Ashton & Price is one of Northern California’s premier personal injury law firms, representing clients in serious injury, accident, and wrongful death cases for nearly 30 years. Founding Partner, Craig Ashton, takes pride in the firm’s hands-on, attorney-driven approach, ensuring every client receives direct attention from a lawyer. Today, the firm continues to thrive by leveraging Smokeball, the legal practice management software that empowers their attorneys to stay organized, streamline medical record handling, and focus on what matters most: being the best lawyers they can be.

Modernizing an established, high-touch firm

Ashton & Price’s attorneys insist on direct client contact. Lawyers conduct every intake and manage critical decisions. This personalized approach, while essential to the firm’s success, strained internal operations. The firm needed technology that could support their unique workflow without sacrificing client interaction. “When you’re flying the metaphorical legal plane directly with the client, you don’t want to worry about the engines going out or running out of fuel during flight,” emphasized Craig. Hence, the need for an all-in-one practice management software that can centralize documentation and keep client information organized to support the hands-on philosophy. Ashton & Price’s machine powering their stellar client experience.  

Implementing Smokeball for structure and peace of mind

Ashton & Price selected Smokeball for its user-friendly interface and reliability. The system’s intuitive design made training simple, even for less tech-savvy users. Its ability to integrate and index medical records, track deadlines, and prompt users made it an ideal fit for the firm’s fast-paced, personal injury speciality. Several features made Smokeball stand out:  

• Medical record tools that import, index, and store records from external providers with ease

• Document assembly and secure sharing allowing attorneys to send records and settlement materials quickly to insurers, mediators, and defense counsel

• Archie AI summaries condensing lengthy medical records for faster demand preparation and client discussion

These features paired with Smokeball’s user-friendly interface allow the firm to maintain their exceptional standard of client service. “Smokeball frees us up to be lawyers, so we can be the best lawyers we can be,” says Craig.

Higher settlements, improved accuracy, and close client attention

For a firm handling complex, high-stakes personal injury cases, precision in statute of limitations tracking is critical. Smokeball’s automated AI prompts and timeline management ensure Ashton & Price nail every deadline. This reliability has reduced risk, strengthened compliance, and delivered true peace of mind.  

Beyond deadline management, centralized medical record storage and secure digital file sharing have made it easier to communicate with adjusters and mediators and move matters forward efficiently. The result is not just better organization, it’s better outcomes. “Each year we’ve had Smokeball our monetary case resolutions have increased several million dollars,” says Craig.  

By streamlining every aspect of case management through Smokeball, Ashton & Price has unlocked new levels of efficiency and focus translating directly into faster case resolutions and higher-value settlements for their clients.