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Case Management Software |
Case Management Software
Case Management Software Essentials Overview by AbacusLaw
A good legal case management software system should integrate all facets of law firm automation, provide instant access to everything related to your case, and improve collaboration while eliminating duplication of effort.
With a good case management software system you should be able to enter clients and matters just once and share common data within the system. It should allow staff to efficiently manage their tasks, set reminders and due dates in one centralized location.
The following overview defines the features any competent case management software package will offer.
Case Management Software Features
Time & Billing
Attorneys who track their time log more hours. By automating the majority of time and billing activities through a case management software program time is freed up from administrative activities and available for billable activities with clients.
Trust Accounting
Any Accounting module should fully integrate with any Time & Billing system to make it easy to maintain a complete set of records for your clients.
Payroll Processing
Case management systems use a payroll module to maintain individual employee profiles with customizable deductions and benefits. A payroll system provides easy access to payroll tax tables to meet ever-changing tax reporting requirements. Calculations and deductions are automatically handled with pertinent pay information stored for future reference and reporting. Payroll Modules can integrate with General Ledger, utilizing multiple account distributions.
General Ledger
Case management software general ledger component should with all other modules. The method of accounting should offer a choice of Cash or Accrual. The system should be open-ended and not require a "hard close" at the end of each month. The Chart of Accounts should be defined by you. Reports should have the option for printing to screen display or printer.
Legal Calendar
Calendaring through a case management software product should offer the opportunity to consolidate all calendars to one centralized legal calendar. This will allow the following capabilities:
- List all dates for one case, one client, one attorney, a group, or the entire office.
- Track court dates, statutes of limitations, appointments, meetings, and vacations.
- Schedule related events using court rules, and practice-mandated timelines.
- Schedule people, conference rooms, and equipment in a single entry.
- Eliminate scheduling conflicts.
- Recur events as often and as long as necessary.
- Maintain an audit trail of entries and changes.
Conflict of Interest Checking
Conflict of interest checking is a crucial activity in every law practice. Checking for potential conflicts of interest will help avoid having to return a fee by discovering conflicts before working on a case.
Legal Date Calculator
A Legal Date Calculator computes "Court Days" and calendar days. Once your calculation is done, a click of the mouse should paste it into a calendar or document.
Court Rules and Timelines
A good case management software program will automate tracking court rules and will automatically schedule court deadlines, reminders, and office procedures. With a computerized system for calculating deadlines the dates are always correct and risk of malpractice plummets.
Contact Management
A good case management software program will allow for the management of all contact information in one database.
Docuement Control
Document management and tracking should be handled through a case management system. Case management software can:
- Embed forms in a rule to automatically generate documents.
- Combine data from any combination of names, matters and events.
- Insert complete case captions from the system library.
- Allow instant viewing of all documents, wordprocessing files and scanned images linked to a name or matter.
- Print reports of documents.
- Find any document quickly with a search feature.
File Control
File control is a vital aspect of any good case management software system. The ability to instantly find information, make changes and track time for billing saves time and prevents the appearance of disorganization.
Universal Address Book
A universal address book can keep clients, opposing attorneys, judges, important business contacts, and vendors are all in one place. Addresses, telephone numbers, and notes should always available and easily obtainable. A law practice should be able to send e-mails, print envelopes, labels, letters, faxes, and bills using information from its address database. Having a centralized address book means changes are made across the board and no one will have outdated information.
Matter Management
Any legal practice needs a powerful practice control tool to manage material. A case management system should maintain link databases - files, notes, matters (projects) and documents. This reduces administrative tasks and allows those in practice to get back to practicing law and logging billable hours. Practice control software is a comprehensive solution to the workflow traffic jam.
Legal E-mail
Generic e-mail like Outlook, or web based email services are not designed for the needs of a law practice. E-correspondence should link right to names and matters, and e-mail from everyone in an address book should automatically be separated from e-mails from unknown parties. Linked e-mail is a revolutionary development in practice control and provides a competitive edge.
Malpractice Alert Report
A good system should provide the a report that will
Instant Messaging
For firms with more than one or two attornys and staff and instant messaging system is a must to save the time of sending emails, calling, or physically walking over to communicate. An instant messaging system is a plus and a time saver.
To Do List
A case management system saves time wasted in rewriting daily things to do. A case management software to do list should allow for an individual to prioritize, change, postpone, delegate, and complete to do items without rewriting. It should carry unfinished tasks forward. Don't lose track of a task, deadline, or forget an event in the transition.
Phone Messages
Clients are happier when firms eliminate paper messages. Paper messages are deadly - buried on a desk, lost or illegible. Most practices want to return phone calls, but it takes too long to locate notes and contact information , and the information is not always immediately at hand. Law practice staff should be able to log messages directly into the case management software system which then allows messages, notes and numbers to be retrieved from the desktop of the person the call was for at any time.
Case Management Software
AbacusLaw Case Management Software Solutions
The features listed above are offered through AbacusLaw case management software. Click on the links below to view more specific information about how these features work in AbacusLaw case management software.
