PCLaw set the standard for Canadian legal accounting. We respect that. We've also built everything it should have become in the last 20 years — and made the switch take 47 minutes.
PCLaw has been the backbone of Canadian legal accounting for over 30 years. Before we tell you why lawyers switch, we'll tell you what it gets right — because it does get things right.
PCLaw's trust accounting is genuinely excellent. Per-matter ledgers, three-way reconciliation, Law Society reports — it was built by people who understood Canadian trust law. We respect this deeply enough that we built ours to match it exactly.
A full double-entry general ledger built into practice management software was revolutionary when PCLaw launched it. It's still a differentiator — most modern tools outsource this to QuickBooks. PCLaw (and JuriOS) keep it native.
PCLaw organizes everything around the matter — the fundamental unit of legal work. Time, disbursements, trust funds, invoices — all tied to a matter. This is the right model, and it's exactly how JuriOS is structured too.
30+ years of Law Society compliance updates. LSO, LSBC, LSA — PCLaw has tracked the rule changes across every province. That institutional knowledge matters. We've built it into JuriOS from the start, not as an afterthought.
The accounting works. Everything built on top of it reflects an era that ended in 2010. These aren't opinions — they're structural limitations that no update can fully fix.
PCLaw runs on a local Windows installation. You cannot access your files from home, from court, or on a client visit. In 2025, this is not a minor inconvenience — it is a fundamental limitation on how a practice can operate.
There is no PCLaw mobile app. A lawyer leaving court cannot log time on their phone. A partner travelling cannot approve an invoice. Every mobile interaction requires finding a computer with PCLaw installed and a valid licence.
The standard PCLaw implementation for a small firm involves an authorized consultant, configuration sessions, and staff training that can take weeks. New hires require formal training before they can bill their first hour. This is not a learning curve — it's a barrier.
PCLaw has no time capture AI, no document automation, no conflict check intelligence. Every time entry is manual. Every document starts from scratch. In a market where AI can recover 1.4 billable hours per lawyer per day, this represents real revenue left on the table.
PCLaw has no client portal, no online invoice payment, no secure document sharing, no digital intake forms. Client communication happens entirely outside the software. Modern clients — especially in real estate and family law — expect digital-first service.
PCLaw's development has slowed significantly. The product roadmap is thin, support wait times have lengthened, and the user base is shrinking as lawyers retire or switch. Choosing PCLaw today means committing to a platform with an uncertain future.
Where PCLaw matches us, we say so. Where we win, we show it. This is an honest table — not a marketing document.
This is the section most PCLaw users read most carefully. It should be. Trust accounting errors carry real professional consequences. Here's exactly how each platform handles it.
The most common reason lawyers don't switch from PCLaw isn't the software — it's the fear of losing their history. Clients, matters, trust balances, time entries, general ledger — everything they've built over years. We've eliminated that fear entirely.
File → Backup in PCLaw. That's the entire step. No configuration, no data cleaning, no IT involvement required beforehand.
~5 minDrag your backup file into our migration portal. We validate it completely and show you a preview of what will transfer — before a single record is created in your new account.
~10 minWe map every client, matter, time entry, trust balance, and AR outstanding. Review the summary, confirm the import, and your JuriOS account is live with your complete firm history intact.
~30 minI moved off PCLaw after 18 years. I was convinced it would take a week and something would break. The migration portal showed me exactly what was coming across. I confirmed it and everything was there — every matter, every trust balance, every time entry going back to 2006. I was billing from JuriOS the same afternoon.
The true cost of PCLaw includes licence fees, IT maintenance, consultant fees for upgrades, and the cost of the hours lost to a difficult interface every day. Here's the real comparison.
47 minutes to migrate. 30 days to try it free. Migration help included on every plan. If it's not right for you, we'll help you go back.