The subscription price is the smallest number in the equation. How to calculate what a practice management platform actually costs a solo firm — including the add-ons, the lock-in, and the price increases you haven't had yet.
The Usus Journal
Make consequential technology decisions with your eyes open
Practical, sourced guidance for solo and small-firm lawyers navigating software economics, security, AI, professional responsibility, and the operational choices that shape a firm.
Economics
Software cost and control
Subscriptions, add-ons, staff seats, switching costs, exports, and lock-in.
Security
Confidentiality in practice
Vendor diligence, encryption, cloud tradeoffs, devices, backups, and recovery.
AI
Useful assistance, verified
Professional duties, model choices, provenance, hallucinations, and review.
Operations
Run the whole firm
Practice-area data, workflows, intake, capacity, performance, and customization.
Every vendor says they take security seriously. Here's how to tell who means it — what SOC 2 does and doesn't prove, the encryption question that actually matters, and the terms-of-service clauses that should end the conversation.
ABA Formal Opinion 512 drew the ethical lines for generative AI in law practice. Here's what it actually requires, why consumer chatbots are the danger zone, and how to get AI's benefits without feeding client secrets to someone else's model.
Your duty of confidentiality doesn't end where your cloud vendor's servers begin. A plain-English guide to what 'reasonable efforts' means when client files live online — and the questions to ask before you upload.
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