Its more of an upgraded MO than a piece of software ...
Case Management is more than just a "piece of
software" like a word processor. The case management software is
not meant to sit there passively. It is meant to be integral to
the way you practice your trade. It is best viewed as the "electronic
assistant" who answers every beck and call. A well designed system
is like a good Porsche - zero to 100 in ten seconds flat. Within
ten seconds of a client inquiry, you will have the answer you need
to their question (or the question that you wanted the client to
answer).
You want some reasons to take case management seriously? Ok, here are some reasons to have a case management system like Time Matters®.
Care and Feeding of Existing Clients
What better reason than because your clients
demand it. You may not realize, but most clients believe (hell they
know) that they are the center of the universe and that you are
merely there to serve them. Because of this, they expect that when
they call, when they e-mail, page or instant message, you can get
back to them with the answer or status of their case. What an electronic
file (like Time Matters) can do, is give you the ability to satisfy
them. Within 2 clicks, you have the complete case history, another
click, you can open any related document, another click and you
can post a reply email and pop in a clipboard of data from their
file answering their questions. Keep your clients well fed with
information and services and they will give you more work.
Effective Prospecting of New Clients
At some point you will to gain more clients.
Even if you are working full-out, you need to grow and have protection
if that anchor client leaves you; a need to diversify. That is where
case management software really helps. Every contact with your firm,
whether via email, phone, snail mail or encounter is logged. Then,
when you have a break from "real work" you have a list of prospects
that you can "call". Or you can prepare a newsletter, and in a few
clicks have an "email list" to send it out, or for the more traditional,
generate a set of mailing labels to put on a printed newsletter.
Consolidation of All Matter Information
Case management is sometimes called Matter Management
.... because the matter is one of the central features of the case
management system. In the old days, the secretary would open a file
- a physical file folder with several subfolders for pleadings,
correspondence, contracts, notes, research etc. The file would sit
in your office, or by your secretaries desk, and every piece of
paper, note, call etc. would be placed into the file. Now, several
pieces never got into that file. And other pieces would get pulled
out of that file, never to be found again. The solution is the "electronic
file," a central feature to any case management system. From a "Matter
Record" in Time Matters, with a single click you can see a complete
timeline of all related files, or see all calls and their contents
in a powerview, or view the billing history and status, or just
check for the return dates for motions.
Better Work Product
When the case management system is integrated with document
automation, either document assembly or merge templates, the work
product that comes out meets minimum standards of quality often
far greater than the average work product from scratch. Not only
is the quality better, but the product takes just seconds (or minutes)
to create. Link Time Matters with HotDocs, and you can just print
money.
Organization of All Critical Documents
Whether the case management system is integrated with a free-standing document management system (like Worldox or iManage) or whether you use the
built in document profiling schema, your document are now tied to your electronic file. From the Time Matters document profile, in a single click you can see all documents linked to the matter or
just the drafts of agreements, or just correspondence or just memos to file.
Take Your Information on the Go
With all this power, you don't want to leave it at your office. Time Matters lets you take what you need with you to the court room, to your client site, into the
deposition. With laptop synchronization and PocketPC synchronization, you can have what you need at your fingertips, wherever and whenever.
Wow! Case management can do all of these things, IF you have taken the time to understand what it does, what you need from it, planned how to implement it and most importantly: refine and use it constantly.
