subject: Features that Make Law Firms Opt for Case Management Software [print this page] Features that Make Law Firms Opt for Case Management Software
One can easily imagine the scene in a legal firm with piles of paperwork on the table. The real crisis begins, when an important court document is not to be found in the heap and more than half of your time is wasted in locating the appropriate documents or in finding important contact numbers. Amidst all this confusion, it is necessary that you do not compromise on the quality of services offered by your business and thus retain the clients that you have held for so long. Legal case management software is intended to manage all your documents, maintain the database of contacts, and solve billing and accounting issues.
More or less every law office has case management softwareforeffective management. In some instances, it is planned, while on others the whole system is a default one. Most of the legal practice management software can be operated on your existing machines, as they do not have heavy hardware requirements. It can be used to manage multiple things such as:
Document storage
Calendar appointments
Document creation
To-do lists
Emails
File Notes
Phone calls
Docket entries
Accounting
Time & Billing
Customised reports necessary for law practice information
Legal research details
Features that Make Law Management Software Viable
A Single Point of Data Entry
Data should be entered into the system once and then modifications made as per requirements. The point can be illustrated with the help of an example. While using legal software, the name of the client should be put into the system only once. It is like creating a profile for the individual. From that point onwards, the user can generate a retainer letter; make a search for any conflict of interest, manage the to-do lists and also maintain proper billing information for that particular client easily.
A Portable System
System portability is necessary when it comes to law management software. That is you should be able to carry the same along with you to the court on your palm device or your laptop.
Case Management Feature
The case management feature forms the core component of the entire system and is quite similar to the organisational structure usually found in a paper file. The information is stored based on a case-centric manner. The system should be so designed in order to enable the fact that all documents, billing records, phone and file records and correspondences are all visible at a glance.
Calendaring
Any business, particularly a law firm, needs to maintain a firm-wide calendar. This facilitates easy scheduling of activities. Moreover, every member associated with the firm can view the schedule.
Document Assembly
The document assembly system should be designed in a manner that information such as complaints, loan agreements, retainer agreements, wills and interrogatories can be easily created by the staff. This leads to the creation of high quality documents.
A Customisable Setup
The software should be designed in a way that it can be customised to meet the individual needs of the users. For example in a divorce case, the lawyer may need to check the date of separation. The system should be such that the user is able to slice and dice' the available information.
When your law firm opts for software in the first place, then a training session designed to educate the staff about its operations is necessary. This way a lesser number of problems are encountered when it is operational.
