Makase Law and Filevine: built for different practices.
Filevine is a serious platform with genuinely deep litigation tooling and an ambitious AI product. For most firms, the choice between it and Makase will be settled by practice type long before the feature comparison begins.
Last reviewed
This comparison is published by Makase and reflects our reading of Filevine's official website as of August 2026. Where we could not verify something, we say so rather than guessing. Product capabilities change frequently. Verify current details on filevine.com. Filevine and LOIS are trademarks of their owners, and Makase is not affiliated with or endorsed by Filevine.
Filevine pairs case and project management with LOIS, its legal AI, and offers deep litigation-specific tooling. Makase Law is a connected operating system for relationship-driven firms of roughly 1 to 20 attorneys, with intelligence scoped to operational coordination rather than casework.
Side by side
| Dimension | Makase Law | Filevine |
|---|---|---|
| Category | An AI-powered operating system connecting intake, matters, tasks, documents, communication, time, billing, reporting, and follow-up for the whole firm. | A legal work platform combining case and project management with legal AI, positioned by Filevine around AI that runs the firm and works across every matter. |
| Practice orientation | Relationship-driven practices, initially trust and estate, private client, probate, and similar long-horizon work. | Named products including court reporting, medical chronologies, and depositions, and showcased customer stories that centre on litigation practice. |
| Firm size focus | Approximately 1 to 20 attorneys. | Marketed to legal teams broadly. Filevine does not publish explicit firm-size tiers in the way some competitors do. |
| AI approach | Tretis Intelligence is scoped to operational coordination across connected firm information, with human review before anything reaches a client. | LOIS is described as legal AI that reads, writes, and executes real casework across every matter, with named features including AI Data Mapping and ValidationAI. |
| Financial operations | Time, billing, invoicing, collections, and reporting connected to matter activity and configured to the firm's fee arrangements. | A dedicated time tracking, billing, and payments platform area, with timekeeping branded as Timely by Filevine and integrations including QuickBooks, Soluno, SurePoint, Orion, and NetSuite. |
| Integrations | Designed to work closely with Google Workspace tools, connected during implementation. | Native and partner integrations spanning litigation support, records retrieval, postage, telephony, and Microsoft Teams. Google Workspace integrations were not named on the pages we reviewed. |
| Getting started | Guided implementation: discovery, workflow mapping, configuration, migration, role-based training, staged rollout, and ongoing refinement. | We could not verify a published onboarding, migration, or training program during our review. Ask Filevine directly about what is included. |
| Specialist tooling | Focused on the operational spine of the firm rather than litigation-specific instruments. | Substantial litigation-specific tooling, including medical chronologies and court reporting, that Makase does not attempt to replicate. |
An AI-powered operating system connecting intake, matters, tasks, documents, communication, time, billing, reporting, and follow-up for the whole firm.
A legal work platform combining case and project management with legal AI, positioned by Filevine around AI that runs the firm and works across every matter.
Relationship-driven practices, initially trust and estate, private client, probate, and similar long-horizon work.
Named products including court reporting, medical chronologies, and depositions, and showcased customer stories that centre on litigation practice.
Approximately 1 to 20 attorneys.
Marketed to legal teams broadly. Filevine does not publish explicit firm-size tiers in the way some competitors do.
Tretis Intelligence is scoped to operational coordination across connected firm information, with human review before anything reaches a client.
LOIS is described as legal AI that reads, writes, and executes real casework across every matter, with named features including AI Data Mapping and ValidationAI.
Time, billing, invoicing, collections, and reporting connected to matter activity and configured to the firm's fee arrangements.
A dedicated time tracking, billing, and payments platform area, with timekeeping branded as Timely by Filevine and integrations including QuickBooks, Soluno, SurePoint, Orion, and NetSuite.
Designed to work closely with Google Workspace tools, connected during implementation.
Native and partner integrations spanning litigation support, records retrieval, postage, telephony, and Microsoft Teams. Google Workspace integrations were not named on the pages we reviewed.
Guided implementation: discovery, workflow mapping, configuration, migration, role-based training, staged rollout, and ongoing refinement.
We could not verify a published onboarding, migration, or training program during our review. Ask Filevine directly about what is included.
Focused on the operational spine of the firm rather than litigation-specific instruments.
Substantial litigation-specific tooling, including medical chronologies and court reporting, that Makase does not attempt to replicate.
Where the two genuinely overlap
Both are attempting to be the system a firm runs on, with AI built in rather than bolted alongside. The disagreement is about which firm and which work.
Matter management
Both organize work around the matter and the people responsible for it.
Time and billing
Both connect the work performed to invoicing and payment.
Documents
Both treat document organization as core rather than peripheral.
Embedded AI
Both build intelligence into the platform rather than selling it separately.
Workflow visibility
Both aim to make progress visible without assembling it by hand.
Integrations
Both connect to financial and operational systems the firm already uses.
Which is likely to suit your firm
Filevine is likely the better fit when
- Litigation is the centre of the practice
- Medical chronologies, court reporting, or depositions are recurring needs
- High-volume document and record handling is a core workflow
- AI applied to substantive casework is the primary interest
- The firm's environment is Microsoft-centred
- Litigation-support integrations matter more than office-suite integrations
Makase Law is likely the better fit when
- The practice is relationship-driven rather than litigation-driven
- Trust and estate, private client, or probate work is central
- The firm has roughly 1 to 20 attorneys
- Coordination, follow-up, and long-horizon client relationships are the bottleneck
- The firm runs on Google Workspace and intends to keep it
- Guided implementation around the firm's own workflows is valued
Questions about Makase Law and Filevine
- Is Makase a Filevine alternative?
- They can appear on the same shortlist, but they are built around different practices. Filevine's named products, including court reporting, medical chronologies, and depositions, point clearly toward litigation work. Makase Law is built around relationship-driven firms, initially trust and estate practices, of roughly 1 to 20 attorneys.
- What is LOIS?
- LOIS is Filevine's legal AI, described by Filevine as working across every matter, reading, writing, and executing real casework. Filevine also names AI features such as AI Data Mapping and ValidationAI. Review Filevine's own pages for the specific capabilities currently offered.
- How is Tretis different from LOIS?
- Tretis Intelligence is scoped deliberately to operations rather than casework: understanding activity, summarizing matters, surfacing work needing attention, supporting follow-up, and preparing routine communication for human review. Attorneys retain responsibility for legal judgment and final review.
- Which is better for litigation firms?
- Firms whose work centres on litigation should look carefully at Filevine. Its feature set, including medical chronologies, court reporting, and depositions, is built for that work, and Makase does not attempt to compete on litigation-specific tooling.
- Does Filevine integrate with Google Workspace?
- Filevine publishes native and partner integrations including Microsoft Teams and a range of litigation-support and back-office tools. On the pages we reviewed in August 2026 we did not find Google Workspace integrations named. Firms that depend on Google Workspace should confirm this directly with Filevine.
- How does implementation compare?
- Makase delivers a guided implementation covering discovery, workflow mapping, configuration, migration, role-based training, and ongoing refinement. We could not verify a published onboarding or migration program on Filevine's site during our review, which is not evidence that one does not exist. Ask Filevine directly.
- Can we compare pricing?
- We do not publish comparative pricing. Request current pricing from each vendor for your seat count, modules, and implementation scope.
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The practice Makase Law was built alongside.
Find out quickly whether Makase fits.
If your practice is litigation-first we will say so. If it is relationship-first, we will show you exactly how your matters would run.