LegalClaw vs Tussman Program

LegalClaw is free, open-source legal practice management for ERPClaw. It covers matter management, time and billing, IOLTA trust accounting, documents, court calendars, conflict checking, and bar or continuing-education compliance. The project describes 100 actions across seven domains. Matter tools handle client intake, lifecycle tracking, parties, summaries, and portfolios. Billing records time in six-minute increments, expenses, invoices, payments, and receivables aging. Trust accounting supports IOLTA and escrow accounts, deposits, disbursements, transfers, reconciliation, and interest distribution, with balance-sufficiency checks on every disbursement. Document functions include versioning, court filing, archival, and full-text search. Calendars track court dates, statutes of limitations, reminders, and critical deadlines. Conflict and compliance tools cover name searches, waivers, reports, bar admissions, and CLE tracking. It requires ERPClaw core, installs with `install-module legalclaw`, and uses ERPClaw integration for sales invoices. The project is GPL v3.

The Tussman Program is desktop legal billing software for managing clients, matters, time, disbursements, bills, and account records. Billing features include timed time entry, retainer and trust accounts, customizable bill formats, payment plans, and billing reports. Its General Ledger module supports checkwriting, client cost and receipt posting, check registers, financial statements, vendor lists, and office payables. The Docket/Calendar module tracks appointments, tasks, and reminders, and can create event series triggered by a master event. Additional-cost modules support electronic billing formats such as LEDES, Litigation Advisor, and Tymetrix, plus imports from Amicus, TimeMatters, Equitrak, and Copitrak. A separate Local Area Network module enables simultaneous access for multiple users with configurable access rights. The software runs on macOS and Windows. The free version has no time limit and supports up to 5 clients and 10 matters; entered data can be retained when upgrading. Full-program pricing is available by contacting Tussman. Purchase includes six months of unlimited phone support; cloud hosting is available for a monthly fee that includes support and updates.