LEAP Legal

LEAP is a cloud-based legal practice management platform founded in 1992 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia. It serves law firms across the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Ireland, and is one of the longer-standing names in legal software. Its client-facing component, LEAP Client Connect, gives clients a portal to view matter progress, exchange documents, and pay invoices without needing to call or email their attorney.

What's Included

LEAP bundles practice management, document automation, time recording, billing, and trust accounting into a single subscription. The document automation library is a standout feature — it pre-populates legal forms and court-specific templates from matter data, which is particularly useful for high-volume practices in real estate, family law, and estate planning. LEAP integrates deeply with Microsoft Office 365, allowing documents to open and edit directly in Word with changes syncing back to the matter.

The client portal (Client Connect) is built into the platform rather than sold as a standalone add-on. Clients can log in to view matter status, download documents shared by their attorney, review invoices, and make payments. Communication via secure messaging keeps correspondence off personal email.

Integrations and Compliance

LEAP connects with Office 365, Outlook, and various court filing systems depending on jurisdiction. For US firms, it supports some state-specific form libraries. Trust accounting is built to comply with relevant bar association rules, and the platform holds ISO 27001 certification for information security. Data is stored in region-specific cloud infrastructure (US data stays in the US, AU data in Australia, etc.).

Pricing

LEAP operates on a per-user subscription model. Pricing starts at approximately $99/user/month, though the actual cost for most firms is higher once matter types, add-on modules, and implementation fees are factored in. There is no free tier and no self-serve trial — prospects go through a demo and sales process. LEAP is transparent that pricing varies by firm size and configuration.

Limitations to Know

The client portal is not available independently; it comes as part of the full LEAP subscription. Firms that only need a portal and already have a billing or document system elsewhere won't find a modular option here.

The platform's depth is also its complexity. Very small practices (solo attorneys, 2–3 person firms) sometimes find the onboarding steep and the feature set more than they need. Customer reviews note that while the product is powerful, the learning curve and support quality can vary.

LEAP is not well-suited for firms that bill on contingency only or those that heavily prefer non-Microsoft tooling. Its design assumes attorneys are working in Word-based documents and Outlook-based email.

Bottom Line

LEAP is a strong fit for small to mid-sized law firms that want an all-in-one platform from an established vendor — especially those that do high volumes of document-heavy work and need reliable trust accounting. The client portal is a useful addition to that suite, but it's a component, not the centerpiece. If the full practice management stack is what you need, LEAP is a mature, well-supported option. If you're only shopping for a client portal, you'll be paying for a lot more than that.