Category: Mac for Lawyers

Why Mac-first matters for legal professionals and how to get the most from your Apple ecosystem

TimeNet Law 6 Is Here

Post author By Perry
Post date April 2, 2026

TimeNet Law 6 is much more than a fresh coat of paint and a few new features.

A complete rethinking of how attorneys should interact with their
practice management software: your billing software should work the way
your brain works. Fast. Contextual. One step ahead of you. And never in
your way.

Here’s what that looks like.

Launchpad: Your Daily Command Center

The entire main window has been rebuilt from scratch.

Launchpad is three views in one. Day View shows your schedule, time
entries, and calendar events on a single timeline. Week View gives you
the weekly picture. Month View lets you plan ahead. All three are alive.
Click to add entries. Drag to reschedule. Double-click to edit.
Right-click for more options.

Everything is responsive, and you can do almost anything right from
Launchpad.

On the right side is a new Firm Health sidebar. Hours tracked.
Utilization rate. Accounts receivable. Aging breakdowns. Revenue trends.
Every number is clickable. Tap a metric and it opens the relevant
report. No hunting through menus. No guessing which report has the
number you need.

Above it all is the new Needs Attention card. TimeNet Law now watches
over your practice and surfaces problems before you discover them.
Overdue invoices. Missing time entries. Matters that haven’t been billed
in weeks. And when it really matters, you’ll always see upcoming
appointments, filing deadlines, and important tasks. Items appear
automatically. Click one, and you’re taken directly to the fix.

Needs Attention was designed to keep you focused and on track, but
not overwhelmed. You will only ever see up to 3 items at once. Handle
them or defer them, and new items drop in. Miss something important, and
it will float to the top and change color.

See everything. Act on anything. Miss nothing.

That’s Launchpad in TimeNet Law 6.

Launchbar: Your Practice Accelerated

Press Option+Space from anywhere. A search bar appears. Start
typing.

log 2.5 hours for Henderson breach of contract

Done. Entry created. The right matter. The right timekeeper. The right description.

apply 3000 check #1631 to invoice HN-972

Payment logged.

invoice morrison

Invoice generated.

Launchbar understands natural language. It parses your input, matches
clients and matters with fuzzy logic, and executes the command. Over 13
commands ship today: log time, log expenses, record payments, create and
reissue invoices, cancel invoices, search payments, create clients,
create matters, edit entries, delete entries, launch reports, and
more.

This is the fastest way to interact with your practice data. Period.
No windows. No forms. No clicking through four screens to log a phone
call. Just type what you want, and it happens.

Launchbar is also your shortcut superpower. Pinned and Recent matters
appear instantly before you even start typing.

Voice Command: Just Talk to It

Launchbar was designed for your voice.

Apple’s native on-device dictation engine means your words never
leave your Mac. No cloud processing. No third-party transcription. No
privacy concerns. Your law practice, completely unshackled from the cloud.

Click the Dictate key (default F5 on your keyboard) and say what you
need:

“Log one point five hours for the Garcia custody matter, drafted
motion for temporary restraining order.”

TimeNet Law parses it, matches the matter, fills in the details. You
confirm and move on. What used to take 90 seconds of clicking and typing
takes 10 seconds of talking.

If TimeNet Law can’t target the correct matter, you’ll be presented
with a list of options sorted by confidence. You can always override the
predicted target by pressing Option+Return instead of just Return.

Log time. Record payments. Search for documents. Reissue invoices.
All by voice, all processed locally on your hardware.

Quick Capture

Sometimes you just need to log an entry and get back to work.

Quick Capture is a new ultra-streamlined window built for speed. It
opens fast, presents only what you need, and closes the moment you’re
done. In-and-out time entry creation for when you’re between calls and
can’t afford to break focus.

SmartSearch

Finding the right matter used to mean scrolling through lists or
remembering exact names. SmartSearch is a unified client and matter
search field with fuzzy matching built in. Type a few characters and it
finds what you’re looking for, even if you misspell it, abbreviate it,
or only remember half the name.

Keyboard-driven. Lightning fast. Target any matter in a few
keystrokes.

SmartSearch is in Launchbar, Quick Capture, and all Edit / Add Entry
windows.

Two-Way Apple Calendar Sync

Your Mac calendar and TimeNet Law now stay in sync. Automatically.
Both directions.

Add an event in Apple Calendar and it appears in TimeNet Law’s Day
View. Sync an entry in TimeNet Law and it shows up on your calendar.
Changes propagate instantly. No manual import. No export-and-reimport
dance.

This is native integration with Apple’s EventKit framework. Not a
cloud relay. Not a third-party connector. Direct, on-device sync that
works even when you’re offline.

TimeNet Law even uses fuzzy matching to predict which client and
matter the entry might belong to. Hit okay and you’re done, or change
the target with a few keystrokes.

Performance Report

A brand new report that shows you what every law firm managing
partner wants to know: how is my team performing?

Utilization rate. Hours worked versus target. Billable versus
non-billable breakdown. Color-coded performance indicators. Progress
bars. Trend arrows showing whether each metric is improving or declining
compared to the prior period.

View all timekeepers at once or drill into any individual. Navigate
by week, month, or custom date range. Every number is computed in real
time from your actual data.

This is the report that makes weekly partner meetings take five
minutes instead of thirty.

Unlimited Undo / Redo

Be kind, rewind. TimeNet Law 6 lets you create, edit and delete with
zero anxiety. Accidentally trashed something? Bring it back. Dragged a
few meetings around and don’t like the new schedule? Snap them back into
original place. Unlimited undo and redo across your entire database,
right from Launchpad.

Even view a history of events and bring back something you deleted
ten actions ago. Rewind has you covered.

Try that in a browser-based app.

The Full TimeNet Law 6 Feature List

TimeNet Law 6 ships with more new features and improvements than any
previous version. Here’s what’s in the box:

Launchpad

Completely redesigned main window with Day, Week, and Month views
Firm Health sidebar with clickable metrics
Needs Attention system that surfaces problems automatically
Live timer with one-click start from anywhere
Pinned Matters for instant access to your most active cases
Recent Matters list with configurable depth
Unlimited Undo/Redo with the new Rewind system
Per-user Launchpad settings (visible metrics, day view hours, and more)

Launchbar and Voice Command

Universal keyboard shortcut (Option+Space) from any window
Natural language parsing with fuzzy client/matter matching
13+ commands with more coming
Voice Command powered by Apple’s on-device dictation engine
Quick Capture for ultra-fast entry creation

A Real Mobile App

Your law firm, now in your pocket
Native Swift codebase, not a web app wrapped in chrome
Fully featured to run your law firm on the go
iPhone and iPad specific views, layouts and design

Search and Navigation

SmartSearch with unified client/matter fuzzy matching
Keyboard-driven matter targeting
Redesigned Reports menu with better organization and recent reports

Calendar and Scheduling

Two-way Apple Calendar sync (native EventKit integration)
Click to add entries from any view in Launchpad
Drag to reschedule entries
Double-click to edit from any calendar view

Reports

New Performance Report (utilization, realization, collection, trend analysis)
New Referral Source Report
New Matter Status Report with customizable statuses
Practice Area Report now shows “No Practice Area Set” entries
Massive performance improvements on large databases across all reports

Clients and Matters

Completely redesigned Client Info window
New Matter Status system (assign, customize, filter, report)
Bulk Import from spreadsheet or natural language (from napkin to invoice in 10 seconds)
Timekeepers can now have weekly billable goal targets

Invoicing and Billing

All new PDF engine with improved layout, performance, and features
Customizable invoice header labels
Generated invoices automatically save in each matter’s Document Library
Fixed percentage discount calculations (now correctly applies to included entries only)
Massively improved Word document template merging with smart fields
Late fee bug fixes

Documents

Document Library now prominent in sidebar and main window
Major bug fixes (search, subfolders, dragging)
File tags and reminders system improvements
Invoices auto-filed per matter

Transaction Ledgers

Working balance column (disables when not sorting by date)
Anomaly detection highlights potential duplicates and common issues
Improved delete behavior with scroll state preservation

Accounting and Payments

Look up and apply payments with Launchbar
Performance improvements for large clients in Payment Center
Fixed an issue with open matter windows not refreshing after applying a payment

Settings and Preferences

Massively improved Preferences UI
Per-user Launchpad configuration
Network configuration and data location shortcut in App Settings

Under the Hood

Improved database writing with fallback and smart retry for stability
Time entry streaks and stats (logging time should feel good)
In-app contact window crash fixed
Numerous stability and performance improvements

TimeNet Law 6: A Labor of Love, Continued

Legal billing software in 2026 is a cesspool.

The big names keep raising prices. They keep getting acquired. They
keep feeding your client data to advertising networks and AI models. And
the software itself keeps getting worse. More bloated. More confusing.
More dependent on an internet connection just to log a phone call.

TimeNet Law 6 is the opposite of all of that.

It’s faster. It’s simpler. It’s smarter. Your data stays on your Mac.
The person who built it still answers the phone. And now it has a
command line, voice recognition, a daily dashboard, and performance
analytics that would make a BigLaw managing partner jealous.

All under the same simple business model that has existed for 22
years.

Same owner. Same mission. The best just got a lot better.

Try TimeNet Law 6 Free

Read the Full Release Notes

TimeNet Law is legal billing and practice management software
built exclusively for Mac. Local-first. Privacy-first. No cloud
required. No data harvesting. Ever.

Mac for Lawyers TimeNet Law

Why I’ve Used a Mac for 30+ Years (And Why You Should Too)

Post author By Perry
Post date March 13, 2026

“Pray.”

– Wired Magazine cover, June 1997

That was it. One word. Apple’s rainbow logo wrapped in barbed wire.

The article inside was titled “101 Ways to Save Apple.” Michael Dell told reporters he’d “shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.” Steve Jobs would later say Apple was 90 days from bankruptcy.

I was writing code on a Macintosh Performa 6200 at the time. Everyone told me I was an idiot. “Apple’s dead.” “Switch to Windows before it’s too late.” “You’ll never find work as a Mac developer.”

Twenty-nine years later, Apple is the most valuable company in the world. And I’m still building software on a Mac.

Why I Never Left

It wasn’t loyalty. It wasn’t stubbornness. It was simple: the Mac let me do better work.

As a developer, I need a machine that gets out of my way. No driver conflicts. No registry corruption. No mystery processes eating my CPU. Just me and my code.

When I built TimeNet Law, I made a deliberate choice: Mac only. Not because I’m lazy. Because after 30+ years of watching attorneys struggle with Windows machines, I knew the truth:

The attorneys who use Macs have fewer problems. Period.

Why Lawyers Should Want a Mac

I’ve spent decades building software for attorneys. Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Security Isn’t Optional Anymore

Law firms are targets. Client data, case strategies, privileged communications: hackers want all of it. macOS was built on Unix, with security baked into the architecture. It’s not bolted on as an afterthought.

2. It Just Works (Still)

That old Apple slogan? Still true. I don’t spend my days troubleshooting TimeNet Law crashes caused by Windows updates. My users don’t call me because their antivirus flagged legal billing software as malware. The Mac ecosystem is predictable, stable, and professional.

3. Privacy by Design

Apple’s business model is selling hardware, not your data. They’ve built privacy into everything, from on-device processing to app sandboxing. For attorneys handling confidential client information, that matters.

4. Longevity

My users run TimeNet Law on Macs that are 8, 10, even 12 years old. Try that with a Windows laptop. Apple silicon has only made this better. M1 machines from 2020 still feel fast in 2026.

5. The Ecosystem

iPhone, iPad, Mac: they talk to each other seamlessly. Copy on your phone, paste on your Mac. Answer calls from your desktop. AirDrop files in seconds. For attorneys who are always moving, this isn’t convenience. It’s competitive advantage.

“But Macs Are Expensive”

Are they?

Calculate the cost of a Windows laptop over 5 years: the machine itself, the antivirus subscription, the IT support calls, the productivity lost to updates and crashes, the replacement when it dies at year 3.

Now calculate a Mac over 5 years. Or 7. Or 10.

The Mac isn’t expensive. It’s economical, if you think beyond the sticker price.

The Bet I Made in 1997

When everyone said Apple was finished, I kept coding on my Performa. When everyone said “real business software” had to run on Windows, I built TimeNet Law for Mac.

That bet paid off. Not because I got lucky, because I understood something the critics didn’t:

The best tools attract the best users.

Attorneys who choose Macs aren’t making a fashion statement. They’re making a business decision. They want reliability over troubleshooting. Security over crossed fingers. Tools that help them practice law instead of fighting their computers.

That’s who I build software for.

That’s who TimeNet Law is for.

Ready to run your practice on a machine that works as hard as you do?

Learn why Mac is the right choice for your law firm →

Mac for Lawyers

Why Mac-First Matters: A Guide for Mac-Using Attorneys

Post author By Perry
Post date March 10, 2026

You didn’t buy a Mac by accident.

You chose it because you value thoughtful design. Because you wanted something that works reliably, looks beautiful, and doesn’t fight you every step of the way.

So why would you settle for billing software that treats your Mac like an afterthought?

The “Mac Compatible” Lie

Here’s a dirty secret of legal tech: most “Mac compatible” software isn’t Mac software at all.

It’s Windows software that technically runs on a Mac. Or it’s a web app crammed into an Electron wrapper. Or it’s a browser tab that asks you to pretend it’s a native application.

You can feel the difference immediately:

The lag when you click something and wait for the interface to catch up
The battery drain from running what amounts to a Chrome browser in disguise
The alien interface that looks nothing like the rest of your Mac
The missing shortcuts, no Command-key anything, no proper menu bar, no integration with your workflow

“Mac compatible” is marketing speak for “we didn’t want to lose the sale.”

What Mac-Native Actually Means

True Mac-native software is built from the ground up for macOS. It uses Apple’s frameworks. It respects Apple’s design language. It feels like it belongs on your machine.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

It’s fast. No Electron bloat. No web rendering. Native code runs at native speed.

It’s familiar. Standard Mac keyboard shortcuts. Proper menu bar. Drag and drop that works like you expect.

It integrates. Works with Spotlight, Time Machine, iCloud, and all the other Mac features you rely on.

It respects your battery. Because it’s not secretly running a web browser, your laptop doesn’t turn into a space heater.

It works offline. When your internet goes down before a court deadline (and it will), your billing software shouldn’t go down with it.

The Windows Disaster Stories

I’ve heard them all. Attorneys call me after:

Ransomware encrypted their entire Windows network, including the cloud-synced “backup” that was also connected
A Windows update rebooted mid-trial prep. Goodbye, unsaved work
Blue Screen of Death during a client presentation
The antivirus software decided the billing app was a threat and quarantined it

Mac isn’t immune to problems. But attorneys who chose Mac did so because they wanted fewer of these surprises. Then they install Windows-first software and invite the chaos back in.

What to Look for in Legal Software for Mac

If you’re evaluating billing or time tracking software, here’s your checklist:

✓ Is it actually native?

Ask directly: “Is this built with Apple’s native frameworks, or is it Electron/web-based?” If they hesitate, you have your answer.

✓ Does it work offline?

If the software requires an internet connection to function, it’s not truly yours. It’s a rental.

✓ Where does your data live?

On your Mac? On someone else’s server? Can you back it up yourself, or are you trusting a company that might get acquired next quarter?

✓ How long has it been around?

New software is exciting. Software that’s been stable for 20 years is reliable. When it comes to your billing records, I’ll take reliable.

✓ Who answers the phone?

When something goes wrong, do you get a chatbot? A ticket queue? Or the person who actually built the software?

The Real Cost of Cross-Platform Compromises

“But the features are the same!”

Sure. And a Kia has four wheels and an engine, just like a BMW. The spec sheet doesn’t capture what it feels like to use something every day.

Time adds up.

That extra half-second of lag, multiplied by thousands of interactions per year. That awkward interface that never quite clicks. The workarounds you develop because the software doesn’t work the way your Mac does.

Attorneys bill their time in six-minute increments because every minute matters. But somehow they accept software that wastes their time by design.

You Chose Your Platform. Own It.

When you bought a Mac, you made a statement about the tools you want to use. You chose quality over lowest-common-denominator. You chose an ecosystem that values user experience.

Your billing software should reflect that same choice.

Don’t accept “Mac compatible” when you can have Mac-native.

Don’t accept cloud-dependent when you can have local-first.

Don’t accept software that fights your workflow when you can have software that enhances it.

TimeNet Law: Built for Mac, By Someone Who Gets It

I started building TimeNet Law in 2003 because Mac-using attorneys had been abandoned by the industry. Twenty-two years later, I’m still here, still building native Mac software, still answering my own support line, still obsessing over the details that make software feel right.

No Electron. No browser wrappers. No subscription traps.

Just clean, native Mac software that does exactly what you need and gets out of your way.

Download the free trial and feel the difference.

P.S. If you’re currently using Windows-first software on your Mac and it’s driving you crazy, I wrote a guide on switching. Your sanity is worth more than switching costs.

Mac for Lawyers

Apple Silicon: Are M1 Macs Good for Lawyers?

Post author By Perry
Post date November 17, 2021

Apple is moving full steam ahead with their transition away from Intel and onto their own custom chips: M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max. How is the transition going, and are any of these Apple Silicon Macs a good fit for your law firm?

Let’s just get this out of the way right up front: YES, the M1 Macs are a fantastic option for your law firm – with a couple of tiny caveats. We’ll get to that in a minute.

Advantages of M1 Macs

Apple moving to their own in-house chips has brought some shocking advantages. Not only are these computers blazing fast, they are also incredibly power efficient. For laptops, that means longer lasting battery life. Way longer. Like 12 or more hours of actual heavy usage. For desktops, this means lower power costs.

The MacBook Air is an insane value right now. It has unheard of battery life, it’s incredibly fast, and it doesn’t even have a fan. You’ll appreciate that if you’re in a meeting room or on a conference call. The machine is literally dead silent.

Just how fast is the M1 MacBook Air? We’ve been using it as a main development and design machine for over a year, and it feels even faster than our iMac Pros. The only time they are slower is with high-end graphics processes. But as long as you’re not editing 4K video or rendering the next Pixar animated movie, you won’t notice or care.

Can the M1 chip do everything you need for your law firm? Absolutely. It doesn’t even break a sweat with heavy email and web browsing, editing large documents, or running billing and accounting software for Mac.

What About Compatibility?

Many people are concerned about compatibility with their existing apps. They needn’t worry. M1 Macs come with a built-in “compatibility mode” called Rosetta. It lets you run Intel applications that haven’t been optimized for M1 chips yet.

Not only do all of your Intel apps work fine with Rosetta, they are often even faster than running them on actual Intel Macs. The bottom line is everything will just work, and you won’t even notice Rosetta. Things will just feel much faster.

What About Those Caveats?

M1 Macs no longer support Boot Camp – so if you’re booting into Windows for any reason, that will no longer work. You can still run Windows using other methods, such as Parallels.

You’ll also want to check with your printer and scanner manufacturer to ensure they support M1 Macs. They absolutely should — you might have more of an issue making sure they support macOS Monterey.

And finally, if you rely on any other highly specialized and possibly out-of-date hardware or software, make sure to check with them for any compatibility concerns as well.

TimeNet Law is fully compatible with macOS Monterey and all M1 Macs.

Which M1 Should I Get?

We do not recommend the 13″ M1 MacBook Pro. It offers essentially no advantages over the 13″ MacBook Air, and the Air is cheaper, has a better keyboard configuration (with actual function keys instead of the TouchBar, which is now no longer an option in new Apple laptops), and is lighter and easier to transport.

We also do not recommend the new M1 Pro or M1 Max MacBook Pros, unless having a 14″ or 16″ screen is absolutely critical for you, or you can’t live without a built-in HDMI and/or SD Card slot. If so, then get the base M1 Pro, not the Max. The main difference there is graphics performance, so you likely won’t need it. The base M1 Pro is more than enough for all of your day-to-day tasks.

On any M1 or M1 Pro Mac, we highly recommend 32GB of RAM minimum. You may be dealing with a lot of documents and websites at once, and having the extra RAM will really make a difference. It will also help future-proof your computer, so that it remains highly usable for many years to come.

The only other thing to consider is hard drive space. 1 or 2 TB should be a great option, but you can double-check what you’re using now on your current Mac, and make sure to give yourself some extra room on top of that.

The Bottom Line

Apple’s new M1 chips are insanely great, and there’s never been a better time to switch to a Mac, or upgrade your existing Mac. The transition really is seamless. We have been incredibly impressed with performance, heat & fan noise (there’s basically none), Rosetta’s compatibility mode, and the overall quality of these new M1 Macs.

If you’re on the fence, now is the time to jump. They really are that good.

Mac for Lawyers TimeNet Law

TimeNet Law and Mac System Permissions

Post author By Perry
Post date October 21, 2021

When using TimeNet Law, you may be presented with various system permissions prompts. Here is a list of permissions TimeNet Law might ask for, and why.

Calendar, Reminders, Contacts

TimeNet Law may ask for permission to access your calendar, reminders, or contacts. Calendar and reminder access is for importing time entries from your calendar and reminders list. Contacts permission is for importing clients from your Contacts app, and for auto-filling certain name and email fields with your personal contact information (for example when sending us feedback using the in-app Feedback window).

We never share this data with anyone, and we do not ever even see it.

Notifications

TimeNet Law may ask for permission to show notifications on your Mac. This is to allow notifications to appear to remind you of tasks and events that you’ve tagged with a reminder.

File Access

TimeNet Law handles document management for your law firm. By default, all client documents are stored inside the TimeNet Law database. If you opt to use a custom location for a client’s files (such as a folder on your desktop, etc.), TimeNet Law may ask for permission to access files on your hard drive.

We can never see these files. Only the TimeNet Law application itself, installed on your computer, has access to them.

TimeNet Law Privacy Policy

TimeNet Law stores your data locally on your computer, and optionally on any cloud service you choose to sync with (Dropbox, iCloud, etc). Your data is encrypted, so even once stored on a cloud service, only the TimeNet Law application itself can read your data, with your optional password.

TimeNet Law never sends your data anywhere. Not to us, and not to any third parties. We have no access to your data, period.

If you ever send your database to us for technical support reasons, your data is never looked at, and is only used for as long as needed to identify and resolve your issue. Once completed, your data is immediately and securely erased from our office and our email servers.

We will never share your contact information or email address with anyone. If you sign up for our newsletter, you can immediately unsubscribe yourself at any time.

We cannot — nor would we want to — ever lock you out of your software. You can always open the application and access your data. Even on the newest version with an expired license, you can still access all of your data.

We process payments using Stripe — an industry-standard, extremely secure credit card processing service.

If you ever have any questions about your privacy with TimeNet Law, please let us know. We’ll be happy to assist.