CARET Legal Reviews 12

Our experience with Caret Legal has been extremely disappointing.

The system is clunky, unreliable, and far more complicated than advertised. Instead of improving efficiency, it has slowed our team down and created constant workflow disruptions. We have lost significant time and money trying to make it work.

Support and follow-through have not matched what was promised during the sales and onboarding process. Problems take too long to resolve, and commitments have not been met.

After investing substantial resources, we regret choosing Caret Legal and cannot recommend it to other firms.

Do your homework and speak with current users before committing — we wish we had.

Abacus used to be great. This Caret company has been the worst. Numerous calls to cancel our subscription and when you do reach someone, you receive vague responses. The Attorney never agreed to an automatic renewal. We found a better product and told them so and requested a cancellation. Ignored for several months. Then in August, 2025 was told we were unable to cancel until our contract expired in Feb 2026 and we had to fill out a cancellation form 60 days prior. We requested the form nurmerous times. On Dec 8, 2025 we got through to an incompetent customer service representive who kept putting us on hold. He now claims we are up for renewal in May 2026 and the he found duplicate accounts. I demanded a supervisor and would not connect me to one. He kept putting me on hold and repeated "in checking, your contract expires in May 2026. The very next day, we received an email from a different representative saying they were sorry to hear that we wanted to cancel and to fill out the form that he included in the email before the 60 days renewal in May, 2026. I returned his email with a copy of the email he sent us in August 2025 with the Feb 2026 expiration date. They are doing everything they can to rope people in for their monthly fees. Every negative review we have seen they reply to the complaint that they are working on it. We reported them to the Better Business Bureau. Hopefully, they will cancel our contract asap.

Crashes constantly. Unreliable and unrefined calendaring feature. Ugly graphics and interface. Generally lacking in user-friendliness. Go with Clio.

We have had Caret about 2 years and it regularly breaks. When it does, it slows Outlook to a crawl or makes it crash. For the 1st year we felt like we were beta testing it because so many features did not work. When you read or send an email Caret can pop up a time entry screen, which would be Great if it worked. I think it does now, but when we first got the program, we realized the pop-up appeared & closed after the time was recorded, but the time never showed in Caret's timekeeper. It just didn't record it. We have have various other problems, but email is the biggest.
Caret's customer support is beyond Useless. They don't respond timely & always claim the issue has been elevated to someone smarter. When an issue is fixed, no notice is received. The user has to keep trying to see if it's still broken. I wish we didn't have Caret, but not enough to incur the cost & stress of switching.

STAY AWAY!
Abacus used to be great. This Caret company has been the worst. Response time from reps is nearly nonexistent. It took me THREE MONTHS to get someone to call me for basic pre-sale information. I signed up for the free trial and then my rep went on vacation before setting up my account. By the time they were back, my trial period was over, and I was locked in for a year. Once I finally had everything set up, it turned out to be a vastly inferior product with most of the automatic categorizing and linking of data that the old Abacus provided, now requiring manual linking (emails, contacts, etc.).
After a few months I provided them notice that I wanted my subscription cancelled at the end of my subscription year. And, in keeping with all the other customer service and application failures, my subscription was just automatically renewed for another year anyway. Now, after contacting them three times to correct the issue and cancel the renewal, and waiting a week for them to get back to me, I have not heard from anyone.

I will no longer TRUST this company as I did in the past - certainly when it was DBA “Zola Suite.” Their current “2.3” rating does not surprise me at all. They recently wouldn’t let me terminate (i.e., not renew) an online service I (a solo attorney) simply no longer need (Note: You cannot simply, and instantly, terminate the service when you are logged in. They clearly want to make this process extremely difficult.). I requested the termination several days in advance of the renewal date, but they claim sixty (60) days’ advance notice is needed. This is not a real estate lease, folks! Also: The renewal (yearly) price - compared to my then existing Zola Suite cost - increased by about $400. So, I’m left with an approximate $1,000 credit card charge for something I will not use over the next year. I could try a chargeback, I guess. Sad. Buyer beware!

Each time I have an issue it takes weeks to resolve. When you call to follow up on an issue you are constantly told that "they are working on it". I have had to call and email for updates they do not ever reach out to you. I am currently on hold right now for an issue I submitted at the beginning of July. I've called 3 times today only to be placed on hold with no resolution. I asked to speak to the supervisor Joreen but she refuses to speak to me and the problem is still ongoing. Literally the worse system ever. Outside of this the system freezes constantly and gives error messages that a function cannot be completed when in fact it has. The software is not at all user friendly. Every time they make an update it just gets worse. Save your money and your time and find something else.

We started Caret Legal (formerly Zola Suite) in Feb 2023. We had major problems, most of which were never resolved from day one and after almost 2 years we decided to switch software companies. Although the contract we signed was for 1 year we are stuck in a contract for 3 years because after one year it is an auto renewal which is not listed in their contract. Customer service is horrible and major problems with the platform. Do not trust this software will help your company. It will only take your money and time.

If you’re considering Abacus Cloud (Caret Legal) for your law firm or business, run the other way. This company operates with predatory pricing practices, locks you into contracts with hidden fees, and provides abysmal tech support that makes even the simplest issues a nightmare to resolve.

Tech Support is a Joke – Getting a response from their support team feels like yelling into the void. When they do respond, it’s either a generic answer that doesn’t address your issue or an endless cycle of useless troubleshooting that leads nowhere. If your firm relies on uptime and efficiency, this service will cost you billable hours.

Shady Billing & Contracts – Once you’re locked in, good luck getting out. They’ll nickel-and-dime you with hidden fees, auto-renew contracts without clear notice, and make cancellation as painful as possible. If you try to leave, they hold your data hostage behind an absurd paywall.

Clunky & Outdated Software – For a company claiming to offer modern cloud solutions, their software feels clunky, unintuitive, and prone to glitches. Expect constant issues with syncing, random logouts, and slow performance that disrupts workflow.

Not Worth the Price – Given all the headaches, the price is outright insulting. There are better, more transparent legal practice management tools that won’t trap you in a financial and operational disaster.

Save yourself the stress and go with a company that actually respects its customers. Abacus Cloud (Caret Legal) is an expensive mistake.

Let me tell you, dealing with Caret Legal Cloud Service has been an absolute nightmare. If I could give them zero stars, I would. Their "cloud service" feels more like a black hole where my money disappears and my sanity slowly evaporates. Especially for a legal cloud service, you'd expect a higher level of integrity and professionalism, but Caret Legal Cloud Service delivers the exact opposite.

First, their tech support is an absolute joke. I've contacted them multiple times with legitimate issues – from server downtime (which is unacceptable for a legal practice relying on their service) to inexplicable data loss (a critical issue for legal documents) – and each time I'm met with a wall of incompetence. Their "support team" seems to be comprised of individuals who have a vague understanding of technology at best. Expect to be put on hold for extended periods, only to be transferred to someone else who knows even less than the last person. They'll ask you to try the same basic troubleshooting steps over and over again, even after you've explicitly told them you've already done so. It's like talking to a brick wall, except the brick wall is slightly more responsive. For a legal cloud service, you'd expect specialized support who understands the sensitivity and importance of legal data. Forget it.

But the truly insidious part is their predatory pricing and their blatant disregard for their own contract terms. They lure you in with seemingly competitive rates, but then hit you with hidden fees and "unexpected" charges that balloon your bill to an astronomical figure. Try to question these charges, and you'll be met with vague explanations and convoluted terms and conditions that are clearly designed to confuse and discourage you. It feels like they're actively trying to nickel and dime you at every turn. It's not just bad service; it's daylight robbery. This kind of financial uncertainty is the last thing a legal practice needs.

And don't even get me started on their contract shenanigans. My contract clearly states that to opt out, I need to notify them within 30 days of the contract's end date. Crystal clear. Yet, when I tried to do exactly that, they conveniently "misplaced" my original contract and suddenly claimed their policy requires a 60-day notice. Sixty days! They literally changed the terms of the contract after I signed it! It's utterly unethical and demonstrates a shocking level of dishonesty, especially for a company dealing with sensitive legal information. They're banking on customers not keeping meticulous records, hoping they can get away with these shady tactics. This is particularly concerning given the importance of contract adherence in the legal field.

I'm convinced that Caret Legal Cloud Service's business model is based on trapping customers in a cycle of frustration, overcharging, and outright deception. They clearly don't care about providing a quality service or building a positive customer relationship. All they care about is extracting as much money as possible from their unsuspecting victims, even if it means bending (or breaking) their own rules.

Zola has several technological failures and no recourse to correct preexisting issues or issues that come up. They also do not care to fix issues when they are notified because they are paid on an annual basis. They like to be paid, and not serve their customers. If your business relies on software similar to this, I would highly recommend you do not rely on Zola or their employees to be of any help. The program is deeply flawed and no resolutions are in sight.

Too many options. Could they have made it a little simpler?