TechnoLawyer: Accounting/Billing/Time Capture

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 164 articles from the past week worthy of your attention. Below you'll find a sample article from each section of today's issue, including our BlawgWorld Pick of the Week.

Review: Boomerang (Email Management)

iPad mini Questions Answered

How to Get Started With Alternative Fee Arrangements

Turn Your Law Firm Into a Low Wage Call Center With Lawdingo

Congratulations to Jill Duffy of PCMag.com on winning our BlawgWorld Pick of the Week award: Top 20 iPad Productivity Apps

Don't miss today's issue or any future issues of BlawgWorld.

How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. BlawgWorld enables you to stay on top of all the noteworthy articles (and podcasts) published online without having to hire a research assistant. Even when you're busy, you won't want to miss each issue's Pick of the Week. The BlawgWorld newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers automated time capture software for computers and smartphones (see article below), a cloud application for ediscovery, an online service for sending large documents, an iPhone calendar app, and a OneNote-compatible iPad app. Don't miss the next issue.

AUTOMATICALLY BILL YOUR EMAIL AND SMARTPHONE CALLS

With the cost of telephone calls declining, many law firm clients balk at paying for the cost of a call in addition to your time spent on a call. Companies that sell cost recovery software have therefore changed their sales pitch from charging for calls to tracking the time you spend on them. But cost recovery systems can't help you when you're out of the office. Enter your smartphone. If it's so smart, it should automatically track the time you spend on calls.

Chrometa 4.0 … in One Sentence

Launched this week, Chrometa 4.0 is automatic time capture software for a growing number of devices, including smartphones.

The Killer Feature

Approximately 76% of TechnoLawyer members use an iPhone or Android smartphone (49% iPhone, 27% Android). If you're among this group, the new version of Chrometa can automatically track the time spent on your your smartphone calls via a free companion app.

The Chrometa iPhone app and Android app go beyond your smartphone's telephone app. They securely sync each call to your Chrometa account, including the person's name (if they're in your address book) and number. When you log into Chrometa via a web browser, you'll find all your unbilled mobile calls listed. You can enter additional details such as a description, and then post them for billing.

"Smartphone time tracking has been our top request over the past year," Chrometa CEO and Co-Founder Brett Owens told us. "Chrometa 4.0 pulls your mobile phone calls and turns them into billable time entries with literally no effort required on your part. You no longer have to search your phone logs or worry about recording your mobile phone time when you're on the go since we now do this for you."

Other Notable Features

As always, Chrometa passively captures time spent on your Mac or PC — as well as time spent away from your computer (it notices when you don't use your mouse or keyboard). You can create keyword-specific filters to automatically categorize your captured time (e.g., assign time to a client/matter).

The new version of Chrometa takes automated categorization further. For example, plugins for Outlook and Gmail capture the subject line and from/to/cc fields, which facilitates finalizing your billable email time. Also, a new algorithm groups similar time entries. The company claims that this grouping technology reduces the number of time entries that require review by 500%.

Also new is the Timesheets feature, which collects time entries for printing or exporting into a compatible billing system or Excel format. You can create a timesheet automatically or manually. For example, Chrometa can place all your mobile calls into a timesheet. Ditto for email or time entries that match keywords. You can have all time entries for each week or another time period placed into a timesheet. To create a timesheet manually, you just select unbilled entries (including those found with a search) and add them.

What Else Should You Know?

Chrometa costs $19, $29, or $49 per month depending on the number of devices you want to track, the duration of captured time you want to store, whether you need to create invoices within Chrometa, and your integration needs. Chrometa also has a multiple user version (Teams) that starts at $19 per month per user. Learn more about Chrometa 4.0.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
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.

Originally published in our free TL NewsWire newsletter. Instead of reading TL NewsWire here, sign up now to receive future issues via email.

LEGAL BILLING AND PRACTICE MANAGEMENT ON YOUR IPHONE

Nearly half of all lawyers use an iPhone. This percentage will likely increase because of two words — productivity apps. More exist for the iPhone than for any other smartphone platform. But even on the iPhone, relatively few apps exist for billing and practice management. It's not for lack of demand. Just as teenagers want games and music in their pocket, lawyers want their law firm in their pocket. A new app aims to fulfill this wish.

Rocket Matter iPhone App … in One Sentence
Rocket Matter iPhone App enables you to use Rocket Matter, a cloud billing and practice management system, on the go.

The Killer Feature
Rocket Matter helped pioneer cloud practice management systems a few years ago. From the beginning, Rocket Matter offered a mobile-friendly version for smartphones like the iPhone. But the web has limitations — like requiring an Internet connection.

Rocket Matter iPhone App works offline (e.g., airplanes, courtrooms, prisons, etc.), storing any data you enter locally and then synchronizing it with your Rocket Matter account when you're back online. In offline mode, you can enter billable time, expenses, new contacts, and calendar events. You can also view all client- and matter-related information as of the time you last synced.

"We designed our app to help busy attorneys on the go," Rocket Matter CEO Larry Port told us. "We covered the bases of our core functionality, and created a remarkable product based on the feedback of our Rocket Matter customers. We're excited to make the work lives of attorneys a whole lot easier."

Other Notable Features
As Larry noted, Rocket Matter asked its customers what they wanted most in an iPhone app. As noted above, you can capture time and expenses as they occur, and add other data too. You can also retrieve information such as contacts, calendars, bills, trust account balances, and more. Thanks to synchronization, colleagues with the appropriate user access privileges (such as fellow partners) will immediately gain access to any information you enter.

One of the iPhone's most enduringly cool features is the ability to tap a telephone number to call someone, tap an email address to email someone, tap a Skype address to … you get the idea. Rocket Matter iPhone App supports this functionality, the difference being that you have access to your firm's address book, not just your local address book. Furthermore, you can find contact information by client and matter — especially helpful if you represent companies.

While the iPhone itself provides good security assuming you use a passcode, Rocket Matter iPhone App adds an additional layer of security by requiring a login and logging you out after a period of inactivity.

What Else Should You Know?
Rocket Matter iPhone App is free for all Rocket Matter users. Pricing for Rocket Matter is listed on the web site with both quarterly and annual subscriptions available. Learn more about Rocket Matter iPhone App.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
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.

Today's issue of TL Answers contains these articles:

Shawn Gaspar, Tips for Using Amicus Attorney With PCLaw Plus 32- and 64-Bit

Laura Moore, Review: Weebly for Law Firm Web Sites

Christian Onsager, How We Use Two Monitors With Laptops

Don't miss this issue — or any future issues.

How to Receive TL Answers
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In TL Answers, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The TL Answers newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a free product launching today that provides mobile access to Tabs3 and PracticeMaster (see article below), a desktop-class word processor for iPad and iPhone, a Microsoft Word add-on for printing, a product for discovery document review and production, and a Google Apps add-on for task management. Don't miss the next issue.

MOBILE LEGAL BILLING AND PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SANS CLOUD

Some lawyers find cloud computing confusing because of the various definitions floating around. In its classic sense, it means storing your data on a third-party's computers. Often, you access your data using a web browser application, but that's not the key. You could use a native application. Once lawyers understand that cloud computing refers to where their data resides, their confusion melts away — replaced by concerns about the security implications of storing their data on someone else's computers.

Tabs3 Connect … in One Sentence
Launching today, Software Technology's Tabs3 Connect enables you to access key Tabs3 and PracticeMaster functions and data from any computer, smartphone, or tablet with a modern web browser.

The Killer Feature
Tabs3, a popular legal billing system, and PracticeMaster, a popular practice management system, integrate with each other and run on a PC in your firm. By all accounts, they are mature, stable products with a robust set of features.

Until today, using these programs from outside the office required a third-party solution such as remote control software. With Tabs3 Connect, that's no longer the case.

Instead, you can now use some of the main Tabs3 and PracticeMaster features and access client and other data from your laptop, iPhone, iPad, Android smartphone or tablet — even a Mac. There's no app to install. You just login at www.tabs3connect.com using your preferred web browser.

Tabs3 Connect uses bank-grade security to encrypt your connection. Also, Tabs3 Connect doesn't store any data on your device or on its web server. Instead, all data remains on your firm's server.

"Tabs3 Connect gives attorneys the best of both worlds," President of Software Technology Dan Berlin told us. "At their offices they have mature, full-featured billing and practice management software. And from their phones and tablets they can tap the screen to create a fee, review a client's file, and more."

Other Notable Features
As Dan intimated, Tabs3 Connect is bidirectional. For example, you can enter fees and expenses when they occur so that you won't forget about them. You can create appointments and tasks and link them to matters. When you pull up a client's file or any of your firm's contacts, you can tap an email address to send a message or tap a telephone number to place a call. Thus, you have total access to all of your firm's contacts without having to store them on your smartphone or tablet.

Lawyers who use mobile devices often find the native calendar and other apps too limited. Also, syncing is sometimes flaky. With Tabs3 Connect, you can view your schedule as well as the schedules of your colleagues, access client documents, and view a client's accounts receivable status, including recent payment information and trust balances. When you enter information, your colleagues immediately have access to it. Plus there's no syncing.

Tabs3 Connect also features a secure instant messaging system called eNote that enables you to communicate instantly with others in your office such as your assistant — especially useful when you cannot talk such as in court.

What Else Should You Know?
Tabs3 Connect features a near-zero configuration setup. You just enable it, and then designate users and permissions. Tabs3 Connect is available at no charge to those who use the Platinum version of both Tabs3 and PracticeMaster and are on an annual maintenance plan. Learn more about Tabs3 Connect.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
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.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers legal billing software (see article below), an ergonomic keyboard, proofreading software for Microsoft Word, and a calculator and an outliner for the iPad. Don't miss the next issue.

BILL YOUR CLIENTS WITH CLARITY

Have you ever gone to a pretentious restaurant in which the menu lacks descriptions for words that many of us who didn't attend culinary school don't know? You end up spending 10 minutes searching on your smartphone. And even then you may not figure out whether "scotch bonnett" refers to the chili pepper or the snail (the former as I once learned — the latter is consumed by crabs, not people). Law firm clients often feel just as lost when reviewing their bills. Providing more clarity on your bills can improve your cash flow and client retention.

Sage Timeslips 2013 … in One Sentence
Released last month, Sage Timeslips 2013 is legal billing software.

The Killer Feature
The new version of Timeslips has a number of technologies designed to create bills with greater clarity. For example, you can list billed time using decimals or hours and minutes, and automatically exclude out-of-date charges from appearing on bills if your have clients with defined billing cycles.

Regarding expenses, you can embed scanned images of receipts on your bills (e.g., airfare, hotel, meals, copying, etc.). You can also create standard rates for common expenses (e.g., 15 cents per copy) so that your clients can see your rate on their bills and not just the amount billed.

Other Notable Features
Most events on a lawyer's calendar are billable. And many lawyers also use their calendars for reminders about tasks (e.g., filing deadlines). Timeslips now features an integrated calendar and task manager, enabling you to create time entries directly from events and tasks. The accompanying Triggers technology can remind you about items on your calendar that you haven't billed.

You can share designated calendar items with colleagues so that they're aware of your schedule and whereabouts. The calendar and task manager offer customizable color codes (e.g., color by client) and alerts. Four calendar views exist — List, Day, Week, and Month.

Sage has also added a number of business intelligence features. That's a new buzzword which essentially means using data to gain a deeper insight into your business. For example, the new Average Days to Pay report enables you to forecast your future cash flow by seeing how long it takes your clients to pay.

Other new features include the ability to delete multiple time entries simultaneously, and add notes to prebills. The Timeslips eCenter service enables you to enter time and expenses from any desktop or mobile web browser.

What Else Should You Know?
Pricing starts at $499.99 ($399.99 if you're upgrading) with volume discounts available. Learn more about Sage Timeslips 2013.

How to Receive TL NewsWire
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.

Today's issue of TL Answers contains these articles:

Lloyd Snook, My Investigation Into LAWS/Pro Plus Cloud-Based Trust Accounting

Elizabeth Scott Howarth, How a Law Firm Inexpensively Switched From Single to Dual Monitors

Allen Hardon, In Search of Practice Management With CRM Features

Don't miss this issue — or any future issues.

How to Receive TL Answers
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In TL Answers, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The TL Answers newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL Answers contains these articles:

Thomas Stirewalt, How to Set Up a Cheap Server for AbacusLaw and Timeslips

Spencer Aronfeld, Review: Using TrialPad and TranscriptPad for a Two Week Trial

Charles Cork, Review: PDF-XChange Viewer and AutoIT for Bates Stamping

Don't miss this issue — or any future issues.

How to Receive TL Answers
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In TL Answers, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The TL Answers newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 108 articles from the past week worthy of your attention. Below you'll find a sample article from each section of today's issue, including our BlawgWorld Pick of the Week.

Track Your Billable Email More Carefully

Review: Lookout for iPad and Smartphone Security

Bad Economic News for the Legal Sector

Law Firm Turns Loss of Marketing Director Into a Gain

Congratulations to Seth Rowland of Basha Systems LLC Blog on winning our BlawgWorld Pick of the Week award: A First Look at New Practice Management System Actionstep

Don't miss today's issue or any future issues of BlawgWorld.

How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. BlawgWorld enables you to stay on top of all the noteworthy articles (and podcasts) published online without having to hire a research assistant. Even when you're busy, you won't want to miss each issue's Pick of the Week. The BlawgWorld newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of Fat Friday contains these articles:

Sidney Diamond, The Problem With All Practice Management Systems

Sheryl Katz, Ediscovery Is Not Easy: A Response to Rands' Rant

Harry Steinmetz, Flat Fees in Criminal Defense Cases (Plus Tracking Costs and Limited Scope Representation)

Don't miss this issue — or any future issues.

How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.