Filevine vs MerusCase (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Filevine if

• Fits if your firm runs heavy caseloads, such as personal injury or mass torts
• Works for prosecutors, public defenders and other government legal offices

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a price before a demo, as every package is quoted by the sales team
• Watch out: intake, depositions and signatures are separate packages, and analytics, court deadline rules and the client portal are extensions
• Not for you if you want to try case management first, since the free LOIS Explore trial is AI only and closed to existing customers
• Not for you if you'd rather set it up yourself, as setup runs through Filevine's certified partners
• Skip it if you need phone apps, as the listing has it as web only

Pick MerusCase if

• Fits if you want case files, billing and email in one browser-based system
• Works for firms that draft documents in Word

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to try it before talking to sales, since only a demo is offered
• Not for you if you need a price up front, as none is published
• Watch out: the page read lists no desktop or mobile apps
• Watch out: it carries a 2008-2024 copyright line, so its feature descriptions may be older

Filevine

• Filevine publishes no prices: every package is quoted by its sales team after a demo.
• Intake, depositions and signatures are separate packages; analytics, court deadline rules and the client portal are extensions to Matters.
• The free LOIS Explore trial covers AI research and drafting only, not case management, and is closed to existing Filevine customers.
• Setup is handled by Filevine's certified implementation partners rather than self-serve onboarding.

MerusCase

• No prices are published. The pricing section says custom and tailored, so a quote requires contacting the vendor.
• The product page names browser access and says data is reachable from any device, but it lists no desktop or mobile apps.
• The page read carries a 2008-2024 copyright line, so its feature descriptions may be older than the rest of the site.
• The vendor says its security exceeds HIPAA standards; this is the vendor's claim and was not independently checked.

Filevine

Matter management

Each matter collects tasks, contacts, deadlines, calendar events, emails and notes, with custom reports and dashboards built from any field in Filevine.

Document management and assembly

Unlimited document storage with search, PDF splitting and combining, and document assembly that fills templates from matter data.

LOIS legal AI

Ask LOIS answers questions about a matter with cited sources, AI Drafting writes from case facts, LOIS for Word works inside Microsoft Word, and LOIS Legal Research checks case law.

Deposition tools

Schedule depositions and book court reporters, get live transcription and follow-up suggestions from Depo Copilot, and keep summarized transcripts in a searchable library.

Intake with Lead Docket

Captures and qualifies leads, tracks referral fees, takes online payments and moves signed clients into case files, with AI lead summaries as an option.

Timekeeping, billing and payments

Multiple timers, time tracked from email, LEDES billing codes and bulk invoicing, with Filevine Payments for online payment that it says is IOLTA compliant.

MerusCase

Case files and documents

Contacts, cases, assignments and documents are linked and tagged by type. Case data can be merged into PDF court forms and Word documents, and batch scanning splits uploaded paper into separate documents.

Billing and accounting

A built-in bookkeeping system handles invoices, payments and case-specific ledgers that keep the operating account apart from client accounts. Electronic billing formats include LEDES, ESIS and Chubb.

Time tracking

Time can be tracked with a button click while working, or added to a case ledger afterward with notes.

Calendars, tasks and email

Calendars can be scoped to a person, office or firm, events attach to cases, tasks can be assigned to team members, and email can be synchronized and filed to a case.

Reports

The vendor lists more than 35 built-in reports covering workloads, billing and collection patterns, cash flow and case history.

Migration and training

The vendor offers data migration from older systems, including Aderant and TimeMatters, with a data cleanse, plus in-person, virtual and self-guided training.

Filevine

Pricing could not be confirmed. See filevine.com.

MerusCase

Pricing could not be confirmed. See meruscase.com.