TechnoLawyer: Practice Management/Calendars

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a billing and practice management system designed to minimize lost billable time (see article below), a Bluetooth gadget for your car stereo, an iPhone and iPad accounting app, and early case assessment software. Don't miss the next issue.

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT INTEGRATION REACHES NEW HEIGHTS

LexisNexis conducted a pair of surveys of lawyers this year about billable hours, the results of which were so startling that they piqued the interest of the Wall Street Journal. For example, lawyers reported billing only 66% of the time they worked. Among the leading culprits — forgotten billable work caused by ineffective methods of tracking time. At least most lawyers are honest, but it's time to get paid for all your billable work.

Time Matters 12 … in One Sentence

Launched this week, LexisNexis' Time Matters 12 is a practice management and billing system.

The Killer Feature

Time Matters' new Time Entry Advisor feature minimizes lost billable hours. It presents all your unbilled activities in a spreadsheet-like view, enabling you to efficiently transform them into time entries. Time Entry Advisor lists calendar events, documents, email, tasks and more — virtually everything Time Matters organizes for you and your colleagues.

Other Notable Features

LexisNexis has also significantly enhanced Time Matters for Microsoft Outlook. For example, when you open a meeting in Outlook you can see you can see key Time Matters contact and matter data associated with each attendee. You can also open a Time Matters billing record from a client's Outlook email message to bill for the time spent to respond. The new capabilities complement the existing integration of Time Matters with Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server, which enable you to directly synchronize your email, events, and tasks in Time Matters with Outlook.

"By expanding the integration of LexisNexis Time Matters with Microsoft Outlook, and through the addition of the new Time Entry Advisor feature, Time Matters 12 helps legal professionals operate more efficiently, while helping law firms increase revenues by capturing billable hours that might otherwise be lost," Mike Lipps, LexisNexis' Vice President and Managing Director of Legal Business Software Solutions, told us.

Other new features include the ability to save matter-related email messages in Time Matters as documents, improvements to TM Save (for saving documents directly to Time Matters from programs such as Adobe Acrobat), and integration with LexisNexis PCLaw 12, LexisNexis' legal billing and accounting software. Those who use LexisNexis Billing Matters software will find 34 new UTBMS codes (e.g., ediscovery), and the ability to copy Bill Profiles, Bill Preferences, and Rate Tables.

What Else Should You Know?

Time Matters runs on Windows PCs. LexisNexis sells Time Matters via an Annual Maintenance Plan, which in addition to all software updates also includes Time Matters Mobility for access to key Time Matters features from smartphones, online Anytime Training courses, and live telephone technical support. Learn more about Time Matters 12.

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 Fat Friday contains these articles:

Ronald Cappuccio, Why the Legal Job Market Stinks and How to Fix It

Robert De Vries, Review: Dropbox Packrat

Caren Schwartz, Practice Management Systems for Bankruptcy

Ronald Cappuccio, Review: Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx and PHONEslips Android App

Joseph Matejkovic, Review: PaperDesk for iPad Note-Taking With Audio

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.

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 150 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.

Initial Thoughts on Amicus Cloud

Review: Livescribe Sky WiFi Smartpen

Leadership Is a Skill, Management Is a Role

The Best and Worst Content Marketing Tactics

Congratulations to Jeff Krause of Jeff Krause's Practice Management Blog on winning our BlawgWorld Pick of the Week award: Time Management Technologies and Tips for Lawyers

Today's issue also contains links to every article in the November 2012 issue of Law Practice Today. Don't miss today's issue or any future issues of BlawgWorld.

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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 a cloud practice management system (see article below), a portable duplex scanner, time capture software, and a web-based jury selection application. Don't miss the next issue.

A PRACTICE MANAGEMENT TITAN TAKES ON THE CLOUD

About a decade ago, legal vendors began weaving email into their practice management systems. They realized that email via Microsoft Outlook had become the central communications hub for most lawyers. Nowadays, email has taken on even more importance because it travels with lawyers everywhere on laptops, smartphones, and tablets. A new practice management system aims to stay on top of email's continuing evolution.

Amicus Cloud … in One Sentence

Launched last week, Gavel & Gown Software's Amicus Cloud is a web-based practice management system.

The Killer Feature

Gavel & Gown has baked Hosted Microsoft Exchange into Amicus Cloud. Alternatively, you can use your own Hosted Exchange account or on-premise Exchange Server. Thanks to this tight integration, Amicus Cloud contains the very same email that's on your PC in Outlook, your Mac in Mail, your smartphone, your iPad, etc. Any email message you send or receive in Amicus Cloud appears everywhere else you access your email.

Furthermore, Amicus Cloud automatically associates email messages with client files (matters). Everyone in your firm with access to a file can view all of the associated email messages. Unlike competing products, you don't have to BCC email messages to a special email address. Instead, you just use email as you currently use it.

Other Notable Features

Amicus Cloud includes all the functionality you would expect from a practice management system — organization of your files by client and matter, calendars and alerts, task management, contact management, document management, conflict searching, billable time capture (including phone calls), expense tracking, billing, trust accounting, and collections. You can also search through all records in your Amicus Cloud account as well as generate a number of reports that you can export in PDF or Excel formats.

The billing system includes the Time Entry Assistant, which we deemed a killer feature when it debuted in the company's flagship product, Amicus Attorney. This tool lists all the email, events, phone calls, tasks, and other items that don't yet have associated time entries, thus preventing lost billable time.

You can use Amicus Cloud from any modern web browser (the company has optimized the design for Windows PCs, Macs, and iPads). If you're offline, you can still access your calendar, contacts, and email via applications like Outlook. Any changes you make offline in these applications automatically sync with Amicus Cloud when you regain a connection.

"Amicus Attorney Cloud Edition is a product that will truly bring practice management to a higher level," Gavel & Gown's President Ron Collins told us. "We have taken all the lessons learned in 20 years of providing the best practice management for lawyers, and can now deliver these tools in a completely new way via the cloud."

What Else Should You Know?

Amicus Cloud is securely hosted using Microsoft's Azure platform. Gavel & Gown offers a free trial as well as complimentary training (both live and recorded tutorials). Pricing starts at $34.95 per user per month. Hosted Exchange, which is optional, costs an additional $10 per user per month. Learn more about Amicus Cloud.

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 Fat Friday contains these articles:

Bruce Brightwell, The Problem With Law Schools (Why Grads Can't Get Jobs)

Patrick Stiehm, Tip: How To Convert Documents Into MP3 Files And Listen To Them

Simon Kogan, Integration Caveat: Office 2013 Preview

Jason McGrath, Review Of Siri Plus IPhone Charging Tips

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.

Today's issue of TL Answers contains these articles:

Thomas RuBane, Review: FileMaker Pro 12; Using FileMaker to Create a Practice Management System

Frank Clark, My File Naming Protocol: Going Strong After 12 Years

Frances Ruiz, Review: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500

Mark Olberding, How I Use Two Monitors and What Drove Me to Add a Second

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

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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 an iOS app for litigation case management (see article below), a new iPad stylus, an iPad note-taking app, software for encrypting USB flash drives, and an online service for creating electronic document binders. Don't miss the next issue.

PUT YOUR CLIENTS AND THEIR CASES IN YOUR POCKET

Litigators have always led a mobile lifestyle. Trials don't occur in the conference room in your office after all. Even today, some litigators still walk into court toting paper documents in a litigation briefcase on wheels. But there's no need to risk a muscle strain as you climb the courthouse steps given the onward march of mobile technology.

TrialWorks Mobile App … in One Sentence
Launched earlier this month, Lawex's TrialWorks Mobile App, which works in conjunction with the company's TrialWorks case management software, enables you to access your entire case file on your iPad and/or iPhone.

The Killer Feature
Most practice management systems understandably try to appeal to all practice areas. By contrast, TrialWorks focuses on litigation. Thus, in addition to organizing information like contacts and calendar events by matter, it also accommodates litigation-specific information. For example, it tracks dates such as incidents, statutes of limitations, and trials. It also stores medical records and contains a settlement calculator.

The TrialWorks Mobile App enables you to take this information with you on your iOS device. Most notable is the Case History function as it contains all case data in chronological order. Through Case History, you can access any calendar item, document, note, and more. Additionally, you can email documents such as a court opinion or pleadings directly from the app to the judge, opposing counsel, etc.

"The TrialWorks Mobile App is a game changer," Lawex president Robb Steinberg told us. "The ability to review the entire case history, including documents, notes, deadlines, contacts, and email, from your iPad or iPhone, enables attorneys to be productive anywhere anytime."

Other Notable Features
When you launch the TrialWorks Mobile App, you first see the Dashboard. You can quickly select a recently-viewed case or find and select a case you have not previously viewed in the app. A toolbar enables you to access other features of the app such as Contacts, Docket, Notes, and Timekeeper.

When you pull up a contact, you can tap a telephone number to place a call. The Docket enables you to review court dates and tasks. Notes store information related to a matter added by you and your colleagues. With Timekeeper, you can enter time on the go as it occurs.

All the features in the TrialWorks Mobile App are bidirectional, which means you can both access existing information as well as enter new information (calendar events, new client intakes, expenses, notes, tasks, time, etc.). The app securely syncs with TrialWorks in your office when your iPad or iPhone has access to the Internet.

What Else Should You Know?
The TrialWorks Mobile App is free for TrialWorks users who have an active maintenance agreement. It features its own login screen for added security. Learn more about the TrialWorks Mobile 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.

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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.

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 110 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.

Sage Timeslips 2013: Wish-List Fulfillment and a Calendar

The App 100: The World's Greatest Apps

Law Firm Revenue and Profit Outlook (Video)

Ten Tips for Building a Law Firm Publishing Culture

Congratulations to Harry McCracken of TIME.com on winning our BlawgWorld Pick of the Week award: Reflections on One Year of Using the iPad as My Primary PC

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:

Ed Scanlan, Inside Total Attorneys From the Ultimate Insider

Michael Schwartz, Review: Last Pass v RoboForm

Steven Schwaber, Review: NoScript Privacy Add-On for Firefox

Steven Schwaber, Who Is to Blame for My Windows 7 Problem?

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.