MatterFirst vs LawMaster

Moving off LawMaster?
Here are your options.

Australian platform acquired by Actionstep in 2022, now being wound down with no announced end date.

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Encrypted in transit Documents and AI in Australia No lock-in contracts Guided setup available Your data exportable on request

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What should a LawMaster firm migrate to?

LawMaster is being wound down by Actionstep with no announced end date, so firms should plan a move on their own timeline rather than wait for one to be set. Actionstep is the default path; LEAP, Clio, Smokeball and MatterFirst are the alternatives. MatterFirst is Australian-built with per-workspace pricing and onshore AI processing.

LawMaster is being retired

Actionstep acquired LawMaster in 2022 and is winding it down. No end date has been announced publicly, which is a harder planning problem than a fixed deadline rather than an easier one: there is no date to work back from, and the decision about when you move is currently someone else's to make.

Whatever you choose, start early. Migration capacity is finite across every vendor, and it is being used up by every other firm in the same position. We would rather you moved somewhere good than somewhere fast, and that is true even if it is not to us.

Source: https://www.lawsupport.com.au/resources/legal-practice-management-software-australia.html

The MatterFirst workflow builder, showing stages, steps and their conditions on a canvas
The workflow builder, which is the thing most of this page is really about. A practice manager builds and changes this directly, and every change is versioned.
MatterFirst and LawMaster, side by side
MatterFirst LawMaster
Origin Australia (NorthCape Technology, Melbourne) Australia
Status Active Reported wind-down; confirm provider timeline
Pricing Workspace base pricing starts at A$199/month for Solo with 1 included user and A$139/month per extra seat, up to 3 users. Each plan specifies included users, extra-seat rates and a monthly AI allowance. Prices exclude GST; additional AI usage is separately payable. Not applicable: the platform is being retired.
Data residency The application runs on Fly.io in Sydney. Database and backups are hosted on Fly.io Managed high-availability PostgreSQL clusters in Sydney. Documents are stored in Amazon Web Services S3 in Sydney. Document extraction and matter questions run on Amazon Web Services Bedrock in Australia, and reading a scanned document runs in Microsoft Azure's Australia East region. These locations describe the application, document storage, database, backups and document AI services. The trust evidence page at /trust records the scope and dated evidence for each published control. Ask the vendor to document storage, backup and inference locations for your selected service.
Client portal Included on every plan, no per-client charge Ask the vendor to demonstrate this capability on your selected plan
AI document extraction Included, with a monthly AI balance on every paid plan Ask the vendor to demonstrate this capability on your selected plan
Automatic time capture Automatic time capture generates reviewable suggestions from matter-linked meetings, sent and received emails, added documents and file notes. Meetings use calendar durations; other activities produce estimated durations for review. Time entries are created only after acceptance. Evaluate capture sources, duration calculations and review controls with the vendor
Workflow configuration Configure matter workflows: describe the process, edit visually, check, simulate, review and publish. Use conditional decisions, tasks and dates, approval requirements, document preparation, prepared signing requests and waits. Publishing creates a version; drafts do not silently alter running workflows. Evaluate conditional branches, approvals, simulation and publication controls with the vendor
Workflow plan limits Solo includes 5 workflows; Practice and above include unlimited workflows. Workflows and automations are separate: automations are unlimited on these plans. AI-assisted drafting and AI steps use the plan's AI allowance, with additional usage charged separately. Confirm selected-plan limits in your quote
Supplied Australian precedents Use your own Word templates; no comprehensive supplied precedent library Confirm coverage for your practice areas
Contract term Monthly subscription with cancellation; annual plans also available Not published

Compare plan inclusions, capture sources, workflow controls and supplied precedents. Each refreshed capability below carries its own source and verification date. Other competitor details retain their stated review date. MatterFirst uses a workspace base with specified included users, extra-seat charges and a monthly AI allowance.

What LawMaster is good at

  • Established product with a long-standing base of Australian firms

Things to weigh

  • Being wound down. No public deadline has been announced, which is its own planning problem
  • Not recommended for new implementations

Which one should you pick

Best fit, stated plainly.

We sell one of these, so weigh this accordingly. It is still the honest read, and if your situation is in the right-hand column we would rather you knew.

Choose MatterFirst when

  • You are small or mid-size and want to choose your own timeline while you still can
  • You want the extraction audit and vendor questions first. See /migrate/lawmaster

Choose LawMaster when

For a firm choosing today, there is no case for starting on LawMaster. It is being retired. If you are already on it, the question is what you move to and when, not whether.

Inspect MatterFirst’s capabilities

Configurable workflows Automatic time capture AI document work Product walkthroughs and scorecard
Australian questions worth settling before you choose
MatterFirst What to ask LawMaster
Trust accounting Built for Australian practice: per-matter ledgers, receipting, reconciliation, and a compliance review workflow covering New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. Your external sign-off is recorded against the jurisdiction, and obtaining it remains your firm's responsibility. Ask which Australian jurisdictions the trust module was built for, and whether it is local or adapted from another country's rules.
Trust ledger history on migration The importer handles trust transactions, so your ledger history comes across with the rest of the migration. Ask what format LawMaster exports trust history in. You need it for the seven-year retention period under s147 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law regardless of where you move.
PEXA PEXA is available through coordinated manual setup with MatterFirst and the provider. Not published. Ask whether PEXA is native, provided through a partner, or absent.
Xero Invoices go out to Xero and payments come back, so the ledger and the matter agree without rekeying. Not published. Ask whether the accounting integration writes back or only exports.
GST Line amounts are GST-exclusive and GST is calculated on the taxable subtotal at your organisation's rate, which is standard Australian practice. Not published. Ask to see a sample invoice with mixed taxable and non-taxable disbursements.
Data and AI location The application runs on Fly.io in Sydney. Database and backups are hosted on Fly.io Managed high-availability PostgreSQL clusters in Sydney. Documents are stored in Amazon Web Services S3 in Sydney. Document extraction and matter questions run on Amazon Web Services Bedrock in Australia, and reading a scanned document runs in Microsoft Azure's Australia East region. These locations describe the application, document storage, database, backups and document AI services. The trust evidence page at /trust records the scope and dated evidence for each published control. Not published. Ask where inference runs, not only where files are stored. The two answers are frequently different regions.
Support Australian support is based in Victoria. Agree your implementation contact and escalation path during evaluation. Ask which timezone support runs in, and what the escalation path is outside those hours.

The right-hand column is questions rather than answers on purpose. We have not verified how LawMaster handles Australian trust rules, PEXA or GST, and inventing an answer for them is the mistake that put false claims on this page before. Ask all three of your shortlisted vendors and compare what comes back.

MatterFirst is an AI-native legal practice management platform for Australian law firms, built for small and boutique practices by NorthCape Technology.

MatterFirst suits small Australian firms of up to about 20 users wanting configurable workflows, automatic time capture for review and AI document work in one platform. If a supplied Australian precedent library or a particular external integration is mandatory, verify that requirement directly during evaluation. MatterFirst supports your own templates; it does not supply a comprehensive Australian precedent library.

Evaluation checklist

Take this to every vendor, including us

The questions worth asking any Australian practice management vendor, including the ones we answer badly. No form, no email required: read it here or download the markdown and put it in front of every platform on your shortlist.

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Reviewed by Liam Killingback

Co-founder and Technical Director, NorthCape Technology

Full-stack engineer with deep experience in Elixir, private AI systems and secure infrastructure. Builds the MatterFirst platform and reviews the comparison and migration pages on this site. Engineer rather than lawyer, which is why the pages he reviews cite sources instead of asserting legal positions.

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How we check this

  • Every claim about another platform comes from that platform's own public documentation or pricing page, linked from the page it appears on.
  • Where a vendor does not publish something, the page says 'not published' rather than estimating it. A guess that reads as a fact is the failure mode this rule exists to prevent.
  • Every page carries the date its competitor facts were last checked, so you can see how fresh they are rather than assuming.
  • We sell one of the products being compared. Every page says so, and every page states the cases where the competitor is the better choice.
  • If you find something here that is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will correct it and re-date the page.

FAQ

Questions firms ask

Do I have to move off LawMaster?
Actionstep acquired LawMaster in 2022 and is winding it down. No end date has been announced publicly, which is a harder planning problem than a fixed deadline rather than an easier one: there is no date to work back from, and the decision about when you move is currently someone else's to make.
Can MatterFirst migrate my LawMaster data?
Migration is included within your agreed implementation scope covering matters, contacts, documents and templates, scoped per firm against your actual data volume. Talk to us early: the closer you get to a sunset date, the less room there is for anything to go wrong, and that is true whichever platform you pick.
Is Actionstep the safest choice, since it owns LawMaster?
Ask Actionstep and the other shortlisted vendors to demonstrate the migration scope and your configured workflow. Vendor ownership alone does not establish the right fit. Compare branching, approvals, simulation, publication controls and total implementation responsibilities.
Where is my data stored?
The application runs on Fly.io in Sydney. Database and backups are hosted on Fly.io Managed high-availability PostgreSQL clusters in Sydney. Documents are stored in Amazon Web Services S3 in Sydney. Document extraction and matter questions run on Amazon Web Services Bedrock in Australia, and reading a scanned document runs in Microsoft Azure's Australia East region. These locations describe the application, document storage, database, backups and document AI services. The trust evidence page at /trust records the scope and dated evidence for each published control.
How much does MatterFirst cost?
Pricing is per workspace rather than per seat, starting at $199 per month for Solo. Each plan includes a set number of users, a monthly AI balance in Australian dollars, the client portal and automations. Extra users are billed only past the included seats. Full plan inclusions are on the pricing page.
Can I get my data out if I leave?
Yes. Your matters, contacts, documents and time records are exportable on request, and there is no lock-in contract. We would rather you were able to leave and chose not to.
Is there a free trial?
Yes, a 14 day guided trial on Solo, Practice or Firm. It is guided rather than self-serve because a practice management system tells you very little until it has your real matters in it, and we would rather help you load them than leave you looking at an empty workspace.
Who builds MatterFirst?
NorthCape Technology, a Melbourne-based software company. MatterFirst is built in Australia for Australian legal practice, with trust accounting and Xero as first-class capabilities. Available through coordinated setup: PEXA, InfoTrack. Coordinated manual setup is arranged with MatterFirst and the provider.
Is MatterFirst suitable for a firm of my size?
It is designed for solo practitioners up to firms of roughly twenty seats. Below that, Solo carries the full platform for one user. Above it, the platform works but you should expect to talk to us about migration and rollout rather than signing up online.

Leaving LawMaster?

14 day guided trial with your own matters, and a migration conversation if you need one.

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