TechnoLawyer: TL NewsWire

Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a cloud practice management app with desktop-class features and per-case rather than per-user pricing (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a practice management system that automatically captures email correspondence, integrates with Outlook, and offers a secure client portal, cloud litigation management software that enables you and your team to analyze the key documents, testimony, and witnesses in your cases, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Legacy desktop practice management software requires a significant upfront investment, which can contribute to cash flow problems at a new law firm. Cloud practice management software alleviates this pressure somewhat but most products cost just as much the first month as they do a year later. Ideally, the cost of practice management software should align with your firm's growth.

Case.one … in One Sentence

Case.one is a cloud practice management system with desktop-class customization and a unique per-case pricing model designed to reduce costs.

The Killer Feature

Case.one is free for up to 10 active cases. Once your firm uses Case.one to manage 11 or more cases, it costs 99 cents per case per month. This all-inclusive price includes unlimited users, storage, and technical support. Even better, Case.one offers discounted pre-paid plans.

Most competing products charge about $50 per user per month. Case.one's per case model and discounted packages makes it less expensive by comparison. For example, a high-volume immigration firm with 5 lawyers, 10 paralegals, and 300 active cases would spend about $750 per month for a per-user product versus $197 per month for Case.one. A low volume firm staffed the same but with only 50 active cases would spend the same $750 per month for a per-user product versus only $35 per month for Case.one.

Other Notable Features

Case.one greets you with the Firm Feed when you login, a tickler that provides an overview of upcoming deadlines and activity in your cases. Similar, more focused feeds exist in each of Case.one's major areas — Billing, Calendar, Cases, Contacts, Files, and Tasks.

CEO Bahar Ansari describes Case.one as "second generation cloud practice management." During my demo, she takes care to point out Case.one's desktop-class features. Remember the PBX integrations of yore? Case.one integrates with VoIP telephone systems so that you can click to call and automatically bill the time. Acknowledging the financial controls many firms have, Case.one enables you to create a billing approval process. The billing system supports billing codes, client-specific rates, contingency and flat fees, expenses, and origination credit. You can customize your bills, deliver them via email or PDF, accept credit cards via LawPay, and automatically record bills in QuickBooks.

Case.one helps automate work product too. Practice Area Libraries save you time by adding data fields, templates, and workflows you're likely to need. You can add your own custom fields, and create your own workflows, which consist of groups of related tasks such as for client intake. Assign tasks within a workflow to members of your team, and create dependencies so that completion of a task automatically triggers and assigns the next task in the sequence. Built-in document assembly automates the creation of documents required by a task.

In addition to its desktop-class functionality, Case.one also takes advantage of its modern underpinnings. A client portal facilitates secure collaboration and communication with clients. When Case.one recognizes a common activity, it can prefill much of your time entry and even offer a suggested time based on historical data. Dropbox integration makes all your documents available, and Office 365 and G Suite integration syncs your calendar, contacts, and tasks across all devices.

What Else Should You Know?

Reports in Case.one provide in-depth analysis of your firm, including productivity. Administrator tools enable you to create roles and control access rights. Case.one or one of its authorized consultants can help you with data migration and customization if needed. Learn more about Case.one.

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 practice management system that automatically captures email correspondence, integrates with Outlook, and offers a secure client portal (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of cloud litigation management software that enables you and your team to analyze the key documents, testimony, and witnesses in your cases, a new research service that collects primary and secondary sources related to cybersecurity and privacy issues, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Practice management software sits at the heart of your law firm. Some would characterize it as the beating heart of your law firm, especially when used for timekeeping, billing, accounting, document assembly, and other vital functions. But email also resides at the heart of your firm. It seems like these two core technologies should work well together.

LEAP … in One Sentence

LEAP is a cloud-based practice management system with a new suite of email tools, especially for Outlook users.

The Killer Feature

LEAP automatically stores your incoming and outgoing email messages and those of your colleagues — including attachments. This feature works with Office 365.

Let's say you draft a Word document within LEAP and want to email it to a client. From within LEAP, right click on the document and select "Email" or "PDF and Email" depending on whether you want to send it in Word or PDF format. LEAP auto-creates the subject line based on the corresponding matter, which you can edit if you wish. You can attach other documents or save your draft to finish later. After sending the message, LEAP prompts you for a time entry and automatically files the message in the correct matter. If you switch over to Outlook, your iPhone, etc, you'll find this message in your "Sent Mail" folder.

If your client replies, LEAP automatically captures and files this reply and all future email correspondence in the correct matter. It doesn't matter which email app or device your client uses. This automatic capture even survives changes to the subject line and additional recipients. LEAP performs this magic through an invisible code in the initial message designed to withstand the rigors of an email discussion.

Other Notable Features

The LEAP integration with Outlook adds a number of functions to the ribbon. For example, you can access any document in LEAP from within Outlook, attach it to a message, and bill the time spent writing the message. When you receive email initiated by clients and other external contacts, you can file these messages from Outlook into the correct matter in LEAP and bill the time you spend reading them. Both LEAP and Outlook contain all your contacts, calendar appointments, and tasks.

LEAP's email functionality also works from the free mobile app for iPad, iPhone, and Android. If a client needs a document when you're out of the office, you can send it to your client from the mobile app, bill your time, and capture all subsequent communications.

When you need a more secure form of communication than email, you can use LawConnect, the client portal built into LEAP. Right click on the document or folder you want to share and select LawConnect instead of emailing it. A few more clicks and you'll create a secure web portal in which your client can view the document and communicate with you. LawConnect notifies you when your client has viewed a shared document, and enables you to manage your client's access rights (you can revoke access anytime).

What Else Should You Know?

LEAP offers a full suite of practice management features in addition to these communications tools, including a growing library of forms and accompanying document assembly engine as alluded to above. LEAP can also design and host your website. Learn more about LEAP.

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 cloud litigation management software that enables you and your team to analyze the key documents, testimony, and witnesses in your cases (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a new research service that collects primary and secondary sources related to cybersecurity and privacy issues, a document management system with a new platform for securely sharing documents with clients and others outside of your firm, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Litigators spend most of their time analyzing key documents, deposition testimony, and legal research. Many litigators are familiar with CaseMap, which became dominant last decade. However, CaseMap hasn't transitioned to the cloud, leaving an opening for a new entrant.

Everchron … in One Sentence

Everchron is cloud-based litigation management software that enables you and your team to manage, analyze and collaborate around important case information and documents.

The Killer Feature

Director of Business Development Alex Karpman begins my demo by pointing out that with data volumes growing, litigators need software to help them analyze and act on the most important documents that come out of a document review. He then describes Everchron as "collaborative, intuitive, mobile, and secure" with "intelligent linking, analysis, and reports."

This "intelligent linking" is best exemplified by Everchron's Witnesses feature. In the course of adding documents and testimony to Everchron, tagging these items with issues, adding annotations, etc., Everchron automatically generates a profile of every witness called a Witness File.

Click on a witness and you'll see that person's Witness File. Charts show the documents related to that witness and their importance and favorability to the case. Drill down further to view interactions with other witnesses and other analytics. The Witness File also links to declarations, testimony, and witness statements, and enables your team to add additional notes about the witness. You can export this analysis in spreadsheet form as well as all related documents.

"Once you start using Everchron, it is hard to imagine practicing without it," says Alison Plessman, partner at Hueston Hennigan. "As a lawyer, I'm often buried in work and have to prepare for depositions in very tight timeframes. With Everchron, in a matter of a few clicks, I can see all of the evidence and master file documents associated with a particular witness, as well as a breakdown of the issues and players relevant to that particular witness."

Other Notable Features

Everchron offers two import mechanisms. You can import documents and email from load files generated by discovery review platforms such as Relativity, DISCO, Logikcull, Concordance, and Summation. A mapping wizard preserves all tags and metadata. You can also drag and drop files, and edit the metadata and add witnesses on the fly.

Most of your work occurs in Everchron's Evidence tab, designed for building key fact and document chronologies. Each document in your case chronology appears in a viewer on the left with a suite of tools on the right. Use the tools to analyze the document, write a descriptive title (e.g., "The Smoking Gun Email") and summary, append comments, apply issue tags, etc. You can also apply nondestructive highlights to the document itself in the viewer.

Click the main Evidence button and you'll zoom out to the case chronology table listing all documents, their summaries, associated witnesses, issues, and other analytics. Use the search filter to narrow the list — for example, view only the most favorable hot documents. Export selected documents with or without their accompanying metadata for offline review by a client, expert, etc.

"Everchron's collaborative litigation management software puts case-critical information and analysis at a lawyer's fingertips," says Everchron CEO Ofer Bleiweiss. "With its intuitive search interface, dynamic key document chronologies, and automatically generated Witness Files, lawyers can quickly find and communicate relevant information to team members wherever and whenever they need it."

What Else Should You Know?

Everchron's Master File enables you to store all other documents related to a case such as briefs, court orders, notices of appearance, etc. PACER integration can automatically import documents from federal dockets. Learn more about Everchron.

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 research service that collects primary and secondary sources related to cybersecurity and privacy issues (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a document management system with a new platform for securely sharing documents with clients and others outside of your firm, a Mac-based document management system with new technology for sharing documents externally with clients, co-counsel, and others, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Cybersecurity has become one of the hottest legal practice areas. High profile security breaches and countless others below the radar have resulted in significant regulatory activity in the United States and abroad. There's also a growing body of case law weighing liability. Because it's a new practice area, research materials are scattered across various databases. A centralized resource would save lawyers and librarians valuable time.

Cybersecurity & Privacy Law Suite … in One Sentence

Launched recently, Wolters Kluwer's Cybersecurity & Privacy Law is a specialized suite of online research and practice tools on the Cheetah platform.

The Killer Feature

Cybersecurity & Privacy Law offers several Practice Tools called Smart Charts that help you advise on compliance issues. For example, many cybersecurity regulations contain rules about breach notifications — i.e., when a company must notify customers, regulators, etc. about a security breach. The Breach Notification Smart Charts provide answers to common breach questions that arise.

Senior product manager Steven Santel walked me through this Smart Chart in an online demo. You start by choosing one or more applicable topics such as "What forms of data are covered" and "What businesses are exempt." The next screen lists brief answers for each available jurisdiction as well as linked citations to the corresponding source material for more in-depth analysis.

Other Smart Charts include Marketing & Privacy Laws, State and Federal Employee Privacy Law Comparison, State-by-State Medical Privacy Statutes, and Global Privacy & Security Law Comparison. This latter resource enables you to compare cybersecurity laws in 68 countries. Topics include direct marketing, health information, registration with local authorities, and website cookies.

Other Notable Features

You access Smart Charts and other resources from the Cybersecurity & Privacy Law dashboard within Cheetah. From here, you can directly access state and federal laws and regulations related to cybersecurity and privacy. Also available are treatises such as Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 Handbook, Financial Privacy Law Guide, Securities Regulation in Cyberspace, and many others. By subscribing to email Treatise Update alerts, you can monitor changes important to your practice.

Cybersecurity & Privacy Law keeps you apprised of relevant news with full access to Cybersecurity Policy Report, Financial Privacy Law Guide, Computer and Internet Lawyer, and other leading publications. In addition, Wolters Kluwer editors curate links to relevant articles in newspapers and websites.

"Cybersecurity represents a key challenge for attorneys," said Dean Sonderegger, Vice President & General Manager, Legal Markets & Innovation. "It's a critical issue for law firms and their clients, it spans across nearly every practice area, and regulations are both emerging and evolving. To address this market need, we've developed an exciting new offering that combines primary and secondary content with practical guidance all in one location on our Cheetah platform."

What Else Should You Know?

At the top of every page in the suite is the global search bar, enabling you to limit your searches to topics such as advertising and marketing privacy, children and student privacy, communications privacy, data protection and security, emerging technology issues, financial privacy, global privacy and data protection, health privacy, state privacy protections, and workplace privacy and security. Cheetah saves your search history. The Worklist tool enables you to save a collection of resources in a folder. Learn more about Cybersecurity & Privacy Law.

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 document management system with a new platform for securely sharing documents with clients and others outside of your firm (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a Mac-based document management system with new technology for sharing documents externally with clients, co-counsel, and others, interactive practical legal guides that you can customize to incorporate your firm's collective knowledge and workflows, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Secure document sharing with clients looks like the next big thing in legal technology thanks to more stringent ethics rules and more sophisticated clients. Ideally, moving beyond email to a more secure platform should not require your firm to overhaul its existing infrastructure and workflows — including its use of Outlook.

Worldox Connect … in One Sentence

Launched recently, World Software's Worldox Connect is a secure document sharing platform that integrates with Worldox GX4, the company's popular document management system (DMS).

The Killer Feature

Sharing one or more documents or folders begins with a right click within the Worldox client, and choosing the Send File to Worldox Connect option from the contextual menu. You then set the permissions for the items you're sharing. You can prevent or allow clients to invite others, restrict files to viewing or allow downloading, and set an expiration date. Worldox Connect uses Workshare technology, but you need not be a Workshare customer to use Worldox Connect.

Clients who receive a sharing link via email for the first time create a Worldox Connect Portal account on the web, and from there can begin collaborating with you. Collaboration tools enable clients to comment on documents and compare changes between versions.

If you allow downloads, clients can edit documents and upload a new version. Worldox notifies you of the new version, which you can bring into Worldox using the Sync File From Worldox Connect function in the same contextual menu used to initiate secure sharing. You can then make your own edits, and send this version back to the portal. At anytime, you can stop syncing and remove documents from the portal.

"There's an increasing emphasis on both collaboration and security," says World Software President Ray Zwiefelhofer. "This presents today's law firm with the challenge of implementing both in such a way that documents can be shared effortlessly while still controlling access to them and protecting the security of the internal DMS. Worldox Connect does this for law firms."

Other Notable Features

In addition to sharing documents from within Worldox, you can take advantage of Worldox Connect's Outlook integration. This works similarly to sending attachments the old fashioned way except that you attach documents directly from Worldox. This triggers the Workshare Protect panel within Outlook in which you apply the same access rights discussed above.

The documents then get moved to the Worldox Connect Portal, and the message you send contains a corresponding link. If documents don't require the security of Worldox Connect, you can instead convert Word documents to PDFs on the fly, remove the metadata from the documents, compress them into a ZIP file, and send them via email.

Worldox GX4 offers a new tool called Groups to facilitate sharing. You can create a Group for a matter or other project, and then share the Group via Worldox Connect. Group members can then share documents and collaborate.

Worldox Connect works on your iPhone and iPad too. You can share documents and access shared documents on the go by using the Workshare app in conjunction with the Worldox app.

What Else Should You Know?

No matter how you use Worldox Connect, administrative tools enable you to view an audit trail of all activity, revoke access, delete users, force password resets, etc. Shared documents reside in Amazon Web Services and are encrypted at rest and in transit. You can change datacenters and other parameters for compliance purposes. Learn more about Worldox Connect.

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 Mac-based document management system with new technology for sharing documents externally with clients, co-counsel, and others (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of interactive practical legal guides that you can customize to incorporate your firm's collective knowledge and workflows, a law firm website design service that includes a library of legal content to save you time, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Document management software facilitates document sharing within your law firm, and for obvious reasons it's similarly adept at preventing outsiders from gaining access. Because lawyers often need to share documents with clients, they resort to non-secure methods such as email. This sharing should instead emanate from your document management software in a secure manner.

DocMoto 3.8 … in One Sentence

Launched recently, CHL Software's DocMoto 3.8 is a Mac-based document management system.

The Killer Feature

DocMoto now offers secure file sharing. Select the document or folders you want to share, and then choose Create Share under the File menu. This brings up the Create Share dialog in which you can choose an expiration date, require a password, allow new versions and other uploads, etc. You can change these settings or remove access entirely anytime.

Those you invite access shared documents in the DocMoto Sharing Portal in their web browser. In the DocMoto Mac client, a new toolbar icon enables you to view and access all shared documents and folders. The Share Report gives you a more detailed look at what's being shared. This can help you identify shares that should no longer exist.

"Lawyers love DocMoto's professional feature set, which provides so much more than simple syncing tools," says CHL Software director Neil Cameron. "It's packed full of killer features from revision control and document templates to our latest technology for secure and manageable document sharing with third parties."

Other Notable Features

Speaking of the DocMoto toolbar, it's now customizable. The new Favorites icon on the toolbar enables you to access recently used and other documents you designate. Favorites are also accessible via the DocMoto iPad app and the web client on devices such as a Windows PC. When you need to dig deeper to find documents, DocMoto's Advanced Search offers a visual Boolean interface that eliminates the need for arcane syntax. The Save View feature enables you to save searches, which update in realtime.

DocMoto stores all types of documents, including scans and email. You can drag and drop email from Apple Mail and Microsoft Outlook into DocMoto, which automatically parses the metadata so that you can sort and search using parameters such as To, From, CC, etc.

Built-in document assembly enables you to create document templates ranging from the simple (building documents from stored clause snippets) to the advanced (nested conditions, if/then statements, etc.).

Version 3.8 takes document automation a step further with Folder Templates. Designed for routine workflows, Folder Templates enables you to create elaborate sets of folders and documents with a mouse click. For example, a Folder Template for client intake can create an engagement letter, and folders for bills, correspondence, shared documents, etc. You can even specify the column views within each folder and the categorization of each document.

What Else Should You Know?

DocMoto runs on macOS Yosemite and later. "DocMoto is right for us because of its versioning, search, and templates," says Brian Walters of The Walters Firm. "We have folders relevant for every part of the firm so we don't need to waste time searching for templates any more. From a staff and attorney efficiency standpoint it has changed the way our firm practices. This was the most unexpected benefit of DocMoto." Learn more about DocMoto 3.8.

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 interactive practical legal guides that you can customize to incorporate your firm's collective knowledge and workflows (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a law firm website design service that includes a library of legal content to save you time, personal injury practice management software with specialized tools for tracking settlements, liens, medical records, and marketing, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Lawyers often perform work within their practice area but outside their comfort zone. This is especially true of junior associates. In these situations, more than two-thirds of lawyers either consult colleagues or run a Google search, neither of which is particularly efficient. Ideally, your firm should have a reference for such tasks capable of tapping into external and internal knowledge.

SmartTask and SmartTask Pro … in One Sentence

Launched recently, Wolters Kluwer's SmartTask is a growing collection of interactive practice guides, while SmartTask Pro enables you to customize these guides and create your own.

The Killer Feature

Unlike competing services, SmartTask doesn't statically list a series of steps on a web page or in a PDF. Instead, steps link to corresponding resources such as forms, government agency websites, and treatises, saving you time. You can download forms in Microsoft Word or PDF format.

SmartTask Pro takes these guides further, recognizing that every law firm's unique culture influences its work product and how it gets created. Accordingly, SmartTask Pro enables you to edit these guides to better fit your firm's workflows. For example, you may have a model document that you prefer to the one in a SmartTask guide, or you may want to add several steps and link to internal resources in your document management system or SharePoint portal.

Custom steps in an existing SmartTask guide display an icon to distinguish it from those created by Wolters Kluwer. You can also create entire SmartTask guides of your own to unlock the many informational silos that exist in your firm, and harness and share this internal knowledge in a manner that increases productivity and benefits clients.

The SmartTask Pro environment resembles a word processor with the ability to create headers, format text, and link to any reference within your firm or on the web. Organizational tools facilitate breaking up complex tasks into multiple, nested steps.

"Attorneys face increased pressure to find new ways to make their practice more efficient," says Dean Sonderegger, Vice President & General Manager, Legal Markets & Innovation. "The SmartTask Corporate Suite provides a full set of resources, including workflow tools, that enables firms to standardize common legal practices, ensuring consistency and efficiency."

Other Notable Features

For some tasks, you may only need help for a specific step. A search bar at the top of each SmartTask guide enables you to run searches. Click a search result to go directly to that step.

Each SmartTask guide is written by a practicing lawyer with applicable expertise. Currently, the SmartTask library focuses on corporate and securities law, including amending bylaws, D&O removal, D&O indemnification, forming and dissolving corporations and LLCs in various states, preparing various SEC forms, issuance of shares, dividends, redemptions, stock purchases, and transfers, and much more.

SmartTask guides in other practice areas are in the works, including cybersecurity, employment, health care, and intellectual property.

What Else Should You Know?

Wolters Kluwer has priced SmartTask and SmartTask Pro to encourage law firms to run it alongside competing solutions. Also, your summer associates can use it for free. Learn more about SmartTask and SmartTask Pro.

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 law firm website design service that includes a library of legal content to save you time (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of personal injury practice management software with specialized tools for tracking settlements, liens, medical records, and marketing, a Microsoft Word add-in that automates document creation and ensures their consistency with firm-wide rules, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

If your law firm has an aging website or no website at all, you have an advantage. You can leapfrog the competition with a new mobile-friendly website built from the ground up to rank well in Google and integrate with social media networks. But what about all the content a website needs nowadays to rank well? Most web designers won't help you with this.

Zaliet … in One Sentence

Zaliet is a website creation and hosting service for law firms that also provides content creation and other marketing services.

The Killer Feature

Zaliet's Basic plan starts you off with up to five web pages, while the Premium and Platinum plans increase it to 15 and 50 respectively. You can write all the content for these pages (and add more pages) if you have the time and inclination. Alternatively, you can get a running start by using Zaliet's Content Library.

Included in the Premium and Platinum plans, Zaliet's Content Library contains professionally written copy for more than 35 practice areas and legal topics that you can use and edit at no additional charge. Practice areas include bankruptcy, criminal, employment, family, immigration, civil litigation, and sports. Topics range from contesting a will to powers of attorney.

The Platinum plan also includes three pages of customized content written exclusively for your firm by The Legal Writers Bureau, a group of former editors of publications such as The National Law Journal. The Legal Writers Bureau can create additional custom content if needed at a special rate for Zaliet customers.

"Your website is your opportunity to tell potential clients who you are, what you do, and why they should choose you over a competitor," says Zaliet CEO Rachel-Leanne Williams. "Good content is an integral part of successful law firm websites."

Other Notable Features

Working with Zaliet begins with a Design Brief, an interactive web questionnaire that you fill out with the help of a Zaliet Website Coach. The Design Brief asks you to upload your logo and photos, choose one of Zaliet's website design styles, create your sitemap, and add material from the Content Library. If needed, Zaliet can help you register a domain name, create a logo, take professional headshots, etc.

Most law firms complete the Design Brief in 2-3 days after which Zaliet creates your website and stages it privately for you to review before going live. Depending on the size of your site, the entire process takes 1-2 weeks. "I can't thank Zaliet enough for all the compliments I receive about the website," says Kate Ashmor, Principal of Ashmor Legal.

All three plans enable you to add features such as a contact form and a live Google Maps image of your office location. The Premium and Platinum plans offer advanced features such as blogs, email newsletters, Google Analytics integration, site translation, and more. Zaliet integrates with LawConnect for a client portal, and RapidPay for client credit card payments.

What Else Should You Know?

If your firm uses LEAP practice management software, you're in luck because LEAP users get the Premium plan for free or the Platinum plan for $115 per month (LawConnect is also included). If your firm doesn't use LEAP, the Basic, Premium, and Platinum plans cost $75, $150, and $265 per month respectively. Learn more about Zaliet.

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 personal injury practice management software with specialized tools for tracking settlements, liens, medical records, marketing, and much more (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a Microsoft Word add-in that automates document creation and ensures their consistency with firm-wide rules, a redesigned international arbitration research service with tools such as Visual Connectors for Boolean searches, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Personal injury practice differs significantly from other types of litigation. Contingency fee arrangements require careful intake screening and monitoring of settlement offers. In between, you need to keep cases moving along, and manage everything from insurance policies to medical records while not missing any deadlines. This calls for specialized software.

CASEpeer … in One Sentence

CASEpeer is cloud practice management software for personal injury law firms.

The Killer Feature

"Without a doubt, CASEpeer is the most intuitive solution for plaintiff's law firms," says CEO Darren Fancher. "From lead tracking to powerful settlement tools, CASEpeer makes attorneys and staff more efficient and effective."

My demo begins with a look at these settlement tools. Essentially your firm's financial pipeline, the Settlement Management dashboard lists all Demands and Offers across all open cases. You can also view settled cases by Checks In, Pending (waiting for check), and Issues (potential collection problem). The top of the dashboard lists totals for each category and your firm's cut. Search for a specific case or client, or filter by attorney to see your cases or those of a colleague.

The firm-wide Overviews dashboard enables you to compare the performance of your team and identify bottlenecks. At the other extreme, a settlement dashboard exists for each client with the details of each demand and offer, and a running total of settlements, liens, costs, and the client's net. This is where you change the status of a demand, and enter information about attorney, health provider, and other liens.

Other Notable Features

Settlement information is just one of many data types CASEpeer stores for each client. Others include defendants, other parties, expert witnesses, photos, discovery, timeline, and much more. Each file's Home Tab contains the most salient information such as the client's photo, case age, statute of limitations, health providers, health bills, police report, lost wages, etc.

The Home Tab also lists Case Tasks and Case Notes. Case Tasks typically reside within a CASEplan, a custom workflow that automatically assigns tasks to a person when a trigger occurs (e.g., send a letter of representation to health providers after intake). You can manually create Case Notes but many are automatically generated (e.g., when you mark a demand accepted), creating an audit trail of all case activity.

CASEpeer prevents mishaps and offers deep analytics. The main dashboard lists the cases with an approaching statute of limitations, inactive cases and their "last touched" date, open tasks, unread messages, etc. The Intake report enables you to compare the value of each of your marketing channels (Internet, radio, referrals, etc.) thanks to the settlement data in CASEpeer. Every contact in CASEpeer exists as its own independent record, which enables you to identify connections. For example, you can view all cases related to an adjustor, doctor, etc.

"CASEpeer has transformed the way my firm operates," says Samuel Mirejovsky, co-founder of Bergener Mirejovsky, APC. "It is a powerful and intuitive tool for any personal injury practice. CASEpeer encourages collaboration, oversight, and accountability. Its robust features have without a doubt increased our efficiency. With CASEpeer we can plan for the future with ease."

What Else Should You Know?

CASEpeer also offers document management, email capture, expense tracking, eFax integration, and the ability to send, receive, and store text messages. The monthly subscription price ranges from $55 to $85 per user depending on the size of your firm. This includes data migration, online training, and technical support. Learn more about CASEpeer.

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 Word add-in that automates document creation and ensures their consistency with firm-wide rules (see article below). In addition, you'll find links to the previous 11 TL NewsWire features, including our coverage of a redesigned international arbitration research service with tools such as Visual Connectors for Boolean searches, a Windows application designed to handle your OCR, PDF, and document comparison needs in one product, and much more. Don't miss the next issue.

Lawyers spend a lot of time in Microsoft Word — too much of it unbillable. Tasks such as creating paragraph-numbering schemes, tables of contents, and formatting styles involve a seemingly endless number of tweaks. Even after all this formatting, documents often lack consistency across your firm.

Word LX Professional … in One Sentence

Launched recently, Infoware's Word LX Professional is a Microsoft Word add-in for law firms that enforces firm-wide standards for documents and provides timesaving automation tools.

The Killer Feature

Infoware has helped law firms with document automation for more than 30 years. Word LX Professional is its first product specifically created for small law firms. "Word LX Professional provides the editing tools and document customization that only large firms can afford, and makes these available to the solo and small law firm market," says Dan Sharp, CEO and President of Infoware. "It allows for document consistency and formatting efficiencies."

Document consistency begins with Word LX Professional's Template Designer. This administrator tool walks you through a series of steps — uploading your firm's logo, entering the names of every user at your firm, importing clients and others from Outlook or another source, and creating document templates.

Document templates include letter, memo, fax, envelope, and address label. You can also create your own custom templates for other types of documents. For each template, you can tweak settings for logo placement, margins, font, text alignment, and page numbers. Other settings give you granular control over the layout of a template such as placement of your firm's address, contact information, and author and assistant details. You can also omit specific items. For example, if you use preprinted letterhead, you can omit the logo from the letter template.

These Template Designer settings reside in a file that you install on everyone's PC. You can create multiple settings files such as for different practice groups with specific preferences. Users access the document templates from the Word LX Ribbon in Microsoft Word.

Other Notable Features

The Word LX Ribbon also contains a number of important Word functions frequently used in legal documents. Infoware configures these functions to make them foolproof versus using Word's native equivalents. According to Infoware, the ribbon saves users one hour per day on average.

Perhaps most importantly, the Word LX Ribbon enables you to create documents with multilevel numbered paragraphs without having to understand Word's numbering intricacies. Similarly, another tool automates table of contents creation. Other tools enable you to create tables, sign documents, add a document ID, apply watermarks, use firm-approved paragraph styles, and insert contact information from Outlook.

Advanced users or those who work with an administrator can create model templates (e.g., pleadings, leases, wills) that conform to your firm's formatting requirements and which contain placeholders for data. The toolbar's Prompt function walks users through each data field in the document. This eliminates the risk of reusing a document and forgetting to remove another client's data.

What Else Should You Know?

Word LX Professional costs $250 per user per year. "Word LX Professional provides us with the tools to significantly raise the consistency and quality of our documents as well as improve the efficiency of those responsible for creating them," says Elia Associates law clerk Franca Russouw. "Firm branded templates can be easily created and accessed, and documents are now being numbered and styled consistently by users across our firm. We love Word LX Professional." Learn more about Word LX Professional.

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.