MSBA Managing a Practice Ain t For Sissies!
Pre Purchase Issues What do I want to be when I grow up? What type of Practice will I have? Should there be an s at the end of Practice above?
Features of Your Practice Straight Billable Financial Calculations v. Centralized Data Litigation Form Pleadings Custom Pleadings Document Generation Oriented Forms Customization of each document
Requirements of Any Practice Scheduling Calendar Maintenance Contact Maintenance Correspondence Communication with Clients!!!!!!!! Note Taking Billing Finances
What you need! Multi-line Phone with CFOS Call Forwarding Off Site to Voice Mail Answering Service OR MAP Mobile (www.mapmobile.com) NOT AN ANSWERING MACHINE
What you need! VOIP Ringcentral with Smartphone Apps Mask your Number! Star2Star Hybrid System MORE Reliable but More $$$$. ASK ABOUT THE HOPS! Cell Phone (Smartphone) With Open Voicemail Set. It. Up! Tablet Compatible
Cell Phones Text Messaging? OMG - NO! Screen Capture if you do. Alternative Number Google voice Phone Service with App Ring Central Star2Star *67 is your friend Potential Clients are Fickle and Unfaithful! IF they cannot reach you, they are on to the next one.
What you need! Desktop Computer Dell Scratch and Dent Premade or Bad Credit Leftovers are perfectly fine! No Laptops as primary computer! Server More expensive less durable. (Maybe with VPN and server Maybe) Hosted? Combo Local Dropbox Ipad /Tablet? (or two or five) Apps, apps and more apps.
What you need! Fax Machine? (Always Laser!) Fax Software Snappyfax (www.snappyfax.com) Beware the efax! Beware the page limit!!!!!!! Beware of Fair Usage which may not be Fair Ringcentral But only for fax right now. Copier (Always Laser!) Printer (Always Laser!) Consider Leasing
Scanner???? YES, Absolutely, Gotta Have it! I will FIND YOU! All in one Depending on Volume NOT Recommended Fujitsu Part Replacement Without Hesitation Average Price $500. NEW - Mobile Upload App
What you need! Calendar Paper? Phone Calendar Electronic Backup Calendar Exchange, Google, Etc. It hurts but yes you need both paper and electronic!
What you need! SOFTWARE You can Spend Millions. Sometimes it is worth it. Do the research and flip back to pages 1 and 2 to remember what you need and what is just really cool.
SOFTWARE! Some applications can be found on the internet for free. Adobe Acrobat Reader Email Some Practice Management (Houdini) Open Office Drop Box! Drop box Did I mention Drop Box?
SOFTWARE! YOU MUST HAVE Professional EMAIL!!! It is part of your advertising! Is exchange too complicated and expensive? www.123together.com Hosted Exchange Contains Web Interface Network Solutions Your Internet Provider may have alternative solutions to email and retrieval. Word Processing. Decide based on compatibility. Word, Word Perfect, Open Office
Exchange and Hosting What is Exchange? Exchange is M$ Outlook on Steroids Expensive Time Consuming 123together.com No Maintenance Free outlook download Makes M$ Office Cheaper
SOFTWARE! Financial Software Internal -Must track your millions. AGC says so! Quickbooks (www.quickbooks.com) Others? Billing Time Tracking PC Law (www.pclaw.com). Time Matters Billing Matters (www.timematters.com) Time Slips (www.timeslips.com) Tabs (www.stilegal.com) Internal to Practice Management Software
MUST MUST HAVE SOFTWARE!!!! ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE MORE IMPORTANTLY UPDATED ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE!!!!!!!!!! Mcafee (www.mcafee.com ) Norton (www.symantec.com) Malware Bytes (www.malewarebytes.com) REAL PASSWORDS Change or Require Changes
SOFTWARE! ADOBE Acrobat (No Converters) PROFESSIONAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Proof the God Loves Us! PDF Portable Document Format. Allows the flow of documents without security breach. Saves storage fees associates with paper files. Federal Courts Require it. State Courts will catch up 20000000015? Picture/Paper Capture Function. Reader is Free. (www.adobe.com) Digital Signatures Redaction Bates Stamping Client Communication!
Practice Software Abacus Law (www.abacuslaw.com ) Time Matters (www.timematters.com) Needles (www.needles.com ) Abacus Totality. (www.abacustotality.com ) Amicus Attorney (www.amicusattorney.com) And Many More.
Clio Cloud Software www.goclio.com User interface and intuitive Rocket Matter www.rocketmatter.com Customizable Houdini Esq. ********* www.houdiniesq.com Time Matters with a bad GUI but great client access. FREE ONSITE FOR SOLO Amicus Cloud? Summer of 2012 sort of. Firm Manager (www.lexisnexis.com ) Some have or will have payment integration.
What to Look for in Practice Management Software Customization Third Party Links Outlook Phone Billing Financial Word Processing Web Browsing Integration OR Send File Format? (i.e.houdini and Quickbooks) Automation and Triggers Ability to Import Information
Triggers and Automation
Practice Management Software Study all of the features. Download the Manuals online. Download / Order Trial Versions. Think ahead not just for right now. Pricing
Amicus Price Per User Attorney Premium Edition 2013 $999 Amicus Attorney Premium Edition 2013 - Additional License $599 Amicus Premium Billing 2013 $199 Amicus Premium Billing 2013 - Additional License $199 Amicus Mobile 2012 * Amicus Mobile 2012 - Licenses $149 Amicus Attorney Small Firm Edition 2013 $499 Amicus Attorney Small Firm Edition 2013 - Additional Licenses $399 Amicus Small Firm Accounting 2012 $499 Amicus Small Firm Accounting 2013 - Additional License $399 Clouds are Monthly. $25* to $65 per month per user
Time Matters Time Matters 12.0 Time Matters 12.0 New User License (Includes First Year Maintenance Plan) $985.00
Back Up MUST MUST HAVE! Tape Drive Expensive but reliable. CD Burner Inexpensive but not much storage. External Hard Drive(s) Inexpensive. Large Storage. Portable? Carbonite (www.carbonite.com) Offsite access and Disaster Recovery Plan
MUST MUST HAVE! High Speed Internet Connection. High Speed v. FIOS. DSL (not FIOS) v. Cable. Research Software. Some are free but you get what you pay for. Lexis or Westlaw. FASTCASE IS FREE from MSBA Google Scholar Favorites Folder on your browser.
IT Person Server VPN!!! MiFi Miscellaneous Haves Beware the Data Plans Ipad or Tablets Intakes. Trial Presentations Portable Printer Remote Access Terminal Server Goto My PC (wwww.gotomypc.com) Logmein (www.logmein.com)
Apps Drop Box Trial Pad Transcript Pad JotNot Lexis Advanced WestlawNext Carbonite PDF Expert Docs2Go ABBBY Business Card Reader Payroll (ADP ) Credit Card Reader Docusign
QUESTIONS www.howardcountylegal.com info@howardcountylegal.com www.howardcountylegal.com/barconferen ce2013