Why Most Legal Software Doesn’t Work for Non-Profits

Founded in 1999, Housing Justice Center (HJC) works to preserve and expand affordable housing for low-income individuals and families nationwide.

HJC’s attorneys work with tenant and advocacy organizations, public and private housing funders, owners, developers, and policy makers, to:

• Protect tenants facing displacement or discrimination,
• Encourage the production of more affordable housing, and
• Preserve both subsidized and unsubsidized affordable housing.

A Need for Specialized Legal Software

For years, HJC used a case management system geared toward for-profit law firms. Since the software was focused on client billing, it was difficult to use, and lacked key reports required by HJC’s funders. Ultimately deciding a change was needed, HJC discovered the benefits LegalServer’s platform provides for grant funded agencies.

LegalServer has provided HJC much broader use, designed in a way that functions closely to the work we do at HJC.

“The pliability of the system has been a big benefit,” says HJC Paralegal Zaria Whitlock. “Being able to easily make the necessary changes tailored to the organization’s needs has been an essential feature.” The software was tailored to meet the specific needs of HJC’s diverse staff, which provide a variety of specialized services. “LegalServer grants HJC more flexibility to use the system how HJC sees fit, based on the needs presented day-to-day,” Whitlock notes.

Easy Onboarding & Essential Security

Adopting a new case management system can appear daunting, but “The LegalServer Onboarding process provided the staff at HJC time to build familiarity with LegalServer and proved essential to the success HJC has experienced in using the system,” Whitlock says. “The Onboarding process gave HJC detailed insight into the capabilities of the system while allowing staff to browse the demo site and see firsthand all of the features available to HJC prior to deployment.”

Migrating data from our other system went very smoothly. Our LegalServer Onboarding Specialists were pivotal in the ease of the data migration process.

HJC frequently deals with sensitive case data, so robust security was a big need - and LegalServer checked off that box as well. “The security provided by LegalServer gives HJC confidence knowing we have a reliable system where information is securely stored,” Whitlock concludes.

Configurable functionality purpose built for legal aid, an experienced staff of onboarding specialists, and high levels of data security are just a few of our specialties. Book a demo to discover the many ways LegalServer empowers non-profit legal organizations.