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Practice Management Software Face-Off 2005

1. cece cece eee e eee ee eeeneeees 84 What are the 3 main weaknesses of the product ccceee cece eens 85 What are the 3 main strengths of the product ccc cece eee eee eens 86 AMICUS ALIOFNeY SUMMA arreir k Ena r a NE 88 What versions of the product are available ccc cccc cece sence eee eeees 88 What does Amicus Attorney COSt ccc cccce cece cess eee seeeeeeeseneeesaeaes 92 What types of practice is the product Suited tO c cece cece eee eee eees 95 Implementation issues can you install it yourself ccc eee eee ees 96 How long does it take for people to get up to speed on it 98 How customizable is the Product ccc cece cece cece eee ee eeeeeeeessenneees 99 What kind of ongoing Support dO YOU need ccc ccce cece ee eeee ee eeeeees 99 What are the 3 main weaknesses of the product ccceeeeeeeees 100 What are the 3 main strengths of the product c ccc ce cece eee 100 Selecting and Implementing Practice Management Software 101 SUMM ary cavecsdsssteccssustnceceustewestomsats seus cewessuestesssuecdessssesvananaseustenssees 102 Each line above is a hot link that takes you to the related section in the electronic version of this document Web addresses throughout are active links to sites on the Internet 2005 Wells H Anderson Dave Bilinsky Dan Pinnington and Natalie Thornwell Product names a
2. Document Archived Records reviewed B Event Active Records 2 Notes records and B Event Archived Recods ma Mal ocuee Renae the Phone record just received E Mail Archived Records EJ EMail Active Records Goodrich Estate alue of certificates of deposits f ASB PAl1 72003 842A 1 IRS w Freedman eport from wells Fargo RSB redar 200a 8 45AM ASM 1 15 2004 11 15AM EEE Double clicking on records found by the Search brings up separate windows File Edit 2 Goodrich Estate al Arthur Patent H save amp Close Matter Archived Records Billing Active Records Billing Archived Records E Doe Jane Contact Archived Records Document Active Records D Event Active Records BH Cow Event Archived A d l Tn eee spoke with Jane Doe about the CDs purchased at the Palm Springs CA branch of Wells Fargo Wie w E Mail Archived Record Y 1bf2003 EJ EMail Active Records EMail Archived Regt reedman z B Note Form View File Edit Wiew Process Help ae oe ee Hi Save amp Close H Save iP x Delete fy aj EF ial Be A 1 Date PAm A 4 Tue Tine C em J 4 Code Description Sally Deborah Anthony Gale 5 Eugene Hopkins i Wvells Fargo s Jane Doe provided a statement that the funds in the George Freedman accoun Mary Public L 2065074331 on 6 2 2001 Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 Neither of the two Notes suggests any basis for a conflict of interest so Robert calls the prospective c
3. 3 Time Matters 5 0 Tutor C Active Practice LLC Inbox Inbox Sle File Edit View Calendar Database Mail Billing Report Search Window Process Help 12 FS ee Daily Contacts Matters Phone ToDo s AddDoc AddEve AddNot AddPho AddTod Alerts Personal Inbox Options Ner EA Change Ea Delete Qa Reply es Reply All pO Forward FA a ial ij le i EA Folders l ta Th Email All Subject Date Time amp Inbox 2 I i Signed Fee Agreement 1719 2004 10 00AM Outbox Test of attachment 11 20 2003 5 02PM Sent terns Documents for review 872772003 12 25PH Deleted Items Meeting tomorow aver 2003 12 29PM Draft Archive P Spam From AAH Subject Signed Fee Agreement Robert Sake View Attached please find the fee agreement that we have signed scanned and digitally signed Please let me know if you are ayallable for a meeting with two of our scientists on Thursday morning 1 29 2004 Fred Sherman I T Cm tutor RSB ASE zarak 171972004 Alerted by an optional sound or flashing icon that he has new Email Robert Brown opens his Personal Inbox by clicking the Inbox icon on the toolbar An Email has arrived with an attachment regarding a Signed Fee Agreement Robert can scan the contents of the Email message in the Preview Pane below the list of Emails It is important so he double clicks on the Email to open it Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 47 Ey Time Matters Email File Edit Wie Process Help
4. Now click on the word OFFICE in M e Edt Amicus Tools OFFICE Help at the upper left of the Office module This will bring down a menu as follows Office Inning ottune File Edit Amicus Tools Help Femote Update Go Online Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 33 Now click on Open Tutorial Office You will see a further pull down menu as follows Open a tutorial office Blank Database Calendar Basics Tutorial Commenter Tutorial Files Tutorial Tutorial with Sample Data onea Click on Tutorial with Sample Data and click Open Now your office on the screen will match the rest of this paper and you will be able to follow this demonstration exactly on your computer Let s go back to our task at hand We need to send a confirmation letter to our new client How can you do this quickly and efficiently First click on the Contacts button on the toolbar This opens your list of contacts Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 34 Bobby Donnell s Contacts Tools Showing All 81 Contacts Name CompanyName Phone Group Clark M Admiral Philip J Agrarian Mathew Alladin Amicus Attore Amie Becker Jimmy Berhati Gary Berwood Jonathon Bittle Bonnie B Black Harold Blank Maude Blank Ronald Blatchford Douglas Brackman Admiral Heating 532 555 9354 Agranan Billman amp Ca 555 6398 1 312 555 0708 Gavel amp Gown Softwa 1 416
5. Amicus Attorney Practice management software should give you the big picture the 50 000 foot view on your practice and firm Here are Amicus Attorney s ways of doing this First we start with the Dailies There are two screens to the Dailies the first is Today s Practice Reminders that sums up What s Going on Today Here is what it looks like Bobby Donnell s Dailies File Edit Amicus Tools DAILIES Help Today s Practice Reminders Sunday October 24 2004 Wats Going on Today Today s Practice ede Double click any item for details Today s Overview You have unread phone messages You have no appointments or deadlines today Firm Mews Warming You have spent more than 12 hours on Alladin Purchase Legal News You have not posted any time entries to accounting since Wednesday October 70 7004 There are unposted time entries for Monday October 25 2004 and 7 other days in your list Top News Stones There 1 a lot of time that has not been posted Not only does this create the risk of time being missed we er by your accounting system but also it will unduly slow down your Amicus Attorney Time Sheets If you are not using Amicus Attorney s ability to send time electronically to accounting you should still post it Golf using the Manual Entry posting format Ho time entries have been recorded for January 2 5 6 7 8 9 12 13 14 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 26 27 28 29 amp 30 2004 and February 2
6. have more that 21 items on today s To Do list The warning number can be designed by you the idea is to prevent your To Do list from growing to an unmanageable size This allows you to prevent your To Do list from becoming a parking lot of good intentions 2 Files Check Remind me about business development if haven t opened a new File in X in this case 21 days Sometimes you can get so caught up in working on current files that you lose touch with the fact that you need to continually add new files to the hopper This is a marketing prompt Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 68 3 Time Sheets Remind me about Time Entries This prompts you to keep your time entries current by not allowing business days to go by without any billable time entries and to post your time entries into the accounting system You can explore the remaining tabs in this screen to customize any of the other modules of Amicus Attorney Let us return to keeping a 50 000 ft view on your practice and firm The Dailies allows you to look at you own day but the Group Calendar function allows you to get a quick overview into everyone else s calendar appointments Click on the Calendar icon in the toolbar You will see Bobby Donnell s Calendar File Edit Amicus Tools CALENDAR Help Mon Tuesday October 26 2004 gt Wied T W wi z5 FO 30 z 4 5 6 10 Earlier 12 13 17 l 19 20 24 a 07 E 27 xmm Berwood vs Wr
7. Database Workstation Software Palm Synchronization Outlook Synchronization Organizer Edition 1 Fairlom Included Thick client Amicus Attorney V Advanced Client Server Edition 1 45 File share Fairlom Included Thick client vf Apii pec edition en bend 1 of eo 12 Lt P Editian 4 100 Cheni Server Fairlom Client Server included Thick client W Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 Amicus Attorney X Standard Premium Edition Edition 2 45 2 2 000 Chent Server nat recommended for installation on a alngle computer or Clienti S errer not recommended for Installation on a single computer or DeSr to peer peer to peer network retword MSDE included MSDE lt 4 included Microsoft SQL jicenssd separately Browser IE Browser lE W W W PDA synch via Outlook Security Access Profiles amp Record Restnciions Custom Fields per file type Custom Fields for Contact People Custom Records Custom Layouts Shared Resources for scheduling Notes module Search module Team info on contacts ODBC Suppor Many to many relationships Firm Directory Addresses per contact Time Zone support Document Management Auto updating Geting Started Guide User Guede Administrator Guide Free Warranty Period 20 days afer shipment or 5 service incidents whichever comes fret 3 Incidents It Only one user ls Ecensed Practice Manag
8. In the Document Form Allison chooses a Code that best describes the type of document CORR for Correspondence She enters the amount of time to be billed to the client for the document then types a descriptive file name that Time Matters will use when it saves the document to disk ey Billing Item Form Add File Edit View Process Help While on the Document record click the E Savet Close fl Save lt gt 1 A Delete Billing icon It automatically fills in everything except for a detailed Description of the work done ane Do me Time Code DOC PREP Document Preparation of Phase i Staff ASB Robert 5 Brown Description nitial meeting letter to Client Total Dur J StatTme sd tf Charge Status Billable Jr Bill Date 171972004 3 Mon Mema Billing Details Allison records a time record for preparation of the letter to the client Task 2 Amicus Attorney So you have had your first meeting with the new client You need to send a confirmation letter to the client confirming as Abe Lincoln said that they have a lawyer and you have a client For the rest of this paper you can follow along on your computer in Amicus Attorney version V by launching Amicus Attorney and clicking on the Office button Omics on the toolbar This launches the office module you should see Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 32 office BRHORKBYVAOR File Edit Amicus Tools OFFICE Help
9. specialties These features can be imported into Time Matters for example to change fields set up options merge information into form documents categorize contacts and matters produce docket systems See the Time Matters Store under Categories Feature Packages for available products www timematters com store Program Level and User Level Setup Time Matters allows you a wide range of choices that may be applied to the entire system or individually for specific users Because different groups of users handle different kinds of work within Time Matters it is important to set up button bars lists reports and other options that support each group of users be Program Level Setup General Lists Forms Billing Links Audit Regional Update Sync Keyword E mall Lexis Default Program wersion Program Seres ER EET Siig t ree Property Fie legal rs Mather Label hd atter Program Level Setup Lists and Quick Tabs Record lists in Time Matters can be reconfigured to Show the information you need to see Different lists may be designed for different purposes and users showing only records that meet given criteria Contacts COO Fie fa Resore View Al Clients Courts Experts Potential Vendors ASB Last First Firm E Redmond Carl State of Florida 305 555 5257 Reed Leonard Reed Electronics 305 555 9926 Sanders Gloria 919 555 6565 AWET Laurie 305 5565 0792 Shah Rudy Shah
10. 3 4 5 6 9 10 11 12 13 16 17 18 19 20 23 24 25 26 amp 27 2004 and March 1 2 3 4 5 8 9 10 11 12 15 16 17 18 19 22 23 24 25 26 29 30 amp 31 2004 and April 1 2 5 6 7 8 12 13 14 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 26 27 28 29 amp 30 2004 and May 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 17 18 19 20 21 25 26 27 28 amp 31 2004 and June 1 2 3 4 7 8 9 10 11 14 15 16 17 18 21 22 23 24 25 28 29 amp 30 2004 and July 2 5 7 8 9 12 16 19 20 21 23 27 28 29 amp 30 2004 and August 3 4 5 6 9 10 11 13 16 17 18 20 23 25 26 2f amp 31 2004 and September 1 2 3 8 9 10 13 14 15 16 17 20 21 22 23 24 27 28 29 amp 30 2004 and October 1 amp 4 2004 Be sure you do not forget to record your time for these days If these days were vacation and illness recording that will ensure more accurate statistics Personalize J The Dailies quickly gives you a summary of your day phone messages that you have not opened and read upcoming appointments and deadlines from your calendar and To Do list and of things that need doing such as posting unposted time to your accounting system It also tells you when you have forgotten or neglected to make any billable time entries for any business days It will also tell you that you have hit a billable time ceiling on any files for which you designated such a limit thereby warning you that a discussion with your c
11. Billing Rate Billable Normal Default Rate Achvith code Activity Description Meat with chent discussed new claim discussed legal basis for claim timing of litigation and possiblities of settlement prior to tral discussed need for retainer and amount and need to refresh from time to time as accounts are rendered generated retainer letter and agreement review and signature and forwarding same to client Delete 4 Ey Cancel Entered at 11 194M Jan 18 In this case have filled in the details of the meeting and what was discussed as well as the details of the retainer and refreshment of same also entered the time that this took 1 5 hours another method to do this would be to start a timer within Amicus at the start of the meeting and use the timer to generate a Time Entry Once you click OK the time entry is entered into your time sheet in Amicus To confirm that this has TIHE occurred click on _ in the toolbar You should see your daily time sheet with the Bailey time entry as Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 43 follows Bobby Donnell s Time Sheets Fie Edt Amicus Toos TIMESHEETS Help Search j Unposted Honthly Today 7 Duration Fie o 1 50 Baily re Kipling miscellaneous 7 50 Billable Sorted by time of entry 0 00 Non billable 1 50 Total Hours Notice a few things while we are here First your time is accumulated and tabulated as
12. Edit View Process Help Date Time Client and Matter H Savet Close H save O x gDocument is auto assigned to a Matter J folder within a Client folder Dae 171972004 A Mon Time Tam 000 a Code becin J d CS SSS Regarding File Name Document Form The Document Form has already filled in the Date Time Client and Matter Name and a filepath the folder and subfolder where the document will be stored When Robert fills in a descriptive name in the Description field Time Matters will complete the File Name Robert clicks Save amp Close to save the Document Form and the document file to disk Returning to the client s Email message Robert now opens the attachment and reviews it No action is required on the agreement so Robert deletes the attachment knowing he already linked it to the matter and saved it Before replying to the request for a meeting contained in the Email Robert opens up the MegaTech Patent matter to check its status Matter Form Change File Edit View Process Help ie Save amp Close H Save x Delete Primary Secondary Additional Custom Related Notes ees Phone Email hd ail web Biling Timeline aR KatherRlef MegaTech Patent Code PAT Patent k Watter o 02 1435 6 Court w a Clicking on the Timeline tab of a Matter i cee are shows all the dated information in the ge eaa lee M ZOU EULELS nE system regarding a Matter listed from oldest to newest
13. Management The popular WORLDOX document management system ENTERPRISE DOCLIMENT MAMACER integrates with Amicus Attorney Medical Record Retrieval Online integration with RapidRetrieve by MediConnect net RAPID PGETRIEVE allows for easy online medical record retrieval Click here to learn more about the integration Writs of Execution and Property Searches Online integration with BAR eX Search services for users in Ontario Canada e BAR eX Property Search using POLARIS e WritSearch by name or by number e OWL Ontario Writs Locator Click here to learn more about the integration How long does it take for people to get up to speed on it Amicus Attorney s graphical interface and ease of use results in a very flat learning curve A few hours is all that it would take to grasp the core functionality of Amicus Attorney that being the Calendar the Time Sheet the CommCenter and and the File modules Customization work such as implementing your letterhead format for merge features with Amicus Attorney and your Word Processor will take some understanding of how the program works would not recommend jumping into this until you have worked with Amicus a little while However this is not difficult am just not recommending that you try to do everything at once After all it is easier to swallow an elephant if you do it a little bit at a time Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 98 How cus
14. The time that you invest in installing a software package Amicus Attorney or any other system can be better put to lawyering Furthermore if you were to run into a technical glitch after all computer hardware and software can be finicky the time you spend can be many more times the cost if a kKnowledgably person was used happen to be fortunate there is a certified Amicus Attorney consultant in my area who is rumoured to walk on water at least that is what everyone says after they use her you can find an Amicus Certified consultant in your area by going to Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 96 http www amicusattorney com consultants index asp She also has her credentials with PCLaw which may also explain why have so many lawyers in my area who are happy with the combination of Amicus Attorney and PCLaw Accordingly recommend that you use an Amicus Attorney certified consultant to set up any third party software links and any customization for yOu In terms of links with third party applications Amicus Attorney will work with the following products Court Docketing Automatically schedule your court dockets according to State and Federal court rules By licensing CompuLaw s court i engine for use with Amicus Attorney you can schedule Compulaw hundreds of related dates in just seconds All the appropriate Eai deadlines are instantly entered on your calendar and in your client s file Order your copy of Co
15. To opr een ing pe i Dns Poo Fours viry Beu ly Dypp core eee eee eee PA Daibh eeeamnmemn mm ARTALHFR To Connell Young Erant amp tale La Jines Baliy baratar recatc and drist ou Lo rape eek yh in a aaa oF Fits se REN F ua tating at Eo citt HRR Scr igre yT I Taie 2 ght eet ee e oe Scr Feces ery poper amd eo enp loy u BETTE Pein EUS eerie Eu tore ide feted imt DATES tne leat faily You can create an unlimited set of precedents that can be merged from within Amicus Attorney using Notepad if you wish or Word or WordPerfect merge or Hot Docs with either Word or WordPerfect or by using Amicus Assembly an add on product that is a full featured document assembly Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 38 application Ghostfill is the document generation engine adapted to work with Amicus Attorney Here is the same letter and agreement if you had generated it in Word merge format a Tr Sae ba Cato Dailies DSHS i sav HORe8Mtm Q RR Mad GASB Normal Wide Wide Latin 16 Blz u lS Ste Eee 2 A NV MAA FinalShowingMarkup Showy OP UP XP Qe to 0 Oe OC Sage Dish amp Thomas W Baily Retainer Letter doc Read Only Microsoft Word Na i Lor v N J File Edit View Insert Format Tools Table Amicus Assembly Window Help Adobe PDF Acrok Tce r E l NGAA ID ES Y Y September 24 1298 Ms Janet Baily 124 Moore Averm
16. at moving to one of the law office specific practice management products Practice management programs are more than fancy calendars with collections of e mails and addresses They have evolved into complex practice management systems that contain in one database almost all the information you need to run your law practice When used properly a case management program unifies all the data about a client potential client or matter into a single point of reference What this means for the practitioner is the ability to draw relations between events and information gathered over long periods of time by matter documents or people and bring them to bear on a particular issue or matter in an instant For example Time Matters uses the metaphor of a time line From the time line tab on a particular matter the entire history of a particular matter can be viewed The time line displays all billing email notes phone calls documents created documents scanned legal research events and to dos open and completed showing the state of these items who did the work how long it took and when it was done See Task 3 at page 49 for the Timeline Other information pertaining to a matter or contact can be viewed through the related tab Amicus Attorney presents all matter information using the metaphor of a traditional paper based calendar and contact book You can easily see this from the screenshots of Amicus Attorney throughout the paper
17. baad hennas saree AA aE D ran 47 Task 3 Amicus Attorney ccccce cece cece seen cesses eeeteeseeeetageneetegeeneneas 52 Task 4 Start a NEW Day siiiiieiiiscescsesensissuswacssnscemisuceseeevesweeiewseneewens 61 A lawyer s routine to start the day reviewing deadlines limitations communications ANG LO 00 S i 2s iwadiseisianeeasnianes a aaa 61 ask Wie Matei S eorr ntn ANAN TENO 61 Calendars in Time Matters ccccccecccseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseueesteneeteeueenegeegs 62 Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 2 The Day File a Personal Hot LISt ccccccseeeeeeeeeeteeeeeeeeueeseags 64 Alerts Reminders and Watches cccccceceeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeneneeseneegs 64 Keeping on Track during the Day with Time Matters cece eee 65 Task A AMICUS AllOINGY aenta AE AAEREN 66 SUMMary OF TNE Products ssisreineien naaa 74 Te Maters SUIMMGANL ana E E 74 What versions of the product are available sessssurererrernrerrrrerrrnne 74 What does Time Matters COSC ccccc cece cece eee e eens eee eeeneeeeseeneeesanaes 77 What types of practice is the product Suited tO cc cee cee cece e ener ees 78 Implementation issues can you install it yourself cece eee 80 How long does it take for people to get up to speed on it 82 How customizable is the Product ccc cece cece cece eee ee eeeeeeeessenneees 82 What kind of Ongoing Support dO you need
18. fH Save amp Cos TP X lt Delete Q4 Reply Repl All CQ Forward Gy 42 9 Bi Date 1 19 2004 Mon Time 10 00am dl aA Coe Subject Signed Fee Agreement Staff ASB Robert Brown Regarding MegaTech Computers Inc ere Megalech Patent am The Client and Matter fill in automatically because ss Te the sender s Email address was entered in the es Reminders Matter earlier iew Bilable F Click on the Attachment button to open it E f Read pt Priority C7 E Message Attachments 1 N Robert Attached please find the fee agreement that we hawe signed scanned and digitally signed Please let me know if pou are available for a meeting with two of our scientists on Thursday moming 17297 2004 Time Matters Email message Because the sender s Email address matches the Email address entered in the MegaTech Patent matter the client name and matter name are filled in automatically by Time Maters Robert clicks on the Attachments button to bring up a list of attachments E Message Attachments 1 EA Open H Save fH TM Save Delete File Mame Patent Fee greement doc Attachment List The Attachment list appears with options to Open Save TM Save or Delete Robert clicks the TM Save button to bring up a Document Form used to link the document to a matter and to save it Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 48 S Document Form Add Document Form automatically fills in the File
19. for the inclusion of live hypertext links or interactive spreadsheets In our jurisdiction we are now filing land transfer documents electronically in PDF format and we are already filing documents in the Corporate registry electronically The greater utility of electronic communications reflects how lawyers are operating in an increasingly digital environment and how our systems and applications have to adapt accordingly So let s start with email Amicus Attorney works well with Outlook sharing emails contacts calendar appointments and to do s bi directionally In our office we use Outlook fortunately since Amicus sits on top of Outlook this allows everyone in the office to use Outlook while use Amicus allowing me to fully integrate with them and them with me but giving me access to all the additional features and functionality available in Amicus Attorney but not in Outlook In a very real sense have much greater functionality than they do due to the fact that Outlook is contact centric but Amicus Attorney is file centric and lawyers work from files not contacts Where do emails go in Amicus They come into the Communications module Let us click on the ComCenter button on the toolbar oie Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 52 Bobby Donnells ComCenter File Edit Amicus Tools COMCENTER Help Se SE d i Outstanding q Today Search PPR oo er Fe Wessages a
20. information on a particular Amicus B Attorney Client or File Click here to learn more about the link with Juris TABS III The integration with TABS III allows time entries to be TABS iii passed to TABS III and it allows both systems to share client and matter details Other Accounting System Options Along with the Dynamic and Enhanced Links Amicus Attorney also works with the following accounting programs Brief Accounting Cognito Dexco Elite ESI Law Laserform Legal Accounts LegalPRO SoloPRO Lagalmaster Legal Vision Canterbury Lighthouse Manac Quicken Quill Solace Accounting Solace Millennium SOS Practice Manager and Verdict If you don t see your accounting system in the list you can still have it work with Amicus Attorney If your accounting system has the ability to import then you can create a template in Amicus Attorney that will allow you to post your time entries to your accounting system Implementation issues can you install it yourself In every case but one have installed Amicus Attorney myself advanced and client server In most of these cases have taken advantage of Amicus Attorney telephone and email Support why not it is free to you with every new purchase and upgrade However believe that lawyer time Should be spend on what lawyers do best lawyering and we should leave the technology and implementation issues to those who do this work best
21. needs to be purchased and updated Time Matters Professional runs on a shared network hard drive on Microsoft and other networks or peer to peer on an available PC Solo Practitioners A solo can take the law practice along anywhere in a laptop Over the Internet or back at the office the attorney can synchronize everything for the purpose of sharing with assistants and backup Multiple Office Firms Time Matters can synchronize multiple locations including lawyers home offices using one of several approaches For larger firms SQL databases can update each other regularly For smaller firms Time Matters synchronization keeps far flung offices and laptops up to date Very Large Firms Running on Microsoft SQL Server Time Matters handles hundreds of users in one or multiple locations With World Server the firm can host the main Time Matters database on its own Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 78 premises and also make it available subject to strong security over the Web Practice Areas Time Matters includes customizations for the following gt Bankruptcy VV VV VV VV VV WV Construction Law Corporate Elder Law Employment Estate Planning Insurance Defense Intellectual Property Personal Injury Real Estate Tax Law Transactional gt Workers Compensation Many other practice areas may be served using the customization features that require no programming Links to Other Products Time Matters
22. new Notes module in Version X that is free form allowing you to jot down something and then go back and convert it to a To Do an appointment a time entry etc This will replace all the sticky notes that you have on your monitor 6 You can design custom pages unlimited in the Platinum edition as well as having increasing customization with the addition of many new custom fields in existing parts of Amicus Attorney 7 There are custom records in Amicus Attorney for information that you need collated and totaled if numbers are important such as spend on medical legal reports 8 Searching within Amicus Attorney has been enhanced 9 Scheduling within the Calendar module has been enhanced such as having Amicus Attorney automatically remind a client by email the day before an appointment 10 Document management features have been enhanced by the addition of Microsoft s Indexing Service and the CommCenter now includes letters and faxes with your emails and telephone calls and messages 11 The Contacts Module is now the People Module and you can include all your staff as people on the file with associated roles and responsibilities You can attach a photograph to everyone in your People Module allowing you to associate a face with a name 12 The Time Tracking and Accounting Links have been enhanced easing the creation of links with accounting systems using the new wizard and the tracking of exp
23. questions and answers are posted The AIC Support Forum available through the Time Matters Service Center the TechnoLawyer Community and the Time Matters Elder Law Listserver are constant sources of information about how to make better use of the program and how to adapt it to particular legal tasks and specialties An active network of consultants assists firms with planning installation data conversion training and follow up support They produce learning materials and feature packages available through Time Matters and they volunteer answers regularly in the forums Some have organized local user meetings with presentations and open discussions among Time Matters enthusiasts Knowledgeable users consultants and experts at DATA TXT contribute to the resources in the Time Matters Service Center It offers white papers and a Knowledge Base that cover narrow topics in depth Perhaps the best aspect of the community is the way that Time Matters people share and help each other If you are new to Time Matters and have the opportunity to visit another firm that has the product be prepared for an enthusiastic tour If you call Tech Support expect a call back within two hours from someone who really Knows how to help you If you ask a question in a forum expect multiple answers without waiting long The company has experienced increasing sales every year right through the technology recession so expect the community to continue its strong
24. the College of Law Practice Management the Finance Chair of the Law Practice Management Section of the ABA and a member of the National Executive for the Law Practice Management amp Technology Section for the Canadian Bar Association Dave is a past Co Chair of ABA TECHSHOW the founder and current chair of The Pacific Legal Technology Conference and a member of the Technology For Lawyers Conference Advisory Board Dave is an international lecturer in legal technology having presented in China across the US and Canada including the Yukon and over the Internet for such organizations as the All China Lawyers Association the American Bar Association ABA LEGALTECH Toronto NYC and LA the Canadian Bar Association Nationally BC Alberta and Ontario Colorado Bar Association Canadian Corporate Counsel Association the Continuing Legal Educational Society of British Columbia District of Columbia Bar the Ontario Bar Association SKLESI the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia the Washington State Bar Association and others He combines his law math computer science degrees and subsequent MBA in focusing on practice management issues emphasizing strategic planning finance productivity and career satisfaction issues for lawyers Dave has contributed to several books including Barristers amp Solicitors in Practice Butterworths Flying Solo a Survival Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 4 Guide for the Sol
25. to have the same name If you don t find Jane Doe then you know that no one in your firm has dealt with anyone of that name Having determined that Jane Doe is someone to whom you can speak you click on the telephone icon next to Jane Doe s telephone number Ela 6 987 6543 This opens the telephone message dialogue box and if you have Amicus Telephone Pro installed it will dial the number for you as well You should see Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 26 Hew Phone Call Tow G paebe A File Phone 48 a16 587 6543 wher Fa Tod 2 23PM foomo E Spoke Show Calls A co Callback Reminder Print Memo Do a Time Entry Delete R Lancel In this box you can see the Call Summary area where you can record the notes of your telephone conversation There are several reasons for doing this The first and foremost is to have a permanent record of this call within AA This allows you to click on Lewes to bring up the notes of all past telephone calls with Jane Doe while you are still making small talk with her on the line This is a very useful way to quickly come up to speed without having to go on a hunt for Jane s file This allows you to always appear to be on top of things whenever a client or another lawyer calls The second reason would be that AA is most useful when as much information is stored within it as possible such as the record of all past conve
26. will disappear A couple of things one we have indicated that a reminder is to be sent to the Contact ie Jane Doe to automatically send an email to Jane Doe the day before the appointment to remind her of the appointment with you You could also have clicked on the Assigned button to schedule this appointment with your associate to attend the meeting if you wished One matter remains making a time and billing entry for all of this Notice that the telephone call dialogue box is still open and contains the button 7 Do a Time E l a dallua Click on this button You will see a time entry dialogue box open as follows Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 28 Time Entry Details Fi Entered at 14 56PM Oct 24 In this case have created a new file for Jane Doe and entered this info into the Matter field The billable time entry will be complete when you click on OK Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 29 Task 2 Send a Letter Use document assembly to generate an initial client meeting confirmation letter to the new client and docket the time This is another basic function that is performed in law offices hundreds of times everyday Lawyers and law office staff soend much of their time generating documents Anything that will allow them to do this more efficiently should be welcomed with open arms Most practice management software now includes advanced document assembly and automation functio
27. you make time entries during the day Secondly the time Sheet keeps tab on your billable and non billable time during the day allowing you to have real time feedback on how you are doing in terms of meeting your minimum billable time entry requirements Bu there is more click on the Statistics tab MEAE in the timesheet at the upper right hand side You will see a summary of how you are doing from a time billing Standpoint that is kept up to the minute Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 44 Bobby Donnell s Time Sheets File Edit Amicus Tools TIME SHEETS Help Unposted Monthly i Include Unposted Time Actual Billable Actual Non billable Actual Total Billable Hours Goal Hours Remaining to Reach Goal Percentage Achieved To date Projected Hours at Current Pace Percentage that would be of Goal This Week 1 50 105 142 38 90 105 144 Search This Month Statistics This Year 1547 00 1674 60 1813 00 266 00 85 334 1850 343 102 064 TIME Last Year This Date 1712 00 1712 00 0 00 1712 00 100 004 This Year Goals Last Year 4ctuals Billable Hours Total 1813 1712 Hor billable Hours Total 147 164 Average Billable Hours per Month 151 08 142 67 Average Billable Hours per Week 37 00 35 67 40 working days remaining to you Avg Billable Hra per Business Day 40 13 this year Vacation Days 10 12 6 65 Current average billable
28. your practice management information through the Web It has a nearly identical interface and the same core functionality as the Time Matters desktop application and they work together The World Server browser version shares your practice Management database in real time with your desktop version of Time Matters What does Time Matters cost New Customers Version 6 0 Add t GLK User s Ea Time Matters Professional 200 Enterprise SQL 400 Billing Matters Professional 200 Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 77 Enterprise SQL 700 400 Time Matters Billing Matters Bundle Professional 525 300 Enterprise SQL 1050 600 World Server Level 1 Server 1 50 Users Non Distributed Database Non Distributed World eve 1 500 400 Level 2 Server 1 150 Users Distributed Database Non Distributed World Server 4 500 400 Level 3 Server 1 500 Users Distributed Database Distributed World Server 9 500 400 Level 4 Server 1 2000 Users Distributed Database Distributed World Server Fault Tolerant Cluster 19 500 400 See the Time Matters website www timematters com sales for details and the latest information mation What types of practice is the product suited to Time Matters is suited to law firms and departments of all sizes gt Small Firms Time Matters handles a variety of practice specialties in one application to serve each practitioner in the firm No separate database software
29. 03 Staff RSBiRobert S Brown Ge Ea Ge Close 0 50 Meet with Staff to prepare for hearing 1 00 Meet with client Brubaker Bankruptcy 02 1113 1 1 50 Meeting with clie 3 50 File an appeal 2 00 Meet to go over trial strategy 1 00 Staff Meeting 8 00 Notice of Hearin Florida v Sanders 03 1231 1 1 00 Signing of Irrevo 3 10 Draft Notice of 0 60 Notify all 3 sons of upcoming meeting 0 70 Send Notice of l 225 File Schedules a Goodrich Estate 03 1593 1 2 60 Send Interrogatd C trw5 tutor RSB RSE 11 09AM 172072004 Timesheet The Timesheet is another option for entering time records using the Time Matters Billing Matters combination It shows five days of time records for one timekeeper together with daily totals Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 51 Task 3 Amicus Attorney While the earlier section of this paper had us generate a letter and retainer agreement to be mailed to a client personally find that am generating hardly any hard copy documents today My world has become increasingly electronic and am continually exchanging communications by email Documents are exchanged in PDF format Adobe Acrobat s Portable Document Format rather than on paper or in Word or WordPerfect format indicating that the people with whom communicate largely have become electronic rather than paper oriented Indeed even the papers for this conference are not printed but rather burned into a CD ROM which allows
30. 4 5 20 pm RE Progress on Berwood v Wright From Anne Neighbor Tue Oct 267 04 5 59 pr RE Deposition Date From Jim Cooperman Fri Oct 15 04 6 07 pr RE Information required Personalize J Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 67 As you can see this view provides you with a detailed overview of today s Appointments Outstanding To Do s Outstanding Phone Messages and E Mails This view allows you to start visualizing your day and how to set and attack your priorities These are the default views however The Dailies can be customized by clicking on the Personalize button on Preferences Preferences ae Office Calendar EA Contacts Files x Time Sheets E Library i Dailies m ComCenter Today s Practice Reminders Dailies Pages m Calendar Wam me itl have more than eal terns on today s To Do list Warr me ita To Do has been on ry list for more thari 24 days m Files Remove a File from the Active list if there has been no activity for 30 days Remind me about business development if haven t opened a new File in a days Remind me about blank Full Matter or Client Names Time Sheets i Remind me about Time Entries Library Remind me about Unshelved Library Materials Defaults OF Cancel Here you can customize The Dailies and other aspects of Amicus Attorney by using the other tabs Let us overview what have found are the more important items 1 Calendar Warn me if
31. 977 6633 House of Grant Brown amp Co Beatty amp Perrin 1 613 555 8844 1 313 555 9499 Ext 312 555 6585 Gavel amp Gown Law Firm 1 416 977 6633 Donnell Young Fruth 1 555 8800 Bernwood Construction 1 212 555 9999 Kitchen Stuff Galore Blank Industries R T Industries Ltd McKenzie Brackman Municipal Tax Office City of Boston The Mega Bank 1 541 555 8875 1 715 555 9628 1 312 555 4949 312 555 4949 312 555 9598 Ext 345 1 212 555 1286 1 416 555 5999 1 617 555 8844 1 225 555 3342 Est Clients Lawyers Personal Op Clients Clients Suppliers Prospects Lawyers Opposing L Lawyers Opposing L Internal Clients Parties Other Personal Clients Clients Clients Lawyers Parties Municipal Offices Judges Clients Contact Date 01 19 2004 01 19 2004 O1 401 2004 12 02 2003 1202 2003 01 19 2004 01 19 2004 01 19 2004 1172972002 01 16 2001 11 10 2003 01 19 2004 01 16 2004 01 12 2004 01 12 2004 1 333 555 7634 Parties wi ill For this example double Click on Janet Baily or highlight her and click Open You should see Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 35 Bobby Donnell s Contacts CONTACTS Help File Edit Amicus Tools Clark bi Admiral Philip J Agrarian Mathew Alladin Amicus Attore Janet Baily David Barrett Samuel Beatty Amie Becker Jimmy Berluti Gary Bernyood Jonathon Bittle Bonnie
32. Able v State of Florida 23 Billable 1119 2003 Conference with chent Goodrich Estate JOU Billable 111972003 Preparation of documents Goodrich Estate UU Billable 11 19 2003 Prepare estate planning documents Goodrich Estate dU Billable 11719 2003 Meet with 3 eons to discuss will Goodrich E state OU Billable 11 18 2003 Conference regarding estate planning pre Estate Plan UU Billable B22572003 Meet with Jeremy Baird investigator Able v State of Florida Fillable Ll Billable Hours 126 21 Non Billable Hours 2 00 Wo Charge Hours 1 50 Total Hours Billable Expenses 0 00 Mon Billable Expenses 0 00 No Charge Expenses 0 00 Total Expenses Quick Item View a Spreadsheet for Time and Expense Entry Quick Item window is available when Billing Matters is activated with Time Matters It resembles a spreadsheet for entering time and expense records This window supports the rapid entry of time records For example by Starting to type the name MegaTech the rest of the first matching name appears highlighted in blue after the cursor The Quick Item view also shows total hours and expenses for items entered in the list Time Matters 5 0 Tutor C Active Practice LLC Timesheet SE i File View Calendar Database Mail Billing Report Search Window Help 6 x BTS GESES AGE Inbox Daily Contacts Matters Phone ToDo s AddDoc AddEve AddNot AddPho AddTod Alerts Conflict Day File Date 4 03 20
33. B Black Harold Blank Maude Blank Ronald Blatchford Douglas Brackman City Treasurer s Office Whipper Cone Jim M Cooperman Tanya Cooperman lt Showing All 1 Contacts Company Name Group 532 555 9354 n55 6398 1 312 555 0708 Gavel amp Gown Softwa 1 416 977 6633 House of Grant 1 613 555 2844 Brown amp Co 1 313 565 9499 Ext Beatty amp Perrin 312 555 6585 Gavel amp Gown Law Firm 1 416 977 6633 Donnell Young Frutt 1 555 8800 Benwood Construction 1 212 555 9999 1 6417 555 8875 1 715 555 9628 1 312 555 4949 312 555 4949 312 555 9598 Ext 345 1 212 555 1 286 1 416 555 5999 1 617 555 8844 1 225 555 3342 Ext 1 3331 555 7634 L Admiral Heating Agrarian Billman amp Ca Kitchen Stuff Galore Blank Industries A T Industries Ltd McKenzie Brackman Municipal Tax Office City of Boston The Mega Bank Clients Lawyers Personal Op Clients Clients Suppliers Chents Prospects Lawyers pposing Lawyers Opposing L Internal Clients Parties Other Personal Clients Clients Clients Lawyers Parties Municipal Offices Judges Clients Parties Contact Date 10 26 2004 10 26 2004 10 08 2004 09 08 2004 09 08 2004 10 26 2004 10 26 2004 10 26 2004 03 08 2003 10 25 2001 031 2004 10 26 2004 10 25 2004 1071972004 1071972004 he E APIOPAIPHU INH UM MOP OAS Uw xy ZI EF Open ma Mess
34. Books TM Save Scanning Tabs3 TM Insider Timeslips WinFax PRO Word amp WordPerfect TM Connect TM Open Exchange Server Sync Send To Excel Send to Word WORLDDOX PCLaw 32 bit version release 3 20 or later must be installed on each workstation where you will link to Time Matters 6 0 Professional Edition or Enterprise 6 0 PCLaw Data Link version 4 17 or later must be installed to see PCLaw Balances PCLaw Data Link version 4 17 or later must be installed to see PCLaw Balances and PCLaw Totals on the Billing tab of a Time Matters Contact or Matter form PCLaw must be installed and fully operational on each Workstation where you want to link to Time Matters The real time link requires QuickBooks 2002 or later Pro Premier or Enterprise QuickBooks Server an optional part of the Time Matters application and offered at no additional charge may be used for workstations without QuickBooks installed or by organizations requiring more than five users accessing the QuickBooks Company File Microsoft Word 97 2000 XP 2003 Excel XP and 2003 PowerPoint XP and 2003 Adobe Acrobat 5 0 6 0 or WordPerfect 7 8 9 10 11 12 required Direct TWAIN scanning is supported and requires a TWAIN compatible driver only no additional software is required Third party software such as PaperPort is also supported To use the link with Tabs3 version 8 or earlier you must purchase the Fixed Length ASCII Converter from STI
35. CLaw allows you to automatically share your Client File and Matter information between the two programs and allows you to post your Amicus Attorney Time Entries directly to your Matters in PCLaw The links with PCLaw also features the Account Inquiry option to access accounting information from a particular Client or File in Amicus Attorney Click here for more information and a demonstration of the link Timeslips The Dynamic Accounting Link with Timeslips also allows j b you to automatically share your Client and File information Timesli between the two programs and allows you to post your ps Amicus Attorney Time Entries directly to your Clients in Timeslips Click here for more information and a demonstration of the link QuickBooks The data sharing feature with QuickBooks 2002 products allow users to automatically share information between the two programs minimizing the amount of data entry Client Files in Amicus Attorney exchange with Customer obs in QuickBooks Vendors are exchanged between the two and Time Entries are posted directly to QuickBooks Click here to see a demonstration of the link Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 95 Enhanced Accounting Links Juris The integration with uris allows time entries to be passed to Juris and it allows both systems to share client and matter details The link also features the Account Inquiry feature to display accounting
36. E mail Details Reply To All Forward View From Gary Berwood Received Tue Jan 20 2004 5 20 PM To Bobby Donnell Ec Bec Subject RE Progress on Berwood v Wright Contact Le M File E Bobby I ll be travelling tomorrow so your best method of contacting me is by cell phone 617 555 8844 Gary From Bobby Donnell To Gary Berwood Subject Progress on Berwood v Wright Gary just a reminder that I will be preparing for the cross tomorrow and may need to contact you on a few points Regards Bobby Dealt With Attachment 0 Notice a few things First you have all the usual buttons at the top that you would expect with email Reply Reply To All and Forward View opens the email in Outlook Notice the Amicus Attorney icons one for the link to the Contact module 6 T showing that this email is shown from Mr Gary Burwood but clicking on the icon would allow you to select anyone from your contact database for example where the sender may not be the person with whom you wish to associate to the email The File icon Biles 5 Shows that this email is linked to the Berwood vs Wright file and will show up on the brad in the Berwood vs Wright file If this field was blank clicking on the file icon would bring up the Files module allowing you to select the file on which the email would be filed Amicus will try to do as much work for you as possible if the sender is in your Amicus database th
37. Installing Time Matters is easy The program is very useful right out of the box and most users do not hire consultants to do the installation A new empty Time Matters database along with a separate Tutor Database populated with sample data takes about five minutes to create As a part of a standard information Installation into Microsoft Word and Corel Time Matters is ready to send WordPerfect It can print calendars contacts lists matter lists invoices and other documents Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 80 Ordinary users can learn the basics of customizing fields and other features in Time Matters without spending too much time The product includes a large selection of narrated videos and a 582 page User Manual both as a printed book and an Adobe Acrobat PDF file But a word of caution If you do not invest the time necessary to understand what you are doing when customizing software you are likely to 1 Miss out on many opportunities to save time and make more money and 2 Make mistakes that may take an unfortunate amount of your time or a consultant s time to fix In most situations law practices ranging from a solo practice to a very large firm will benefit from hiring a Knowledgeable consultant if only to provide guidance and get the project off to a good start Installing Time Matters Enterprise In the right circumstances you can install the Enterprise Version yourself It comes bund
38. PRACTICE MANAGEMENT J Presenters Wells Anderson Natalie Thornwell Dan Pinnington ABNTECHSHOw Cc O ABA TECHSHOW 2005 March 31 April 1 2005 Chicago Illinois www techshow com Practice Management Face Off Time Matters vs Amicus Attorney Table of Contents ABDOUE ENC AUCIOlS viinin EEE 4 VV CIS FO CN SOUT wccets cence nees cocbaarsc ane natep auc be cateeecune sauce veneers anen cee yaa aaueeeseenes 4 David J BIlIASKY ccc cece cece cece eee e eee e eens eeeee eee eeeeeeeteneeeeeseneeeesanaeeenaaaes 4 Dan FU NNOULOM acacia siquceraigriaeieaansessnirenenerriananr EE E 5 Natale THA OTN srsccctyt o3 goeeencediie eae pies AE E a aa 6 SESSION DESCrIDUON isiccedensianeteanectednnescruiensssaineseruninensnseeeiaineeenenanenwenes 7 CEO GU CUO cevensssiasann sens EEE EE ENEE EE EAG 8 Practice Management Products Compared ccccecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeas 8 Practice Management Software The Ba SICS cccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaees 10 The Types of Errors Lawyers MakKe ccccccccseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeneeeenas 12 Face Off Handling COMMON TaSKS uvsssssccccccessseceeneeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeoonnans 14 t Aital Contact With a CWE a sssanpanttetateccemnieterrueanracswnreatieaceinaacaers 14 2 SNe MCU ON E E E E T EE 14 3 Respond to a Client Email ccc cccccee c
39. Q Fna X Delete Now click on Contacts you should see a pull down menu Click on Generate a Document within that menu Bobby Donnells Contacts Fie Edit Amicus Tools Metelguetes Help New Contact Ctrl M Shows Show All Ctrl Clark M Admire Fhilip J Agraria Show Marked Nk pasa Mark Contacts ULA Unmark All David Barrett Check Conflicks Samuel Beatty Ame Becker Search Team Bees d Generate a Document Cbril D Jonathon Bittle Bonnie B Blaci Delete Contact Ui a Small Contacts view aude Blan le onald Blatcht w Medium mace ley Douglas Brack Large Contacts view Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 36 You should see a dialogue box open asking you to select a Master Document Generate Document Range of contacts C All Shown Selected Marked Master Document Click here to select Accounts Contact Reports O Cancel ae Fax Covers J File Reports Power of Attorney HD Word General Documents rr F FOF F F FU Ki L x Letters and Labels Retainer Litigati f Find itigation Retainer Gs WP Memos Tutorial Click on the down arrow and the pull down menu appears Click on General Documents which produces the sub menu Click on Retainer and you will see that Retainer is now shown as the Master Document Retainer HD WP is a retainer agreement precedent for use with Hot Docs and WordPerfect Generate Document Range of contac
40. SEN A 1ra 1 30pm MING Hea valh Jerey Bard mvesligator Able v Slate of Flot Wiz a004 00pm MIT AIG Meeting Heed v Sutomated Machine 13 2004 amp Oipm 1 MTHG begi Dent Revie Schedules Brubaker Banknuptcy 1 14 00 00am 2 TAI T Mr State v Theedere Boland Wiz 204 LETT Chert Wrapup Lethe amp Docs Brubaker Barkrupicy 12 004 3 LETT Send Documents bo Cien Brubaker Barnkiupiecy 5 31 2003 220 Dare y AL Jenkins Engremng LEC 01 7458 22 PAT BAD A003 22 Chekea v City of Hialeah 0272521 PAP Briar ania 222 ly of WPB v Hookins 01 1344 CIV 6 04 2003 dde Fieu v Fimu 021251 1 DIY e 7 ae 6 04 2006 2 Florida v Ears 0342314 CRI Calendar See today S Events and look ahead to the week Day File A personal list like a yellow sticky Alerts Reminders and Watches A fail safe hot list To Do s Tasks scheduled for this date We will look at what these Time Matters tools can do for you Calendars in Time Matters You choose your main calendar view Today Multiple Days a Week or a Month The calendar can show just your schedule just your workgroup s schedules just the lawyers schedules or the entire staff s schedules The 5 day view of one lawyer s calendar may look like this oe i Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 62 1 Your name appears in the Staff field You can easily check other people s calendars by choosing another name here 2 Your appointments appear i
41. The ability to quickly identify all of the people related to a given matter to review the history of e mail communications and notes related to that matter to view all of the past and upcoming events and deadlines brings a high degree of efficiency to these necessary if mundane tasks The status of a given matter can be assessed with a few clicks of a pointing device without the need to find and review a physical file For those willing to put more effort into customizing a particular application the rewards can be even greater Practice management programs can be customized to create rules based scheduling For example when a matter has been set for trial the program can calculate all of the case management deadlines based on the trial date Changing a contact record from a potential client to a client code can launch a word processing application prepare an engagement letter and even a first set of draft documents for a particular type of client Most of the practice management programs allow for quick and easy synchronization of the information hosted on the office server with a remote version of the program run off the network while away from the office Taking a synchronized data set on a laptop computer generally provides far more case management information than can be synched to a personal digital assistant Of course you can still synchronize to a PDA if the laptop Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 11 is too bulky t
42. Time Matters includes links to a variety of industry leading third party applications including MS Word Corel WordPerfect LexisNexis Research MS Internet Explorer MS Outlook Palm OS Pocket PC HotDocs WORLDOX iManage Tabs3 PCLaw Timeslips QuickBooks and Juris What kind of ongoing support do you need The amount of support you need varies with who you are but everyone benefits from devoting some uninterrupted learning time at the beginning A variety of resources are available to facilitate learning and allow users to answer their own questions Time Matters is designed for users to install and learn the program themselves and that is what most users do In order to achieve the efficiencies that are possible with Time Matters and reduce the amount of non billable time getting started with it users can take advantage of a network of Time Matters Authorized Independent Consultants AICs A directory of AICs is available on the Time Matters website www timematters com consultants A number of these consultants work with firms throughout North America and the world using Internet remote control technology to share the user s screen keyboard and mouse By working remotely AlCs can work with attorneys and staff to configure Time Matters for their needs and to teach them the skills most important and relevant to them and their office Most software programs need to be updated With Time Matters you can apply an update to one compu
43. Timeline C FS ustom B O02 2003 5 3 O f Billing 604 2003 ma for TE a Phone 11707 2003 Need to reschedule Wed meeting 1 12 2004 Scientific expert opinion received fram A CMNT 171972004 Signed Fee Agreement E E Document 171972004 i Fee Agreement signed J fo Mote 12 20 2004 Discussion re prior art Timeline Tab on Matter Form Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 49 Robert reviews the Timeline a chronological listing of records of all sorts phone calls notes Emails documents that relate to the matter Having refreshed his memory about the matter from the Timeline Robert closes it and returns to the Email from his client ey Time Matters Email File Edit View Process Help Id Save amp Close HK Delete OI Repy Go Repr Al CO Foward 1 Date 19 200 Mon Time Pepp to Sender l Subject Signed Fee Agreernert Regarding MegaTech Computers Inc Megalech Patent Clicking the Reply button starts a new Email message with everything filled in except what that Robert has to say to his client Robert types his reply in the new Email message acknowledging receipt of the document Before sending the Email Robert clicks the Send to Billing button When Billing Matters is activated with Time Matters a complete timekeeping and billing systems is available with the Time Matters program The Billing Item form appears re Billing Item Form Add File Edit View Process Help k Save amp C
44. To use the enhanced Time Matters features for Tabs3 version 9 or later you must purchase the Windows ASCII Converter from STI Microsoft Word 97 2000 XP 2003 Excel XP PowerPoint XP 2003 Adobe Acrobat 5 0 6 0 or Word Perfect 7 8 9 10 11 or required Timeslips versions 6 MR 7 and later 7 8 9 10 and 11 Timeslips version 9 or later is required to link Timeslips Custom Client fields to Time Matters and to view totals as reported by Timeslips on the Billing tab of a Time Matters Contact or Matter form Timeslips must be installed and fully operational on each workstation where you want to link to Time Matters Time Matters Professional Edition 6 0 and Time Matters Enterprise 6 0 can send faxes via WinFax PRO version 9 0 or 10 0 Word 6 7 97 2000 XP and 2003 and WordPerfect 5 0 5 1 6 0 6 1 7 8 9 10 11 or 12 The Time Matters Formattable Clipboard and merge templates are not compatible with any DOS version of WordPerfect Outlook 2000 XP and 2003 Excel XP and 2003 PowerPoint XP and 2003 Internet Explorer 5 0 or higher and Adobe Acrobat Professional 5 and 6 Exchange Server 2000 or greater Excel 2000 or greater Word 2000 or greater Requires WORLDOX 8 2000 Edition or later purchased separately WORLDOX must be installed and fully operational on each Workstation where you want to link to Time Matters Implementation issues can you install it yourself Installing Time Matters Professional Yes
45. Unlimted 305 555 4541 Sharp Tommy General Properties Development 305 555 6333 Shearer Elizabeth Megal ech Computers Inc 305 555 4548 Shelby Luke Medical Case Management Inc 612 555 1289 Sherman Frederick Megal ech Computers 305 5565 4344 Quick Tabs on the Contact List Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 83 Templates The appearance and content of different types of records Contacts Matters Events To Do s Documents Emails Notes Phone Messages Custom Forms and Websites can be adapted for each practice area and for special purposes Clipboard templates can be created for pasting information from Time Matters into documents and Emails Merge templates can be designed to create documents and envelopes automatically AutoEntry Forms may be designed to accelerate the partial completion of frequently created records such as time entries and phone messages Security A comprehensive set of security options can prohibit access to sensitive information based on a wide range of criteria Security can be applied based on features users clients matters types of records time of day and more Coding and Color Coding Four letter abbreviations with understandable labels are used throughout the program to classify information You have complete control over the addition modification and deletion of these codes They may be used to color code records by Staff or by type of record Integration with Other Applications
46. actice Management Software Face Off 2005 14 TASK 1 Initial Contact with a Client Take a call from a potential client check for conflicts and schedule a meeting This is a basic function that is performed in law offices hundreds of times a day Failure to pick up on a conflict of interest can result in the disqualification of a firm from continuing to act on a current file potentially costing the firm not only thousands of dollars but also resulting in the loss of a client and gaining the firm an ethical violation in the process Accordingly any practice management product must be able to surface potential conflicts quickly and easily hopefully before matters progress beyond the disqualification point Here is how both Amicus Attorney and Time Matters would handle this task Task 1 Time Matters Assistant takes a call from a prospect The assistant in our example Allison Monroe starts with the Contact List on her screen When she answers a phone call from Jane Doe Allison just starts typing the last name a Time Matters 5 0 Training Mode Active Practice LLC Contact Name Seles T File Edit View Calendar Database Mail Billing Report Search window Process Help me oS eS is fel 2 FS ee a te A Inbox Daily AddDoc AddEma AddNot AddPhop4ddT od Alerts Conflict AddBil TSheet Contacts sd Filter Al Records view e All Client Address Clients Courts Experts Potential Vendors ASM Last First J
47. all costs which will include implementation and training costs To implement it you will likely need to hire the product vendor or a consultant especially if you have to convert data from an older system All practice management products are complex Everyone in your office will require training Training is essential if you don t properly train your lawyers and staff they won t use the product to its full advantage Summary Technology has become an essential part of what is reasonably necessary to practice law in a competent manner Ideally practice management software Should be in place as the central nervous system in every law office or legal department The ability of these products to share and manage the critical information that lawyers and law office staff need is nothing short of amazing They can make an individual practice and indeed an entire firm far more efficient and profitable with the added benefit that they can help implement basic practice management processes that can help prevent the common types of errors that lead to errors or malpractice claims While Outlook can assist lawyers in managing much of the information they need and many of the tasks that must be completed it is not a true substitute for one of the law office specific case management products Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 102 The level of integration that many of the law office specific case Management products have with other law offi
48. ane Doe Main 612 791 5555 DAmbrose SET SOoBe A Fax 612 791 5556 Damigella 954 555 710 0 Wells Fargo amp Company Alt District Court for out for Cranes Coumt 901 555 859 j 700 Marquett ave Minnepolis MM 55402 English Nigel State Attorey s Office 3205 555 6564 1 At the Contacts list Allison begins typing the caller s name Instantly Jane Doe s name is highlighted 2 Allison clicks the Add Phone Message icon Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 15 r 28 Phone Call Add File Edit View Process Help H Save amp Close B Save a 4 x Delete GH j 2 a G T A fe cet E Cancel 1 Dale 1A572004 3 Thu Time 10 52am i CE oOo oo OO Conference Regarding From Clients Follow Up oe O Aa sie eu0ud Phonel CdS Investigator Reminders S Follow Done M Notify Hide Trigge alae Ptrtl Chent Send To From Personal Message Phone Call 2 3 C Read f Unread Personal Hald Urgent a E Memo The Phone Call form pops up 3 Allison selects a Code that best describes the type of Phone call Choosing PCLI for Potential Client automatically causes several other fields to fill in F tt Phone Call Add z Select who the call is In From File Edit Wien Process Help el Save amp Close fo Save lt gt and whom it is To Date 1716 2004 3 Thu Time 11 15am a Code PCLIPtnt Client Subject Potential Client Staff ASM 4llison S Monroe Regarding A inFrom f
49. areb TEA Wels Fagot Compas Be se N Phone WB Phone2 Phones Reminders Folow Dome I Notify D Hide Trigger Review I Billable Priva Send To aj From fa Msg D Email M Message Phone Call from Jane Doe 672 555 5555 4 Allison selects Jane Doe s name from a pop up list in the In From field and 5 types the initials of the person to whom the call was made RSB in the To field Based on these two entries the rest of the Phone message fills in automatically with Jane s company phone numbers and a Time Matters Message for RSB the attorney Jane Doe was calling Allison saves the Phone Call record and it is automatically sent to the attorney Robert S Brown with a Time Matters Message Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 16 Attorney opens the Phone message and looks up the caller aa TM Messenger RSB Seles SOA BAR Gee Ls Options bi From Date Time Message Uni a ASH 1715 2004 12 10PM Phone Call from Jane Doe 612 555 5555 ui BEA 1 19 2004 11 07AM Phone Call from Betty Arthur 305 555 9033 ig BEA 17154200 OES hd H TM navan Time Matters Message arrives E VEM 3 28 200 i f ASE 328 200 on attorneys screen Il him gj B Robert S Brown the attorney Jane called receives a Time Matters Message This message window can be set to pop up when a new message arrives so Robert will not miss an important message He double clicks it to open it Robert sees on the message that Jane Doe has called as a
50. as necessary evils Though DATA TXT the maker of Time Matters and other companies are trying hard we would like to see even more effective communication about the differences that practice management software can make to the practice of law Lawyers and staff are not the only beneficiaries of increased effectiveness and productivity legal clients benefit from faster and more economical service What are the 3 main strengths of the product Time Matters Advantage 1 Choice Choice has become almost a mantra with Time Matters The answer to the question Can it do this is almost always Yes Which of these three or four or five different approaches works best for you Need to track more information There are scores of customizable user fields on Contacts Matters and other records A record layout looks too busy Change the layout and hide unneeded fields Want to access your information from another office your laptop Palm organizer or any Internet connected PC in the world You can One firm may simply want to share a calendar to coordinate their appointments a list of clients and a list of matters with basic information about each one They can get up and running very quickly and for example not touch the power of Time Matters to create and organize documents automatically Another firm may decide to systemize the way they handle all communications to and from their clients becoming more responsive and generating new business th
51. at approximately 9 8 and 7 Notwithstanding that they are easily preventable together these three errors account for almost 25 of LAWPRO s claims portfolio The most common malpractice errors share a number of common characteristics relevant to the discussion in this paper In particular they are all easily preventable through the use of practice management software Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 13 Face Off Handling Common Tasks These are the tasks we ask the spotlighted practice management products Time Matters and Amicus Attorney to perform 1 Initial Contact with a Client Taking a call from potential client checking for a conflict of interest getting basic information and scheduling a meeting 2 Send a Letter Using document assembly to generate an initial client meeting confirmation letter to the new client and docketing the time to do this 3 Respond to a Client Email Receiving an e mail document from a client filing the document in the matter checking the status of the matter and responding to email and docketing time 4 Start a New Day Showing the routine lawyers go through at the start if a new day in terms of reviewing deadlines limitations outstanding communications and to do s In the ensuing pages you will see step by step illustrated descriptions of how lawyers and staff can accomplish these tasks aided by Time Matters Amicus Attorney and other applications to which they link Pr
52. base Mail Billing Report Search Window Process Help Inbox Daily Contacts Mathers Phone ToDo s AddDoc AddEma AddNot AddPho AddTod Alerts Conflict Day File AddBil Robert clicks on the Conflict button to bring up the Conflict Search window Contlict of Interest Global Search Enter Search Name or Text Each Record will be searched for a match with the Name or Test entered below This will be a direct character match search Enter as few characters as possible that are still most likely to be unique to the Records Generally itis better to not use multiple Words or Hames since even small varnations can cause the match search to tall and a Record to be missed This approach will tend to error on the side of finding Records rather than missing them which i valuable to a Global Search Name or Text Advanced Help Back Next gt Cancel After clicking through the first windows Robert types Jane Doe into the Name or Text field The search can be refined using the Advanced button which supports and or searches sounds like searches and keyword searches Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 18 ft Conflict of Interest Global Search e H EI P x Close y k AJ CE ziii i 03 1593 1 Sarah Goodrich E 01 4878 1 Betty Arthur Ai Conflict Search for Jane Doe finds es 2 2 Matters already listed on Jane s ontact Qchve Records Doe Jane Contact record A the Contact record already
53. ccurred over a 14 year Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 12 period from 1989 2003 These claims number in the thousands and represent many millions in dollars of claims costs Under the LAWPRO program all claims are categorized with a description of loss representing the type of error that was made From this information it becomes apparent where the common mistakes are being made Most lawyers are surprised to learn that a failure to know or apply the law only accounts for about 7 of malpractice errors The most common error is a failure to follow client s instructions which accounts for almost 23 of errors This description of loss category is perhaps a bit of a catchall for other types of errors However in essence on these matters it was unclear as to what instructions where given or not given by a client These types of claims usually occur because there are no notes in the lawyer s file and or no letter to the client confirming instructions and the client s recollection is different than the lawyer s recollection as to what was said or done The second biggest cause of claims is procrastination It accounts for just over 15 of the errors that occurred The predominance of this type of claim is not a surprise to most lawyers it is human nature The next three most common types of errors are conflict of interest acting for more than one party failure to calendar and poor communication with client respectively
54. ce management topics She regularly contributes to the Georgia Bar Journal the Law Practice Management Program s departmental newsletters and other national ABA and state bar publications Ms Thornwell resides in Atlanta with her 6 year old daughter Roschelle Jasmyn and fianc Charles Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 6 LAW OFFICE ON COMPUTER inn Tan RNEY c N i meMatters Software Practice Management Face Off Time Matters vs Amicus Attorney By Wells H Anderson David J Bilinsky Daniel E Pinnington and Natalie Thornwell Session Description Practice management software goes far beyond its case management roots it is now the killer software application Take control of your time and practice with this powerful tool Practice management software helps you better serve and communicate with your clients and complete all tasks necessary to handle legal matters and manage a law office It can also help you avoid malpractice claims See a side by side comparison of two of the more widely used case management products handling four common tasks Regardless of which practice management product you ultimately use this session will demonstrate why you can t afford not to use it Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 7 Introduction Practice Management software should be operating as the central nervous system in every law office or legal department Why Quite simply because there is no bet
55. ce specific products be it timekeeping and billing document management issue management and document assembly along with their being tailored to how a lawyer works and the systems that need to be kept and the tasks that must be done Simply makes them unbeatable These practice management tools can become the central nervous system for your practice they can save time they can save money and they can save worry by ensuring that all the different systems of your practice are being maintained in a manner that allows you to carry on the practice of law in conjunction with the application and supported by it Ultimately despite the leapfrogging that takes place between Amicus Attorney and Time Matters in terms of Who is Rated 1 or 2 Time Matter was ranked 1 and Amicus Attorney 2 by a Law Office Computing Survey released in 2003 while Legal Assistant Today reversed these rankings in their survey released in 2003 the best tool is ultimately the one that is actually used Accordingly you are the final arbiter Look at the functionality that is most important to you and see which application meets those needs best in terms of how you work Then implement it and join the thousands of lawyers who now say that when it comes to Practice Management Software they simply could not imagine practising without it 2005 by Wells H Anderson Dave Bilinsky Dan Pinnington and Natalie Thornwell All rights reserved Practice Manage
56. cuss their product and whether the product is suitable for use in a particular instance after all they don t want unsatisfied purchasers out there What kind of ongoing support do you need Amicus Attorney comes with a free support period 90 days or 5 incidents after shipping 3 with the organizer edition and you can elect to take out an Annual Service Plan have such a plan and find that it is invaluable have found that have needed support usually 1 2 times year either to assist in migrating the system between computers or when the product undergoes an upgrade or unfortunately when the database gets corrupted usually due to an premature shutdown of the Windows operating system for reasons not attributable to Amicus Attorney hopefully with Windows XP being more Stable than prior Windows versions this will not occur at all When Windows did crash taking my database with it Amicus Support took in my database by FTP fixed it and FTP d it back to me so that was back up and operating with as little down time as possible have found that Amicus Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 99 Attorney s Support has always been very helpful and sympathetic a nice touch when you really need it but no matter how fast the turnaround time is it is always too long when you are waiting for a problem to be solved What are the 3 main weaknesses of the product While Amicus Attorney links dynamically with many accou
57. d can be green etc Quick Tabs are now available on Entry Form sub lists Staff Selector Colors for Calendars Users can easily identify to whom calendar appointments apply now that the Staff Selector buttons can be set to match the same color as the Staff Events and ToDos on the calendars Email Enhancements Email now supports additional HTML features MIME embedded graphics additional spell check options and new User Groups and Distribution lists 76 Time Matters 6 0 Professional Edition This Edition includes Time Information Billing Document and Communication Management features plus bulletproof networking and the best links to industry leading programs for billing expense control document automation and management Time Matters 6 0 Enterprise Edition The Enterprise Edition of Time Matters running advanced client server technology for large networks or small networks with large databases Enterprise Edition is the same as the Professional Edition except that it uses the Microsoft MSDE database or Microsoft SQL Server Version 7 or 2000 Database Engine Billing Matters 6 0 plus Accounting Billing Matters 6 0 Plus Accounting adds full back office accounting to the award winning Billing Matters standard feature set Get complete accounts payable and receivable a flexible general ledger world class check writing and reconciliation and more Time Matters World Server 6 0 World Server 6 0 gives you access to
58. dit Amicus Tools COMCENTER Help EA Outstanding Today pi Eim Messages 7 a ee O Wi x Ms C Meg From Mr Fred Jamizon Mon Oct 25 04 2 54 PM Jargon Ine 416 555 5768 Needs to talk to you today _ Meg From Mr Philip Agrarian Mon Oct 25 04 11 40 4M Widgetco Share Purchase 997 6398 Mag From Ms Jane Woo Mon Oct 25 04 11 16 AM Cooperman w Cooperman 24 97665 Wants to discuss the file before her meeting tomorow with the social worker beg From Jane Doe Sun Oct 24 04 2 05 PM 416 987 6543 Please call new client would like to discuss her situation C Msg From Mr Jonathan Fly Fri Oct 22 04 2 52 PM Business Development FAB 5555 Would like to arange dinner for late nest week Please get back to him tomorow Msg From Hr David Barrett Fri Oct 22 04 11 35 AM Business Development 1 313 555 9499 x384 Would like to set up a meeting for next week to discuss the possibility of having you do ther corporate a Pastas Br es gt oo oe SoOuvesyrrer This is your Communications center within AA allowing you to track all incoming and outgoing telephone calls and messages emails faxes and letters For the moment we will concentrate on phone calls and messages only Since this is a telephone call you wish to return you would want to first look at the phone message Double clicking your mouse while pointing anywhere Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 23 within
59. e Toronto Ontario MAT 3E3 Dear Janet Re First Edition Publishing Thank you for retaining us to represent you in this matter On Wednesday August 12 1998 we opened a Civil Litigation file in your name For your reference our file mmber is BALJA 2345 Please refer to this mmber in all your correspondence withus We have enclosed a formal retainer document confirming our status as your legal representatives Please sign this document have it witnessed and return it to us at your earliest convenience Our standard retainer requirements are that you provide this frm with the sum of 5 000 before we can commence taking any steps on your behalf This sum will be held by us in trust for you and will be applied by us against your acoounts as and when they are rendered From time to time we may ask you to refresh this retainer if our billings excee d the amount remainmg in trust We look forvard to representing you inthis matter Yours very truly Ally McBean RETAINER To Gavel amp Gown Law Firm I Janet Baily hereby retain and instruct you to represent me in the matter of First Edition Publishing and to conduct such actions and to take such proceedings as youmay consider necessary or proper and to employ such agents and retain such counsel as you consider expedient DATE BEE ZF 4 gt Page 1 Sec 1 1 2 At 2 5cem Ln 1 Coll English U S Now that we have the letter and
60. e information you need to complete all current tasks and meet all imminent deadlines Task 4 Time Matters At the start of your day you want to know gt What is important now gt What is right around the corner Three views in Time Matters help you start your day In the next few pages we highlight these individually customizable views Using menu driven settings we have tailored some of the views All three are shown in the screenshot below Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 61 nemase perea mann eng en I Rng ATTAT a nana Amn n naag ma n Ea EN aee a a aT an ag namn Aann pa Tn TAANE RN E E EE N R N N E E EEEE B ENEE R BE EE EE EEE aaa n a g Eg E y E E N ge ame m ea arg Edt view panie sage Mel Biing Report Search aur Pe i E T E T io I amp D 2 S inben Daly ortacis Matem Tobos Docs ere AdE ma AddNot AddTod Alerts Conic itd Addi ok TSheel Help fF Daity Calenda Brown a p Calendar TAN 3 Stall RSERob 5 Bronn T ro SAE fe oy WS Chee Py Type Desc Cortact Able Barry ToDo 1494 2004 1 Get the insuiance declaratorns page Cab IEE 7D Men Jani 6 REMINOETS ang Wolcnes dey Gea 8 Gay Bie Fy EE ee Se earm aie S in E ee ee 112 004 amp 00am CONF Case Managemert Conference Molina v Uried Sudders 1 12 2004 11 00am DEFO Deposition Ried v Automated Hachiniz PA
61. earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Spelman College in 1990 She has attended law school at both the University of Miami and Georgia State University Prior to her employment with the State Bar she worked as a legal assistant to a sole practitioner and held law related positions within the hospitality commercial real estate education and communications fields She is also an Adjunct Professor at John Marshall Law School in Atlanta teaching Law Office Management Ms Thornwell is a Certified Consultant for Timeslips Amicus Attorney ABACUS Law Time Matters Billing Matters TABS 3 PracticeMaster and PC Law legal software She also consults and trains on a number of other legal and general business software applications She is active in her association with the American Bar Association s Law Practice Management and General Practice Solo and Small Firm sections She is a member of the Practice Management Advisors Committee 2002 Publishing Board 2003 2004 and 2005 ABA TECHSHOW Boards of the Law Practice Management Section and is a member of the Editorial Board of the GPSolo Magazine s Technology and Practice Guide in the General Practice Solo and Small Firm Section Her other national memberships are with the National Bar Association National Association of Legal Administrators and the National Association of Bar Executives She is a frequent local and national presenter and writer on legal technology and practi
62. ece eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeteeueeeeeas 14 As Start a New Day pape ccresce ceciats annguonesuaaieedudiantetaiebeounes EATS AREAIS Aai 14 TASK 1 Initial Contact with a Client sssssusunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 15 Take a call from a potential client check for conflicts and schedule a MECHA cer A EE E AE 15 Task 1 Time Matters ssssesesesrurnrrrrrrnrnrrrrsrnrrrrrrernrrrnernrnrnernrrrnrrra 15 Assistant takes a call from a PrOSPECt cece cece cece eects eeeeeeeeseneeees 15 Attorney opens the Phone message and looks up the caller 17 Attorney checks for CONPIICTS ccc cece eee eee eeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeteeeeneetananegs 17 Attorney calls and schedules a Meeting cc ccc ec cesses ee eeeeeeeeeeeneees 20 Task 1 AMICUS Attorney siinaicaeenciseseaneandiretanaanrineenpasaaannwiaeaanaiawieauortona 22 Task 2 Send a Letter sssssss222u2u2u252 2 2 2 2u2u2u202u2 2 2 2 22 2 30 Use document assembly to generate an initial client meeting confirmation letter to the new client and docket the time ccc cece cece eee eeeeeeeeees 30 Take TINS MAC oerna EE E EE 30 Task 2 AMICUS AMOMO siesccsiiiarenciainwancaniiretanaanrin a T E 32 Task 3 Respond to a Client Email ssssssunnunsnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 46 Receive a client document via Email file the document in the matter check the matter status respond to Email and docket time 46 Task Me MAUS Scandic
63. ement Software Face Off 2005 50 50 20 20 5 W a E Basic Basic W electronic omby u No warranty period se i upport contracts available 25 Basic 20 TIN SRS Unlimited W Indexed TY S W Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited W EINA 8 8 48 Unlimited k Indexed INIS 90 Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 91 What does Amicus Attorney cost Amicus Attorney Software Amicus Attorney V Advanced Edition Clentfserer Edition Organizer Edition shipped Organizer Edition Downloaded Amicus Attorney X otandard Editian Premium Edition Add SOL to Premium Edition hdinimum of 10 user licenses Amicus Assembly Amicus Assembly End User Edition Amicus Assembly Developer Edition First License of Amicus Assembly must be Developer Edition Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 Ist License p399 pog p219 p199 pad bood p100 NA p199 Each Add l License badd p435 NA NA p239 p499 p100 p199 p439 92 Each Add l Amicus Attorney Upgrades Ist License mea From Amicus Attorney X standard Edition to Premium Edition p199 p199 From Amicus Attorney V or V Advanced Edition to Amicus Standard Edition p199 p145 Advanced Edition to Amicus amp Premium Edition p349 p229 Client Server Edition to Amicus amp Premium Edition ped p199 Advanced Edition to Amicus Client Server Edition p299 p195 Update Advanced o
64. en the down arrow in the Files section of the email will bring up a short list of the files on which the sender is associated and you can select the right one by a quick mouse click Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 55 Just a few other things to note See the icons at the bottom of the email box The 5 sends the email to the printer in case you need a hard copy The R allows you to toggle this email as being visible only by assigned team members for privacy reasons Restrictions Visible only by Assigned Team Members 2l Carcel The icon allows you to do a time and billing entry for handling this email Lastly the es icon opens an Event dialogue box allowing you to create a To Do or an appointment from this email thereby taking the email and making it into an action item Now we have already filed the email on the Berwood vs Wright file or rather Amicus Attorney has done this for us Our next task is to check the Status of the file responding to the email and making a billable time entry Click on the or information icon within the email This opens the Berwood vs Wright file Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 56 Bobby Donnell s Files File Edit Amicus Tools FILES Help _ People on this File Y Remove E Harold wright is a former employee of Berwood Construction d Benwood Construction Benvood Client Douglas Brackman We act for
65. enses on files 13 Client collaboration features have been added that grant client select access to their files and information but only such access as you choose You can collaborate with a client on the drafting of a document for example via Amicus Attorney 14 Support for Hot Docs version 6 Check the Amicus Attorney web site for full details on this new version www amicusattorney com Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 94 What types of practice is the product suited to Amicus Attorney Organzier edition is well suited to solo practitioners The Advanced version is for firms with up to 15 users The Client Server edition is suitable for firms up to 500 users In terms of the types of practices that use Amicus Attorney have used Amicus Attorney in my practice as a PI lawyer and seen successful implementations in family law practices in general litigation practices in corporate and commercial firms in other words in many many small to mid size firms Amicus Attorney is most useful when it is paired with a legal accounting system In my experience this is particularly true where Amicus Attorney is paired with PCLaw as their accounting system as have seen that PCLaw and Amicus Attorney work well together However Amicus Attorney is designed to work with many accounting systems in a dynamic mode an enhanced mode or otherwise as follows Dynamic Accounting Links PCLaw The Dynamic Accounting Link with P
66. es www clientprofiles com an integrated legal accounting and practice management system gt Computer Law Systems Inc www clssummit com gt Corprasoft www corprasoft com Corporate Law Departments gt LawStream www lawstream com an integrated legal accounting and practice management system gt LAWTRAC www lawtrac com Corporate Law Departments gt Legal Easy Inc Attorney s Assistant www legaleasy com Family Law Office Suite gt Legal Files www legalfiles com gt LextraNet www lextranet com Web based litigation support and case management gt Needles www needleslaw com gt PCLaw www pclaw com this is a legal accounting system that has added practice management features in their latest version 7 gt Perfect Law www perfectlaw com gt RealLegal Practice Manager www reallegal com Study the examples and features covered in the presentation and these materials as aids that help you focus on how practice management applications might improve the productivity of your office To discover more about the competing products visit the vendor websites and the Technology for Lawyers exhibits Practice Management products have each has grown and expanded their scope partly as a result of the intense competition among them Some see the environment as one of co opetition all users of practice management software products stand to benefit when products integrate as much as possible with othe
67. esearch Supreme Court Rulings on list le IaZzos Ayig Cooperman w Cooperman 1st day o T Call Ms Jane woo on list q p l Aya Neighbor re Roads end day J 3 g2 IO Issue Jury Notice on list S Awg Jamison Ine Eth day a E o3 oO 2 Draft retainer on list p Ava Parker Agency st day 04 O Review Hubbard transcript amp report of on list i j Aya Markham Realty re General Tat day IC Do Email Harald my findings on list ne Soon Personal 19th day i j Play Cards on list q l 07 Low Technology Committee 138th day Decision re new software on list a j gg se a ee m 05 AAMEN piri E L Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 71 would like to point out a few things First the To Do s Note that Amicus ranks the To Do s in order of whether they are Past Due with a count on how many days past due Due Today or due at some time in the future with a count up to the due date There are also To Do s that do not have any assigned due date in which case Amicus counts the number of days that they are on the list such as the Technology Committee decision on new software that has been on the list for 138 days Here is a quick way to schedule your To Do s and make time to actually DO them Highlight a To Do with your mouse such as the Berwood vs Wright prepare cross examination entry by clicking once on it with your mouse Now Click on this highlighted To Do and drag it with your mouse o
68. fice Computing Magazine www lawofficecomputing com is an excellent source of information as are the TechnoLawyer www technolawyer com and ABA LawTech www abanet org Email lists When you are reviewing different products make sure you consider whether they are flexible enough to work the way you do Can they be customized Do like the standard billing format and or can accounts be customized How do they integrate with your existing software and what data sharing or importing will be required this can be time consuming and expensive Ultimately it should be about the product helping your practice not about making your practice adapt to fit the product Although in some cases you will have to change or adapt the way in which you do certain tasks or processes This may include how you handle information who enters it in the computer how file materials are collected and stored etc This will require some thought on your part and the input participation and co operation of your staff It is critical to get their input and have them participate in the selection and implementation process The basic cost of practice management software products varies from a several hundred to a few thousand dollars per user Stand alone versions tend to be at the lower end of this range versions that allow seamless 24 7 access over the Web tend to be at the upper end of this range However the actual cost of the software will be a small part of your over
69. growth too Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 87 Amicus Attorney Summary By Dave Bilinsky A brief note for this part of the paper have no affiliation with Amicus Attorney or Gavel amp Gown software other than as a user and sometimes author of papers regarding their software such as this paper for which receive no remuneration from Gavel amp Gown or anyone else for that matter neither sell the product nor do consult on the product Accordingly this part of the paper reflects my opinions on the product have included information from Amicus Attorney s web site only because this is the most efficient and effective way to gather and present this information With no further ado here is a brief overview of different Q amp A s regarding the product What versions of the product are available Currently Amicus Attorney V has three versions Organizer edition for the Single user Advanced and Client Server As well Amicus Attorney version X is now available Amicus Attorney X is a web based version of the product that is platform independent it will run on any computer running Internet Explorer with advanced features see summary on the new version just a little later in this paper A detailed feature comparison between the three V versions Organizer Advanced and Client Server and Version X is as follows Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 88 Edition Matrix of users Networking
70. he brad containing all documents associated with this file as follows Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 41 What you should see is a listing of the document that you have just created on the file in my case below you will see multiple documents since have created the Retainer letter in Word WordPerfect and Text only formats l Nen Bally Retainer Letter Tue May 13 03 Retainer Letter in WordPerfect format ugust 8 draft bill Sun Jan 16 04 micus generated document Balley Retamer Letter Mon Jan 19 04 Retainer imn TaT format Bally Retainer Letter Mon Jan 19 04 Retainer Letter in word format Click on any of the entries you will see a document profile dialogue box open as follows Document Profile Details Title Baily Retainer Letter Document Groups Correspondence Summary N Letter in Word format B Author Tutorial Mon Jan 13 2004 04 44 Pe Location C Program Files SMICUSSO TUTORIALSDOCUMENTS Browse f File Folder WebPage URL C Other Wiew amp Print Memo 1 Do a Time Entry Remove Ok Cancel Notice the Do a Time Entry button on the lower right side of the dialogue box click on it This brings up a time entry dialogue box as follows Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 42 Time Entry Details Fi ED Eai re Kipling ij pE Today Client Janet Baily Matter First Edition Publishing Client ID BALIA Matter ID 2345 Categor
71. his opens a Time Entry dialogue box Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 59 Time Entry Details ri Billable Normal Default Rate E mail correspondence with Gary Berwood review of status of file email reply to Gary Benyvood Epo Entered at 20 06 Jan 18 last modified 20 08 Jan 18 In this case have entered a description of the tasks and entered 0 4 as the billable time you could also have used the Timer within Amicus to track this time as well by clicking it on at the start of the task and allow it to collate the time on this file task This task is now complete when you click on OK All emails have been logged within Amicus Attorney for future reference the billable time is entered on the daily billable time sheet and Outlook is used for sending and receiving all email integrating this information with the files maintained in Amicus Attorney Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 60 Task 4 Start a New Day A lawyer s routine to start the day reviewing deadlines limitations communications and to do s Keeping up with multiple deadlines and tasks on many different tasks can be very difficult Practice management products excel in their ability to neatly organize and manage the tasks and deadlines that must be handled to complete all work necessary on a legal matter Here is how both Amicus Attorney and Time Matters sort and sift through all your files and give you all in one place all th
72. hours per business day 7 58 Average required to achieve goal for the This sheet assists in goal attainment and income fulfillment You can see that Amicus keeps tab no only on your billable time for the day but also for this Week this Month This Year and compares this with last year s data for comparison s sake Amicus also provides you will forward looking data the box in the lower right tells you what you have to do to keep on track from a billable time standpoint Current average billable hours per business day 568 Average required to achieve goal for the 40 working days remaining to you this pear 6 65 In this case Bobby Donnell is ahead of his billable hours target of 7 4 hours day Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 45 Task 3 Respond to a Client Email Receive a client document via Email file the document in the matter check the matter status respond to Email and docket time Undoubtedly lawyers and law office staff will tell you they are overwhelmed with trying to keep up with e mail messages Practice management software is updated immediately as it is used by everyone in the office Armed with the current status of a matter a task such as promptly responding to a client Email may be performed without ever looking at the paper file Here is how both Amicus Attorney and Time Matters would handle this task Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 46 Task 3 Time Matters
73. ichter Purchase n Jami o Wt Dir atk roksiecr sratecn Fated Park ar Sm lt M Comm Here you see a combined schedule on the left hand side and everyone s individual calendar on the right The combined schedule can be used to schedule group meetings use your mouse to click and drag between 2 pm and 3 pm and you will see that you have just created an appointment that will be shown in EVERYONE s schedule that is Assigned to the appointment as follows Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 70 Event Details Tire 02 00 PM to 02 00 PR j ca Washington Lindsay Dole Eugene young Mo repeat Assistance Setup e Teg Last modifed on Mon Jan 19 2004 11 49 AM This is a great way to save time scheduling an office meeting You can even assign a client a room or an office administration file to the appointment such as Alladin Purchase or Staffing or Holidays etc Let s go back to your own calendar for a moment Bobby Donnell s Calendar File Edit Amicus Tools CALENDAR Help Sep d October 2004 November 2004 gt gt il Mon lt Tuesday October 26 2004 gt Wed S M Wwe T 2G 27 z9 30 11 13 14 E g 18 20 21 l E Ve 25 27 28 jg 0g xmm Berwood ve Wright DEADLINE Prepare cross examination 7 10 Widgetco Share Purchase Due Now 2 a Finalize Shareholders Agreement T days to do i 4 11 Awa Dom Coop Philips Shoes Bth day O R
74. ies Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 72 rather than otherwise Secondly because this time is shown in the Group Calendar in the office everyone can see that you have set aside this morning to work on this file and hopefully will respect this and check the Group Calendar in Amicus Attorney before interrupting you allowing you to work in peace This drag and drop feature is useful to take a phone call convert it into a To Do using the icon then drag and drop it into an appointment and then when you Nave finished click on the little blue billable time sheet icon shown in the upper right hand side of the appointment 3 15 10 45 Prepare cross examination a Bermood vs Wright and that will create a billable time entry This is a great way to use the workflow features of Amicus Attorney to save time and keystrokes This is a quick overview of how Amicus Attorney keeps you on top of your Day your To Do s including your limitation and Bring Forward reminders your appointments and communications Of course for a more detailed overview of your day you could open up the Calendar and the CommCenter to review the details of your appointments and your outstanding telephone calls messages and emails generally find that use this method by opening the Calendar and the CommCenter to organize my day by quickly looking at my To Do s my appointments and my outstanding telephone calls and then deciding what it is that sh
75. ight DEADLINE Prepare cross examination High Widgetco Share Purchase Due Noy 2 Finalize Shareholders Agreement T days to do Avg Dom Coop Philips Shoes bth day O Research Supreme Court Rulings on list razos Avg Cooperman w Cooperman 1st day O T Call Ms Jane woo on list Aig Meighbor re Roads end day IC lssue Jun Notice on list Awg Jargon Inc bth day E D Draft retainer on list Awg Parker Agency st day O Review Hubbard transcript amp report of on list Axa Markham Realty re General Tat day E D Email Harold my findings on list Soon Personal 19th day O Play Cards on list Low Technology Committee 138th day C Decision re new software on list AAMA A E mM TEDAJ h b Notice the Group tab on the lower right hand side Click on it Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 69 ka Bobby Donnell s Calendar File Edit Amicus Tools COLENDAR Help SCHEDULE FUR aes Donnell Rebecca cancion Lindsay Dole P men One Day Combined l a Tuesday October 26 2004 gt SEY Unavaiipl 9 LO Unayailabl 7Q Unavailable vailable 11 mms 27265 E A R E 7 8 30 Unavailable Prepare cross e Bermond vs WT Berwo Review Richter P Richter Pis Finalize Shareh Widgetco Shar maliz KoT F Research Supr Dom Coop Phi Dom Call Ms Jane Cooperman w Cooper Issue Jury Notice Neighbor re Ro Neighb Review agr t of R
76. into the old system in different ways People have saved information in odd places in the old program because of its limitations These factors can complicate the conversion process Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 81 Time Matters has pre programmed import routines for 21 different software products including various versions of Amicus Attorney Act Goldmine Outlook PCLaw Timeslips QuickBooks Juris and TABS You can save a great deal of time and effort by importing your list of clients matters and other information using one of these imports In addition Time Matters has a Custom Import feature for working with information that can be exported from other software products You can save time and get better results by hiring an experienced Time Matters consultant to assist you with importing information and customizing Time Matters to the needs of your particular practice Sure you can take the time to work through the manual and videos to master the tools for customizing the product The vendor also offers live training classes and training over the Web But if you do it yourself you miss out on efficiencies that a consultant can bring to your practice based on years of experience in working with firms like yours How long does it take for people to get up to speed on it In our experience most people get over their initial resistance to changing to new computer software including Time Matters in less than two weeks By
77. ion on the Brad and do a full overview of the status of the file within Amicus Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 58 Let s return the email Having reviewed the status of the file click on Reply within the email message This opens up a reply email within Outlook In this example have typed a reply and am ready to hit Send RE RE Progress on Berwood v Wright Message Plain Text File Edit View Insert Format Tools Actions Help Esd fl amp This message has not been sent A E ol Ti Attach as Adobe POF E bo ta t Y EJCOntions A maa Gary Berwood lt qarrvidbervwood com gt Gee Subject RE RE Progress on Bervwood Wright Crary Twill call you at 9 00 am if miss you then call the office and have me paged I will instruct the staff to watch for your call Regards Bobby Donnell From Gary Berwood ment Tuesday January 20 2004 5 20 PM To Bobby Donnell Bobby I ll be travelling tomorrow so your best method of contacting me is by cell phone 617 555 2244 Cary From Bobby Donnell To Gary Berwood eubject Progress on Benyood v Wright Crary just a reminder that I will be preparing for the cross tomorrow and may need to contact you on a few points This shows the seamless integration between Outlook and Amicus Attorney The last part of the task is to create a billable time entry Click on the Time Sheet icon within the email in Amicus Attorney T
78. ionality as the Time Matters desktop application and they work together The World Server browser version shares your practice management database in real time with your desktop version of Time Matters Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 74 Key Improvements in Time Matters 6 0 Version 6 0 of Time Matters was released in the Fall of 2004 Key improvements include New Outliner Case Planner Project Planner Create Outlines to lay out tasks activities plans logic etc to specify entire work flows related to cases and projects The work flows can then be converted in to Time Matters records Events ToDos Email Documents etc to execute on the Outline as part of day to day activities Outlines can be exported to Word TM Connect Integration between Outlook and Time Matters providing high level functions of practice management directly from your Outlook email screen Now TM Save TM Open and the TM Insider work directly from your Outlook email screen Time Matters Synchronization for BlackBerry Synchronize via Cable and Over The Air Time Matters data to BlackBerry Wireless Handheld devices Check for Duplicate Contacts amp Combine Duplicate Contacts Eliminate duplicate records and easily combine two or more contact records into one Contact Record including sub records and attachments Security Groups amp Profiles Maintain security by group and by profile greatly simplifying security se
79. le Edit Amicus Tools COMCENTER Stickies Help sa ee Outstanding _ E ay r Messages amp Saved E mails E Mail From Gary Bernwood Tue Jan 20 04 5 20 PM Benwood vs right RE Progress on Benaood w wright E Mail Fror Anne Neighbor Mon Jan 19 04 5 59 PM Neighbour re Roads RE Deposition Date C Msg From Mir Fred Jamison Mon Jan 19 04 2 54 PM Jamison Inc 416 555 5768 Needs to talk to you today Msg From Mir Philip J Agrarian Mon Jan 19 04 11 40 4M Widgetco Share Purchase 997 6398 C Msq From Ms Jane Woo Mon Jan 19 04 11 16 4M Cooperman w Cooperman 24 977665 Wants to discuss the file before her meeting tomorow with the social worker Mag From Mr Jonathan Fly Fri dan 16 04 2 52 PM Business Development n56 5555 Would like to arrange dinner for late nest week Please get back to him tomorrow Msg From Hr David Barrett Fri Jan 16 04 11 39 AH Business Development 1 313 555 9499 x384 Would like to set up a meeting for next week to discuss the possibility of having you do their corporate E Mail From Jim Cooperman Thu Jan 87 04 6 07 PM Cooperman Cooperman Z RE Information required You can see how Amicus brings in telephone messages Msg From and emails into one communication center Version X extends this to include letters and faxes as well Double click on the first E Mail from Gary Berwood This opens up this email in Amicus Attorney Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 54
80. led with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine MSDE a free version of Microsoft s main database product Following the step by step Installation Instructions you can install Time Matters Enterprise and MSDE from the installation CD Because of the requirements for the Enterprise version the process can be more complex depending on the setup of the firm s existing network server MSDE needs to be install on a Windows machine If you have more than 10 users you will need one of the versions of MS Windows Server on the network server and enough Client Access Licenses for all your users For more than 25 users on a Microsoft network you need to have MS Windows Small Business Server or MS SQL Server installed At this point it makes sense to have a relationship with a networking specialist or company for setup of the server software Time Matters Enterprise is also available for Linux Expect to use the services of a person familiar with Linux to get up and running Support is available at reasonable rates from Time Matters for all versions of the program Importing Existing Information Bringing existing information into Time Matters is not technically installation but it is a crucial step for most offices Converting data from and old system can require significant effort not due to limitations in Time Matters but rather due to the usually less than perfect condition of a firm s existing data Often the information has been entered
81. lient Jane Doe Attorney calls and schedules a meeting The Contacts list is again visible and Jane Doe s record is still highlighted so Robert clicks on the Add Phone record button to start a call to Jane Doe 3 Time Matters 5 0 Training Mode Active Practice LLC Contact Name File Edit View Calendar Database Mail Billing Report Search Window Inbox Daily Contacte Matters Phone ToDo s AddDoc AddEma AddNot AddPhe adek Contacts Click the Add Phone button to call the Filt Fiter Si highlighted person All Clients Courts Experts Potential Vendors RSB Last First Firm Mairi D Ambroze Mara Johnson Hart amp Johnson AT SSA re A Damigella Anthony Broward County Attorney 954 555 7127 District Court for C District Court for Charles County 907 555 8954 Jane Wells Fargo amp Company English Nigel State Attorneys Office 305 555 644 Finckler Lary 305 555 5567 Edit Wie Proces f Save amp Close Save picks the person to call picks who it is from F tand clicks the Dialer button to Regarding aag ested cal dial the telephone Out To Wells Fargo amp Company l From Main f 612 791 5556 S Home Reminders Subject C Read Unread 6 klemo Dialing 16125555555 Walt for the sound of the Dialing to stop then pick up Handset then press OK After Time Matters dials the phone Robert talks to Jane Doe making notes of the call on a scra
82. lient about this file is in order Double clicking Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 66 on any of these entries takes you to the details regarding these entries such as opening the Alladin Purchase file This is the default view for the Dailies but if you click on Dailies in the menu a Bobby Donnells Dailies File Edit Tools Sera ise Amicus Today s Practice Reminders Today s Overview Waits Going on Toda Firm Mews Today s Practice Aeminde Legal News Today s Overview Top Mews Stories Weather aol Firm Hews Legal News Personalize Dailies and then click on Today s Overview you can open up a different view that looks like this Z Bobby Donnells Dailies File Edit Amicus Tools DAILIES Help Today s Overview Whats Going on Today _ Today s Appointments Today s Practice Aeminders Today s Overview Firm Hews Legal News Top News Stories Outstanding To Do s Weather Golf Outstanding Phone Message Mir Fred Jamigon Tue Oct 26 04 2 54 prm 416 555 5768 Needs to talk to pou today Mir Fhilip J Agrariari Tue Oct 267 04 11 40 am 397 6398 Ms Jane Woo Tue Oct 267 04 11 16 am 24 9r bBo Wants to discuss the file b Mr Jonathan Fly Mon Oct 25 04 2 52 pm n56 5555 Would like to arange dinn Hr David Barrett Hon Oct 25 04 11 39 am 1 313 555 9499 38 Would like to set up a Outstanding E mails New From Gary Berwood wed Oct 27 0
83. lose Save o gt P x Delete F rts ical j hi Pi Send Bill A ia gi x Cancel a Billing Detail Regarding MegaTech Computers Inc Megal ech Patent 02 1435 6 Time Code CORR CL Corespondence to client Phase Staff ASBIRobert S Brown Description Conespondence to client Taabu O30 Hows zel Stat Time 7 4 Bill Date 1 19 2004 3 Mon 4517 Way Builg Billing Item Form On Billing Item Form all the information is inherited from the record Robert was working on All he has to complete is complete the details of the Description that will appear in the invoice Before moving on to the next task Robert decides to check where he is in terms of billable time Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 50 a Time Matters 5 0 Tutor C Active Practice LLC Quick Item Entry ic File Views Calendar Database Mail Billing Report Search Window Help a e x m j wa EA r i ae b v Inbox Daily Contacts Matters Phone ToDo s AddDoc AddEve AddNot AddPho AddTod Alerts Conflict Time Expenses Ea Et amp Kl cose Options Period 1701719500 060 Mon to 12 31 2050 A Sat Staff ASB Robert 5 Brown Bill Date Desc Matter OoOo Billable NonBil Total Status Dur Type Basis 1 19 2004 FPhone call with Fred re scientific studies al ech Patent Fillable 1719 2004 Initial meeting letter to Client Billable 17152004 Teleconference with assistant attorney ge
84. ls OFFICE Help Ohl ie P 5 5j 3 7 Bobby Donnell p4 AA PN z P oe k k CL w pbb Files Contacts Notes ComCenter Calendar Time Sheets Library Dailies If you are familiar with Amicus Attorney V you will notice a new icon has been added the Notes icon Otherwise the Office Screen and toolbar appear similar to the Office and toolbar in prior versions of Amicus Attorney Notice the row of buttons on the top right of the screen this is your Office Toolbar The toolbar provides you with a quick way to access the different modules in AA If you look closely you should see MBOMOGSsBoROP lander Time Shoot Notes oem Cos eer Library Dailies Cice Timer Phani fi h rth hi int Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 22 Each of these icons or buttons opens a different module of AA For the moment in this task we are going to concentrate on the ComCenter button which opens the Communication module in AA Now let s return to our task Let us assume that someone in your office took a phone call message for you from Jane Doe They would have used AA s phone message slip within the ComCenter module The phone message then shows up on your desktop within your ComCenter module To check for your new or unreturned phone messages the first thing you would do in AA is to click on the COMCENTER button on the toolbar to open up the ComCenter module You should see Bobby Donnell s ComCenter Fie E
85. ment Software Face Off 2005 103
86. micus Tools FILES Help People on this File Y Remove E Dur client Janet Baily is a lawyer and an author of mystery Q shores based in the exciting environment of a legal practice Janet Baily Client Douglas Brackman Janet s publisher First Edition Publishing has refused to First Edition Publis kipling release her latest book and has withheld a promised advance on royalties Janet has retained us to bring an action against Fisrt Edition and its editor blr A Kipling for breach of contract Expert testimony i going to be required to deal with the defence allegation that the stones were unpublishable due to being unrealistic allegedly because no lawyer s life was ever as exciting as described in these works Janet Baily House of Grant Maple Ridge Farm Picton OM K1 SRS 1 613 555 3844 613 555 8874 janetm houseotgrant co Now click on the brad for this file and you will see a drop down menu click on Documents in this menu and you will see a sub menu appear click on All Documents in the sub menu d File Summary Administration b author of mystery File Summary t of a legal practice General Motes Status Report Events Time Spent Communications l haz refused to d a promised Documents Correspondence Chronological List Memos Research Pleadings Civil Litigation Transcripts Evidence Web Research All Documents This will open up t
87. mp Saved E mail tea pur ee E Mail From Gary Bernvood Wed Oct 27 04 5 20 PM Benwood ve Wright RE Progress on Benyvood Wright E Mail From Anne Neighbor Tue Oct 26 04 5 59 PM Neighbor re Roads RE Deposition Date C Msg From Mr Fred Jamison Tue Oct 26 04 2 54 PM Jamison Ine 416 555 5768 Needs to talk to you today Msg From Mr Philip J Agrarian Tue Oct 26 04 11 40 AM Widgetco Share Purchase 997 6398 C Msg From Ms Jane Woo Tue Oct 26 04 11 16 4M Cooperman Cooperman 24 977665 Wants to discuss the file before her meeting tomorrow with the social worker Msg From Mr Jonathan Fly Mon Oct 25 04 2 52 PM Business Development n56 5555 Would like to arange dinner for late nest week Please get back to him tomorow C Meg From Hr David Barrett Hon Oct 25 04 11 39 AM Business Development 1 313 555 9499 x384 Would lke to set up a meeting for next week to discuss the possibility of having you do ther corporate E Mail From Jim Cooperman Fr Oct 15 04 6 01 PM Cooperman Cooperman E RE Information required Notice the pull down menu in the upper left hand side By clicking on the down arrow you can pull up down the menu that allows you to select to see just Messages just Saved E mails or Messages and Saved E Mails For our purposes click on Messages and Saved E Mails Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 53 Bobby Donnell s ComCenter Sle x Fi
88. mpuLaw from Gavel amp Gown Handheld Organizers HotSync your Palm OS Organizer with a single button Amicus Attorney provides a direct real time bi directional synchronization with Palm OS organizers It transfers your calendar appointments and to do s with Client File references as well as your complete contact list Alliance Member 7 Client Server Edition users can synchronize with other hand Pocket PC held devices through Microsoft Outlook by enabling Outlook Synchronization in Amicus Attorney E mail Integration E mail messages can be attached to your Files and Contacts so the history of e mail communications is at your fingertips when and where you need it Save e mails individually or Guilook have Amicus Attorney do it for you automatically E mail can be sent received and managed from the new ComCenter module Amicus Attorney helps you follow up on your e mails _ Novell as well Attach documents to files Convert e mails into To GroupWises Dos Get reminders in your Daily Report And of course generate automatic time entries for your e mail correspondence Amicus Attorney s e mail integration works with both Microsoft Outlook and Novell GroupWise Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 97 Scanned Documents ScanSoft A convenient link with PaperPort automates the process of PaperPort attaching scanned documents to your Client Files in Amicus Attorney Document
89. n color coded time blocks Double click any one for full details Drag and drop to move an appointment 3 Each day s ToDo s appear at the bottom of the Calendar fe Daily Calendar Pobort Brown Calendar a 1 13 2004 Stat RSBRoberS Brown Ea A P O Bal Dr Albert A Howell All Staff G Alizon S Monroe Barbara E Angella D Brickley Dan T Miler David B Halomar Daily 5 Days Days 140a 21 Dap Weekly Month Scheduler Events Tue Jan 13 Wed Jan 14 Thu Jan 15 Fri Jan 16 8 00a f Liters i Ua goa Mf 241 Preparation with C ml Tral N v State v Theodlf as E Ba Client to sign divorce 10 2 im m Conference with client Cl en 11 003 E ME E p 30a E E Monthly Partner Meeting 12 00p i QDR eT Ea S a iii Up _ Planning for Next ear I 1 00p i m Prepare and attend her i 30p E Ea 2 U0p E Depose Witness to Assal ME Meet Client Review 0p 3 0 p IL Meet with 3 sons to di 30p wo cet with Stait Revisio 4 00p E 28 Initial Client Meeting Ml Sd Initial Client Meeting 0p A 500p eee Ain ToDo s Wed Jan 14 Thu Jan 15 Fri Jar 16 File Answer toJenking HE Discovery requests se a Get medical records fn Change para 5 Able y E Get the insurance dec mm File Answer to Jenkins E Arrange for Appraisal E Setti
90. nality This allows you to easily and almost instantly create generate documents from precedents that include client specific information Don t forget to docket your time Here is how both Amicus Attorney and Time Matters would handle this task Task 2 Time Matters After entering the Initial Meeting with Client tn Robert Brown s calendar described in Task 1 above assistant Allison merges a confirmation letter She still has the Event Form up on her screen Event Form Change File Edit view Help H Save amp Close H Show on Day File To merge a letter click on Process Primary Custom Relg E iad bisa Date 120 _2 00pm 2 45pm Code Description Iniialmee A E fRSBIRobert Brown Regarding Jane Doz 2 E Reminders 7 aili E I Notify Hide Trigger Review Billable Priv Ta Select Merge Template Program User Bath w Select Cancel P Event Menge Templates Estate Planning A General E iE Meeting Letter to Client Double click on the Merge Template for Initial Meeting Letter Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 30 Time Matters Merge January 19 2004 Re Initial Meeting with Robert 5 Brown on 01 20 2004 at 00 00PM Dear Jane Tam very pleased that you have decided to meet wath me concerung the legal matter we discussed bneth on the telephone recenthy We are schechiled to meet at our offices at the above date and tirne If for ary reason thos trae should becorne me
91. ney and Time Matters looking at issues such as cost versions available and other comparison data Finally there is a detailed discussion of how to select and implement practice management software Practice Management Software The Basics This section of the paper reviews some basic background information about practice management software Practice management software originally called case management software is a powerful tool for bringing efficiency to any size law practice or legal department While it got its start in the world of litigators hence the Original case management label practice management software has evolved to the point that it is for everyone litigator and solicitor alike and is equally useful for those in corporate legal departments There are many lawyers using Microsoft Outlook for e mail and a significant portion of those lawyers also use it for contact management or as a calendar While Outlook is a reasonably good general purpose personal information manager it is not specifically designed for use as a law practice management tool It is contact centric not matter centric Lawyers work and think in terms of matters There are several excellent case or practice management programs specifically designed to help lawyers manage their law practices These programs are matter centric not contact centric Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 10 Ultimately anyone using Outlook should seriously look
92. ng Meeting with Clie Sa E Part of the Multi Day Calendar View 3 Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 63 The Day File a Personal Hot List When you want to focus on several important things each day the Day File can help you It can be your hot list The Day File can contain links to Phone Calls ToDo s Emails Clients Documents really anything you need to respond to Day File Seles Day File P a R LE S cose Type Desc Contact Able Barry ToDo 14 2004 17 Get the insurance declarations page The Day File a Yellow Sticky hot list In Time Matters you can Double click on any item to see its details After you handle an item you remove it from the Day File Alerts Reminders and Watches Ta Alerts Reminders and Watches Eile Edit Wiew Search Process Alerts Reminders and Watches BAR A alma a i A Reminders spotlight Staff ASB Rober 5 Brown Date z z future Events Ea The Days column shows Oo Actual 1 14 2004 3 00am F how near they are O E Actual 17142004 3 00pm Fd 12004 or MTMG Initial Client Hegting 1 78 2004 10 00arn CONF Conference with chent Gordon w Mian barne O Reminder 1 15 2004 4 00pm MTN G Initial Client Meeting J Reminder 1716 2004 3 30pm MTNG Meet with Staff Revisions Brubaker Bankruptcy O EJ Actual 171472004 DISC Discover requeste sent out Brown v Brown Ll Actual 1 14 2004 DISC Get the insurance decla
93. nting systems such as PCLaw Timeslips or Quickbooks in a perfect world would like to see Amicus Attorney have a fully integrated Accounting Module providing general and trust accounting functions all within one database Secondly would like to see the ability to resize the screens and dialogue boxes within Amicus Thirdly always want systems to be more integrated than they are and this applies to Amicus Attorney as much as to all other software would want the links with other products to be as simple and straightforward as possible What are the 3 main strengths of the product Undoubtedly the first and foremost major strength of Amicus Attorney is its Ease of Use The program has been designed by a lawyer to work the way that lawyers need a practice management program to work The modules and screens have been designed to be instantly understandable to lawyers The program mirrors how lawyers work starting from the Files orientation of the program and continuing through the Calendar the Time Sheet and the CommCenter Each of these has been given careful thought to ensure that they work as they ought to And they work seamlessly together as an integrated whole The second major strength would be Workflow how Amicus Attorney allows you to be efficient and effective by taking a telephone call message and converting that to a telephone call record and converting that to a To Do and converting that to a Calendar Ap
94. o Lawyer 3rd edition ABA Law Office Procedures Manual for Solos and Small Firms 2nd edition ABA Managing Your Law Firm CLE BC Annual Review of Law and Practice 1998 2003 CLE BC and his own Amicus Attorney in One Hour for Lawyers ABA He is a contributing author and past member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Law Technology News published by American Lawyer Media Inc and for Law Practice Management Magazine published by the ABA his article co written with Reid Trautz entitled Ten Sure Ways to Fail for Law Practice Management magazine was awarded one of The Best Articles Published by the ABA by the GP Solo Magazine in September 2003 Dave is a prolific writer on practice Management and has written for many publications including Law Office Computing ABA s GP Solo Magazine and Law Practice Magazine the Canadian Bar Association s The National Magazine and others Dave is a regular columnist for the CBA PracticeTalk the TLABC Technology the LSBC Practice Tips and The Lawyers Weekly Focus on Technology Dan Pinnington DAN PINNINGTON dan pinnington lawpro ca is Director practicePRO at the Lawyer s Professional Indemnity Company LAWPRO LAWPRO www LawPRO ca is the malpractice insurer for 20 000 lawyers in private practice in Ontario practicePRO www practicepro ca is LAWPRO s innovative change and risk management initiative Its goal is preventing claims It provides lawyers with tools and resources to assis
95. o carry Many of the practice management products now have Web versions that give you full access across the Web through a Web browser to all information just as if you were sitting at your desk Not only can case management software help you better manage your practice and be more profitable it can help minimize the chance of a malpractice claim To understand why this is so here is a quick review of the most common types of mistakes that lawyers make it is not a failure to Know or apply the law The Types of Errors Lawyers Make Chart 1 Comparison of Claim Count by Description of Loss 1989 2003 All Other Inadequate Discovery of Facts Invest Fail to Know Ascertain Deadline Failure to React to Calendar Fail to Obtain Clients Consent Failure to File Docs Failure to Know Apply Law Poor Communication w Client Failure to Calendar Conflict of Interest gt 1 Party Procrastination Fail to Follow Client s Instruct 0 0 10 0 20 0 Chart 1 contains claims count percentages by description of loss for the Lawyers Professional Indemnity Company LAWPRO LAWPRO is the sole provider of professional malpractice coverage to lawyers in the province of Ontario Ontario lawyers in private practice are required to have professional malpractice coverage Malpractice errors in the US have a similar distribution At the end of 2003 there were about 20 000 lawyers in private practice in the province The claims represented in Chart 1 o
96. onological List My Communications Research Ho All File Calls Civil Litigation d All File E mails All Communications This brings up a list of summaries of all the communications logged on this file allowing you to scan the telephone calls messages and emails and get a sense of what is happening on the file this is my favourite way to stay on top of a file since most lawyers usually confirm when something is to be done on a file by way of a telephone call or email If your practice is to send these confirmations by way of letter you would review the Documents on the brad instead Here are the communications on the Berwood vs Wright file H My Communications 7 Tue Jan 20 04 05 20 Bernyood vs wright g BD E MAIL FROM Gar Berwood RE Progress on Bernyood right Mon Jan 19 04 01 07 Bemvood vs Wright g BD E MAIL TO Gary Benyvood Progress on Benood w Wright ed Jan 14 04 04 12 Bernyood vs Wright BD CALL TO Mr Gar Benvood S poke Discussion regarding various matters Mon Dec 29 03 02 38 Benyood vs Wright BO MSG FROM Mr Gary Bernvood Fri Dec 26 03 01 37 Renwood vs Wright g BO CALL TO Mr Gary Bernvood Lett Message Fri Dec 26 03 01 36 Berwood ve Wright BOD MSG FROM Mr Gan Benvood Please call to set date to review testimony Clicking on any of these short entries will bring up the full communication for an in depth review You can read any of the informat
97. orvendent please call our office so that we can reschedule our meeting Enclosed are directions to our offices and suggested place to park Feel free to call ry assxtard or me with any questore Si ee The merged letter appears in the word processor In this screenshot we have highlighted the text that was merged from Time Matters In MS Word Allison clicks the special Time Matters button TM Save to save document and link it to Jane Doe in Time Matters a Initial Meeting Letter to Client doc Microsoft Word File Edit View Insert Format Tools Table Quickword Window Help D gE amp Ei S 1 Paste Special PA E T 77 EP Insider GTM Open FAY TM Save Normal Times Mew Roman 12 L OS Save as TMDocument January 19 2004 Click the TM Save button in MS Word Jane Doe TOO Wlarquette Ave NWirnepols MM 55402 Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 31 S Document Form Add File Edit view Process Help H Save Close H Save T uP x Delete E ial 7 E mmt x Cancel PA j Date 1 19 2004 Mon Time 9 00am 9 12am Code CORAICorespond Description Initial letter to client Choose a Code for the type of document Regarding Enter amount of time to be billed for it File Name 4Doe Jane nitial letter to chert doc Type a descriptive file name in Description Reminders JT Folow T 4 Time Matters fills in the rest linking the Initial letter to client Document to the Client
98. ould be doing to make the best use of my time that day And I do drag and drop To Do s into my calendar to reinforce that want to use my day to attack that particular task Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 73 Summary of the Products This section contains some basic information on the two practice Management products covered in this paper Time Matters Summary What versions of the product are available amp S Time 6 The Professional Edition includes Time Information Billing Document and Communication Management features plus networking and links to industry leading programs for billing expense control document automation and management Billing 6 Billing Matters 6 Plus Accounting works inside Time Matters or separately Firms needing basic billing can generate a bill and post a payment in one easy step while firms needing advanced billing can use split flat consolidated and allocated fees plus trust accounting budgeting productivity reporting and more Billing 6 Plus Accounting Billing Matters 6 Plus Accounting adds full back office accounting to the Billing Matters standard feature set It includes complete accounts payable and receivable a flexible general ledger check writing and reconciliation and more TimeMatters World 6 World Server 6 0 gives you access to your practice management information through the Web It has a nearly identical interface and the same core funct
99. pointment and converting that to a Billable time entry that is in turn sent to your accounting system This integration ability that saves keystrokes and allows you to keep progressing with a file by working with the product is a major advantage over paper systems or indeed over systems such as Outlook This workflow ability has allowed me to take my practice virtually paperless since work with emails and electronic documents rather than generate paper All this electronic information is stored within Amicus Attorney or linked to it such as the Outlook email integration allowing me to use Amicus Attorney as the center of my practice Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 100 A third major strength is that Amicus Attorney s Systems Approach Amicus Attorney maintains all of the systems conflict checking bring forwards ticklers and the like that lawyers need to practice ethically and competently right to their desktop There is no need to maintain separate time wasting paper systems Selecting and Implementing Practice Management Software The best way to see the features of the practice management products is to take an on line demo or download trial versions See the Amicus demo at www amicusattorney com On the Time Matters Website there are dozens of multimedia files that demonstrate its features www timematters com Other popular practice management products include gt Prolaw or Prolaw Ready for smaller firms w
100. potential new client He opens up her Contact record in Time Matters to see what information the firm has about her Attorney checks for conflicts Ra Contact Form Change The Related tab of the Contact Form shows File Edit view Process Ha the other Contacts and Matters Jane Doe is ld Save amp Close LH Save related to Frimary Secondary Additional Custom Related Notes Documents Fhone E mail ha aul web Billing T imeline TO ane Deeb Code rt Fist ned ser sd C Fa at MatterRef sd Notify Trioger 7 Review 7 Billable I Related Event Too Contact Matter Specified Automatic EA Ex M Fre i 6 All Jane Doe has referred two Matters and is employed by Wells Fargo Bigs Related Records Minneapolis MN Office f Contact Records 1 9 Wells Fargo Mpls MN office Firm Mattar Records 2 Arthur Patent 01 4776 1 ReferedEy Betty Arthur Goodrich Estate 03 1593 1 ReferedBy Sarah Goodrich Based on Jane Doe s employment information and her status as someone who has referred business to the firm Robert sees no apparent conflict of interest But to be sure he runs a comprehensive Conflicts Search covering all the information that has ever been entered into Time Matters excluding what has been specially flagged as Private Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 17 a Time Matters 5 0 Training Mode Active Practice LLC Contact Name File Edit MJE Calendar Data
101. r Client Server Edition Wto W p145 149 From Amicus Attorney Version 4 or earlier Advanced Edition to Amicus 4 standard Edition pata n Sll Advanced Edition to Amicus Premium Edition p399 p44 Client Server Edition to Amicus amp Premium Edition p299 bg Version 4 Advanced Edition to Amicus W Advanced Edition p199 p145 Version 4 Advanced Edition to Amicus W Client Server Edition p199 299 Version 4 Client Server Edition to Amicus W Client Server Edition p299 T99 Any Version 3 or earlier to Amicus Y Advanced Edition p245 p179 Any Version 3 or earlier to Amicus Client Server Edition p429 ps2 Please contact the sales Department for information on upgrading from any Organizer Edition New Developments There is one big development with regard to Amicus Attorney Amicus Attorney Version X has been released Here is an overview of what is new in Version X 1 If your server is connected to the Internet you can run from any machine that is connected to the Internet anywhere anytime Nothing is installed on the local machine 2 All existing functionality is preserved and in fact enhanced Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 93 3 Amicus Attorney is now built on Microsoft s SQL platform building on this strong database foundation 4 Now one phone call or appointment or email can be filed as being relevant to multiple files such as when you talk to a client about all their files and not just one 5 There is a
102. r common software applications such as accounting Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 9 systems document managers document automation systems and the like so that practice management software products as a class become the nerve centers of a lawyers desktops The continual leapfrogging in new developments the introduction of customer requested additions the enhanced abilities offered by new operating systems all of these and more have allowed the practice management applications to continue to grow and to offer more and more features and functionality to practicing lawyers The Major Premise of this paper is that there is never one product that is best for all situations each practice manager on the market has its own strengths and weaknesses What is important is to evaluate each of the products in light of your practice and determine the best choice for you While the core functionality of all practice management products is essentially the same their features vary a great deal They have very different screen interfaces require different network hardware and software configurations and vary in the other software products they interface or link with a key factor with respect to accounting and billing Ultimately anyone looking to purchase practice management software should carefully review the available products to determine which one best suits their individual needs Following the task comparison we summarize Amicus Attor
103. rations page Lee v All County Inau od 2003 Baster w A Jenkins Engineering LLC 01 7458 22 PAT 6 04 2003 240 Arthur Patent 01 4878 1 PAT 6 04 2003 Chelsea w City of Hialeah 03 1252 1 PIP Inactivity Watch list shows Matters for example with no time entries or calls for 90 days x ee E G a O E The Alerts Reminders and Watches window is available with one click Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 64 It allows you to focus on today s activities as well as jog your memory about other things that may need attention AS upcoming Events are entered into your Calendar you can have reminders set with varying lead times that depend on the type of Event For example you may want to be reminded of a CLE Seminar twice once in time to cancel and still receive a refund and again the day before For a major client meeting requiring extensive preparation you set multiple reminders such as 14 7 3 2 and 1 day in advance Keeping on Track during the Day with Time Matters During your workday you may spend most of your time at the PC with Emails and documents With Time Matters running you can quickly switch to your Calendar Day File and Alerts screens to keep your important priorities in mind You can be more relaxed when you do not feel as though you have to keep everything in your head and are not at the mercy of sticky notes and elusive paper lists Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 65 Task 4
104. re trademarks of their respective companies Images are copyrighted by and used with permission of their respective owners The opinions expressed here are not necessarily shared by all of the authors or their respective employers While care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of product and other information be sure to check with the vendors for confirmation and updating of important information Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 3 About the Authors Wells Anderson Wells Anderson tailors Time Matters practice management software trains staff and implements new technologies for law offices He is President of Active Practice LLC in Edina Minnesota USA His firm develops Time Matters and Billing Matters training materials for attorneys and staff and feature packages for major practice areas Using remote control and conferencing technologies across the Internet Anderson performs installations conducts individual and group training sessions and provides support to clients throughout North America Time Matters and Billing Matters Authorized Independent Consultant TechnoLawyer Favorite Contributor 2002 TechnoLawyer Legal Tech Consultant of the Year 2000 Member ABA TECHSHOW Board Member of Phi Beta Kappa Tel 800 575 0007 Web www activepractice com David J Bilinsky David J Bilinsky daveb Isbc org is the Practice Management Advisor and staff lawyer for the Law Society of British Columbia Dave is a Fellow of
105. retainer agreement we need to docket our billable time Go back to Janet Baily s contact listing by clicking on the Contacts button on the toolbar You should see her rolodex like listing notice the grey area on the right hand side of her listing this is the brad and clicking on it brings up different sub pages of info relevant to Janet and her files as follows Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 39 Janet Baly ita Notes pstery stories Her latest work All Files Team Members The mysteries Contact Groups Mightmare wat HEC andthe Related Contacts Events Likes red wine Communications Custom Click on All Files this brings up the brad of all the files for J anet Baily New q All Files d Inquiry Bally re Kipling BALIA 2345 Chent on this file Double click on the Baily re Kipling file this is the file on which we have been working this highlights how in Amicus you can start with a contact and go to any file relevant to that contact If you wish you could have Started from the Files button on the toolbar and looked for the Baily re Kipling file but in our case starting from the contact listing for Janet is faster since we are already working from here Double clicking on the Baily re Kipling entry on Janet Baily s contact brad opens this file as follows Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 40 2 Bobby Donnell s Files File Edit A
106. rough the helpful information they supply Both choices are equally workable with Time Matters The Time Matters product line offers a broad range of choices Time Matters Advantage 2 Stability Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 86 Each new release of Time Matters goes through extensive testing in house and throughout the network of Authorized Independent Consultants Over the years the company has focused on quality under the hood The Professional Edition comes with its own stable database technology that runs on all popular networks the Enterprise Edition runs on industry standard Microsoft SQL server Given the tremendous variety of available computer hardware and software and the occasional susceptibility of MS Windows it is possible to experience a problem while using Time Matters But it is extremely rare for the cause to be traced to an issue within the Time Matters program When a problem does arise it is extremely rare for any loss of data to occur Time Matters sets high standards for quality reliability and Stability Time Matters Advantage 3 Community Because of its popularity and large market share Time Matters users benefit from an extensive and varied community of people The company actively solicits new ideas from users Email yours to ideas timematters com and incorporates them into new releases As a result all of the users benefit from the ideas of their peers The same process occurs on active forums where
107. rsations and communications This allows you to use the search features of AA to find all past communications and attempts to communicate such as notes of leaving messages with any person without having to find the paper file use this feature constantly in my practice at the Law Society where must constantly give advice to lawyers ie our clients My AA contact database contains 6900 people and NEVER have to go in search of a paper file to determine what advice gave to any of them at any time over the last 5 5 years Having determined that you do not have a conflict the next thing is to make an appointment with Jane Doe to discuss her new file Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 27 Notice the CECE button and click it This opens up an Event Details dialogue box In the example below have entered the purpose of the meeting in the Title area used the drop down menu to select Appointment scheduled the time for the meeting to be from 10 30 to 12 00 PM for Nov 25 2004 and created an email reminder for Jane Doe located the meeting at my office Event Details rc fi Thu Nov 25 2004 hioa 12 00 PM E Doe Jane Commerc i Doe Bobby Donnell No repeat Shotrn i Assistance Setup Regarding call on October 24 2004 at 2 35 PM Spoke 416 987 4321 r Jaje Last modified on Sun Oct 24 2004 2 41 PM On clicking OK this event will be scheduled in my calendar and the Event Dialogue box
108. s Instant Messenger now has PowerViews User Groups Tag and Process Archiving Send Deleted Messages to the Time Matters Recycle Bin and can be Synchronized to remote Time Matters databases TM Save One of Time Matters most popular features TM Save with its ability to save a document directly to Time Matters Document Management from Word and WordPerfect is now also available within Excel XP 2003 and Adobe Acrobat 5 0 6 0 Exchange Server Real Time Synchronization Automatically in background synchronize Calendars Tasks and Contacts between Microsoft Exchange Servers i e networked Outlook and Time Matters TM Save of Email Attachment Results in a Specific Relation Type Related Record Specified Relations between the email record and the attachment are now just a click away Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 Improved Spell Check Engine Now Time Matters includes a Legal dictionary and more options for automated spell checks Selectable Multiple Toolbars Create multiple customized Main Toolbars to help maximize efficiency Simply right click on the Toolbar to select another set of Toolbar buttons This allows each user a high degree of customization and helps navigate now that Time Matters includes both front office and back office functionality Quick Tab Enhancements The color and shape of Quick Tabs can now be customized For example urgent items can have a red Quick Tab items to be bille
109. s session are e Versions V and X of Amicus Attorney by Gavel and Gown Software www amicusattorney com Version V has just recently been released and is an upgrade to the traditional Windows line of Amicus Attorney comprising the Organizer Advanced and Client Server versions Version X is a new version that runs within Internet Explorer In this paper we will deal with Version V as that is the version that is being used by the vast majority of users e Version 6 0 of Time Matters www timematters com by DATA TXT Corporation The screenshots in this paper are of Version 5 0 Version 6 0 include a BlackBerry link an easy to use Outliner Case Planner Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 8 a whole new level of Outlook integration including background AutoSync and more Click here for a list of key improvements These two products were chosen for the face off demonstration as they are currently the two most widely used case management products in the legal profession This is not meant to be an endorsement of either of these products relative to the dozens of other similar products that are available rather it is intended to give session attendees an idea of the features and abilities of practice management software Other popular practice management products include gt Prolaw or Prolaw Ready for smaller firms www prolaw com gt PracticeMaster www practicemaster com from the makers of Tabs3 gt Client Profil
110. serves as your computer s center of operations It links to a long list of software programs regularly used by lawyers and staff Version 6 puts useful new icons on the toolbars in Adobe Acrobat full version MS Excel MS PowerPoint and MS Internet Explorer HotDocs Juris LexisNexis Outlook Pocket Outlook PaperPort Palm Handheld BlackBerry Desktop BlackBerry Handheld 32 bit version of HotDocs versions 4 0a 4 1 5 0 5 1 6 0 version 1 40 0 068 or 2 x LexisNexis Research requires a valid LexisNexisw account Setup for LEXLink is on the application CD and is activated in time Matters at Program Level Setup Microsoft Outlook 2000 or later Microsoft Pocket Outlook running on the CE 2 01 operations system or later The link was tested on Pocket PCs HP Jornada Casio Cassiopeia Compaq iPAQ and the Toshiba e740 32 bit version of PaperPort Deluxe or Visual Explorer Any device using the Palm Operating System for example Palm III Palm V Handspring Visor and the HotSync Manager ships with Palm devices No additional software is required for example intelliSync BlackBerry Desktop Manager 3 6 The BlackBerry Link requires Java Enabled BlackBerry Wireless Handheld such as the Color BlackBerry Wireless Handheld 7200 Series 7510 7730 7750 and 7780 or the Monochrome BlackBerry Wireless Handheld 5810 6200 Series 6510 6710 6750 Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 79 PCLaw Quick
111. surer s Office Municipal Tas Office 1 476 555 5999 Whipper Cone City of Boston 1 617 555 5844 Lioosm TI Ld m l 4 Anm eer Adn You will notice the following dialogue box opens Check Conflicts Enter the name you wish to check for a possible conflict Doe The last name company name address and notes fields will be searched across all contacts in the database M Also check Contact Relationships Cancel When you click on the OK button you should see the following Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 25 Bobby Donnell s Contacts File Edit Amicus Tools CONTACTS Help Showing Conflict Search 0 Contacts Amicus Attorney Contacts with matches for your search and related Contacts are listed in the Contacts Index Please remember that searches cannot locate information which was not entered or which is misspelled You must make your own independent determination as to whether all relevant information has been searched and as to whether there is any conflict of interest in the circumstances of each case Al BI Cl of El Fi Gl HI 1 JJ KJ Lf Mi NJ Of Pi Of Bl 5 TU vid XI MI z Ta Nee 8 Fine gt Delete Open p You can see that the conflict check came up negative If you had located a match you could then open Jane Doe s entry in AA to see if she is an existing client which is just fine or a party adverse in interest or simply someone in the firm s database that happens
112. t them in incorporating risk management strategies into their practices including the use of technology Prior to joining LAWPRO Dan practised for seven years in the Litigation Department of a Niagara Falls area law firm Dan has advanced technology skills and for several years also held the Manager of Information Systems position at his firm Dan is well known in legal technology circles and writes regular and occasional articles on legal technology for several legal and general publications Dan has presented at ABA Techshow in Chicago The Pacific Legal Technology Conference the LegalTech and Technology for Lawyers conferences in Toronto the Law Society of Upper Canada s Bar Admission Course and many other CLE conferences Dan is Chair of the Ontario Bar Association Law Practice Management Section is Vice Chair of the OBA Technology Committee and is on the executive of the OBA Solo Small Firm and General Practice Section He is Secretary to the Canadian Bar Association Law Practice Management and Technology Section He is also on ABA 2004 Techshow Board and the Practice Management Advisors and Core Web Committees of the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section He is a past president of The Canadian Society for the Advancement of Legal Technology Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 5 Natalie Thornwell Ms Natalie R Thornwell is the Director of the State Bar of Georgia s Law Practice Management Program She
113. tch pad When done he summarizes the important facts Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 20 from the call in the Memo section of the Phone record marks it Done then clicks Save amp Close Jane Doe agreed to meet with Robert five days later so Robert asks an assistant to enter the appointment with his new client in the Calendar Allison highlights Jane Doe on the Contact list then clicks on the Add Event button to bring up an Event Form with Jane s name already filled in Event Form Change Fill in just the Start Time File Edit View Process Help and the Code for Initial Mtg H Savet Close H save X vette HAI the other fields fill in 3 automatically Primary Custom Related Notes Documents Phone Emaar e AE 1720 2004 3 Tue Time 200pm 245pm TINMTInitial Mtg Desciton _Staf FSEFcbetS Grom Regarding JaneDoe o O E Reminders Follow Done Notify Hide Trigger Review Billable Priv Event Form Time Matters tracks the flow of communications within an office It helps to ensure that phone messages are routed and handled It checks for conflicts of interest dials the phone and records important notes on each call Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 21 Task 1 Amicus Attorney This section will highlight the new version of Amicus Attorney V When you first start Amicus Attorney AA version V you will see the following pice EE PEN File Edit Amicus Too
114. ter on your network and all other computers will be updated rapidly as users open the program The Time Matters Service Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 84 Releases are not just bug fixes each one adds new features in response user requests and is available for download at no charge A variety of support resources for customizing and learning Time Matters are available gt The HelpCam CD videos introduce users to the program and show how to customize it gt Context sensitive Help is available throughout the program for basic information about various functions and quick answers gt The User Manual included both printed and PDF formats serves as an extensive reference It includes Frequently Asked Questions gt On the Time Matters website the Service Center has white papers covering selected topics in depth and a searchable indexed Knowledge Base organized by topic and Subtopic www timematters com support servicecenter gt The AIC Solutions Forum is a place for Time Matters Billing Matters and World Server users and consultants to share knowledge about these applications tailor these applications to individual needs and develop specialized solutions It is available to registered users via Email Newsreader and the Web and is accessible from the Service Center gt New purchasers receive 10 free support incidents to be used within 90 day of purchase Additional incidents may be purchased The Time Ma
115. ter way to supercharge your practice or department by putting all the key information on every matter at the fingertips of every lawyer and staff person in the office This software will make your office or department more profitable by making everyone more effective and efficient As an added bonus it can help prevent common errors and mistakes including those that can lead to malpractice claims The presentation for this session will feature a side by side live demonstration of how two widely used practice management products handle four common series of law practice related tasks These task scenarios are as follows L Taking a call from potential client checking for a conflict of interest getting basic information and scheduling a meeting 2 Using document assembly to generate an initial client meeting confirmation letter to the new client and docketing the time to do this 3 Receiving an e mail document from a client filing the document in the matter checking the status of the matter and responding to email and docketing time and 4 Showing the routine lawyers go through at the start of a new day in terms of reviewing deadlines limitations outstanding communications and to do s This paper covers what is presented in the session including screen shots showing in detail what you would see as you complete these four task scenarios Practice Management Products Compared The two case management products demonstrated in thi
116. the defendant company o Harold Wright suing for wrongful dismissal Gary Berwood President Berwood Construction Lti 1230 Nugget Road Long Island My 10202 1 212 555 9999 212 555 9500 Qanmi be nud con Now click on the Brad you will see the Status Report in the pull down menu File Summary 7 Harald wrig Administration Erwood Construction suing for wro File Summary J Weari eni Motes Status Report Events Time Spent Communications Documents Chronological List Research Civil Litigation Double click on the Status report you will see i Status Report T Fhe other side has served an affidavit in support of their motion for particulars Wie are cross examining on that affidavit prior to arguing the motion Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 57 The Status Report is an area on the Brad for the file where anyone who has worked on the file can continually update the status of the file for everyone in the firm to review just in case someone was confined due to SARS or was hit by the proverbial bus on the way to work There is another way to quickly come up to speed on the file click on the brad and then on Communications then on All Communications gl sid Administration P i support of their p File Summary mining on that NOI General Notes Status Report Events Time Spent eo Communications P My Calls Documents My E mails Chr
117. the end of that time with a few exceptions the users are glad to have the new software and wonder how they ever got along without it The results depend to a great extent on these critical factors 1 Did the users spend at least 6 hours learning the basics of Time Matters 2 When everyone started using Time Matters did it contain all the essential information that was in the old system 3 Was at least some customization done to address the firm s practice area or areas 4 Was someone available to answer questions and make necessary changes while users were getting used to Time Matters 5 Was everyone required to switch from the old system to the new system The best way to minimize the amount of time for people to get up to speed is to carefully prepare for the transition from the old ways of doing things to the new ones How customizable is the product Time Matters is highly customizable without programming Its power can be magnified through the use of both simple and complex techniques for adapting it to specialized uses Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 82 Property Files Time Matter lets you choose from among the 13 different practice areas listed above Click here to see the list When installing Time Matters you choose the appropriate property file from the list Feature Packages Some Time Matters consulting companies offer pre packaged bundles of features tailored to the needs of particular legal
118. the phone call note will open the phone call message You should see Phone Message To Fa Booty Connell Ei Today 02 05 PM From A ane Doe fi Bis gar 6543 File E ol Call was Returned Do not Purge Dealt with Please call new chent would like to discuss her situation URGENT Please Call L Returned your Call L Will Call Again L Delete Formand Make This a To Do ale Cancel Taken by Bobby Donnell The first thing a prudent solicitor would do is check to ensure that they would not be in a conflict by talking to Jane Doe about her case So what do you do Check to ensure that no one in your firm has acted for Jane Doe i So how can you do this Click on the Cones icon this will bring up the Contacts Module Now click on Contacts and then Check Conflicts from the menu as follows Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 24 Bobby Donnell s Contacts File Edit Tools eek yr tae as New Contact Ctrl M Amicus il 81 Conta Show show Al Cirit BENGE E Show Marked Mark Contacts Unmark All David Barrett Samuel Beatty Amie Becker Jimmy Berti Gary Benwood Jonathon Bittle Bonnie B Blac Harold Blank Maude Blank Check Conflicts Search Team Generate a Document Cbrl D Delete Contact Small Contacts view wf Medium Contacts view Large Contacts View H5 9598 Ext 34 555 1286 City Trea
119. tomizable is the product have tried to outline how you can customize the program through the Office module by going into Setup and into Preferences You can set up Amicus to track custom fields in the file opening process You can set up linked events for example to generate reminders for a upcoming trial that will generate all reminders for the production of expert reports for reminding your client to bring in a retainer prior to trial etc that can be designated a precedent and reused over and over again on different files However to be fair have done little customization finding that the program suits my needs without much tweaking and that is after using it for 8 years Others may find that they want to highly customize the program and in this respect acknowledge that Time Matters has the edge over AA version V But version X of Amicus Attorney is very customizable and it maintains Amicus Attorney s famous ease of use You may in fact find that you can get your cake and eat it too Wells has mentioned TM s Feature Packages Amicus has an equivalent called Practice Packs In fact if you are interested in how to customize Amicus Attorney in your particular instance and recognize the inherent difficulty in writing a generic paragraph on how to customize a program for a particular user recommend that you call Amicus Attorney directly and speak to them have found that they are more than willing to dis
120. ts f Al Shown Selected C Marked Master Document cancel Click on the OK button Now you have to tell Amicus the name under which you wish to save the retainer letter Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 37 Save the file as E AofPS txt E will Ext B Authorization txt B Resolution txt File name Bailey Retainer Letter tet nave as type Text files txt Cancel Click Save and the retainer letter and agreement are created in this case in Notepad E byler LAr Halepa r 1 i Ment m a 2 aa tr a Hj HKOFPR ADTT i menel T Tiia Ein tar er i Phone GL P S55 70 5 i 19 355 8787 mear L5 20m Me Jars eat ly Ti E e maple ae ra i PILTON civ SES gerr ners age First edition sibli Thank you for str wit iia un bo ceocedent poo in tals matter on ot crate MER am 3 we gied a Ted CI tian file i ide Fear ne erence xir I e mmer Jz Ae ral prep pi T Faba ie i in al yar correnponderce wlth us wE gee emirlere s Pormat retyiner donme coni ireira mr FESTIS J your l gal Pape EE aa cd Elisia yigi EHTI ae have 1E witraiisd and retin TT Tous at woe aligat Gomen in Gur gkandaed fatale Cequirements dra thi Ti l eee aie Finn with The Sum oe PS ere a ae T e asi na ia ibe ap rou brar This mum w111 ce held me us in Erilse Hii e apm Ten Y i agaicat yar caii ai ind whin cay ai crin 2 ime tu amp at ie jji you Ta rereh ode retainer He Sates en oped THE sane ATAT vay n Tuer me To Prag
121. tters support staff have earned a great reputation for quality and responsiveness What are the 3 main weaknesses of the product 1 Although some are available through the Time Matters Store a wider selection of third party guides and feature packages targeted at particular practice areas and advanced features would allow users to gain greater efficiency from advanced Time Matters features without investing as much time Excellent additions arrived after last year s ABA TECHSHOW from Out of the Box Developers and from Basha Systems They are available through the Time Matters Store http www timematters com store category cid 102 2 Last year we said Time Matters could benefit from more attractive cosmetics despite the makeover in Version 5 The new Version 6 came through with a complete redesign of the icons and new options for the style of tabs used throughout the program Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 85 Time Matters Backgrounds Although all the standard Time Matters data entry screens are customizable we would like to see the power of Power Views extended to data entry screens 3 Time Matters and practice management applications generally suffer from an image problem among lawyers Less than 50 of lawyers are regular users of practice management software Other professions and businesses have fully embraced technology as a vital key to their success Many lawyers still view computers and software almost
122. tup where there are larger numbers of users Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 Integration with LexisNexis CourtLink Docket Search Seamlessly integrate information from LexisNexis database of over 200 million court records CourtLink services required into Time Matters Integration with LexisNexis Martindale Hubbell Lawyer Locator Perform a Martindale Hubbell Lawyer Locator search directly from a Time Matters name field Instantly get background information on other lawyers Send to Excel With one click you can send Time Matters List information to Excel for further processing or analysis Security Setup Exceptions Even more security control now create Security exceptions on a Client Contact and Matter Project basis Entry Form Tabs Create and customize Entry Form tabs on all record types Previously tabs on the Entry Forms were limited to the 4 Main record types now Form tabs are available on the Supporting record types 75 Enhanced Specified Relations of All Record Types The Time Matters Related Records feature now works for both Main and Supporting record types not just the 4 Main record types as in previous versions Now in addition to seeing all the Related Records for a Client Contact and or Matter Project you can see all the Related Records to a Document Note Email Phone Call etc There is even a new drag and drop capability for Specified Relations Messenger Enhancement
123. ver to your calendar and drop it into your calendar as follows Bobby Donnells Calendar File Edit Amicus Tools CALENDAR Help Sep lt October 2004 Hovember 2004 F Mon 1 Tuesday October 26 2004 5 M T T F td 26 27 28 29 30 4 ow 4142 13 44 u 14 49 20 24 i of _ _ _ _ aaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssss 25 27 28 0g mn 03 Wwidgetco share Purchase Due Nov 2 a qq 9 75 10 45 Prepare cross examination Finalize Shareholders Agreement Pdays toda P10 Benwand vs wright Dom Coop Philips Shoes aXx _ oO Research Supreme Court Rulings on list mms Awd Cooperman Cooperman Tet day O Do Call Ms Jane Woo on list Awg Neighbor re Roads 2nd day oO Issue Jury Notice on list Tacos Awg Jamison Inc bth day O Do Draft retainer on list am e mM W Parker Agency at day go Review Hubbard transcript amp report of on list Awg Markham Realy re General Tat day O Do Email Harold ry findings on list Soon Personal 15th day go Play Cards on list Low Technology Committee 138th day O Decision re new software on list L e Auai TEDI Now double click on the appointment with yourself to work on the Berwood vs Wright cross examination this allows you to change the default appointment time and schedule it instead from 9 15 am to 12 15 pm Why do this First a good time management tip is to schedule To Do s aS appointments allowing you to manage your time by your priorit
124. ww prolaw com gt PracticeMaster www practicemaster com from the makers of Tabs3 gt Client Profiles www clientprofiles com an integrated legal accounting and practice management system gt Computer Law Systems Inc www clssummit com gt Corprasoft www corprasoft com Corporate Law Departments gt LawStream www lawstream com an integrated legal accounting and practice management system gt LAWTRAC www lawtrac com Corporate Law Departments gt Legal Easy Inc Attorney s Assistant www legaleasy com Family Law Office Suite gt Legal Files www legalfiles com gt LextraNet www lextranet com Web based litigation support and case management gt Needles www needleslaw com gt PCLaw www pclaw com this is a legal accounting system that has added practice management features in their latest version 7 gt Perfect Law www perfectlaw com gt RealLegal Practice Manager www reallegal com Ideally you should also spend some time with a legal technology consultant who can demonstrate the features of the software you are looking at and who can listen to your questions and provide one on one answers and feedback Talk to existing users of the products you are considering and Practice Management Software Face Off 2005 101 ideally look for attorneys in the same area of law The services of a good legal technology consultant can also help you sort out which product is best for you Law Of

Practice Management Software Face-Off 2005

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