokeball's AI legal drafting assistant embedded directly in Microsoft Word. Draft legal documents faster with matter-aware AI, tracked edits, and secure access to GPT, Claude, and Gemini.
A Better Way to Hire and Retain Staff in Personal Injury Firms
Hiring and retention challenges in personal injury law firms? Discover how to hire better, reduce burnout, and build a stronger PI team that stays.
Smokeball Expands Free Legal Technology Access to Over 900,000 U.S. Lawyers Through Partnering With 28 State Bars
Smokeball’s recent partnerships with The Florida Bar and North Carolina State Bar bring free trust accounting technology to more than 900,000 lawyers.
25 AI Starter Prompts for Lawyers
Learn how to use AI in your law firm with 25 beginner-friendly AI prompts for lawyers. Draft emails, summarize documents, brainstorm ideas, and more.
5 Ways Law Firms Are Using AI to Stay Productive During Summer Vacations
Discover how law firms use AI to maintain billable hours, prevent matter delays, improve client responsiveness, and keep work moving during summer vacation season.
CalBar's New AI Proposal Reflects What (Most) Lawyers Already Know
California’s proposed AI verification rule may sound daunting, but it reflects what lawyers are already trained to do. Here’s what lawyers need to know, and why verifying AI outputs is simpler than it seems.
How California Personal Injury Lawyers are Approaching AI with Nuance
How California PI lawyers approach AI with nuance, favoring legal-specific tools that reduce stress, protect data, and streamline high-volume work.
Behind the Firm: A Lawyer’s Duty in the Age of AI
Inside the framework that keeps one law firm ethical, agile, and ahead of the AI curve.
9 AI Apps Every Texas Lawyer Should Know
9 AI tools Texas lawyers can use — including Smokeball — to speed up research, drafting, client intake, and streamline their workflow.
Ignore AI and Get Left in the Dust: Why Texas Lawyers Can’t Afford to Wait
Attract more clients to your Houston law firm with proven local SEO strategies. Boost visibility, connect with local communities, and grow your practice.
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Overworked and Overstressed: Why Lawyers Need AI in Their Practices
Learn how AI can be used as a tool to reduce lawyer stress.
AI vs. Traditional Legal Drafting: The Smokeball Advantage
Say goodbye to tedious drafting. Smokeball’s AI-driven legal drafting helps you work faster, smarter, and more accurately—freeing you to focus on what matters.
The Small Wins in Family Law That Shape Better Outcomes
Learn how family law firms can manage pro se clients, streamline intake, and use workflows and technology to handle cases already in motion.
Tax Season, Decoded: 6 Things Law Firms Should Be Doing All Year Long
Tips to help law firms prepare for tax season all year round
Disaster Planning for Texas Law Firms
Texas attorney Jordan Turk provides a disaster planning checklist and tips to help Texas law firms prepare for the unexpected.
8 Case Management Features Every Law Firm Needs
Discover the eight must-have case management software features every law firm needs to save time, stay secure, and boost productivity.
Improve Your Law Firm’s Organization or Pay the Price Later: Why Legal Case Management Software is Essential
Lost hours, missed deadlines, and data risks are warning signs. Discover how the right case management software helps your firm stay ahead.
Microsoft Office Hacks for Legal Professionals
Boost productivity with essential Microsoft Office tips for legal professionals.
How Smokeball’s Case Management Software Transforms Legal Practices Across Multiple Areas
Streamline legal workflows with Smokeball: AI-powered case management that simplifies tasks, tracks deadlines, and helps you serve clients better.
Track Personal Injury Claims and Deadlines Effectively with Smokeball
Is your legal firm interested in tracking personal injury claims and deadlines more effectively. Learn how Smokeball can help.
Boosting Legal Firm Productivity with Smokeball Integrations
Boost law firm efficiency with Smokeball’s seamless integrations—automate tasks, simplify workflows, and elevate client service without disruption.
Contingency Fee Blind Spots: How Cost Visibility Can Revolutionize Your Firm
Improve profitability in contingency fee cases by uncovering hidden costs, tracking key metrics, and gaining real-time financial visibility across matters.
Managing Overdue Invoices: How Law Firms Get Paid Without Burning Bridges
Discover workflows, follow-up templates, payment plans, and tools to keep cash flow for your law firm steady.
Law Firm Cash Flow 101: Forecasting, Analysis, and Tips
Learn how to calculate cash flow, track key metrics, and leverage law firm accounting software for accurate cash flow forecasts and better financial management.
Alternative Fee Arrangements: Models and Best Practices for Law Firms
Learn what law firms need to successfully use AFAs, from client communication to data visibility and pricing strategy.
Subscription Pricing for Law Firms: Why Attorney Subscription Plans Are the Smart Choice
Discover how law firms can use subscription pricing models and attorney subscription plans to boost revenue, client satisfaction, and predictable legal service
Law Firm Office Manager Billing Habits to Live By
A guide to billing best practices for law firm office managers: deadlines, communication, and transparency
What Percent of Lawyer Hours are Billable?
Discover the percentage of lawyer hours that are billable and how understanding this can impact your firm’s revenue and success.
How Half a Million Lawyers Now Have Access to Improved Billing and Trust Accounting
Smokeball Bill offers 500,000 lawyers (and growing) free technology through State Bar Association partnerships.
How Law Firms Make or Break Client Trust
How your billing practices build lasting client connections.
7 Organization & Time Management Tips
Read 7 ways to organize and manage your time better if you work in a small law firm.
SEO for Law Firms: Get Found, Get Hired
Discover how any size law firm can beat the big players on Google utilizing local SEO and smart content strategy.
Law Firm Basics: How to Lay the Groundwork for an Effective Five-Year Business Plan
Where do you imagine your business in the future? If you want your firm to succeed, you need to take the right steps by developing a five-year business plan
How to Expand into a New Practice Area
Is your law firm ready to diversify its legal services? Wondering how to expand into a new practice area? Here are a few things you should do if you want to diversify and serve all your clients well.
How to Maintain Law Firm Profitability with Cross-Selling
Looking for ways to maintain law firm profitability? For law firms that want to grow, maintaining profitability is essential. One way to maintain your law firm’s profitability is cross-selling.
Social Media for Law Firms and Solo Attorneys
Social media for law firms can help attract new clients and grow your online presence but law firm and social media can potentially get messy.
Email Marketing for Lawyers: Smart, Targeted, and Surprisingly Underused
Build trust and turn leads into loyal clients with targeted email marketing.
The Anatomy of Closing a Sale
As an attorney, you need to maximize your time. One way to improve efficiency and increase profitability is understanding from start to finish on the anatomy of closing a sale
The Best Use of Legal Tech in Personal Injury? Helping You Stay Fully Present With Clients
What if legal tech wasn’t just about saving time, but helping you be fully present? Discover how PI firms are using technology to improve client trust and communication.
When Clients Google Their Case Value: Managing Settlement Expectations in 2026
Clients are Googling their case value before they call you. Here’s how PI firms can manage expectations, reduce friction, and improve outcomes.
Locking Down Family Law Data: Smokeball's Secure Client Portal
Protect sensitive family law data with Smokeball’s secure client portal—built for privacy, trust, and the unique needs of family law firms.
Meeting Legal Client Expectations Should Be Easy, Right?
In today's fast-paced legal landscape, meeting client expectations is paramount for any law firm. It's time for law firms to embrace the concept of the "Easy Button" in their practices.
The Power of Empathic Communication in Law
Empathic communication means understanding someone else's experience and feelings about a situation. This knowledge can help lawyers better support their clients. Yet, deploying empathy in law is easier said than done.
6 helpful strategies to safeguard privileged and confidential information in a digital legal environment
In today's fast-paced digital landscape, law firms increasingly rely on electronic communications for their day-to-day operations. Understanding and differentiating between "privileged communication" and "confidential communication" has become more…
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Law Firms Can Have Their Cake and Eat It, Too: Growth as a Client Centric Firm
Discover how law firms can enhance their client experience using client-centric legal software, leading to happier clients, more referrals, better reviews, and increased revenue
Improving Attorney-Client Communications: How to Work with Difficult Clients
Learn essential strategies for improving attorney-client communication to effectively handle difficult clients. Enhance the quality of legal representation and prevent conflicts with these key practices.
10 Best Practices for Transparent Client Communications
Learn the essential practices for lawyers to build trust with clients through transparency, fostering better relationships and avoiding breakdowns.
Archie AI for Word: AI-Powered Legal Drafting, Embedded Directly in Microsoft Word
Discover Archie AI for Word, Smokeball's AI legal drafting assistant embedded directly in Microsoft Word. Draft legal documents faster with matter-aware AI, tracked edits, and secure access to GPT, Claude, and Gemini.
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Smokeball and Thomson Reuters Partner to Create the Premier Legal Technology Ecosystem
The partnership will create the premier legal technology ecosystem for small to mid-size law firms to manage, run, research, and bill their work in one place.
Choosing the Right Legal Software: Why Smokeball Stands Out
Compare Smokeball to other legal software. See how built-in time capture, automation, Outlook sync, reporting, portals, and AI outpace piecemeal tools.
5 Benefits of Using 2FA: Protect Your Law Firm & Clients
Keep your law firm secure with two-factor authentication (2FA). Learn how 2FA protects sensitive client data, prevents breaches and ensures compliance.
Beyond passwords. How 2FA protects sensitive legal data
Discover how 2FA keeps your law firm’s data safe. Learn why passwords alone aren’t enough and how two-factor authentication boosts your cybersecurity.
Why Cloud-Based Technology Is Necessary to Run a Cyber-Secure Firm
Cybersecurity for law firms is a necessary baseline for any practice. Here's what you need to know about cybersecurity in the legal industry.
Legal billing that lets you include all debtors on one invoice
When an attorney is representing multiple parties in a case, it’s essential to list all parties who own the debt on each invoice.
Legal software that calculates your deadlines
Calculating deadlines can be a time-consuming and error-prone process. Smokeball provides software that automatically calculates deadlines for you, saving you time and reducing errors.
Keep track of your employees' productivity with Activity Intelligence
Law firms need to maintain control over overall productivity regardless if one employee is working remotely on the road (in […]
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Smokeball Named FrontRunner in Practice Management Software by Software Advice
Smokeball Named FrontRunner in Practice Management Software by Software Advice
The Oregon State Bar and Smokeball Partner to Grant All Members Free Access to Smokeball Bill
Smokeball will put trust accounting technology in the hands of all OSB members at no cost.
Help When You Need It. Work When You Want It.
Whether you’re hiring or freelancing, the LAWCLERK integration in Smokeball connects you with the right legal work—fast.
The Missouri Bar partners with Smokeball to provide trust accounting software to all members at no cost
Smokeball will put law firm trust accounting and billing software in the hands of The Missouri Bar members at no cost, enabling them to improve client service and maintain compliance.
Smokeball Unveils AI Apps Marketplace, Launches with CaseMark as Its First Embedded Partner
Smokeball Unveils AI Apps Marketplace, Launches with CaseMark
The Mississippi Bar Launches Partnership with Smokeball to Provide Members Free Access to Trust Accounting Software
Smokeball will put law firm trust accounting and billing software in the hands of all Mississippi Bar members at no cost, enabling them to improve client service and maintain compliance.
California Lawyers Association Partners with Smokeball to Provide Free Trust & Billing Software to Members
Smokeball Bill assists CLA members with trust accounting compliance and firm success.
Smokeball Welcomes the New York State Bar Association as Its Newest Free Product Partner
Smokeball Bill software enables NYSBA members to optimize billing and trust accounting compliance.
Smokeball Revolutionizes Legal Technology with New Suite of AI Solutions Including Archie
Smokeball AI streamlines workflows from lead intake to billing to help boost law firm efficiency.
Lawyer Stress and Burnout: Practical Insights from a Legal Coach
Struggling with stress or burnout as a lawyer? A legal life and business coach shares practical mindset shifts and strategies to manage workload and create a more sustainable career.
6 Hiring and Retention Tips for Law Firms
Struggling with hiring and retention? Discover 6 practical tips law firms can use to build stronger teams, improve culture, and retain top legal talent.
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For California Family Lawyers, Availability Is the New Stress Point
California family lawyers are feeling burnout driven by growing client expectations. Read how tech, boundaries, and better systems help.
Client Demands Are Spiking. California Lawyers Are Feeling It First.
California lawyers are feeling burnout driven by rising client expectations. Learn how tech, boundaries, and smarter systems can help.
Smokeball’s 2025 Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers
Billable hours can wait—unwrap Smokeball’s 2025 Holiday Gift Guide for lawyers who deserve more joy, less stress, and maybe fewer mugs.
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Document Automation: Your Practice's Next Strategic Advantage
Discover how document automation transforms legal work, saving time, reducing errors, and elevating the quality of service for every client.
The Diverging Values of Law Firms: Tech Advancement vs. Back to Office
As legal technology evolves to support work flexibility, why are so many law firms digging in their (arguably antiquated) heels?
Talk the Talk: Smokeball Helps New Lawyers Stay Connected with Clients
Stay connected, build trust, and never miss a follow-up with secure, automated client communication tools built into Smokeball.
New to Law? Here’s How Smokeball Helps You Escape the Admin Overload
New to law? Escape admin overload with Smokeball’s time tracking, task management, and document automation built for new attorneys.
The Do's and Don'ts of Law Firm Referral Hiring
Bear these do’s and don’ts in mind throughout the process If your law firm is considering a referral hire.
The Pros and Cons of Hiring From Large Law Firms
Smokeball’s Law + The Great Resignation survey found 30% of firms have increased hiring from large law firms since 2020.
The Best Law Firm Benefits for Hiring + Retention
Here’s what firms looking to hire or retain great employees need to know about law firm benefits that go beyond pay.
Where to Find Great Law Firm Job Candidates Right Now
Your firm’s long-term success depends on hiring stellar law firm job candidates for your associate and staff roles.
Build COVID-era Office Policies that Work for Everyone
Your law firm needs COVID-19 policies that reflect every team member's needs. Law office management software can help.
How to Reduce Lawyer Burnout at Your Firm
When partners and attorneys talk about lawyer burnout, it helps others at the firms feel safer taking alleviation measures.
Five Christmas Gift Ideas For Lawyers
Here's five chirstimas gift ideas for lawyers. We’ve got just the perfect gift ideas for attorneys - check out our list of the top 5.
Best Law Books for Aspiring and Experienced Lawyers
Check out Smokeball's list of the best legal TV shows to watch. From classics to modern favorites, we've got you covered.
Best Legal TV Shows of All Time
We’re still smack-dab in the middle of Awards Season, and our last post about the Best Legal Movies of All Time got us thinking about another ranking: the very best, most dramatic, funniest, and most salacious legal TV shows of all time!
3 Considerations When Starting a Personal Injury Firm
Read 3 considerations when starting your own personal injury firm.
Top 10 features to look for in the Best Personal Injury Law Software
Looking for personal injury law software? Explore top features the best personal injury case management software should have before you buy!
Lay the Groundwork Now for a Successful Real Estate Season
Real estate attorneys faced a record-breaking real estate season in 2021. Set the groundwork now for success in 2022.
Document request reporting for personal injury and workers' compensation law firms
With Smokeball’s Global Document Request Report, personal injury and workers’ compensation attorneys can effectively track document requests.
Real estate software and Chicago Title Castle Connect gets you closing faster
Get your real estate deals closed faster with Smokeball Legal Software. Our software provides the tools you need to manage your real estate transactions more efficiently and effectively.
5 Resources For Real Estate Attorneys In Illinois
If you're an Illinois attorney specializing in real estate transactions, read on for five of our favorite online resources for real estate attorneys.
Different types of lawyers for the most common legal problems
There are thousands of lawyers in the United States - here's how to select the type of lawyer you need for the most common legal issues.
Top 5 Ways to Be an Effective Family Law Attorney
Are you a family law attorney looking for way to grow and streamline your business? ✓ Read our aritcle on the "Top 5 Ways To Be An Effective Family Law Attorney" by Russell Knight, Esq., Law Office of Russell D. Knight.
Understanding Real Estate Law and Real Property Laws
Looking for info on real estate law? This guide by Smokeball dives deep into the rules that govern land and the structures on it. ✓ Click here to read more!
How To Stay Secure When Using Public Wi-Fi
Ensuring your client's information is secure should be at the top of your mind, especially when outside of the office and Wi-Fi is needed.
Keeping Client Privacy Under Lock and Key
Client's confidential information should be handled with care to ensure it is kept private at all times. Here are three steps to protect their privacy.
Data Safety & "The Cloud": Smokeball's Product Manager On Cloud Security
Learn more about "The Cloud" and how to keep your small law firm secure in a changing technology enviroment. Learn how cloud storage is safest!
Building Your Law Firm Cybersecurity System from the Ground Up
Building your law firm cybersecurity system from the ground up? Get law firm cybersecurity tips — read them now!
Explore other resources for your firm
Case studies
See how real firms use Smokeball to spend less time on admin and more time on the clients who need them.
eBooks & guides
Practical guides for running a sharper firm - written by people who know the law, not just the software.
Live and on-demand webinars
Join us to earn free CLE credits and meet the Smokeball team!
Ready to re-love the law?
Learn how Smokeball powers people-law firms around the world.