Crain's CHICAGO Business names Smokeball A Best place to Work for second consecutive year. Oct 22, 2026, 08:05 ET This Recognition marks the second consecutive year Smokeball has been honored for its people-first workplace culture by Crain's Business. CHICAGO, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Smokeball, the industry-leading AI legal practice management software, has been named one of Crain's Chicago Business' 2026 Best Places to Work. The annual recognition celebrates Chicago-area employers that foster exceptional workplace cultures, based in part on employee feedback. At Smokeball, that honor begins with its people and supporting a global team that cares strongly about powering lawyers doing deeply human work for their clients. "This recognition is a reflection of the people behind Smokeball and the community we've built together," said Ruchie Chadha, President of Smokeball US. "Our culture is defined by people who care deeply about one another, collaborate generously, and show up every day for the law firms we serve. That kind of culture doesn't happen by accident. It's intentional, and it's what I'm most proud of." Smokeball's Chicago team is part of a global organization with offices in Chicago, Sydney, and London. The company's culture is rooted in collaboration, curiosity, and a shared commitment to powering people-law, helping law firms spend less time on administrative work and more time supporting the people who rely on them. The team works as a community, shares openly, and approaches challenges with the care and ambition required to support legal professionals through the work that matters most. The 2026 recognition builds on Smokeball's inclusion in Crain's Chicago Business' Best Places to Work list in 2025 and underscores the company's continued investment in its people as it grows its presence in the U.S., Australia and the U.K. For media inquiries or to schedule executive interviews: Nina Walker, [email protected] About Smokeball Smokeball is powering people-law. Operating globally from our headquarters in Sydney, with offices in Chicago and London, Smokeball is the leader in legal AI and practice management software, serving more than 7,000 law firms and 34,000 users worldwide. Our technology, such as Archie, our AI matter assistant and our library of 20,000+ automated legal forms that help you cut legal drafting time by up to 87% - is built around you. By automating time tracking, document creation, billing, case management and other administrative work, our platform gives legal professionals more time and headspace to focus on what matters most: their clients and communities. Founded in 2012 by legal technology experts Hunter Steele, Jane Oxley and Bart Vadala, Smokeball is the industry standard in people-law. SOURCE Smokeball, Inc.

Notaron becomes the first online notary platform available to Smokeball users. Oct 21, 2026 New integration lets law firms manage online notarizations from inside a Smokeball matter - with live, state-commissioned notaries available 24/7 and completed documents returned to the file automatically San Jose, United States, October 22, 2026 - Notaron, a Remote Online Notarization (RON) platform serving legal, real estate, title, and mortgage professionals nationwide, today announced its integration with Smokeball, the legal practice management platform used by thousands of small and mid-sized law firms. Notaron is the first online notary platform available to Smokeball users, giving firms a way to manage client notarizations from inside the matter they are working on. The integration removes one of the most common bottlenecks in a law practice: scheduling a notary. Instead of booking an appointment, driving a client to a bank, or waiting until the next business day, a firm can send the signer to Notaron, connect them with a live commissioned notary in under 10 minutes, and track the session from the Smokeball matter. When the session ends, the finished documents are filed back into Smokeball. With the Notaron integration, Smokeball users can: * Manage every notarization from the matter. See which sessions are pending, in progress, or complete, tied to the client and matter they belong to. * Schedule a live notary on demand, 24/7. Notaron's nationwide network of state-commissioned online notaries is available nights, weekends, and the evening before a filing deadline, with no appointment required. * Keep the file complete. The notarized documents, the audio-video recording reference, and Notaron's proof certificate for the session are saved back to the Smokeball matter automatically. * Bill the way the firm already bills. Firms can bill a notarization to the client directly or to the matter. Every session is conducted over secure audio-video with identity verification, a tamper-evident digital seal, and a full audit trail, and documents notarized through Notaron are available nationwide. Pricing starts at $25 per notarization, with no setup fee for firms. "Law firms live inside their practice management software, and for years notarization has been the one step that happened somewhere else and had to be chased down afterward," said Adam Babish, Founder and CEO of Notaron. "Being the first online notary platform available to Smokeball users means a firm can get a client in front of a live notary in minutes and manage the whole thing from the matter. The client signs from wherever they are, and the finished documents land exactly where the firm expects to find them." Babish, who has spent more than 20 years in escrow, notary, and mortgage operations, founded Notaron to bring on-demand online notarization to the professionals who depend on it most. "We're excited to welcome Notaron to the Smokeball partner ecosystem," said Derek Barthel, Product Partnerships Manager at Smokeball. "Our clients run their entire practice from the matter, and notarization was one of the few steps that still sent them somewhere else. This integration gives them a simple way to handle notarizations without leaving their matter, with a live notary available whenever the client is ready and the signed documents waiting in the file when it's done." Built for the way small firms work Smokeball is legal practice management software built for small and mid-sized law firms. Every email, document, task, and note lives on the matter, and the platform's automatic time tracking captures billable work in the background so attorneys can focus on the client rather than the timesheet. Document automation turns the firm's own templates into completed court forms and client documents in minutes, and integrated billing turns that work into invoices without re-entering a thing. The Notaron integration extends that matter-centered approach to notarization. A firm that already drafts, tracks, and bills from Smokeball can now manage the notarization of those same documents from the same place, with the completed, notarized versions filed back to the matter alongside everything else the firm has done for the client. [Smokeball to confirm product claims and add any figures or recent milestones it wants included.] Availability The Notaron integration is available to Smokeball users today in US markets. Firms can connect Notaron from within Notaron's integrations or learn more at notaron.com/integrations/smokeball. There is no setup fee, and volume pricing is available for firms with recurring notarization needs. Firms that do not use Smokeball can still use Notaron directly. Any law firm can open an account, send clients to a live notary on demand, and manage its notarizations from Notaron's own dashboard, with the same 24/7 availability, nationwide coverage, and per-matter billing options. Learn more about Online notarization for law firms. About Notaron Notaron is a Remote Online Notarization (RON) platform that connects signers with live, state-commissioned online notaries on demand, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Built by a team with more than 20 years in escrow, notary, and mortgage operations, Notaron serves law firms, title and escrow companies, mortgage lenders, and real estate professionals nationwide, as well as individuals who need a document notarized online. Notaron is MISMO compliant, supports hybrid closings, and issues a proof certificate for every completed session. Learn more at notaron.com. About Smokeball Smokeball is cloud-based legal practice management software built for small and mid-sized law firms. The first and only practice management platform that automatically records attorneys' time and activity, Smokeball brings matter management, document automation with thousands of legal forms, email and calendar integration, billing, and trust accounting into a single system so firms can run a more organized, productive, and profitable practice. Founded by legal technology veterans and headquartered in Chicago with offices in Australia, Smokeball serves firms across the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit smokeball.com. Contact Info: Name: Adam Babish Email: Send Email Organization: Notaron Website: https://notaron.com/ Release ID: 89206952 In the event of detecting errors, concerns, or irregularities in the content shared in this press release that require attention or if there is a need for a press release takedown, Daily Sports Club kindly request that you inform Daily Sports Club promptly by contacting [email protected] (it is important to note that this email is the authorized channel for such matters, sending multiple emails to multiple addresses does not necessarily help expedite your request). Its dedicated team will promptly address your feedback within 8 hours and take necessary actions to resolve any identified issues diligently or guide you through the removal process. Providing accurate and dependable information is its utmost priority.