TechnoLawyer: TL NewsWire

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers billing and task management software designed to handle any financial model you devise, including the option to outsource drudgery such as mailing bills (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a major practice management update, including a new Android and iOS app that automatically captures time for calls and email, a new marketing automation and client intake platform designed for law firms, including tools for email newsletters and electronic signatures, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Law firms rarely charge a simple hourly rate. Instead, most have sophisticated billing needs. Also, a firm's billing model can change because of a new client, partner, practice area, etc. Ideally, you want billing software that can handle any financial model you devise.

TimeSolv Legal Billing … in One Sentence

TimeSolv is cloud billing software with extensive and flexible tools for time and expensive tracking, trust accounting, billing, and task management.

The Killer Feature

If you can think it, TimeSolv can track it. TimeSolv accommodates different billing rates based on the lawyer, task, matter, and other factors — even UTBMS task codes. Law firms often use split billing to incentivize behavior such as rainmaking. TimeSolv can split bills in any proportion, including granular controls such as splitting hours at different rates.

When creating a new matter, choose a default billing arrangement that you expect to use for most time entries. Timekeepers can override this default when necessary. For example, if a case goes to trial, you can use TimeSolv's Task Then Timekeeper setting to charge a premium trial rate.

"TimeSolv is hands down the best legal billing program available today," says Eva DeVincentis of O'Kelly & Ernst, LLC. "Not only is it easy to use, but if you find anything that you need it to do, just reach out to the staff at TimeSolv and before you know it, they've updated it with your request!"

Other Notable Features

TimeSolv greets you with the Time Entry dashboard. A calendar lists the time entered each day as well as totals for the month. To the right you can create time entries before or after the fact with tools such as a timer you can start and customizable abbreviations for entering lengthy descriptions (a cheat sheet lists all stored descriptions). Entering expenses works similarly.

Your support staff can use TimeSolv for free, which is helpful if some lawyers in your firm track time manually and send it to their assistant. Security controls can prevent support staff from doing anything other than entering time. These controls are also useful when working with contract lawyers.

When it's time to transform your firm's billed time into revenue, you can generate a list of Draft Bills by parameters such as client, date range, etc. You can view draft invoices and drill down to individual time entries to make adjustments. If you don't finish your review in one session, icons let you know which invoices you already reviewed. TimeSolv offers trust accounting so you can apply available trust funds during the review process.

You can use TimeSolv's Client Portal to deliver bills, and clients can pay via ACH or credit card thanks to integration with LawPay. You can also email and print bills, and submit bills to ebilling systems. TimeSolv can even print and mail your invoices via its add-on AutoMail service. For the ultimate in delegation, TimeSolv offers Outsourced Legal Billing in which a U.S.-based team preps your drafts bills, obtains your approval, and then sends the final versions, including to ebilling systems.

What Else Should You Know?

TimeSolv offers two-way sync with both the desktop and online versions of QuickBooks. A companion Windows and Mac app called TimeSync captures your time when offline. An extensive suite of task management and budgeting tools enable you to create workflow templates, automatically enter time upon task completion, and even offer flat fees. Learn more about TimeSolv Legal Billing.

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 NewsWire covers a major practice management update, including a new Android and iOS app that automatically captures time for calls and email (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a new marketing automation and client intake platform designed for law firms, including tools for email newsletters and electronic signatures, a cloud application for paperless deposition exhibits with tools for focusing the deponent's attention and monitoring their actions, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Capturing billable time on the go is significantly more challenging than doing so from the comfort of your office. Only a mobile app connected to your practice management and billing system can bridge this gap — and the more automated the better.

Amicus Attorney … in One Sentence

AbacusNext's Amicus Attorney (Amicus) is a popular practice management and billing system with a new Android and iOS app launching this week that automates time capture.

The Killer Feature

Open the new Amicus mobile app, and you'll see a list of recently-accessed case files. Above this list you can search for a file not listed. Within a file, tap on a client's telephone number to place a call. Amicus hands off the call to the Phone app. Email works the same way. Amicus even creates a subject for the email message and adds a salutation and your signature to save you time.

When you finish the call or send the email message, your phone reverts back to the Amicus mobile app, which shows you the elapsed time in a pop-up and asks if you want to record the details for a time entry. After tapping "Yes" to capture the time, Amicus automatically fills in the client and matter, date, time, and duration of the call or email, and a description. You can make edits if necessary. This time entry syncs back to the Amicus server.

"Practicing law is complicated, but your practice management software doesn't have to be," says Chris Cardinal, Executive VP, Software Development. "Amicus Attorney makes it easy to stay on top of a busy practice, and with the new mobile app your mission critical data is always at your fingertips."

Other Notable Features

Amicus now integrates with Abacus Payment Exchange (APX), enabling you to process ACH and credit card payments. You create an APX account within Amicus. Once approved, you can enter credit cards manually or your clients can access and pay bills directly via the secure Amicus Client Portal. APX charges a flat fee of 3% of each credit card transaction. ACH payments are free and there's no monthly fee for having an APX account.

The Amicus team also focused on making you more productive. The enhanced document management system adds technologies typically found only in dedicated systems. For example, you can "check out" documents to prevent others from working them. Amicus automatically creates a new version of a document when someone make changes, enabling you to revert back to any prior version. An import tool migrates documents from existing locations to Amicus to get you started.

You'll likely create many documents using Precedent Workflows. This tool captures your processes, automatically assigning tasks and making any applicable templates available within the task. Autofill blanks to assemble documents and automatically create a time or fee entry with the ebilling task code required by your client.

If you practice litigation, the recently introduced integration with Abacus Court Rules calculates all deadlines based on a trigger such as the trial date. Coverage includes federal courts and courts in 10 states. You can add these deadlines to the firm calendar and to personal calendars.

What Else Should You Know?

You can run Amicus in your firm or in Abacus Private Cloud, the latter of which frees you from having to maintain a server and prevent security threats. "Amicus gives me the ability to be a great advocate for my clients, and still have a life outside the office," says Peter C. Merani, founder of Law Offices of Peter C. Merani P.C. Learn more about Amicus Attorney.

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 NewsWire covers a new marketing automation and client intake platform designed for law firms, including tools for email newsletters and electronic signatures (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a cloud application for paperless deposition exhibits with tools for focusing the deponent's attention and monitoring their actions, all-in-one practice management software with a variety of automation tools to save you time, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

After leaving MyCase, co-founder Matt Spiegel noticed that while dozens of competing practice management products enabled law firms to manage their cases post-engagement, no products existed to assist law firms with attracting new clients, reengaging former clients, and closing the deal. Spiegel's new company, Lawmatics, focuses on this need.

Lawmatics … in One Sentence

Launched at ABA TECHSHOW 2018, Lawmatics is cloud marketing automation software specifically designed for the needs of law firms from prospect through intake.

The Killer Feature

California bankruptcy lawyer Mark Brenner describes Lawmatics as "everything that lawyers don't know about the marketing and business of law but need to know."

One surprise law firms encounter is the labor-intensive nature of marketing — publish a newsletter or client memo, manage a Google AdWords campaign, evaluate "potential new clients" or PNCs, onboard new clients, etc. Missed opportunities are common.

Lawmatics automates much of this work via its visual automated workflow tool that you can configure to send email, create events, add tasks, request a signature, and more based on various triggers.

For example, suppose you write an ebook related to your practice area to attract PNCs. Lawmatics can automatically generate a form that you can add to the page on your website offering the ebook. Next you set up an automated workflow in Lawmatics with this form as the trigger. Every PNC who fills out the form receives an email message with a link to the ebook. After a delay of your choosing (e.g., two days), Lawmatics emails the PNC to suggest scheduling a consultation. A consultation stops the workflow. PNCs who don't respond continue to be nurtured however you see fit.

Other Notable Features

Lawmatics features a dashboard with helpful statistics and tables such as your pipeline value, conversion rate, cost per client, leads that require attention, and more. According to Spiegel, you'll spend even more time on the Pipelines page. Here you'll see a Kanban-style visualization of your sales process, including the PNCs in each stage and their estimated value. Lawmatics' algorithm uses your historical data to estimate PNC value so it improves over time. PNCs move through the stages via automated workflows or manually by drag and drop.

You'll also spend a lot of time in Lawmatics' Insights — a custom reporting tool to analyze your marketing efforts. You can create various goals and measure actual performance against them. Lawmatics can generate a UTM — code you can add to any web page to track your marketing activities. For example, if you advertise the above ebook using both Facebook and Google, you can create a different UTM for each campaign and identify which one performs better.

Lawmatics eliminates the need to use a separate product such as MailChimp for your email marketing. Choose from several email templates, customize the design to match your brand identity, and automatically create email lists based on any criteria (e.g., clients, referral sources, PNCs, etc.).

Similarly, Lawmatics includes online signature technology, obviating products such as DocuSign. PNCs can sign engagement letters and become clients with a few mouse clicks.

What Else Should You Know?

The monthly price of Lawmatics depends on the number of contacts you store. The website offers a tool for calculating the price. The Lawmatics team helps you set everything up — custom fields, practice areas, pipeline stages, marketing channels, and intake process. Lawmatics charges a one-time fee for this onboarding. Learn more about Lawmatics.

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 NewsWire covers a cloud application for paperless deposition exhibits with tools for focusing the deponent's attention and monitoring their actions (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of all-in-one practice management software with a variety of automation tools to save you time, document assembly software that resides within Microsoft Word and offers a simplified way to create templates versus traditional products, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Taking a deposition requires intense focus. Paper exhibits can break your flow. You literally need to get everyone on the same page, and there's no way to control what the witness sees. Plus hauling all that paper can make you feel more like a courier than a lawyer. One company aims to make these problems a thing of the past.

AgileLaw Electronic Exhibits … in One Sentence

AgileLaw Electronic Exhibits (AgileLaw) is a cloud application for paperless depositions that replaces printed exhibits with laptops and tablets.

The Killer Feature

With AgileLaw, everyone at the deposition uses either a laptop, iPad, or Android tablet to view exhibits. Queue an exhibit and reveal it to the court reporter, opposing counsel, and the deponent. For multipage exhibits, navigate to the specific page you want to ask questions about, and click Show Witness This Page. The witness then sees the page you want to discuss. You can even avoid paging through long documents by setting up jump points. To view actions being performed by the witness such as page changes, annotations, and magnification, click the View Witness Screen button. At any point, click Clear Witness Screen to prevent the witness from seeing anything.

"When I was practicing law many years ago, preparing for and conducting depositions was such a hassle," says AgileLaw co-founder Cyclone Covey. "We built AgileLaw E-Exhibits so that attorneys could ditch the bankers boxes and instead show up with a laptop or tablet. And we designed the product to mimic the workflow of paper-based depositions, so it can be adopted quickly and easily, with no training required."

Other Notable Features

Bob Meynardie, partner at Meynardie & Nanney, recently used AgileLaw for the first time. "I had to travel so carrying a tablet instead of bankers boxes was a godsend," he says. "I was also able to present a document that I had not initially planned on using, which I would not have been able to do without AgileLaw. I am a definite convert."

Meynardie is referring to AgileLaw's import tools, which support drag and drop as well as Box, Dropbox, Clio, and Relativity. After importing documents, you create a deposition, add the documents you plan to use to that deposition, and arrange the documents in your preferred order. You can rename documents, categorize them with labels, and add annotations that only you will see.

You can use the Mock Deposition tool for a dry run to increase your comfort level. If, like Meynardie, you need to use an unplanned exhibit during the deposition, you can add it on the fly using the import tools discussed above or have your paralegal handle it remotely without taking a break.

Prior to the deposition, all participants receive a secure PIN that gives them access to AgileLaw. During the deposition, AgileLaw can apply exhibit stamps to the documents you reveal using any alphanumeric system. At the end of the deposition, sharing the exhibits with participants requires just one click after which they receive an email message with a secure download link that requires the PIN.

AgileLaw offers four reports (called Filters) that enable you to see all documents revealed, marked as exhibits, annotated by the witness, and annotated by you.

What Else Should You Know?

AgileLaw is subscription-based with the monthly price ranging from $100 to $500 per month depending on your needs for storage and other features. All plans allow for unlimited users, cases, depositions, and participants. Learn more about AgileLaw Electronic Exhibits.

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 NewsWire covers all-in-one practice management software with a variety of automation tools to save you time (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of document assembly software that resides within Microsoft Word and offers a simplified way to create templates versus traditional products, practice management software that transforms legal billing from a multi-day process into one that takes minutes, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

There's a growing divide in the practice management world between products that include everything a law firm needs and those that expect you to add functionality through an ever-increasing array of third-party integrations. One thing's for sure — the latter approach costs more and imposes a complexity tax.

Perfect Practice … in One Sentence

Perfect Practice is all-in-one practice management software with an emphasis on automation and customization that includes case management, billing, accounting, document assembly, internal messaging, shared calendars, and more.

The Killer Feature

All practice management products contain innumerable fields for storing information. In Perfect Practice, you can make most fields a Smart Field, which acts as a trigger for nearly any function you want to automate.

For example, you can configure a Smart Field to retrieve and auto-populate data when you select a client name, generate a form requiring additional information, perform a series of calculations when you enter a property value, etc.

"We implemented a Smart Field to automate tasks that our Intake Team had to run on every new file that we received," says Nicole O'Brien, Director of IT Client Services at Woods Oviatt Gilman. "This allows our users to just click one button and take 15 minutes worth of tasks down to less than one minute."

Smart Fields work via SQL queries. Depending on your firm's needs, you can configure Smart Fields using preset functions that don't require any knowledge of SQL, create your own customized queries if you have SQL expertise, or take advantage of optional consulting services from Perfect Practice.

"The power of Smart Fields is limited only by one's imagination," says Perfect Practice Chairman Monty Helin. "Unlimited Smart Fields can be added in 30 seconds or less."

Smart Fields become even more powerful when combined with DocuTrac, the document assembly component of Perfect Practice that works with Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, and PDF forms. DocuTrac templates consist of questionnaires that generate a document after you enter the required information. Any field in these questionnaires can be a Smart Field to save time and reduce errors.

Other Notable Features

Perfect Practice greets you with a customizable dashboard that shows you whatever you want — your unbilled time, tasks, meetings, etc. Collapse dashboard panels, add, remove, or rearrange them, and drill down to more granular views.

In keeping with its focus on automation and customization, Perfect Practice makes extensive use of Checklists to automate workflows and assign the next task in line to the right person. Each Case has its own dashboard with a tickler so that you can review these activities and who performed them.

Perfect Practice ships with practice-area-specific templates to get you started. An Outlook add-in enables you to file email in the applicable case. You'll find an extensive set of reports in Perfect Practice but if you need a report that doesn't exist you can create it using Quick Reports. HIPAA-compliant security enables you to set password rules, limit access by role or individual user, monitor user activity, and even restore data after an error or tampering.

What Else Should You Know?

Perfect Practice costs $60 per user per month or you can license the software on an annual basis if you prefer. You can install Perfect Practice at your firm or use it on a hosted basis. You use Perfect Practice via the Windows desktop application or your web browser, including a mobile-friendly view on smartphones. Learn more about Perfect Practice.

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 NewsWire covers document assembly software that resides within Microsoft Word and offers a simplified way to create templates versus traditional products (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of practice management software that transforms legal billing from a multi-day process into one that takes minutes, a Microsoft Outlook add-in that predicts where to file your email and even lets you know when a colleague has beat you to it and already filed the same message, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Traditional document assembly software outputs a Microsoft Word document. But you don't work within Word. Instead, you must either master the intricacies of the document assembly software or hire a consultant. A new alternative seeks to flatten the learning curve.

Word DA … in One Sentence

Infoware's Word DA adds document assembly tools to Microsoft Word, and optionally integrates with sibling add-in Word LX Professional or Word LX Enterprise for enhanced functionality.

The Killer Feature

Word DA resides in the Microsoft Word Ribbon. The clauses you regularly use when drafting reside in Microsoft Word documents. These "Templates" as they're called use Word's styles to categorize the clauses. A template can also consist of an entire document such as a trust, will, etc. that doesn't require the use of different components each time.

You create data fields (a.k.a. variables) within clauses and document templates by placing square brackets around placeholder text. Word DA replaces these data fields with the information you provide during the drafting process. For example, the data field "[Client Last Name]" would be replaced by your client's last name everywhere it appears. You need only enter the last name once when prompted.

You assemble documents from stored clauses using Word DA's Clause Tool. This three-pane window lists available clauses on the left, a preview on the bottom, and the clauses you've selected on the right. After adding clauses, you can change their order and preview the document you're about to create. When you're all set, one click combines the selected clauses into a Word document.

"Our Word DA document assembly tools provide firms with an easier way to build and manage their content while designing templates that incorporate logic and intelligence to quickly automate document creation," says Michael Barrons, Infoware's Vice President Marketing & Operations. "Our tools live within Microsoft Word, providing a simple and extremely cost-effective solution that saves legal professionals time and improves document quality and accuracy."

Other Notable Features

Many small and midsize law firms use both Word DA and Word LX Professional. The latter, which we covered previously in TL NewsWire, features a number of tools to ensure document consistency across your firm. These tools reside on the Ribbon alongside Word DA.

One such tool — Prompt — enhances the functionality of the data fields in Word DA templates by storing the information you enter. This enables you to make a change (e.g., correct a misspelling) and update that field throughout the document. The Prompt tool lists all data fields in a panel, making it faster to enter and update the fields than using Word DA alone.

Word LX's Template Designer enables you to create Word DA templates with your firm's logo and address, preferred margins, typeface styles, etc. Word LX also makes it easier to access frequently-used templates. You can even add dedicated template icons to the Ribbon. After using Word DA to create a document, Word LX can make quick work of many formatting tasks, including consistent paragraph numbering and styles, adding a DocID, and generating a table of contents.

What Else Should You Know?

Word DA costs $150 per user per year standalone (less if bundled with Word LX). Infoware helps you get up and running, including training for those at your firm who will maintain templates and create new ones. Learn more about Word DA.

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 NewsWire covers practice management software that reduces the time required for administrative chores such as legal billing and filing client-related email (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a Microsoft Outlook add-in that predicts where to file your email and even lets you know when a colleague has beat you to it and already filed the same message, a cloud practice management system that has added financial and trust accounting to complement its billing features, obviating third-party software such as QuickBooks, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

They say that time is money, but not all time is equal in the legal profession. The more non-billable time you and your staff spend on administrative tasks, the less time you can devote to billable client work. A practice management pioneer has partnered with law firms to eliminate these inefficiencies.

Clio … in One Sentence

Redesigned based on observing lawyers as they work, Clio is a cloud practice management platform with a new approach to billing, email management, and other law firm workflows.

The Killer Feature

Clio's product team spent time at over 60 law firms. They discovered that moving existing billing workflows into software offers only modest improvements. Therefore, one focus of the "new Clio experience" is getting bills out and getting bills paid in minutes rather than days.

For example, Batch Billing includes new customization options such as the ability to generate detailed or aggregate invoices, treat services and expenses differently, and select unique invoice themes to make your bills easier for clients to review. The Draft Bill page has a new layout for fast reviews without scrolling. Click the Edit button on a draft bill to change the address, add or revise descriptions, change rates, apply discounts, and even add time and expenses without leaving the invoice.

You can bulk approve and deliver invoices via email or to the Clio Connect secure client portal. Clio also streamlines payment handling, allowing you to approve a bill and apply funds held in trust to that bill in a single click. You can even apply a single payment to multiple invoices.

"We've taken nine years of learnings from working with the best law firms in the world and incorporated them into the largest, most important product release in Clio's history," says Jack Newton, CEO and Co-founder of Clio. "It is a re-platforming of Clio on a new set of web technologies making it an order of magnitude faster."

Other Notable Features

Also new is Clio's Outlook add-in. With one click, you can bulk file email messages and attachments in Clio after which these messages appear in searches and on the corresponding matter's dashboard. This integration also adds a timer to Outlook, enabling you to start the clock when you read or compose a billable email message, and save these time entries to a matter.

In addition to all the new features, Clio has also improved the user experience. The menu ribbon has moved to the side and is collapsible to increase visibility. The search box is larger, searches run 10 times faster, and search results include custom fields for more precision. The "Create New" menu and Timer are now omnipresent at the top for universal access from all screens. All records in Clio with no associated billing display an "Add Time" button to ensure that you don't overlook any billable events.

"Clio is slick, fast and intuitive," says lawyer Jason Morris, Owner of Round Table Law LLP. "The parts of the interface you need most often are always there with no scrolling."

What Else Should You Know?

Clio offers more than 90 third-party integrations — far more than any other product on the market. The new App Directory categorizes these integrations by function and practice area. Clio offers three plans — Starter ($39 per user per month), Boutique ($59), and Elite ($99). Marquee integrations such as Office 365 and QuickBooks require the Boutique or Elite plans. Learn more about Clio.

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 NewsWire covers a Microsoft Outlook add-in that predicts where to file your email and even lets you know when a colleague has beat you to it and already filed the same message (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a cloud practice management system that has added financial and trust accounting to complement its billing features, obviating third-party software such as QuickBooks, an online video tutorial service to help lawyers prepare clients for depositions, mediations, and trials, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Over the years, document management systems have adapted to include email. The companies behind these products have developed all sorts of tools for saving email messages and attachments so that everyone working on a matter can access them. However, solutions to date require too much manual labor, and don't take into account multiple recipients of the same message to prevent duplicates.

ndMail … in One Sentence

Recently launched, NetDocuments' ndMail is a Microsoft Outlook add-in that uses artificial intelligence to make saving client-related email in the correct location faster and more accurate.

The Killer Feature

NetDocuments pioneered cloud document management nearly 20 years ago. In recent years, the company modernized NetDocuments to pave the way for companion products like ndMail.

Once installed, ndMail monitors your inbox to identify where in NetDocuments you likely want to file each new message. Select a message to view these recommended locations. Check a box if you agree with a prediction and the message is stored in that NetDocuments folder, inheriting the corresponding client, matter, and other associated metadata. You can file email in multiple folders. If you're unsure about a recommendation, right-click to open that location in NetDocuments for more context.

ndMail uses the sender, recipients, subject line, attachments, etc. to make its predictions. A Signal Strength Indicator to the left of each recommendation indicates the confidence level of ndMail's Predictive Email Filing technology. If none of the recommendations is a good fit, you can search or browse NetDocuments to find the correct folder, or create a new folder (e.g., new matter). ndMail learns from your behavior to improve its future recommendations.

"ndMail is unlike other email management solutions," says NetDocuments Sr. Product Manager of ndMail Bradlee Duncan. "It comes pre-loaded with accurate filing predictions, leveraging AI technology based on existing matter content and filing behaviors. This eliminates the need for complex deployment or pre-trained models to generate its predictions. The value is immediate in time saved, helping new employees get up to speed, and preventing errors."

Other Notable Features

NetDocuments realizes you're part of a law firm, and that colleagues often receive the same email messages. Therefore, ndMail includes a Global Filing Indicator in the form of a NetDocuments column in Outlook. If a colleague has already filed a message, the Global Filing Indicator in this column lets you know before you open the message. This prevents the storage of duplicate email messages in the same NetDocuments folder.

When composing an email message, ndMail works similarly, predicting where you likely want to file the message after sending it. If a recipient works in your law firm, they will see the Global Filing Indicator in Outlook to let them know you have already filed the message in NetDocuments.

If you communicate frequently on one matter, you can use ndMail's Folder Mapping as an alternative way to save messages in NetDocuments. Folder Mapping enables you to list NetDocuments folders within Outlook's navigation panel. Drag and drop multiple messages into a mapped folder to store them in NetDocuments.

What Else Should You Know?

You can deploy ndMail centrally. Some firms create a rule in Microsoft Exchange to remove filed messages from user inboxes after a specified period of time. Alternatively, you can give users the ability to keep or delete email in Outlook after filing it in NetDocuments. Learn more about ndMail.

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 NewsWire covers a cloud practice management system that has added financial and trust accounting to complement its billing features, obviating third-party software such as QuickBooks (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of an online video tutorial service to help lawyers prepare clients for depositions, mediations, and trials, cloud billing software for small firms seeking a standalone solution without practice management bells and whistles, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Most cloud practice management products include billing features but require integration with third-party software such as QuickBooks Online for general ledger and trust accounting. This increases overall costs and cuts into efficiency. One company is betting big on one product doing it all for law firms.

Centerbase … in One Sentence

Centerbase is cloud billing, practice, and document management software that recently added fully integrated accounting, offering front and back office functionality in one product.

The Killer Feature

Centerbase's redesigned and customizable Dashboard now includes accounting data, providing full visibility into your firm. See your schedule, tasks, active cases, recent payments, open bills, marketing analytics, work in progress, etc. Click any data object and drill down for more details.

The navigation column on the left demonstrates Centerbase's deep feature set — Calendar, Matters, Contacts, Timekeeping, Billing, Documents, Reports, and of course Accounting. Each of these major areas has its own specialized dashboard. For example, the Accounting dashboard shows monthly income and expenses, top accounts receivable, bank accounts, and quick links to all accounting functions.

"A large segment of law firms wants to move to cloud-based practice management software but haven't made the jump because the majority of products require a third-party accounting integration," says Centerbase CEO and Founder John Forbes. "Centerbase fills this void by including legal specific accounting software right within our powerful billing and practice management software package."

ADLI Group, a 19-lawyer firm in Los Angeles, recently switched to Centerbase for its accounting (the firm was already using Centerbase for all other aspects of its business). "Centerbase has proven to be a necessity for growth," says Director of Operations Nicolette Hachem-Sawaya. "It is user-friendly and fast, which the attorneys enjoy, yet modifiable and accurate for the business and accounting departments. It's been a pleasure working with the Centerbase team that allowed our firm a smooth transition."

Other Notable Features

Centerbase's payment processing showcases the efficiency gains from having accounting and billing in the same product. Transactions automatically debit and credit the accounts you designate during setup. Batch processing and preset rules facilitate complex procedures with one click such as applying client payments to multiple invoices or simultaneously paying a bill and replenishing a retainer. Matter-specific rules can override firm-wide rules for payment handling. LawPay integration enables clients to pay via credit card.

The trust accounting tools comply with ethics requirements, preventing mishaps such as applying funds to a client bill from your operating account or from an inadequately funded trust account. You can apply payments from trust accounts via check or ACH, and generate a Trust Transfer Report for clients.

Think of a QuickBooks feature and Centerbase has it. Securely connect your bank accounts and credit cards for faster reconciliations. Customize the layout and design of your invoices. Generate consolidated invoices showing all fees for a client across multiple matters. Add vendors and pay their bills, and simultaneously charge reimbursable expenses to clients. Post journal entries. You can even print checks designed for QuickBooks.

What Else Should You Know?

Centerbase also overhauled the Report Creator. Select fields, customize columns, and create a custom report to display any data you need to visualize. Centerbase costs $62 per user per month or $52 without accounting (Centerbase integrates with QuickBooks so you can migrate your accounting on your own timetable). Learn more about Centerbase.

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 NewsWire covers an online video tutorial service to help lawyers prepare clients for depositions, mediations, and trials (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of cloud billing software for small firms seeking a standalone solution without practice management bells and whistles, a legal research service that helps you get up to speed in a new area with checklists, interactive forms, and practice notes, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Every litigator knows that client preparation can make or break a case. Yet thoroughly preparing a client for a deposition, mediation, or trial can be difficult and time-consuming. Because many people learn better by seeing realistic examples, abstract descriptions and warnings often fall on deaf ears.

EmpowerLegal Litigation Suite … in One Sentence

EmpowerLegal's Litigation Suite (EmpowerLegal) is a series of streamable video tutorials designed to help attorneys prepare clients for depositions, mediations, and trials.

The Killer Feature

You often hear that "content is king." This is especially apt for EmpowerLegal. Each video consists of professional actors in realistic legal event settings. EmpowerLegal's CEO and Founder, Alan S. Fanger, has more than 30 years of experience as a litigator. He worked with a film production team to audition professional actors and create the videos.

As the actors play out realistic situations, Fanger narrates, pointing out errors and what clients need to remember when they face similar circumstances. After each lesson, the actors reenact the scene to demonstrate the correct way to testify.

For example, the deposition video covers the importance of not explaining yourself but instead answering only the question asked. In the video, a witness in a business dispute is asked who was present when he signed the agreement. He starts his answer with unnecessary testimony about meeting with his lawyer beforehand. Fanger points this out after which the witness in the reenactment simply lists the people present at the signing and says nothing more.

"EmpowerLegal videos allow my clients to be more prepared," says attorney Mark V. Larson of Larson Law Firm P.C. "I absolutely have seen clients do a better job in mediations and depositions after viewing the videos because they know what to expect and how to answer. Using EmpowerLegal videos to prepare clients, I am getting some of the best depositions from clients that I have seen in my entire career. The videos do a bette

Other Notable Features

Your EmpowerLegal subscription includes administrative tools for sharing videos with clients and tracking which videos they view. Your clients gain access to a portal with the videos you make available. Below each video, clients can take notes and securely send you questions.

Each video runs for about 35-40 minutes, covering all the key topics likely to arise. For example, the trial video begins with jury selection, showing how the judge and attorneys conduct voir dire. The video then cuts to trial where your clients see opening statements, how evidence is introduced, what to do when an attorney objects during testimony, what's happening during a sidebar conference, how direct testimony and cross-examination differ, closing arguments, jury instructions, jury questions, and delivery of the verdict.

"During my long career, I realized the crucial need to prepare clients for reliable performance in major legal events such as mediation, trial, and deposition," Fanger says. "The EmpowerLegal Litigation Suite of streamable video tutorials provides realistic portrayals of these events, with helpful do's and don'ts, to help clients increase their chances of a favorable outcome."

What Else Should You Know?

Subscription packages depend on the number of litigators in your firm, the videos you want to use, and whether you opt to pay monthly or annually. You can price a subscription for your firm using the simple form on the website.

Learn more about EmpowerLegal Litigation Suite.

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.