TechnoLawyer: Practice Management/Calendars

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers cloud practice management software with extensive data import tools (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a practice management app with a do-it-yourself QuickBooks integration, a tool for leveraging court dockets, an Outlook add-in that prevents email mishaps, a research service for medical malpractice practitioners, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Many law firms that want to take their practice to the cloud feel trapped because of data migration hurdles. While it's relatively easy to export data from your existing software, most cloud apps have limited import tools.

LexisNexis Firm Manager … in One Sentence

LexisNexis Firm Manager is cloud practice management software that as of this week offers significantly expanded data import capabilities.

The Killer Feature

The words "data import" bring to mind a days-long process fraught with false starts and do-overs. By contrast, Firm Manager's new do-it-yourself data import tools can get you up and running in under an hour judging from the demo senior product manager Scott Light gave me.

The false starts of data migration stem from errors in source files. You then have to hunt down all these errors before you can import anything. Firm Manager takes a different approach. It imports all the clean data and notifies you of any errors. You can then save a CSV file that contains only the errors, which eliminates having to find them. Once you make corrections, you can import this remaining data.

Firm Manager distinguishes itself regarding the categories of data it can import — contacts, matters, billing codes, opening trust balances, time entries, expense entries, invoices, matter notes, contact notes, and tasks. Scott imported a data file for nearly each of these categories during the demo. This breadth gives you the opportunity to import data from multiple sources. If you can export to CSV format, Firm Manager can import it.

Calendars and documents have special data migration tools. For the former, Firm Manager integrates with Google Calendar and Office 365. For document management, Firm Manager can bulk import entire folders and nested folders with one click, and assign all the documents therein to a matter. You can also send email to a matter using a special email address.

"As firms upgrade their practice management systems, they want to bring their current and historical data with them," Director of Product Management Wes Gillette told me. "Firm Manager's new, improved data import process makes it easy for firms to get up and running quicker and easier than ever before."

Other Notable Features

Firm Manager has added a number of other features. The redesigned Home dashboard displays your calendar, tasks, recent activity, and unbilled time (Money Finder). Switching to the new Lawyer View provides insights into your billable targets, over-budget matters, and overdue tasks. Filters give your more granularity into this data.

Also new are customizable templates. Intake Templates ensure consistent handling of every new matter. Fields can consist of dates, currency, menus, and checkboxes in addition to text. Checklist Templates contain all the tasks associated with a matter type, including the person who should handle each task and its estimated billable time or budget. When you assign budgets to tasks, Firm Manager visually identifies tasks that took too long. You can alternatively assign a budget to an entire matter instead of its constituent tasks.

What Else Should You Know?

Two Firm Manager plans exist — Starter costs $29 per user per month while Essentials costs $44 per user per month. Both plans include the new data import tools. Essentials also includes the customizable templates, role-based permissions, QuickBooks integration, and reporting. Learn more about Firm Manager.

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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.

Coming today to SmallLaw: A practice management bubble exists per our recent reporting. This makes product reviews more important than ever. In this issue of SmallLaw, New Jersey Ed Zohn lawyer reviews Rocket Matter. Today's review walks you through setup, integrations, and marquee features such as the Outlook integration, iPad app, and matter templates for automating tasks. As always, Ed assesses the user experience, price, and overall value. Also, don't miss the SmallLaw Pick of the Week to learn how to procure positive online ratings from your clients.

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Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers practice management software with a new QuickBooks Online integration that you can setup in a few minutes (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a court dockets research service, an Outlook add-in that prevents email errors, a resource with model transactional documents and practice guides, two practice management products with apps on all platforms, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

If you visit the QuickBooks website, you'll have a hard time finding the legacy desktop version. It's another sign of the tectonic shift underway to the cloud. It's easy to migrate from the legacy version to QuickBooks Online but that's only half the battle. What about your practice management software?

MyCase … in One Sentence

MyCase is practice management software with a recently enhanced QuickBooks Online integration.

The Killer Feature

MyCase was among the first practice management systems to integrate with QuickBooks Online. As the number of customers using the integration soared, Product Manager Zac Post began receiving feature requests. The new integration that Zac recently showed me incorporates much of this feedback. "It's now both easier to use and more robust," said Zac as he started the demo.

MyCase's App Bar lists all available integrations, including QuickBooks. The new integration is free thanks to its self-setup. "What used to cost $99 and require a one-hour implementation call now takes less than five minutes and is completely free," said Zac.

After entering your QuickBooks credentials, a series of menu-driven screens matches your QuickBooks accounts to their corresponding data sources in MyCase, including bank accounts, income, expenses, trusts, and even non-trust retainers if you use them. You can add new accounts to QuickBooks on-the-fly if necessary. You can edit these settings anytime.

Once setup, trust and non-trust retainer deposits give you the option of syncing to QuickBooks. Similarly, invoice creation and payment also give you the option to sync. Instead of syncing invoices one by one, the QuickBooks Sync button enables you select and sync multiple invoices simultaneously. This instant syncing eliminates time-consuming manual export/import procedures along with common errors such as duplicate entries and inconsistent nomenclature.

The invoices automatically created in QuickBooks exactly match those in MyCase down to every time entry and description thanks to a clever use of Items in QuickBooks. As a result, your QuickBooks file will have everything your accountant needs for tax filings.

Other Notable Features

MyCase offers all the practice management tools you would expect. On the Home dashboard, you can view recent activity and quickly add new cases, contacts, events, documents, tasks, time entries, expenses, invoices, notes, and messages.

When you add new client contacts, you can give them access to MyCase's client portal. Clients receive an email message with instructions on creating a secure portal account. Using the portal, clients can securely communicate with you, share documents, and pay bills. MyCase recently added a new feature that lists all the activity for each contact, offering you more granularity than the case activity feed.

MyCase can store both case-related documents and email. Integrations with Gmail and Outlook enable you to automatically file email messages in MyCase where you can then assign them to a case. A unique MyCase email address enables you to send any email message to MyCase from any email app.

What Else Should You Know?

MyCase costs $39 per month per attorney user and $29 per month per staff user. You can try MyCase for free for 30 days, including the new QuickBooks integration. MyCase can also build and host your firm's website for an additional charge. Learn more about MyCase.

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 Serendipity contains these articles:

Mark Olberding, My Law Firm's "Freebies" For Clients

Bunji Fromartz, Review: Vonage Service And App

Darren Cantor, Review: Time Matters For Internal Communications

Patrick Lanius, Review: TranscriptPad

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Today's issue of TL Serendipity contains these articles:

Edward Zohn, The Best References On Legal Writing Best Practices

Ben Ballard, Review Of Amicus Cloud By A Former Credenza User

Neal Frishberg, Tip: CiteAdvisor For Creating Tables Of Authorities In Word

Caren Schwartz, Suddenly Seeking New Document Assembly And Practice Management Software

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Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected the 61 best legal technology articles, podcasts, and videos from the past week. Below you'll find a sampling from today's issue, including our BlawgWorld Pick of the Week. BlawgWorld is free so don't miss the next issue — sign up now.

Congratulations to Paul Thurrott of Thurrott on winning our BlawgWorld Pick of the Week award: Understanding the Expanded Surface Book Lineup

Practice Management Pricing Gets Murky

2016 ABA Tech Survey Shows Increase in Attorney Use of iPhones, iPads

Review: Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016)

Jony Ive Talks About Laptops

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Today's issue of TL Serendipity contains these articles:

John Dorst, Review Of Dashlane (Password Manager)

Tim Donovan, Letting Go Of Old Tech Paradigms To Move Forward

Edie Owsley-Zimmerman, Review: Internal Messaging Using PracticeMaster

Bruce Brightwell, Printer Alternatives For An Estate Planning Practice

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How to Receive TL Serendipity
Our most serendipitous offering (hence its name), TL Serendipity consists of contributions by TechnoLawyer members who have important information to share. 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 TL Serendipity newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected the 64 best legal technology articles, podcasts, and videos from the past week. Below you'll find a sampling from today's issue, including our BlawgWorld Pick of the Week. BlawgWorld is free so don't miss the next issue — sign up now.

Congratulations to Peter Bright of Ars Technica on winning our BlawgWorld Pick of the Week award: Review of HP Spectre x360

Microsoft Is Expanding the Availability of Focused Inbox for Outlook

Why Lawyers Should Never Use Consumer-Grade Apps

MKBHD Compares Siri and Google Assistant

Mossberg Reviews Google Pixel Phone

How The File Was Sent

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Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a new Android and iOS practice management app designed for fast access to information (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a legal research service that color codes your search terms to help you find relevant cases faster, three practice management apps, client relationship management software that leverages external data, a contract analysis add-in for Microsoft Word, a document management add-on, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Designing a practice management app for the iPhone poses several challenges. You want to maximize functionality and the amount of information displayed without clutter. You also want to minimize the number of taps required because the whole point of such an app is to use it on the go in environments like airports, courts, taxis, etc.

Clio Mobile App … in One Sentence

Launched recently, the revamped Clio Mobile App enables you to use the Clio practice management platform on your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone.

The Killer Feature

The Clio Mobile App stems from three years of user feedback and data. Clio's lawyer-in-residence Joshua Lenon told me during my demo that the app nearly matches the Clio web app in functionality, and enables you get to all of these functions faster.

For example, the redesigned Home screen lists your next five events, your next five most important tasks, and a list of matters you've most recently accessed. This reduces the need to access multiple screens. When you need to dig deeper, See All buttons list all tasks and all matters. Also, a new Global Search resides at the top right of every screen, taking you to whatever you need.

The bottom of every screen contains three tabs for fast access to the Home screen, Calendar, and Matters (the iPad app offers more of these defined tabs thanks to its larger display). Another tab labeled More brings up a menu for one tap access to all other functions such as bills and tasks.

The last tab displays a + symbol. This is the new Global Create function. Tap it to create a new contact, matter, event, task, document, time entry, expense, etc. Clio prepopulates fields with data where it can to save you time. A banner across the bottom of your screen confirms the creation of this new record and enables you to view it.

Other Notable Features

Lenon pointed out that this focus on user experience permeates the entire app. For example, the Tasks home screen groups your tasks into six categories. At a glance, you can see your total number of tasks as well as the number due today, in the next seven days, overdue, without a due date, and completed. Similarly, each Matter offers a Timeline view that shows all activities in reverse chronological order — a modern day tickler file. Colors connote the type of activity — blue for time entries, red for calendar entries, etc.

Also new in the Clio Mobile App is a document scanner. Tap Global Create to create a new document, and then choose the scanner option. You can also use the scanner function to record video and store it in a matter.

Given the sensitive information in the Clio Mobile App, you can add an extra layer of security by requiring a PIN for access. On iOS devices, you can use Touch ID.

What Else Should You Know?

Clio offers three plans, all of which enable you to use the Clio Mobile App at no additional cost. When billed annually, Starter costs $39 per month, Boutique costs $59 per month, and Elite costs $99 per month (add $10 for monthly billing). Learn more about Clio 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.

TechnoLawyer Library houses our growing collection of free research reports in PDF format. Reports of this caliber usually cost a fortune, but TechnoLawyer members can download all of them for free. TechnoLawyer membership is also free. Below you'll find links to selected research reports. Click any link to get started.

Lawyer's Guide to a Well-Appointed iPad (Third Edition)

The Egg Theory: What Clients Really Want From Their Lawyers

Why Lawyers Need Not Fear Disruption

Three Common Productivity Tasks That an iPad Performs Better Than a PC

Chill, Grill, and Bill: Summertime Gadgets for Summer-Loving Legal Professionals

TechnoLawyer Demographics 2014

LitigationWorld Quick Start Guide to Mastering Ediscovery

TL Research Buyer's Guide to Legal Billing Software

Can Microsoft Win the Legal Industry's Mobile Race?

TL Research Buyer's Guide to Outlook Add-Ons for Law Firms

TL Research Buyer's Guide to Document Management Systems for Law Firms (Second Edition)