10 Key benefits of a bespoke CRM solution for Law Firms:
1) Improved relationship management
One of the main goals of using a CRM for law firms is to build stronger client relationships, in turn improving client retention and attracting new prospects. Tailored to the needs of your business, a bespoke solution provides features that enable you to manage and nurture key relationships. A few of these are as follows:
- Contact database: Store all prospects, clients, referrers and any other relevant contacts
- Lead status tracking: Identify top prospects and what clients need to be prioritised
- Matter tracking: Store all documents, notes and updates relating to specific legal matters
- Notes: Maintain a full interaction history across teams
- Reminders: Never miss a follow-up with automated alerts
- Email sync: Dynamics 365 integrates directly with Outlook to centralise communication
2) Improved client communication
Communication is a crucial part of the job, ensuring that legal rights, responsibilities and other information can be clearly conveyed to your clients. If data is held in multiple systems or Excel spreadsheets, this can be incredibly challenging to manage.
A bespoke CRM like Dynamics 365 provides a single client view, ensuring everyone in your firm is working with up-to-date, accurate information. This supports timely, informed communication, improving overall client satisfaction and reducing time spent chasing updates.
3) Work on cases simultaneously
A common requirement across law firms is the ability for multiple partners or departments to work on cases simultaneously. Without a CRM, issues such as duplicated records and lost communications are common.
With Dynamics 365, team members can collaborate in real-time, accessing live client data and shared case histories, reducing errors and ensuring consistency across every interaction.
4) Track overall performance of your firm’s activity
Understanding performance across your firm is crucial — from how many clients you’re serving to where new opportunities are coming from. A CRM allows you to visualise this data without jumping between spreadsheets or separate systems.
Dynamics 365 includes real-time dashboards and tailored reporting that make it easy to track KPIs across client services, billing, case outcomes, referrals and more. This enables better decision-making and strategic planning.
5) Workflow automation
The legal sales cycle can be lengthy, and the administrative workload is often high. Dynamics 365 enables you to automate repetitive processes such as:
- Task follow-ups and reminders
- Document generation using pre-filled templates
- Invoicing and billing via third-party integrations like Xero or QuickBooks
These automations reduce time spent on manual admin and free up fee earners to focus on higher-value work.
6) Better compliance and risk management
Law firms must operate within strict regulatory frameworks. A bespoke CRM can help ensure compliance by automating key processes such as GDPR data management, client onboarding, and secure document handling.
With Dynamics 365, you can build audit trails, permission-based access, and automated reminders for compliance-related tasks, helping reduce human error and mitigate risk across your firm.
7) Centralised document management
Legal documents are often stored across inboxes, drives or even physical folders, making access slow and disorganised. A bespoke CRM allows you to link documents directly to matters, clients, or cases, creating a clear and accessible document history.
Dynamics 365 integrates seamlessly with SharePoint, enabling you to store, search, and retrieve documents without leaving the CRM environment.
8) Strengthened referral management
Referrals are a key source of new business for many law firms. However, without a structured way to track them, opportunities can slip through the cracks.
With a tailored CRM, you can track the origin of referrals, automate follow-ups, and measure outcomes, enabling you to build stronger referrer relationships and grow your network. Dynamics 365 supports these features natively and can be extended to fit your specific referral workflows.
9) More efficient client onboarding
Onboarding new clients involves collecting documentation, setting up case files, assigning teams, and more. If this process is manual, it often leads to delays or inconsistent experiences.
A bespoke CRM powered by Dynamics 365 can automate client onboarding workflows, including email communication, document requests, ID verification reminders and case assignment — improving first impressions and reducing administrative burden.
10) Custom reporting for legal-specific insights
Off-the-shelf CRMs rarely deliver the kind of reporting law firms need. A bespoke CRM gives you the flexibility to report on exactly what matters to your firm, whether that’s time spent per matter, profitability by case type, or referral source trends.
Dynamics 365 supports Power BI integration, making it easy to visualise complex data and make decisions based on real legal outcomes.
What is the best CRM for law firms?
When considering the best CRM for law firms, it’s important to look for a solution that can be tailored to your specific needs. Many generic CRMs lack the flexibility and legal-specific functionality that firms require.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is widely regarded as one of the best CRM platforms for law firms, thanks to its customisability, deep integration with Microsoft tools like Outlook and SharePoint, and advanced reporting and automation capabilities.
Get in touch
This is just an overview of how a bespoke CRM solution can benefit your law firm, however, there are many more ways in which your business can grow with the help of Pragmatiq. If you have any questions, please get in touch.
You can fill out the contact form below and a member of our team will be in touch shortly, or call us on 01908 038110.
