The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/116777
Time and Billing: Track time spent to avoid missing billable hours. Time and billing software allows for the creation of invoices through various stages of the case/matter. Case Management: Aggregated information for cases/matters are in a single database and provide calendaring, notes and conflict checking, allowing for increased productivity through the life cycle of a case or matter by eliminating exhaustive searching. Various types of reporting provide greater efficiency by decreasing the need for manual report creation. Document Assembly: Generate documents with the click of a button. Document assembly software will ask interview questions and/or automatically pull information from another location, decreasing the chance for errors and increasing productivity by eliminating the time spent generating documents manually. Email/Calendaring: A well-maintained calendar will decrease missed court dates, appointments and other deadlines in the life cycle of a case/matter. Contact Management: Essentially an electronic rolodex, contact management provides a central repository for contact information for individuals and companies, allowing for easy updating of contact information, searching and imports/exports. Document Management: Users profile and store documents, images and other electronic files in the document management system. A singular location for files allows for version control as well as history tracking, and provides efficient searching and fewer chances of duplicates or loss. For a firm to maximize the potential for productivity, employing software solutions designed to organize data and documents is essential. Further efficiency can be achieved by automating processes and taking full advantage of workflow capabilities native to the software applications, including automation of tasks such as document assembly, calendaring and report generation. Simplification of complex reporting processes can be achieved by leveraging integrations between systems, thus easing the burden on staff. Effective organization is not an impossible task, and with the evolution of products designed for the law firm, there is no excuse for disorganization. Peer to Peer 93