The hidden cost of workarounds: how legacy practice management systems are quietly holding your law firm back
Managing director at Tessaract Mike Hinchcliffe explores the impact of workarounds, caused by fragmented processes and siloed information, on a law firms’ efficiency, ambitions and morale
A workaround is a temporary fix to a process that’s been used by permanent staff for years — it’s when three systems, two spreadsheets and a very patient person do the job of one piece of software.
Workarounds always start with good intentions. A spreadsheet here. A manual process there. A workaround to compensate for a system that no longer fits (or never fitted!) the way the firm works.
Over time, those workarounds become embedded. Fee earners spend more time on administration than they realise: re-entering information, chasing approvals, switching between systems. Back-office teams duplicate effort because data cannot flow cleanly between finance, matters and compliance.
None of this shows up as a single line item on a balance sheet, appearing instead as reduced billable capacity, slower billing cycles and rising overheads. Profitability is not destroyed overnight; it is quietly diluted.
Administrative drag demotivates teams and accelerates churn
Outdated systems and heavy admin do more than waste time — they wear people down.
Fee earners become frustrated by processes that feel harder than they should be. Support teams are stuck maintaining manual fixes instead of adding strategic value. New starters take longer to become productive because knowledge lives in people’s heads and spreadsheets rather than in systems.
Modern practice management software (PMS) removes this friction, simplifying workflows, reducing repetitive tasks and creating firm-wide consistency. This not only improves productivity, but also morale: people stay motivated when systems support their work instead of slowing it down.
Siloed data means leadership is flying blind
On-premise and legacy systems struggle to integrate with modern tools. As a result, data becomes fragmented across multiple platforms and manual processes.
When information is siloed, reporting becomes slow, retrospective and unreliable. Leaders are forced to make decisions based on partial views of the business rather than real-time insight. Questions about profitability, capacity or performance take days to answer, if they can be answered at all.
This lack of visibility is not just inconvenient. It limits a firm’s ability to respond quickly to change, manage risk effectively and invest with confidence.
Workarounds quietly cap ambition
Perhaps the most damaging impact of all is how legacy systems and workarounds shape behaviour.
Firms become cautious. Not because opportunities are lacking, but because the operational foundation does not feel strong enough to support them. New practice areas feel risky. Alternative pricing models feel complex. Flexible working arrangements feel harder to manage. Growth becomes something to control rather than pursue.
Over time, ambition shrinks to fit the system, instead of the system evolving to support ambition.
Why sticking with your legacy system is no longer a neutral choice
In 2026, sticking with an on-premise PMS is not simply maintaining the status quo. It is actively falling behind.
As competitors invest in cloud-based, integrated platforms, they gain efficiency, insight and flexibility. They move faster, price smarter and scale with greater confidence. Firms that rely on workarounds are left reacting, patching and compensating.
The cost is not just operational. It is strategic.
How Tessaract helps firms break free from workarounds
Tessaract was built to replace complexity with clarity. As a cloud-native PMS designed for ambitious mid-sized law firms, it brings matters, finance, compliance and performance data together in one connected system.
By removing the need for manual fixes and disconnected tools, Tessaract helps firms:
- Reduce administrative burden across the business
- Improve staff experience and speed up onboarding
- Gain real-time visibility into profitability and performance
- Build an operational foundation that supports growth, not caution
This is not about replacing one system with another. It is about removing the hidden constraints that are quietly holding the firm back.
Now is the time to move on from workarounds
The longer workarounds remain in place, the more they shape how the firm operates and what it believes is possible. Breaking free requires a deliberate decision to invest in systems that support the firm you want to become, not the one you have outgrown.
If your firm is still relying on on-premise or legacy practice management software and years of workarounds, Tessaract can help you move forward with confidence.
Discover how Tessaract can modernise your operations and unlock your firm’s next stage of growth.
