In the past few years, case or practice management has been the hottest software being purchased by law firms. These programs manage individual and group calendars, provide a central contact and case list, track deadlines and tasks, and offer a wide range of other functions, depending on the particular package.

The leading case management programs for small to medium-sized law firms in alphabetical order are: Abacus Law from Abacus Data Systems, 6725 Mesa Ridge Road, Suite 204, San Diego, Calif. 92121, 800-726-3339, abacuslaw.com; Amicus Attorney from Gavel and Gown Software, 184 Pearl St., Suite 304, Toronto, Ontario, M15H 1L5, Canada, 800-472-2289, amicusattorney.com; Practice Master (formerly Case Master) from Software Technology, 1621 Cushman Drive, Lincoln, Neb. 68512, (402) 423-1440, stilegal.com; ProLaw from West Group, P.O. Box 20628, Albuquerque, N.M. 87154, 800-977-6529, prolaw.com; and Time Matters from Data.txt Corp., 215 Commonwealth Court, Cary, N.C. 27511, 800-328-2898, timematters.com.

Although exact numbers of installations are hard to determine, in terms of market share, their order is nearly exactly reversed. There are several case management programs that target lawyers with specific practices such as personal injury lawyers. Two of these are Needles from Chesapeake Interlink, 8 Music Fair Road, Suite E, Owings Mills, Md. 21117, (410) 363-1976, needleslaw.com, and SAGA Practice Manager, 211 E. 43rd St., Suite 1802 New York, N.Y. 10017, (212) 370-5700, sagasys.com.

No matter which program you select, it will help you and your firm manage time and client deadlines more effectively and efficiently. Lawyers are attracted to case management tools because they solve critical business problems. And as many attorneys have increasingly larger caseloads, keeping track of each file for each client can be a major challenge. Imagine a client’s reaction when you have the notes of your last conversation at your fingertips. Compare that to the lawyer who has to return a client’s call after someone locates the paper file to determine who the caller is and why he or she has called.

Legal malpractice exposure is another reason many firms implement case management programs.

At a minimum, you need two methods for managing client-related deadlines. I am not an ethics expert, but it would seem that having a calendar and tickler system on your computer that can be printed, copied to another computer or another device such as a hand-held computer like a Palm Pilot or a Blackberry would be more reliable than a master calendar kept on paper in the firm’s red book.

Another motivator to implement case management tools is to better share case and client information with partners and staff. They can easily access notes about case status regardless of where the physical file is stored. Telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and lists of parties involved in various cases can be quickly identified.

Connecting contacts to their cases enables quick identification of key players in a deal or preparation of a service list. If negotiating with an insurance adjuster, you can review all your cases at one time rather than individually. One of the trends with these products is to allow you to open a small part of your data to clients. Using the Internet and tight security, you can allow clients to review the status of their case directly. Improving productivity and tracking of assigned tasks are additional perks of successfully implemented case management programs.

Differences

Keeping track of critical deadlines, easily determining who the parties are in a case or transaction, creating documents to respond to issues in the case, and assigning and managing staff tasks for those cases can be done within the case management products. There are differences in how each of the leading programs handles these tasks. How well they fit with your procedures and nuances of your particular firm can determine whether they will be successfully implemented or become expensive shelf ware.

Keeping track of everyone in a file is easy when software lets you associate a contact with one or many cases. Lawyers deal with many people who often play different roles. In one instance, the person might be your expert while in the next case, he is on the adversary’s side. Ever get a call from someone whose name sounds familiar but you can’t remember why? Search for that name or telephone number to see if she already is in your database and why. Thoughtfully designed contact screens can track information to help analyze your marketing efforts or assist in more pro-active marketing to potential or former clients based on various criteria.

I often get calls from attorneys who have been procrastinating updating their firm’s software and wait from a few months to several years before making the change. I often search for telephone numbers when we get potential-client calls to see if I have already met or spoken with someone from that firm. It really impresses prospective or former clients when I can quickly recall details from our last meeting or telephone call. This may lead to striking a better deal while the iron is hot.

Calendars

Unless you’re a sole practitioner with no staff, there’s at least one other person who must know where you will be and when. Lawyers who don’t share their calendar with staff are being short-sighted and potentially offending clients. Imagine the difference between “He is at a hearing and will be back in an hour” and “I am not sure where he is or when he will be back.” Who would you want helping you?

These programs can dramatically help improve client communication. Instead of waiting until they have a crisis and need your assistance, you can send them newsletters, mailings or e-mails within these programs. My firm used to send quarterly newsletters to clients and potential clients. What took hours is now an hour or two that includes drafting the document. These mailings now are more finely tuned to the audience. Rather than sending a general mailing to all my clients, I can send a memo to clients on older versions of specific products discussing our recommendations about when and how to upgrade.

It goes without saying that every lawyer dreads missing critical deadlines. With these programs, you can track deadlines with multiple reminders. In addition, you also can use these products’ features to better prioritize your tasks. With some of the more customizable products, creative consultants have designed delegation systems enabling lawyers to assign tasks to their staff and monitor the progress through completion. No more forgetting about important projects simply because you asked someone else to take care of it. You can check on the progress yourself. Some programs include sets of court deadlines with monthly subscription fees, while in others you can create your own protocol for structuring common tasks and deadlines.

Links

All these products link to any number of timekeeping and billing programs. Many let you time your work while completing a task, returning a telephone call, responding or preparing an e-mail, or creating a document. The time captured can be used as the basis of a slip in the linked billing program. This eliminates the need for all staff to master the case management and billing program or even have a second program running on their computer. Recording your time while performing the tasks is a sure-fire way to capture more time than recalling it later on paper.

Streamlining document production seems to be on everyone’s wish list. Selecting contacts to create service lists, mailing labels, e-mail distribution lists, letters, pleadings, fax cover sheets or complex documents assembled using programs like Hot Docs from Capsoft can literally be a few keystrokes. Depending on the depth of the particular case management program’s built-in document management, you also have easy access to those documents so you can discuss them intelligently when a client calls. Many of these programs also link to popular document management programs, providing even more search tools.

With the Time Matters-Lexis Nexis partnership and West Group’s purchase of ProLaw, these products are working hard to incorporate tools to manage and track legal research and add substantive practice-specific tools. Both companies are busily adding forms, fields and design options based on their existing form books and other products that assist lawyers in specific areas of law.

Probably the best thing about these programs is their ability to let you work anywhere. Most link to many of the hand-held devices like Palm Pilot, Handspring Visor and Blackberry. Internet access from a web browser anywhere in the world already is available with Time Matters’ World Edition. While I prefer to take a break from work when traveling, there is comfort in knowing I can get to my company’s information.

Case management programs provide better control over your cases and deadlines by not letting them slip through the cracks. They also show the big picture so you can determine what marketing efforts work and which should be abandoned. Without my case management system, I would have many more sleepless nights.

Carol L. Schlein is president of Law Office Systems in Montclair, a training and consulting firm specializing in law firm automation. Copies of previous columns are on her company website, www.losinc.com. For information about her quarterly meetings for Time Matters users, check the website or e-mail info@losinc.com. Schlein formerly chaired the Computer and Technology Division of the ABA Law Practice Management Section.

Questions for Carol L. Schlein on law office technology may be faxed to New Jersey Lawyer at (732) 650-7010, e-mailed to news@njlnews.com or mailed to “Law Technology Questions,” New Jersey Lawyer, Edison Square, 2035 Lincoln Highway, Suite 3005, Edison, N.J. 08817.