In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers software that enhances and adds features to Outlook, integrated network security software, and an online client development application. Don't miss the next issue.
Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:
Take Client Development to a Higher Level
By Dennis Kennedy
Lawyers often focus on cases and matters. But before a case or matter comes into existence, you must deal with people — both existing and prospective clients. The traditional address book doesn't give you enough horsepower for sales, and high-end customer relationship management software is overkill for most law firms. So where do you turn?
37 Signals designed Highrise as a new Web-based approach to capture the middle ground between address books and the big CRM packages. The focus lies in giving you just the tools you need to manage people and projects and nothing more. With Highrise, you can share contacts, assign tasks based on those contacts, maintain a contact history, and, most importantly, group together related people, companies, notes, and other information in a "case," a term that should appeal to lawyers.
You can use Highrise for your own contacts or search for contacts across your firm. Highrise also helps you move from contact list to action. You can act on your contacts by setting follow-ups, calls, meetings, thank you notes, reminders, and more. Highrise can even send reminders to your mobile phone. You can log calls, conversations, email, and other communications with your contacts. You log email by simply forwarding or copying Highrise.
You can also mine new information from your contact lists. See all communications with a group of people. Build a list of all the experts on a given issue. Generate a list of your clients with whom you have not had contact in the last year. Etc.
Highrise comes from the same company that produces Basecamp, a popular online project management tool that we use to write this newsletter. Highrise is available in a free version with limits on the number of cases and people you can set up, and in five other versions ranging from $12 to $149 per month. SSL security kicks in at $49/month, which most law firms would probably deem necessary. Learn more about Highrise.
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