Updated 30 March 2026

MyCase for Solo Attorneys

MyCase Basic at $49/user/month is the lowest per-user cost among the major legal practice management platforms. For solo attorneys, the question is not whether practice management software is worth it, but which features justify which tier. Here is what you actually need and how to set it up in your first week.

Why Practice Management Software Matters for Solo Practices

Solo attorneys wear every hat: lawyer, office manager, billing clerk, IT department, and marketing team. The administrative burden is real. ABA studies consistently find that solo practitioners spend 30 to 40% of their work week on non-billable tasks including billing, scheduling, client communication, document management, and accounting.

At $200/hr, if you work 40 hours per week and spend 35% on administration, that is 14 hours of non-billable time worth $2,800 in potential billings. Practice management software cannot eliminate all administrative work, but it can realistically recover 4 to 8 of those hours weekly through automation, better time capture, and streamlined workflows. That represents $800 to $1,600 per week in additional billing capacity.

MyCase at $49/month costs less than a single billable hour for most attorneys. The ROI question is not close. The real question is which plan gives you the right features for your practice area without overspending on capabilities you will not use.

$49

Basic plan per month

Less than 1 billable hour

4-8 hrs

Recovered weekly

From automation + time tracking

30-40%

Admin time (typical solo)

ABA practice management studies

Which Plan by Practice Area

Personal Injury

Basic ($49/user/mo)

Personal injury attorneys work on contingency, managing fewer high-value cases. You need reliable time tracking for hourly work (depositions, motions), the client portal for status updates (injury clients call frequently), and calendaring for court dates and statute of limitations deadlines. Intake forms and document automation are less critical since PI work is case-specific rather than template-driven.

Key features: Time tracking, client portal, calendar with deadlines, mobile app for court

Family Law

Essentials ($79/user/mo)

Family law involves high-volume intake (consultations, new filings) and repetitive documents (petitions for dissolution, financial declarations, parenting plans). The online intake forms save 1 to 2 hours weekly during busy periods. Document templates are essential for the 10 to 15 standard documents a family law attorney produces regularly. Client communication through the portal reduces the emotional back-and-forth that consumes family law practices.

Key features: Everything in Basic + intake forms, document templates, LawPay integration

Criminal Defense

Basic ($49/user/mo)

Criminal defense attorneys need deadline tracking above all (arraignment dates, motion deadlines, trial dates). Time tracking matters for both flat-fee and hourly clients. The client portal helps keep defendants and their families informed. Criminal filing templates are simpler than civil litigation, so the document automation in Essentials is typically unnecessary.

Key features: Time tracking, calendar with court dates, client portal, mobile timers

Estate Planning

Essentials ($79/user/mo)

Estate planning is among the most template-intensive practice areas. Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and asset inventories follow predictable structures. MyCase document templates auto-populate client and beneficiary information into these documents. For an attorney drafting 3 to 5 estate plans per month, templates save 5 to 10 hours monthly. The intake forms capture the detailed family and financial information needed for effective estate planning.

Key features: Everything in Basic + document templates, intake forms, document management

General Practice / Small Business Law

Essentials ($79/user/mo)

General practitioners handle diverse matter types requiring flexibility. Intake forms adapt to different practice areas (business formation, contract disputes, real estate closings). Document templates cover the range of agreements, letters, and filings you produce regularly. The step up to Advanced ($109) is worth considering only if you need custom fields to track matter-specific data across different practice areas.

Key features: Intake forms, document templates, LawPay, client communications

First Week Setup Guide

You can be fully operational on MyCase within your first week. Here is what to configure each day to start saving time immediately.

Day 1: Account and Contacts

Create your account, set up your firm profile, import your contact list from your current system (CSV upload or manual entry). Configure your billing rates (hourly, flat-fee, contingency). Set up your bank account connection for LawPay payment processing.

Day 2: Active Matters

Create matters for your current active cases. For each, add the relevant contacts, set the billing arrangement, enter any existing time entries if switching from another system. Assign practice area tags so you can filter and report by area later.

Day 3: Calendar and Deadlines

Import your calendar events or sync with Google Calendar or Outlook. Enter all upcoming deadlines: court dates, statute of limitations, filing deadlines, and client meetings. Set up reminders (MyCase can notify you 1, 3, 7, and 14 days before deadlines).

Day 4: Client Portal

Invite 2 to 3 trusted clients to the client portal as a test. Share a document, send a secure message, and send an invoice with a payment link. Verify the client experience is smooth before inviting all clients. The portal URL is branded with your firm name.

Day 5: Time Tracking Workflow

Practice using the time tracking timers throughout your workday. Start a timer when you begin a task, stop when you finish. Test the mobile app timers for calls and meetings away from your desk. At the end of the day, review your time entries and generate a test invoice to confirm the billing workflow.

Common Concerns for Solo Attorneys

"I do not have time to learn new software"

MyCase is intentionally simpler than Clio or PracticePanther. Most solo attorneys report being productive within 1 to 2 days. You do not need to use every feature from day one. Start with time tracking and billing (the highest-ROI features), then gradually adopt the client portal, calendar, and document management over your first month.

"I already have a system that works (spreadsheets, paper, Outlook)"

Manual systems work until they fail. A missed statute of limitations deadline on a spreadsheet calendar, a lost time entry reconstructed from memory, or a client complaint about responsiveness can cost more than years of MyCase subscriptions. The real cost of manual systems is invisible until something goes wrong.

"I cannot afford another monthly expense"

At $49/month, MyCase costs $1.63 per business day. If it saves you 15 minutes per day in administrative time at $200/hr, it generates $50/day in recovered billing capacity. That is a 30:1 return. If your hourly rate is lower, say $150/hr, the return is still 23:1. The math works at virtually any billing rate above $75/hr.

"What if I outgrow MyCase?"

MyCase scales to firms of 20 or more attorneys. If your solo practice grows into a small firm, you can add users and upgrade plans without switching platforms. Data portability is also straightforward. MyCase allows data export, and competitors like Clio offer migration assistance if you eventually need a platform with a larger integration ecosystem.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MyCase worth it for a solo attorney?
For most solo attorneys billing $150/hr or more, yes. MyCase Basic at $49/month pays for itself if it saves you just 20 minutes per month in administrative time. In practice, the time tracking timers alone save most attorneys 30 or more minutes per day in billing reconstruction. At $200/hr, that is $2,165 per month in recovered billable capacity from a single feature.
Which MyCase plan should a solo attorney choose?
Start with Basic ($49/user/month) if you are a personal injury or criminal defense attorney who primarily needs time tracking, billing, and client communication. Choose Essentials ($79/user/month) if you are in family law, estate planning, or any practice area that involves frequent client intake and document templates. The Advanced plan ($109/user/month) is generally overkill for solo practitioners unless you specifically need e-signatures and advanced reporting.
Can a solo attorney set up MyCase without IT help?
Yes. MyCase is designed to be set up by non-technical users. The typical solo attorney can import contacts, configure billing rates, set up the client portal, and start tracking time within the first day. MyCase provides onboarding assistance via phone and screen-share if you need guidance. There is no server to configure, no software to install, and no IT department required.
Do I need a separate seat for my paralegal or virtual assistant?
Yes. Every user who accesses MyCase requires their own license at the same per-user rate. For a solo attorney with one paralegal, the monthly cost is $98 on Basic (2 x $49) or $158 on Essentials (2 x $79). There are no discounted staff seats. Some solo attorneys give their paralegal full access while others limit the paralegal to specific features using role permissions.
How does MyCase compare to free alternatives for solo attorneys?
Free legal practice management tools exist (Clio's free tier, basic spreadsheet systems, Google Workspace), but they lack the integration that makes paid tools valuable. With MyCase, your time entries automatically flow into invoices, which flow into payment requests via LawPay, which flow into trust accounting reports. With free tools, each step is manual, creating 3 to 5 hours per week of administrative overhead that paid software eliminates.
Does MyCase help with marketing and getting new clients?
MyCase itself is not a marketing tool, but it supports client acquisition indirectly. The client intake forms (Essentials+) let you embed lead capture on your website. The client portal creates a professional impression that generates referrals. Text messaging keeps you responsive to potential clients. For dedicated legal marketing CRM, you would need a separate tool like Clio Grow or a standalone legal marketing platform.
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