Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers Microsoft's new cloud document management software for law firms initially created by its legal department (see article below), a PACER replacement that delivers new filings via email, a powered stylus that works in any Android or iOS note-taking app, and a powered reading stand for laptops, tablets, smartphones, paper documents, and just about anything else. Don't miss the next issue.
THE DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SINGULARITY
Even the largest of legal organizations suffer from the same problems as you such as finding a document quickly, working on it while locking others out, editing it in realtime with your client, creating new versions, accessing it from any device, etc. One of these organizations created its own software, and is now offering it to law firms.
Matter Center for Office 365 … in One Sentence
Launching this week, Microsoft's Matter Center for Office 365 is cloud document management and collaboration software initially created for Microsoft's legal department.
The Killer Feature
As its name suggests, Matter Center organizes documents and email by client and matter. Matter Center integrates with Microsoft Office. As a result, you can drag and drop email messages from Outlook and documents from Word into a matter within Matter Center to share them with colleagues.
Matter Center automatically applies tags to these documents such as Practice Group, Area of Law, and Responsible Attorney. It also applies the permissions and version control previously designated for that matter. This automated compliance with your law firm's rules eliminates the need to manually create a document profile. You can customize the settings of one or more documents as well as add document descriptions.
Other Notable Features
Matter Center consists of add-ins for Microsoft Outlook, Word, and SharePoint Online. Core document management features include the ability to check documents out to prevent changes while you work, save all versions, restrict documents to view only, and access documents from any platform that supports Microsoft Office — Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
You can search for both matters and documents from within Outlook and Word. Filters enable you to narrow search results. Alternatively, you can "pin" frequently-used matters and documents for fast access. Matter Center supports realtime collaboration. You and others can simultaneously edit and comment on a Word document.
What Else Should You Know?
Matter Center requires an Office 365 Business-class subscription. The OneDrive for Business cloud storage service included with Office 365 provides everyone in your firm with 1 TB and a personal briefcase. Accordingly, you can ditch your file server and dissuade everyone from saving documents to a laptop hard drive or thumb drive given their proclivity to being misplaced or stolen. Learn more about Matter Center for Office 365.
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So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
