TechnoLawyer: Online/Cloud

Coming today to TechnoFeature: The first legal billing applications started surfacing more than 30 years ago. However, many lawyers still jot down their time on paper, and many law firms still use a word processor to create invoices. Why? No one knows for sure but the simplicity of the old ways is likely a factor (though a paper-based system makes collections more complex). For this issue of TechnoFeature, Seattle estate planning and business lawyer Chandra Lewnau has written a comparative review of Paymo and Time59 — two web-based (cloud) billing applications. Are Paymo and Time59 simple enough to persuade paper-based law firms to enter the 21st century? More importantly, can either application serve your law firm's needs better than your current billing software? Chandra has the answer in her no-punches-pulled shootout review.

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. As a result, TechnoFeature offers some of the most profound thoughts on law practice, and helpful advice about legal-specific products. 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 99 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

Nuance PaperPort Learns New Tricks in the Cloud

What You Need to Know About the Carrier IQ Scandal

Attorneys Going Solo

Lawyers Make a Case for Advertising

This issue also contains links to every article in the November/December 2011 issue of Law Technology News. Don't miss this issue or future issues.

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. 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.

Today's issue of TL Answers contains these articles:

Harry Steinmetz, My Law Firm's Switch To Macs

Bryan Sims, How I Use Paper And What I Keep On Paper In My Paperless Law Office

Caren Schwartz, Review: CrashPlan, Gillware For Cloud Backup; Replacing Quicken

Ronald Cappuccio, Review: PHONEslips 12 For Client Relationship Management

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 TechnoFeature: Working on vacation may sound like a terrible idea, but like anything it's all relative. It beats canceling a vacation. Here's the problem. You can't manage your practice by calendar and email alone. You need access to your entire practice management system. In this issue of TechnoFeature, lawyer and practice management expert Seth Rowland runs through the four current options for accessing your practice management system on the go. For each option, he discusses several products, including their pros and cons.

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. As a result, TechnoFeature offers some of the most profound thoughts on law practice, and helpful advice about legal-specific products. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a document management system (see article below), an iPad mind-mapping app, an iPhone projector, an iPhone car mount, and an iOS flight-tracking app. Don't miss the next issue.

A Smart Document Management System

An industry insider recently expressed surprise that document management is the most popular topic among TechnoLawyer members given the large number of law firms without a document management system. However, where she sees cognitive dissonance, I see normal market behavior. Think about buying a car. During your research phase, you notice every car you see. But unless you're a car enthusiast, once you drive off the lot in your new car your interest fades. Of course, most people don't search for a car for 10 years. Perhaps law firms have held back because of insufficient choice in the marketplace. One new entrant certainly hopes so.

KnowledgeTree … in One Sentence
KnowledgeTree is a cloud document management system.

The Killer Feature
Released last week, KnowledgeTree ExplorerCP is a desktop client through which you can access the documents you store in your KnowledgeTree account. ExplorerCP works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Because ExplorerCP runs on your computer, the company claims you can manage and edit documents faster. For example, the preferences enable you to select a default application for a file format such as DOC, PDF, etc.

Other Notable Features
In addition to the new desktop client, KnowledgeTree also offers smartphone apps and a Microsoft Office plugin. And of course, KnowledgeTree works in a web browser as well.

KnowledgeTree has built a number of "smart" branded tools into its service. Smart Processes enable you to create document workflows, Smart Alerts notify you of activity on documents, Smart Tags provides more flexibility than the standard client/matter and document numbers of traditional systems, and Smart Search puts a friendly face on Boolean-style searches (i.e., you need not know the syntax to create and save complex searches).

Other features include the ability to share files for specified periods of time, document templates, and audit trails. Each document has a Facebook-style "Like" button to make model documents easier to find.

What Else Should You Know?
KnowledgeTree offers three plans — Teams ($14/user/month), Company ($20/user/month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). The plans differ by features with Enterprise offering tools such as Active Directory and Single-Sign-On. Learn more about KnowledgeTree.

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:

Kerry Hubick, Review: PCmover Plus Windows 7 Upgrade Tips

Keith Collins, Review: iPhone 4S (Upgrade From A Treo 755p)

Edward Zohn, Review: Hosted Microsoft Exchange

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 101 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

Peer to Peer, September 2011 Issue

Why You Need a Backup Strategy for Your Smartphone

Going In-House at Apple with Steve Jobs' Former GC

A Look at Google Plus 101 for Lawyers

This issue also contains links to every article in the October 2011 issue of Law Practice Today. Don't miss this issue or future issues.

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. 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: "The future's so bright I gotta wear shades" sang a long forgotten one-hit-wonder. If the future of your law firm seems bright, make sure you wear shades and not blinders. A practice management system can help you avoid blind spots such as delinquent clients and underperforming lawyers. In this issue of TechnoFeature, Connecticut software consultant Caren Schwartz reviews AdvologixPM, a cloud-based practice management system that runs on Salesforce.com's platform as a service. Huh? Basically, it means that AdvologixPM and your data resides on servers managed by a large public company. You use AdvologixPM in your web browser. Freed from having to manage its own data center, Advologix can focus entirely on creating legal-specific features. That's the theory at least. How well does AdvologixPM work in practice? Read Caren's comprehensive review to find out.

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. As a result, TechnoFeature offers some of the most profound thoughts on law practice, and helpful advice about legal-specific products. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a centralized tool for passive time capture (see article below), a new iPhone, a new Bluetooth headset, a portable label printer, and a new client relationship management program. Don't miss the next issue.

Centralized Automatic Time Capture for Law Firms

Sometimes it seems like there are more consultants preaching alternative fee arrangements than law firms actually using them. These experts argue that abandoning the billable hour will take you from a BMW to a Maybach. However, most lawyers like their bimmers just fine, and worry that a new business model could backfire, putting them behind the wheel of a Kia. Instead, lawyers seem more interested in technology that improves time capture so that they can earn more money with a proven business model. Even firms that bite the AFA bullet need to track time to make sure they don't lose their monogramed shirt.

Chrometa for Teams … in One Sentence
Launching today, Chrometa for Teams passively captures billable time in a centralized manner.

The Killer Feature
Chrometa wasn't the first company to offer automatic time capture of computer work and telephone calls, but it has iterated its product faster than its forebears.

With Chrometa, timekeepers assign their captured time to clients and matters, and exports or posts these time entries to their firm's accounting system.

Chrometa for Teams gives the "Team Leader" (managing partners and others in management) more centralized control over this process. As Team Leader, you can create uniform clients and matters and keyword filters for everyone to use, review all time by client, matter, and/or timekeeper, reduce or write off time, and approve time entries for posting.

"Whether a firm bills hourly or on a fixed fee basis, they need to know where every minute goes," Chrometa CEO and Co-Founder Brett Owens told us. "Chrometa for Teams takes passive time capture to the next level by enabling managing partners to monitor everyone's work and generate bills faster and more efficiently."

Other Notable Features
Chrometa for Teams offers the same feature set as Chrometa. It captures activities on both Macs and Windows PCs, generate bills, and integrates with a growing number of popular billing systems such as QuickBooks, PCLaw, and Timeslips.

Everyone can securely review their captured time in a web browser from any computer. The Team Leader's dashboard has more advanced analytical tools for slicing and dicing everyone's time records.

What Else Should You Know?
Chrometa for Teams starts at $19 per month with a minimum of five timekeepers. Learn more about Chrometa for Teams.

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:

Thomas Sennett, Sound Advice for Law Students (The Debate Continues)

Robert Kaplan, Review: PDF-XChange PRO

Rick Borstein, Upgrading the Version of Acrobat Standard You Got With Your Scanner

Andrew Weltchek, Review: Ruby Receptionists

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.