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If software as a service (SaaS) is the future of law practice management software, it is good to see another option in the category. LawRD was developed by Portugese SaaS company muchBeta, and is a real contender for top honors—although it must still mature.

Like the competition (Rocket Matter and Clio), LawRD is a matter-based law practice management application that works anywhere you have a web browser (including your phone). You can associate contacts, notes, timekeeping records, and expenses, and use tags to create other relationships between contacts.

LawRD has some features the competition lacks, such as smart, preset billing configurations, always-present contextual help, and a great interface. RD stands for Reports on Demand, and LawRD excels at providing helpful, good-looking reports for all aspects of your law practice, from productivity to profitability.

But for all that, LawRD’s best feature may be its price. Unlike Rocket Matter and Clio, LawRD has a realistic pricing structure, just $20 per user, a third of the others.

All that said, LawRD has some drawbacks. For one, the website is slow. (Maybe the servers are in Portugal, for all I know, but at the moment, I can’t even load the main page.) It also feels—even more than the competition—like a work in progress. While the timekeeping features are top-notch, LawRD does not yet handle billing, tagging is quite limited, and it does not sync with any mobile devices.

Overall, though, I was quite impressed with LawRD. It is competent law practice management software wrapped in an impressive package. It may not be perfect right now, but it is very usable, and shows great potential.

Just don’t try to pronounce the name. The developer who gave us a tour made it sound like “lard.”

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