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What is
Practice Management Software?
By:
Stacy Devlin
The basic
principle behind Practice Management Software is the
ability to quickly find electronically any information
that you would normally need to look up within a
physical file. The time lawyers and support staff spend
looking for information that can only be found in paper
client files can be significantly reduced, if not
eliminated by implementing a good practice management
software program. If the information — be it an
electronic version of a sticky note, a document received
in discovery from opposing counsel, or a substantive
email sent by an expert — can be found with a few mouse
clicks, the economic impact can be staggering.
Any good
practice management software should include the
following basics: a firm rolodex or contact list, a
calendaring system, a database of all of your cases, a
compilation of case notes, the ability to save all sent
and received email, document assembly, document
management, conflict management, and the ability to
print reports or get your data back out in a useable
format. These are the basic essentials of any practice
management system.
You should
also expect your practice management system to be
flexible in allowing you to save additional case related
information to the system. For example, you obviously
would need to quickly retrieve different information for
a civil litigation case than you would for a real estate
transaction. Your practice management system should
allow you to quickly convert notes and calendar entries
to fees/time entries and integrate seamlessly with your
time and billing system for ease of billing these tasks
to your client. The key to good return on investment
with practice management is automating your workflow
such that redundancy is reduced and efficiency is
maximized.
At Automated
Horizons we are certified consultants for a number of
practice management software programs, including Amicus
Attorney, Time Matters and PracticeMaster. While they
all have the basic practice management functions listed
above, they each have their strengths and weaknesses.
Amicus
Attorney is known for its ease of use and graphically
pleasing interface. The program was originally designed
by a lawyer and users move throughout the program much
the same way they would move throughout a case file and
a library, with information being stored in electronic
file folders, shelves and books. While Amicus is very
attractive in appearance, it is not as easily customized
as some of the other programs and you are forced to rely
more on the fields provided out of the box from the
distributor than on fields you have customized for your
practice. Although Amicus Attorney does not have its
own time and billing program, it does integrate with
several time and billing systems made by other
companies, including PCLaw, Tabs3, Juris and TimeSlips.
Time Matters
was originally produced by a small company in Cary, NC
called Data.TXT Corporation. In 2004 Data.TXT was
purchased by Lexis-Nexis and now Time Matters and its
sister product, Billing Matters, are owned and produced
by Lexis. Since the Lexis acquisition, Time Matters
seems to be focusing more on marketing toward larger law
firms. Though, it is still very suitable for all size
firms. Some people view the main strength of Time
Matters to also be its major weakness because they feel
it has become too robust and complicated. Time Matters
not only has the basic practice management functions
listed above, but it also does a very nice job with
basic document management and document assembly.
This product
also links fully with your email client, as do all of
the products mentioned in this article. Time Matters
also does a nice job with work flow, in that all parts
of the program link together fully and you can convert
any note or email to a ToDo to remind yourself for
follow up. The new Outline feature in Time Matters 6 is
very handy for creating an outline of items that need to
be accomplished within the case or for a witness’s
testimony at trial. What we consider to be a major
weakness of the program is the fact that Time Matters,
like Amicus, is not easily customizable though it can be
altered to suit a firms needs.
PracticeMaster is produced by Software Technology, Inc.,
a small company in Lincoln, Nebraska that also produces
Tabs3 time and billing software, and has been in
business since 1979. In our opinion, STI has the best
technical support in the business. We feel the biggest
strength of PracticeMaster is its ease of use and the
fact that it is fully and easily customizable. While
PracticeMaster comes with existing fields for many
different areas of practice, changing these fields to
suit your firm’s exact needs is not something you need a
rocket science degree to do, making it the most flexible
product of its kind for the money. If your firm works
in multiple practice areas, PracticeMaster may be the
best solution for you for the customization
possibilities alone, though there are bells and whistles
that the other products have which PracticeMaster does
not. With the release of PracticeMaster version 12
earlier this year, many of the long time weaknesses of
the program have been addressed. For example,
PracticeMaster is now full MAPI compliant, therefore you
can send and receive email through the program with
basically the same ease of use as Outlook or GroupWise.
The report writing feature in PracticeMaster is very
strong as virtually any data that you put into the
program can be printed out with use of the powerful and
customizable Report Writer. PracticeMaster continues to
have some weaknesses in the areas of document management
and work flow, but it fully integrates with all major
document management systems such as Worldox and iManage.
If you are
interested in discussing how practice management may
benefit your firm, please contact one of Automated
Horizons’ legal technology consultants. We would be
happy to discuss your firm’s needs and recommend the
best solution for you.
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Stacy Devlin
is a Legal Technology Consultant for Automated Horizons, a firm specializing
in information technology, legal technology, web design
and marketing.
Copyright © 2005 by Automated Horizons, Inc. All rights
reserved under U.S. and international law.
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