TechnoLawyer: Accounting/Billing/Time Capture

Coming September 14, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Jason Havens reviews Tabs3 and compares it to Timeslips for law firm accounting and time-billing, Debbie Westwood reviews Lotus Notes for document collaboration, Nancy Merreot explains how to archive e-mail using PST files and Adobe Acrobat 7, Nikki Rodeman discusses the bar code scanning system she discovered (and we provide tips on using bar codes for trial exhibits), and John Keller reviews Skype for outgoing calls. In addition, this issue features links to 5 additional Posts in the TechnoLawyer Archive. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming September 7, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Rob Fox explains how his firm achieved a paperless workflow, Steven Schwaber reviews his experience with Timeslips, Sarah Laracy discusses a cheap and easy way to archive Outlook e-mail by case, Deana Spencer weighs in on the open WiFi debate, and Matthew Brown, a Workshare employee, discusses the difference between Workshare Professional and Acrobat Professional regarding sending a document for review. Plus, this issue features links to 5 additional Posts in the TechnoLawyer Archive. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming August 17, 2006 to Answers to Questions: David Heisler reviews ISYS desktop search, Norman Van Treeck reviews LogMeIn in comparison to other remote access tools, Mike Cash offers up an alternative way to record retainer fees in PCLaw, Roy Greenberg reviews his Amicus Attorney-Outlook integration, and John Starkweather explains how to use the latest version of Acrobat to archive old e-mails. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers a mobile billing solution for solos and small firms, a Web-based tool for tracking vacations and other time off, and a new multifunction inkjet copier/fax/printer/scanner. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Mobile Billing for Small Firms
By Dennis Kennedy
Time sheets are the bane of existence for most lawyers, especially for lawyers on the move during the day. Solos and small firm lawyers are among the most mobile in the legal profession because they usually spend more time in court and with clients. Often, these lawyers don't have a timesheet handy to record activities. During a hectic day, they may forget about activities that add up to a significant amount of time.

The all-too-common result is that lawyers "lose" billable time because they forget to record it or underestimate what time they spent on projects.

AIRTIME-Manager's AIRTIME-Professional helps lawyers contemporaneously capture time entries wherever they are by using their BlackBerrys, Treos, and Windows Mobile devices.

Originally available as AIRTIME-Enterprise for larger firms, AIRTIME-Professional is a new version designed for solos and small law firms.

AIRTIME-Professional enables you to record time entries immediately after you finish an e-mail or phone call by popping up a reminder entry screen on your mobile device so you can enter time for the activity. You can also enter time no matter where use a mobile device. Thus, on-the-go lawyers can capture time that is often forgotten or underestimated when they return to the office and get to a traditional timesheet.

AIRTIME-Professional also "remembers" and aggregates small amounts of time spent on e-mail and phone calls. When these small amounts reach a pre-determined threshold, say fifteen minutes, you will be notified and can make a decision about whether to bill that time rather than "lose" those small amounts.

AIRTIME-Professional has some nifty features designed specifically for solos and small firms. For example, it integrates with most time-billing software. Thus, lawyers can synchronize their client/matter numbers as well as their billing codes. And of course, they can export the time captured by AIRTIME-Professional into these programs for final processing.

AIRTIME-Professional has two components — the client software on your mobile device and a Web-based component for managing your time entries and synchronizing with your time-billing software.

AIRTIME-Professional costs $25/month for solos or $100/month for five lawyers. Other configurations also exist. No contract is required, but if you sign up for a year you receive two months for free.  Learn more about AIRTIME-Professional.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming August 3, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Tim Schober explains how he uses Word's built-in document assembly features, Peter Pike reviews his experience with Amicus Attorney's Outlook integration for e-mail, Cynthia Zook discusses how WordPerfect X3 handles metadata, Miriam Jacobson reviews RTG Software as an alternative to QuickBooks and Timeslips (plus we provide links to some very helpful articles on time-billing solutions), and Jed Berliner explains how to scan multiple documents into one PDF file with a ScanSnap. In addition, this issue features links to 5 additional Posts in the TechnoLawyer Archive. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming July 27, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Richard Hutchins compares the HP LaserJet 3015 multi-function printer and its recent replacement (3050) against the Xerox Documate 510, Sandip Sett reviews his fifteen years using QuickBooks (plus the importance of upgrading), Michael Cone reviews Dragon Naturally Speaking Standard for lawyers, Dan Marcum discusses outline numbering in Word and offers up several helpful resources for those who want to learn more, and Corey Rich reviews his HP LaserJet 1012s and shares his stance on used versus new printers. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

In today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, lawyer and legal technology legend Dennis Kennedy covers a powerful cost recovery system, a budget PDF creation tool, and a document management system for solos and other individual users. Don't miss the next issue.

Below you'll find one of the three articles from today's edition:

Teach Your Accounting System How to Count
By Dennis Kennedy
Since Lex Systems introduced The Count cost recovery system in the early 1980s, it claims that it has found only three firms in which the staff kept accurate manual records for more than 33% of the copies made for clients. If you work at a firm that charges for photocopies, faxes, prints, telephone calls, etc., that statistic should give you pause about what costs you don't recover.

The Count interfaces with your current accounting system, capturing and transferring the usage data and transaction records you specify. It also provides reports to help you manage the process. The Count works on any available PC and your existing network so you need not purchase any proprietary equipment.

Lex Systems customizes The Count to conform with your firm's procedures and security requirements, making it easy to set up. Even better, Lex Systems guarantees that The Count will earn your firm a profit.

If you change equipment, procedures, or software, Lex Systems takes care of the necessary upgrades, usually at no extra cost.

The Count has successfully integrated with virtually every legal accounting program, including Juris, Tabs3, Timeslips, Thomson Elite and Omega Legal to name a few.

Lex Systems creates your system the way you specify. Everything, including customization, installation, support, and certain equipment, is included in a single annual license fee based upon usage. Costs are based on your individual requirements. If Lex Systems does not successfully implement The Count for you, your firm owes Lex Systems nothing.

Learn more about The Count.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Wednesdays, TechnoLawyer NewsWire is a weekly newsletter that enables you to learn about new technology products and services of interest to legal professionals. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Caren Schwartz, Review: QuickBooks 2006: Is it Worth the Upgrade?

TechnoLawyer member David Marcelino asks:
"Does anyone out there use QuickBooks for both billing and time entry?  I am currently using Timeslips for time entry. Timeslips has frustrated my office.  We are tired of the instability."

Larry R. Vollintine responded:
"I am a solo.  I use QuickBooks 2002 Pro for my time keeping and invoicing since I went solo in June of 2002. For the first couple of years, QuickBooks was so unstable that the only way I could console myself was to remind myself that this is why I believe in gun control.... I was told by the accountant that QB now has a new version coming out which is geared to a law practice. I haven't been tempted because of past problems w/QB.  But, I fear switching to a different program and having to transfer or convert all the existing data to it...."

Neil Squillante responded:
"Larry, you need to upgrade. I'm not usually so forceful, but we're talking about a program central to your practice. Perhaps QuickBooks Pro 2002 was a lemon, but we use QuickBooks Premier 2006 on Windows XP — it is quite stable...."

With regard to Larry Vollintine and the use of QuickBooks 2002, I definitely agree that he should upgrade. Some additional information that might be useful to know is that the older versions of QuickBooks did not do a good job of using and releasing memory. Therefore, if you did not have a lot of memory on the computer or you were going in and out of programs, QuickBooks tended to display the behavior Larry sees, crashing. The past few versions have fixed this issue and QuickBooks 2006 also uses a new format that makes it run faster and is more stable. The cost to upgrade to v2006 is not much, especially compared to the cost of your time.

Caren Schwartz
Time & Cents Consultants, LLC
Software for managing time, money and contacts
www.timeandcents.com

[Publisher's Note: Learn more about QuickBooks. — Sara Skiff]

About Answers to Questions
Posts like the one above appear exclusively in Answers to Questions, a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. You can subscribe here.

Coming July 21, 2006 to Fat Friday: Matthew Gould shares the details of his quest to find the perfect practice management solution, Kate Murphy discusses the best advice she ever received for her legal practice, and Josh Friedman reviews his new Brother HL-5250DN laser printer. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on Fridays, Fat Friday is a weekly newsletter that features a grab bag full of genuinely useful product reviews and tips on a wide variety of topics. Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.

Coming July 20, 2006 to Answers to Questions: Lynda LaPan offers up an incredibly detailed Word v. WordPerfect Post rivaling D. Paul Dalton's from last week, Caren Schwartz reviews QuickBooks for law firm billing, Larry Lucht compares the Professional versus Legal editions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Robert Browning reviews his experience with several HP LaserJet printers, including his new 1320s, and Bryan Sims directs CaseMap users to a helpful online resource for templates and tips. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published Thursdays, Answers to Questions is a weekly newsletter in which TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers (including you if you join TechnoLawyer). Like all of our newsletters, it's free. Please subscribe now.