Practice Management Software in 2010

Transcription

1 Edition 11.1 By: Susan Traylor, Practice Management Advisor Law Office Management Assistance Program May 2010

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Speaker s Biography... i PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE in 2010 Demonstration of Leading Solutions A Concise History of Technology in the Law Practice... 1 Why Do I Need Practice Management Software?... 3 The Benefits of Organizing Your Practice Using Some Type of Practice Management Software... 7 How Do You Know Which Practice Management Software is Right for Your Firm?... 7 Screen Shots of Abacus Law, Amicus Attorney, & Time Matters... 9 By 2009, Practice Management Software Had Moved Toward Integration of Software and Services Foundation Features of a Good Practice Management Software Distinguishing Features of Practice Management Software Practice Management Software Products Demonstration AbacusLaw Amicus Attorney Time Matters Resources for the Practice Management Software Researcher Practice Management Software: Table of Software Products... 43

3 BIOGRAPHY SUSAN L. TRAYLOR is the Practice Management Advisor with the Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) of the State Bar of Arizona. She is a certified consultant for Abacus Law, Amicus Attorney, and Time Matters practice management software. In addition to her 20+ years office management experience, she has worked for six years in sole practitioner law firms. Susan has extensive experience in computer technology administration, time and billing, accounts receivable and collections, database management, and legal-specific practice management software for the small and solo firms. As LOMAP s Practice Management Advisor, Susan advises member attorneys on issues relating to the business of practicing law, including setting up a law practice, closing a practice, client relations, office management, trust accounting, efficient office systems, with a particular emphasis on selecting and utilizing appropriate technology. Susan travels throughout Arizona to help attorneys and their staff members implement Abacus Law, Amicus Attorney, and Time Matters, including initial and ongoing training and customizations. Ms. Traylor received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Arizona State University and completed certificate programs in both legal assisting from Phoenix College and mediation training from the University of Phoenix. i

4 : Demonstration of Leading Solutions By Susan Traylor, Law Office Management Assistant Program How might a day in the life of a busy law practice look if the attorney and staff used the power of practice management software? This program will explain what practice management software is, why law firms need it to compete in the field of law today and what practice management software products are available today. Although this program assumes the perspective of a solo, small and possibly mid-sized law firms, consideration is also given to the needs of corporate legal departments and public law offices. This presentation will conclude with a compare and contrast demonstration of at least three practice management software products, not from a software vendor s perspective, but rather from the perspective of the law firm, based on the most important of the day-to-day functions in a law practice case processing, from intake to closing the file 1. The best way to fully understand what practice management software is, is to first review what software solutions came before it. A Concise History of Technology in the Law Practice Word Processing Software In the beginning there was word processing. No longer did the law firm need carbon copies, onion skin paper and Wite-out. Almost every lawyer s secretary gladly learned to use WordPerfect (one of the first word processing software) to prepare documents. It was not long before lawyers, too, were using word processing. Then the big question became, Should we use WordPerfect or Microsoft Word? Today, a lawyer would not consider practicing law without using a word processing program. Billing Software If word processing could make lighter work of preparing documents, then why not use the computer to track time, send bills to clients, and manage the firm s cash flow? Along came time and billing software to the rescue: Timeslips, Tabs 3 were a couple of the first time and billing software. Later came PCLaw, QuickBooks, Billing Matters, Juris and, more recently, Abacus Accounting, Amicus Accounting and EasyTimeBill and EasyTrust, to name only a few. Next to word processing software, billing and accounting software quickly became the lawyer s next favorite software tool. 1 Excerpt from the CLE seminar, Systems to Make Your Office Hum, by Susan Traylor.

5 The age of hit the world like a Tsunami. Now, lawyers not only could accomplish the task of communicating with clients and other lawyers, but at the same time they could be documenting that communication. What a marvelous technological invention for a law firm! It is difficult to find a law firm today that does not use . While there are many service providers, i.e. aol.com, yahoo.com, cox.net, qwest.net, etc., by far the most frequently-used software in law firms today is Microsoft Outlook. Contacts and Calendar If a law firm had , it was likely that they used Outlook as their e- mail software. If the law firm using Outlook for their took the time to look more closely at Outlook, they realized that not only could they send, receive and organize e- mail using Outlook, but they could also make use of Outlook s calendar and contacts. Imagine that. A computer program that could keep a list of your clients and other attorneys and, at the same time, keep a calendar! This was especially helpful for docketing due dates. PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and Smart Phones Now, not every law firm used Outlook. Some lawyers discovered there was a small, handheld computer that could keep track of their contacts, appointments and task list. Some of these products were Palm, Handspring, and Pocket PCs, to name a few. The great technology developers must have had attorneys in mind when they developed the PDA and, later, the Smartphone (cell phone and PDA combined, with internet and service), i.e.treo, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and later, iphone and Droid, among others. So long as the data on it could be backed up and kept secure, it was the lawyer s best friend technology. They could take it to court, to the office and even use at home. Their calendar, contacts and was easily accessible at all times. Document Management By this time, law firms were starting to think, If there are software solutions for preparing documents, tracking time, preparing bills, sending , tracking contacts and calendaring, there certainly must be a tool to help us organize our electronic documents. Enter the document management software (DMS). Products such as PCDocs, Worldox, imanage, DocsOpen offered the solution. The development of DMS made it easier to save (put away) newly created electronic documents as well as to easily locate them (retrieve). As lawyers dared to abandon paper management altogether and test the waters of the paper-less law office, mail and other incoming Page 2

6 documents could be scanned into the computer, then organized with the DMS. No more franticly searching files, cabinets, inboxes, lawyers desks for documents. Document Assembly or Document Generation Reflecting back on the early days of technology in the law office, that is, the days of word processing, lawyers and their staff began to think, Do we really have to type each document from scratch? Especially if it is a routine form that is used over and over again, like our fee agreement. So they demanded more from their word processing software (WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, and others) looking to figure out ways to set up form (or template) documents. This way only the variable information, such as names, addresses, case reference, case number, etc. would have to be typed. WordPerfect and Microsoft Word did accomplish this. But what if the variable information was in Outlook or the Palm or the billing software such as Timeslips? Couldn t that variable information just be merged into WordPerfect or Word form? And, Isn t there some kind of software that specializes in assembling documents this way? Along came document assembly software such as HotDocs, GhostFill, Amicus Assembly. Additionally, by this time, there were more demands on the software. I want to be able to see, in one place, all the attorneys, witnesses, judges, courts, insurers, etc. who are connected to a client s file. Isn t there some way to do that with a computer program? I need to do a conflicts check. Is there some software that can do conflicts checking? I do a lot of web research. I would like to save my research on the computer and somehow organize it with my client s file. Isn t there some software that can help me manage my trust account? I use a time and billing software, but I need something to help me with my calendar and due dates and my billing software does not do that. We use an electronic calendar at our office, but we can t share it. We would like one centralized, electronic calendar that all of us can see. You say, I have all of the above computer tools I need. Why do I need Practice Management Software? Page 3

7 If you have been practicing law for some time and, during that time, have accumulated some or many of the above technological tools, you might be asking this question. What s Wrong with this Picture? Like a house that goes through years of remodeling, each time with a new add-on or room, software for in the law office was splintered. There was no flow. No continuity. That is, there was one software for word processing, another for billing, another for , another for the calendar and contacts, yet another for the PDA, and one for the document management system and even more for the document assembly. To benefit from all these wonderful tools, an attorney and staff had to become specialists in all these different software products. Not only that, there was duplication of work. One had to enter the client s name and address and phone number in each of the different software products. This not only took more time, but there was more room for error, not to mention a lot of different software databases to keep up. There were more software licenses to buy, to upgrade, to keep trained on, to pay for support. The Effect of Splintered Software on Medium and Large Firms This splintering of software functions was not so much of a drawback for the large law firms. After all, they most likely had a fully-staffed, full-time Information Technology (I/T) department, a full-time law office administrator, or at least an office manager, a designated staff person to do billing, another staff person to do calendaring of deadlines, and staff dedicated to word processing or putting together documents, support staff to collect the attorney s billable time and input it into a billing program. In short, the functions were splintered, so who cares if the software solutions are splintered. The attorneys and associates were typically able to focus the majority of their time strictly on casework, client representation. Except for the managing partner, they did not have the burden of the day-to-day firm administration. The Effect of Splintered Software on Small and Solo Firms The smaller the firm, the more that is required of the attorneys and support staff to be multi-talented in their skills, in particular, administrative and management skills. When an attorney starts out, with no support staff at all, he/she must do it all: take calls, do intakes, prepare documents, maintain communication with clients, track time, do bills, schedule appointments and calendar deadlines, check for conflicts, open files, close files, everything! To have separate computer software for each of these tasks is a huge imposition on the small firm lawyer, and decidedly so on the sole practitioner. What If There Was One Type of Software that Could Bring All of These Functions Together? Page 4

8 Actually, there is such a single software solution for these splintered functions. It is called practice management software ( PMS ). Previously referred to as case management software, the term practice management software has come to mean: one software that comprehends all of the day-to-day administrative and case processing functions of client representation and managing a practice with the added bonus of being developed especially for law firms. What Makes Practice Management Software Special for Law Firms? Practice Management Software is a relational database, starting with the Client s contact information, then adding a case/matter for that client, and relating (or linking) all contacts, phone calls, time tracked, calendar items, , documents, etc., to the case/matter. Figure 1 What Is a Relational Database? Link many matters to 1 Client (Contact) CLIENT = person (Contact, Customer) PI Matter 1 (Case, Project) Bankruptcy (Case, Project) PI Matter 2 (Case, Project) Figure 2 Link many contacts (client, attorneys, parties,... people) to 1 matter Client Opposing Attorney Witness Judge Court Reporter PI Matter 1 Page 5

9 So, being able to create one Contact card or record, then relate (or link) it to all the related matters or cases, means that if that Contact record changes (i.e. the client moves), that Contact record need only be updated once. Then, all the cases or matters that Contact record relates to will reflect the updated address. Likewise, being able to create one appointment or task on the calendar, then relating (or linking) it to a case or matter, means that not only will you see the appointment or task on the calendar, but you will see it in the linked-to matter or case. These are small, but important to understand, examples of the power of a relational database. Combine the law-firm-specific benefit of a relational database with the centralizing of all the splintered functions in a law practice and you get Practice Management Software! Word or WordPerfect organization Contacts (Clients, Attorneys, Parties, People) Assemble Document Phone calls Track time Organize web research Case Management Program Document Management Appointments Reminders Calendaring/Docketing Matters/Cases Personal Digital Assistants (PDA s) Remote access Page 6

10 The Benefits of Organizing Your Practice Using Some Type of Practice Management Software are deadlines easier to track; documents are always a few keystrokes out of reach; conflicts checking is more reliable; billable work is less likely to slip through the cracks because time keeping is easier to do; attorneys can work with case and client files away from the office (remote); documents and information are easier to share with clients and associate attorneys, in case of disaster, case and client files can be recreated from computer file deadlines and appointments are on a calendar shared by the entire staff phone communications and can be saved with the file and with other staff (if desired) increased attorney and staff productivity you go to one software each day to find information and store information How Do You Know Which Practice Management Software ( PMS ) is Right for Your Firm? Choosing a PMS for your firm is like finding the right house for you or your family. There are numerous PMS products available (see p. 43 for a listing of some of the products) from which law firms can choose. Most of those PMS products are more alike than different. Just as all houses have similar foundation features, i.e. bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms, kitchen, closets --- places to live in and keep your stuff -- likewise, all PMS products have places to keep information like client names, addresses, phone numbers, case or matter information, appointments, to-dos, events, and notes. All can accommodate several staff sharing information on the computer network. Most PMS will help manage your documents, assemble documents, and will work with either Word or WordPerfect programs. The PMS will synchronize (exchange) data with your PDA and can launch (open) other document types (spreadsheet, graphics) right from within the PMS. These are considered some of the foundation features of good PMS. Page 7

11 Selecting case management software is like buying a... PMS differ from each other in ways similar to the ways houses differ from one another. Just as houses can be distinguished by characteristics such as how the rooms are laid out, where the house is located in relation to people or places important to you, special features such as a pool, Jacuzzi, family room, outside patio, additional parking area, a big yard, so can PMS Products be distinguished by how they are laid out, how they relate (or interface) with other programs, what special features they offer. The following list of 1. How each PMS Product performs some of the above foundation features might be different. In other words, some may allow you to color-code your appointments, or let you set a priority on your to-dos. Some PMS Products may limit the flexibility of the program, often in an effort to keep it simple to learn and operate. Other PMS Products attempt to provide several ways to accomplish a task to accommodate individual work styles, i.e. in adding a new contact, you might have the choice of using the point and click of a mouse or a keystroke, and you might have the choice of creating a new contact from various places in the program. Figures 3, 4, and 5 on the following pages, give a comparison example of the default Matter screen from three products that do PMS. Note how differently the Matter information is presented from one program to the other. It is important to remember that all the programs have default settings, that is, layouts and text that ship with the program. To a greater or lesser degree, the PMS Products can be modified (or customized) to include fields and field labels better suited to individual firms needs. The question you need to ask is, How easy will it be for me to modify the default screens for my needs, and Will the end result of modifying truly meet my needs. Page 8

12 Figure 3 Abacus Law Matter screen Note the basic, clean look approach of AbacusLaw. The Matter screen does not come shipped with a lot of fields in which you can input data, i.e. Matter, File/Case#, Attorney, Case Code, Court, Opened, Closed, etc. Do not misunderstand all the empty space on the Matter screen to be simplistic. The screen is your palette. You have endless capability to add more fields, of your own choice. Such as, if you practice personal injury, you may want to see the insured s policy # here, the policy limits, the Date of Incident, the Statute of Limitations, the claims adjuster, etc. All of these fields could be added here. If you want to see the Client Name, address, phone number or the opposing attorney s name, address, phone number, or anyone else who is associated with this Matter, simply select the Linked Names tab to reveal a drop-down list. Page 9

13 Figure 4 - Amicus Attorney Premium Edition File/Matter screen Amicus Attorney Premium Edition takes a different approach to the Matter screen. Notice the file folder design and the way the Client (Gary Berwood) and Opposing Attorney (Douglas Brackman) contact cards are related (linked) up at the left side of the file. Because Berwood Construction is the Client, and is highlighted, the Berwood Construction contact card is revealed below to see the address and phone number. To add more fields of information, Amicus Attorney 2009 provides custom pages and custom records capabilities. Page 10

14 Figure 5 Time Matters (by LexisNexis) Matter screen Time Matters approach is to give you everything, lots of fields for information, then permit you to hide what you do not want to see/use, edit what you want to change, and allow you up to 80 fields of information to customize for your own needs or preference. Notice the way Time Matters Matter screen relates/links in the Primary Contact, Barry B. Able, showing his entire address and phone number in Area 2. If you want to see the Client name, address, phone number, or other persons related to the file, you may either select the Related tab to produce a drop-down list, or you may set up Time Matters to link in the Contact information directly on the Matter form (For an example, see the Adjuster, Nigel English, his office, address, phone, etc.) Page 11

15 So, you see how differently each of the three software products handles a Matter screen. 2. Billing/Accounting Software: You need to ask yourself, How am I going to bill my clients, manage their trust funds, pay the firm bills? If you are currently using software such as Billing Matters, Amicus Accounting, Timeslips, Quickbooks Pro, PCLaw, Tabs3 or Juris, Microsoft Small Business Accounting, to name a few, then you may to ask yourself, Do I like using this software? Does it work well for me? Do I want to keep using it? If so, then you may also be wondering if the PMS can talk to your billing/accounting software? Or, you may be asking if the PMS has billing/accounting software built-in to the PMS. There are pros and cons to each type of arrangement. If your firm has been using a time and billing program prior to installing a case management program, you would not need to invest the time and money it would take to change to a new billing program in order to gain the functionality of case management. Contrarily, if your firm is not tied to a billing/accounting program, you may have more options available and may want to consider a full-service PMS ( Front Office and Back Office ) or select a PMS and billing/accounting software that work well together. 3. What Other Software or Hardware Devices are Used at Your Firm? Most up-to-date PMS Products can be linked with other popular software and devices, i.e. personal digital assistants (PDAs) such as Palm Pilots, Handspring, Blackberries, Treos; document management systems such as WorldDox or imanage, DocsOpen; document assembly software such as HotDocs; scanning software such as PaperPort. For the most part, all PMS will integrate with both MSWord and WordPerfect, as well as read graphics/picture files, audio files, and other multi-media type information such as video. Make a note of which of the above software or hardware your firm uses. Then check to see how your PMS of choice will work with them. Microsoft Outlook has become such a standard that most all PMS is compelled to work with it in some way; however, you should confirm specifically how the PMS works with Outlook. For instance, if you mainly use the function of Outlook, check to be sure the PMS can read Outlook into the PMS and, thus, save 2 the in the PMS. If you also use the calendar and tasks in Outlook, check to see if the PMS syncs with Outlook calendar 2 By 2005, has come to be a standard mode of documented communication for lawyers. Likewise, Outlook has grown to become a favorite of many lawyers for organizing . It is easy to learn and use. Yet Outlook falls short for the lawyer in that it is contact-specific, rather than case-specific. When a lawyer wants to save an message for the file, he/she typically will save it as a.txt file on the computer network or print it out and put a hard copy in the client s Page 12

16 4. Remote Access Options: Does your firm have branch offices? Do you and/or your staff wish to work from home at times? Do you wish to have access to your PMS data while in court? Do you want to use a laptop and take the PMS database with you on your laptop? If you answer yes to any of these questions, you will need to ask how does the PMS allow for remote access. Some PMS can be housed, or hosted, on your computer or server at the office, allowing you to log on via the web which will take you directly in to the PMS (this is termed browser based access). Similarly, a PMS may be housed, or hosted, on the web via an application service provider (ASP), where the ASP maintains the database for you (there are definite pros and cons to this option). Whereas, some PMS may require you to have your network technician set up a VPN for access to your firm s computer network. While you still must go to the Internet to log in, you are actually logging into your firm s network, then opening the PMS. It s as if you are sitting in front of your computer in the office. Similar to the VPN, are remote access options such as GoToMyPC, PCAnywhere, or LogMeIn, which allow you to go to log in via the Internet, taking you directly to your computer desktop as if you were sitting in front of it, but the difference here is that you set an account with the vendor and typically pay a monthly fee. In any case, you will need to consult with your firm s computer network technician in choosing the PMS and remote access option. 5. Special Features ( Bells and Whistles ): A PMS Product may offer features which set it apart from the other PMS Products. For instance; a. a particularly user-friendly way of merging the data into document forms (document assembly); or b. a particularly powerful document searching and indexing capability (document management); or c. a partnership with a legal research vendor which streamlines the integration of legal research integration; or d. a partnership with an online service, such as e-filing, which streamlines the filing of pleadings; or file. This is not efficient. What the PMS does that Outlook cannot do, is save the , digitally, with the digital case file. If desired, the can still be printed out, but at minimum it can always be found. Additionally, the typical means for organizing Outlook is to set up folders in Outlook where the can be dragged and dropped. The disadvantage is that this typically is a private folder. The cannot be shared with other members of the firm. By saving the into the PMS, the becomes available for other members of the firm to access as a part of the client file. Page 13

17 e. a partnership or with another software vendor to add rules-based (from local rules publications) docketing/calendaring capability of the case management program; or f. flexibility for customizing the way data is entered in the PMS Product for the specific needs of a law firm; g. browser-based access option h. availability of SQL database, frequently referred to as Enterprise version. While most solo and small firms may not initially need this, it is a good idea to consider whether the PMS you select at least has this version available in the event your firm grows larger, thus placing a bigger burden on your PMS database. 6. Practice-Specific PMS: Although many good PMS Products are designed to accommodate the needs of firms which practice diverse areas of law, some PMS Products are designed for use by specialized practice areas, such as immigration law, workers compensation law, family law, plaintiff litigation, general litigation, public law, personal injury, corporate legal departments, criminal defense, insurance defense, etc. These specialized case management programs would also include custom fields for that particular specialty. For personal injury, for example, it might have a section to include names of medical providers, medical records, whereas, the litigation-oriented program might have fields for witnesses, litigation timelines, etc. If you practice one specific area of practice, it is recommended that you check first to see if there is a PMS product already customized for your practice area. 7. Look and feel: While this should not be the sole factor for choosing a PMS Product, it should be given consideration. A law firm moves into and lives in a PMS Product much like a person moves into and lives in a house. The PMS Product needs to be a good match to the people in a law firm and they need to be able to get around in it comfortably. A good way to help people feel comfortable in their PMS Product is to provide them with training. 8. Support and Training Available: For the do-it-yourselfers, PMS vendors typically provide a hard copy manual and/or an electronic form of the same manual, and free technical support for a limited time after purchasing the software. After the free technical support period has expired, you would be charged for calls you make to technical support, either on a per-call basis or on an annual basis per a maintenance agreement. It is a good idea to consider subscribing to one full year of technical support at the time you purchase the software since you can usually receive a discounted price for this if you sign up at the time you purchase it and you are most likely to need technical assistance during your first year s use. The PMS software vendors frequently post Page 14

18 Frequently Asked Questions pages on their websites, as well as white papers addressing particularly difficult-to-learn features of their programs. Technical Support: The technical support will help you with problems you encounter, as will any self-study you do, but neither should be thought of as the only form of training. In order for you to learn to use the full capability of a PMS Product, proper training is essential, otherwise, the PMS Product ends up being used as a glorified card index and digital calendar, thereby wasting a majority of its true benefits. Online/Web-based Training: Most of the PMS vendors offer affordable, convenient, online or web-based training. Be sure to inquire about training at the time you purchase the software, as many of the classes are pre-set according to a calendar. You may want to plan your PMS software installation and setup in coordination with the training schedule. Training Consultants: Most online training/classes are standardized presentations because the classes often have users from many law firms attending. Although these classes are well done because they are given by the vendor who knows the PMS product the best, you are then left with the challenge of how to interpret that training into the specific needs of your own firm with your staff and their unique set up skills. This is where a live person, on site, meeting with you and your staff can be most effective. Many PMS vendors certify independent persons as consultants for their PMS product. These consultants are frequently independent of the PMS vendor, although some PMS vendors train and certify their own employees as consultants. The certified consultant will come to your firm and typically provides on-site training, either in a lab format, one-on-one format, or a combination of both, and will not only teach you how to use the program to its fullest potential, but can also help you adapt the program to your specific needs (setup and customizing). The availability in your geographic area of a certified consultant for your PMS Product is an important factor to consider when selecting a PMS Product. Those law firms which have hired consultants at the time they purchased their PMS have been able to implement their software in an efficient, timely manner with much less stress to employees and attorneys. Remember, moving from a manual system to an automated case management system is not too different than moving from one house to the next there is a time when procedures are disrupted (even if for but a brief period), everyone must get used to putting information away in a different place and looking for information in a different place. PMS for your firm is also like buying a house in several other ways. Although the cost of PMS is now where near the price of a house, like a house, you will expend money and effort up front, taking time to move into it. PMS ownership, like Page 15

19 home ownership, is a responsibility. You will need to maintain it in the form of inputting data, customizing the design/layout and learning new features. You must either learn to maintain it yourself or pay others to maintain it for you. The payoff for your efforts is in the return you get on your investment. This is not to say that PMS appreciates and you then sell it like a house. This is to say that, after settling into your PMS product, the money and time you spend on PMS will be recouped soon by way of easily tracking billable time, finding information quickly, saving time looking for mislaid documents in the office, automating document preparation, cutting down on the duplication of data otherwise kept in card files, client files, in Smartphones or PDAs, or in multiple places throughout your office. You may even discover an immediate savings in the form of a discount on your malpractice insurance premiums since some malpractice insurance carriers have been known to a discount to encourage attorneys to use automated calendaring procedures. Page 16

20 By 2009, Practice Management Software Was Moving Toward Integration of Software and Services Fully Integrated Solutions for Practice Management: With the Practice Management Software as the anchor application, the software vendors have set their sights on integrating with the PMS other routine functions of a law office, such as court filings, standardizing forms generation solutions by practice areas, making more seamless the flow of information between the front office and back office. Electronic Filing (E-Filing): The courts steady push toward electronic filing keeps the software vendors constantly searching for ways to help the practitioner meet the demands of the paperless practice. Software such as AbacusLaw and LexisNexis Front Office powered by Time Matters ( Time Matters ) offer e-filing features, making it easy to prepare your document for filing, then send it electronically to the court for filing. (Note: The courts have developed procedures for e-filing that do not require the purchase of PMS software.) Practice Area Forms Integration: Software such as Time Matters is available in a modified package of applications, functions and services such as LexisNexis Total Practice Advantage which essentially combines legal research, case management, forms generation (LexisNexis research, Time Matters, LexisNexis Forms). Billing/Accounting Integration. By 2009, one could not contemplate PMS without some discussion of time and billing or accounting software. If you refer back to the diagram on Page 6 of this booklet, you will notice the absence of a few important functions of a law firm: billing, invoicing, collections, trust accounts, paying bills, general financial management. Yes, the PMS can track time for billing, but historically the PMS was not actually able to perform these functions. This is where the terms front office and back office evolved to make reference to the software. The front office, or PMS, software was where the entire staff worked on a daily basis: calendaring, phone calls, s, time tracking, document preparation, etc. However, because of the sensitive nature of the accounting, billing, collections, trust accounting, or back office, only select members of the staff (bookkeeper, office manager, managing attorney) worked there. Consequently, for years PMS, or front office, software was separate and apart from the accounting, or back office, software. The bridge between these two offices was the timekeeping entries or timeslips. The time was tracked in the front office (PMS), then, by way of a manually setup link, the time was sent digitally to the back office (billing/accounting). Another reason for allowing the PMS and accounting software to remain separate was that many law firms had been using their preferred accounting software long before the popularity of PMS. For example, accounting programs such as Timeslips, Tabs3, PCLaw, QuickBooks, Juris, Omega, Peachtree, were commonly used Page 17

21 by many law firms. If a firm decided to add PMS, it was easier to simply add-on the front office function to their existing back office software, rather than move all of their existing accounting data from their old software to a new software. Today, since many law firms are starting out using PMS, there is greater demand now to find a PMS product that includes back office, or accounting, function built right in with the front office. Hence, LexisNexis Time Matters/PCLaw; AbacusLaw Gold (front office and back office); Amicus Small Firm or Amicus Attorney Premium with Amicus Accounting; LexisNexis Back Office powered by PCLaw (combines accounting and practice management software capabilities); ProLaw; Trialworks, to name a few. Just as PMS can add accounting, or back office, function to better integrate all the software needs of a law practice, likewise, an existing accounting software can add PMS, or front office, function to do the same. For example, PCLaw, a legal-specific accounting software which has been in existence for many years, has taken the approach of doing just that. While its main focus is timekeeping, billing, trust accounting, general ledger accounting, etc., it now has familiar PMS features such as calendaring, phone communications, document assembly, document management. Software Vendor Acquisition by Legal Research Publishers: PMS has done an excellent job at aiding the law firm in the day-to-day practice management tasks of calendaring, communications, timekeeping, management, document assembly, document management. The next step in its evolution was developing partnerships with frequently used third-party software such as billing/accounting (Timeslips, PCLaw, Quickbooks, Tabs3, etc.), document management (Worldox, imanage, DocsOpen, etc.), document assembly (HotDocs, GhostFill, etc.), PDA s and Smartphones (Palm, Blackberry, Treo, Windows Mobile, iphone, Droid, etc.). It is one thing to partner with a third-party software, where the PMS and the third-party software can share data or communicate with each other. In some ways, it is even better 3 if the PMS and third-party software are owned by the same vendor company. Since about 2003, the PMS industry has seen a move toward vendorintegration. The legal publishing giants, Lexis and Westlaw, both have entered into the practice management arena. For example, Lexis-Nexis acquired Time Matters (PMS), PCLaw (accounting software), and Elite (formerly Thomson-Elite aka Thomson-West aka WestLaw) acquired ProLaw (PMS) in Currently ProLaw is under the vendor umbrella of Elite (legal publications and law firm accounting). 3 If a PMS and third-party software have a link with or integration with each, and there is a problem with that integration, the lawyer can sometimes experience difficulty knowing which vendor to contact regarding the problem. By having both programs under the same vendor-umbrella, the lawyer can look for improved continuity of service and tighter integration between the applications. Page 18

22 Software-As-A-Service aka in the Cloud All the PMS software discussed so far in this booklet is installed on computers in your office. The database is usually installed on the server (a dedicated, computer which hosts all the data and files shared by everyone in the firm). Installing software on a server, and all the computers in the office networked to that server, requires technical skill and time to make sure the software is always current and the data is secure and backed up. Additionally, lawyers and their legal professionals have become more mobile in their work style. Working on client files no longer demands that the lawyer be in the physical office. So long as the lawyer has a smart phone, a laptop and/or a desktop computer elsewhere, with a remote connection to the office, they work can still get done. Imagine then if the PMS with its database was installed on a server, but that server was at the PMS vendor s office, and all you had to do was go to website and log in as a user with a password, and voila! You are using your PMS software with your own database. You have complete remote access to your PMS whether you are in the office, at court, at home, at another office, at the airport, anywhere where you can get an Internet connection, but the big difference is that the vendor is responsible for keeping the software up-to-date, making sure it is always functioning properly, and is backed up. It does not matter whether your computers are laptops or desktops or PCs with Windows O/S or Apple computers with Mac O/S. All you have to do is pay a monthly subscription fee to the vendor to use the software. The database belongs to you. If you are using PMS which is of this type, you can say you are managing your practice in-the-cloud. This concept is not new. Ten years ago it was known as Application Service Provider (ASP). There were several PMS products available as an ASP. But with the.com bust of 2000, many of the ASP vendors went out of business and, with that, so did the customers databases. Lawyers which had used ASP products found themselves without their client file data. Because of the bad reputation of the ASP, a new term was developed. It became known as the thin client, where the term client referred to the software installed on the workstation as being minimal or not at all. (This did not mean your client was skinny.) This term was slightly technical, if not too abstract, for the consumer. Eventually, the concept became known as Software-As-A- Service or SaaS, which label is still used today. But the most memorable term is software in-the-cloud. Despite the many advantages of PMS in the cloud, there are obvious concerns. How is client data maintained confidential? What happens if the PMS vendor Page 19

23 goes bust as did the.com companies of 2000? It is not the purpose of this booklet to prove the legitimacy of the in the cloud software. Suffice it to say, though, that lessons have been hard learned from the problems of the ASPs that went bust and, this time around, the many of the vendors are sure to explain first their care of maintaining confidentiality and security of client data as well as to provide methods for transferring your database to you at any time you request, especially should the vendor company go out of business. The issue of maintaining law firm data in the cloud, is currently a hot topic in many ethics discussions at the ABA and state bar associations around the country. In an attempt to address the issue, as well as storing electronic client files online, the State Bar of Arizona s Ethics Committee issued an opinion No re Confidentiality; Maintaining Client Files; Electronic Storage; Internet (12/2009) which should give you guidance on the question of, is it ethical for me to use PMS in the cloud? If you are a technology pioneer, and you do your research, you may wish to investigate further two in-the-cloud PMS products which have been getting good reviews from the legal community: Clio and Rocket Matter. (See the Table of Software Products at the end of this booklet.) These applications have most of the basic functions/features of the traditional PMS products which are installed on your local computers: contacts, matters, calendar, phone records, notes, time tracking, document management. As of this writing, the in-the-cloud PMS products do not have document assembly (document generation) and they are still working to improve the Outlook e- mail integration and calendar synchronization. To their credit, they have integrated basic time and billing, and trust accounting, function. Microsoft Outlook Add-On to Practice Management Software Credenza is the name of a new PMS-lite product on the market as of January It is not a traditional PMS and it is not PMS in-the-cloud. Rather, Credenza was developed for those people who are deeply tied to their Outlook software, for , appointments, tasks, and the many other functions of Outlook. It is not a software to be installed on your computer or on the vendor s computer. It is what is called a software add-on, and it is added on to Outlook. It is like Outlook on steroids, adding Files records, Timesheet records and Phone records to your Outlook. In short, it gives Outlook the ability to do something that has always been a shortcoming for Outlook in a law firm the ability to organize Cases or Matters or Files. Credenza is not intended to compete with the full-featured PMS products such as those mentioned earlier and many of those listed in the table of software Products at the end of this booklet. Rather, it is more like a starter-pms. For instance, it is limited to three users, it does not have document assembly (document generation), and it does not have automated calendaring. Page 20

24 FOUNDATION FEATURES of Good Practice Management Software Contact database: Case/Matter information: Grouping/Classification: Calendaring/Docketing: Clients, attorneys names, addresses, phone numbers, addresses, etc. Case type, parties, notes, etc. Contacts can be classified in more than one way, i.e. client, attorney, judge. Appointments, deadlines, reminders, rolling list of to-dos; automated calendaring Alerts/Reminders of Inactivity: Case status notification Date Calculators: Single-entry data input: Audit Trail: Multiple Viewing Options: Customizable Fields: Timekeeping: Document Management: Integration: For example, 20 days from today = or 15 days prior to 5/15/05 = You should only have to enter one type of data one time only, then link/relate it. Shows changes made to a record. Calendar view, case view, client view Allows the program to be modified to fit the individual attorney s needs Track time spent on phone calls, events, appointments, preparing documents, etc. Associating computer files to clients or matters for easy saving & retrieval; keyword and/or full-text searching capabilities Can save with contacts/matters Document assembly: Merging your data with forms, for easy Page 21

25 document generation, i.e. with Word, WordPerfect, or HotDocs. Report generating: Printing out the data in various forms, i.e. address lists, mailing labels, time reports Integration with standard word processing programs: For Example: MS Word and WordPerfect Links to standard time & billing or accounting programs: For Example: Timeslips, PC Law, Jr., Tabs3, Quickbooks, Abacus Accounting, Amicus Accounting, Juris Synchronization with pocket or palm organizers and smart phones: For Example: PalmPilot, Pocket PC, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, iphone, Droid Synchronization with Outlook: Contacts, Appointments & Todos Import/Export Capability: Phone System Integration: Remote access capability: Security: Can you easily transfer data from your current database into this practice management database? For Example: import from ascii text or csv format. Ability to dial phone numbers from within the PMS using standard modem Allows you to access your database from a remote location, or can pack PMS and transport out of the office Ability to restrict or grant access to specific parts of your practice management database? Training and technical support: What training is offered at the time of purchase? Are tutorial programs included with purchase? What is the turnaround time on technical support? Are there certified consultants available in your area for initial and ongoing training? Page 22

26 DISTINGUISHING FEATURES of Practice Management Software Flexibility for Customization: Ability to easily adapt the PMS to individual practice styles or areas Word Processing Interface to PMS database: Ability to retrieve or enter data into PMS from within Word or WordPerfect Integrated Online Research: Ability to directly integrate with online research such as Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw Research Materials Management: Ability to easily manage the rules, case law, procedures, manuals maintained in a law office Rules-Based Calendaring: Front Office/Back Office: Provide and maintain regional rules for calendaring/docketing, or linking with vendors who can do so, i.e. CompuLaw and Legalex Practice management features (front office); AND billing and accounting functions (back office) built-in. Integrated Electronic Filing: Integration with online electronic filing service to streamline the electronic filing of documents with the courts Operating System Compatibility: Windows NT/XP/Vista/Windows 7; (some are Novell; MacIntosh compatible) Browser-Based Option: Mobile Access: Ability to upgrade to browser-based version to access practice management program database via the Internet Ability to access the database remotely, i.e. via PDA or smartphone Remote Hosting: Database and software are installed and managed offsite Page 23

27 Practice Management Software Products Demonstration For the demonstration portion of this seminar, I have selected three practice management software products, AbacusLaw, Amicus Attorney Premium Edition (or Small Firm Edition), and Time Matters because these programs are: Competitive in foundation features required for the modern law firm Popular with many practicing attorneys and legal services organizations Designed to be used by firms practicing diverse areas of law Affordable pricing for small firms and sole practitioner firms The purpose of the demonstration is to show the power of practice management software system and, at the same time, introduce the audience to the individual styles of the practice management programs. It will begin by showing how each program performs routine law firm functions such as entering contacts and matter information, phone calls and notes, calendaring of routine deadlines, appointments, reminders, to-dos. The demonstration will go on to show the more advanced routine functions of a law practice, such as automated calendaring, document assembly (using data from stored in the practice management program), document management, and internet research integration. The following list of three practice management software programs being demonstrated in this seminar gives a brief bulleted description of each product which, although perhaps not unique to the product, at minimum indicates capabilities. Page 24