TechnoLawyer: Document Management

Coming today to Fat Friday: Ross Kodner responds to some criticism stemming from his SmallLaw column, The Rise of BigSolo, Ashe Lockhart reviews SherWeb and AppRiver for hosted Exchange and BlackBerry Server; he also discusses the future of Software as a Service (SaaS), William Tait tells us how he really feels about challenge response software, Steven Schwaber explores the ethical problems with social networking for lawyers, and Stephen Silverberg shares some wise words for backups. Don't miss this issue.

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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 TechnoFeature: Have you ever made a mistake or forgotten about something? If so, it's likely that your firm's manual system for storing and retrieving documents has caused you headaches thanks to misplaced documents, missing documents, misnamed documents, and many other mis-takes so to speak. You may benefit from a document management system (aka enterprise content management system), but where do you start? Earlier this year, legal technology consultant John Heckman penned a 25 page treatise on document management systems (DMS) for law firms. We asked him to distill the key points into two TechnoFeature articles. In Part 1 last week, John discussed the problems that a DMS addresses. Today in Part 2, you'll learn how to shop for and implement a DMS.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature 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 54 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

How to Make Worldox Work Like Your File Cabinet

Client Collaboration and the IKEA Effect

The Secrets of Thriving Law Firms

This issue also contains links to every article in the March 2009 issue of Law Practice Today. Don't miss this issue or future issues.

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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. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: Have you ever made a mistake or forgotten about something? If so, it's likely that your firm's manual system for storing and retrieving documents has caused you headaches thanks to misplaced documents, missing documents, misnamed documents, and many other mis-takes so to speak. You may benefit from a document management system (aka enterprise content management system), but where do you start? Earlier this year, legal technology consultant John Heckman penned a 25 page treatise on document management systems (DMS) for law firms. We asked him to distill the key points into two TechnoFeature articles. Today in Part 1, you'll learn about the problems that a DMS addresses. In Part 2 next week, you'll learn how to shop for and implement a DMS.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: Search rules today's world. Whereas in the past we might have consulted a dusty volume from a bookshelf, today we visit Yahoo!, Google, Lexis, Westlaw, and many other sites. But what about searching your own files or the files you collect from a client? Many lawyers have outgrown built-in tools such as Windows Explorer or even free tools such as Google Desktop Search. ISYS:desktop 9 exists to fill this need. How well does it work? We asked eDiscovery and technology expert Brett Burney to take a look.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to Fat Friday: George Ross explains how he manages incoming email, Yvonne Renfrew shares her idea for making the ScanSnap S300 even more mobile, Thomas F. McDow discusses sharing an office with another lawyer (who also happens to be his wife), Paul Mansfield warns about one of the pitfalls of 64-bit computing, and Robert Fleming provides a helpful tip for running WordPerfect with multiple monitors. Don't miss this issue.

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 Answers to Questions: Thomas Hutto reviews AdvologixPM for online practice management, Michael Schley explains three ways to archive Outlook messages, Wandal Winn reviews Google Calendar for client appointments, Robert Johnson compares the BlackBerry Storm to the iPhone while musing about the yet-to-be-released Palm Pre, and Robert Levinson reviews several Nuance products. Don't miss this issue.

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Published on 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 today to Fat Friday: David Ventker explains why his firm's backup system lets him sleep at night, Douglas Shachtman reviews Norton 360 and its online tech support, Fred Kruck reviews ActiveWords and its interaction with Worldox, John Ryan shares some paperless office words of wisdom as well as the scanners he prefers, and Claude Morgan comments on the power of community (and shares an upcoming book on the subject). Don't miss this issue.

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 Answers to Questions: Bob Walsh shares the details of his firm's paperless workflow and backup strategy, Ivan Frockt reviews RTG Bills, Eric Harris reviews the Workrite Sierra adjustable desk, Brooks Miller explains how to create table of authorities in WordPerfect, and Michael O'Byrne shares his top four reasons to upgrade to digital dictation. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive this Newsletter
Published on 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.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a practice management system (see article below), billing software for BlackBerrys, and three holiday time wasters. Don't miss the next issue.

What's in Your Law Firm's Wallet?
By Neil J. Squillante

Law firms should always have a good understanding of their business, but it's especially important nowadays. Enter the practice management dashboard. It shows you how much clients owe you, how long it takes them to pay you, the status of your open cases, who's working hard and who's slacking off, etc. While some law firms can access this information in various places, few can do so in one place.

Virtual Bottomline Firm Management Solutions ... in One Sentence
Virtual Bottomline Systems' Virtual Bottomline Firm Management Solutions is a practice management solution that includes an accounting and billing system, a contact and case management system, a document management system, document drafting tools, and network faxing.

The Killer Feature
A holy grail is something cherished but unattainable. Like a winning lottery ticket. Or better yet painless billing for disbursements.

Virtual Bottomline Firm Management Solutions can transform this pipe dream into reality thanks to its intelligent disbursements technology.

For example, whenever you print or fax a document, receive a fax, print postage or an overnight courier label, or scan a document, Virtual Bottomline Firm Management Solutions asks you if you would like to bill that disbursement to the client. One click and you're done.

Other Notable Features
Virtual Bottomline Firm Management Solutions can also handle your hourly billing no matter how complex. For example, it handles fee splitting, includes timers, enables you to apply rates by both timekeeper and task, and much more.

Virtual Bottomline Firm Management Solutions also features trust accounting, including automated deposit slips, check production and control, and reconciliation and statements.

You'll also find everything at your fingertips because of the automation and linking technologies. For example, you can create templates for documents you frequently draft. When you create a document, it's automatically filed in the matter. If you email it to a client, the email message is also filed in that matter. Etc.

Other features include network contact management, network faxing, customizable reports, conflicts checking, and much more.

What Else Should You Know?
Virtual Bottomline Firm Management Solutions sells for $699, but is currently on sale for $349, including the network fax option. It runs on Windows. The company offers remote installation and training. Learn more about Virtual Bottomline Firm Management Solutions.

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.