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The concept document of ChambersLegal
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The Legal Practice Management SoftwareChambersLegal
The Business Concept of
ChambersLegalA Legal Practice Management Software
by
Kola KoladeOf
Proteux Technologies Limited
““The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” —Thomas Edison.
Proteux Technologies Limited...your one stop IT solution partner.
1.Who We Are !
● Proteux Technologies Limited is an Indigenous, privately owned ICT firm based in Lagos.
● We became incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission in February 2011 with RC no: 935452
2.What We Do !
Presently we are into:● IT Solutions● RF & Wireless Solutions● Systems Integration● IT Project Management● Open Source Software Solutions
The Evolution of
Legal Practice Management:
● Word Processing Software
In the beginning there was word processing. Almost every lawyer’s secretary gladly learned to use WordPerfect (one of the first word processing software) to prepare documents. It was not long before lawyers, too, were using word processor.
● Billing Software
If word processing could make lighter work of preparing documents, then why not use the computer to track time, send bills to clients, and manage the firm’s cash flow? Along came time and billing software to the rescue
The age of e-mail hit the world like a Tsunami. Now, lawyers not only could accomplish the task of communicating with clients and other lawyers, but at the same time they could be documenting that communication. What a marvelous technological invention for a law firm! It is difficult to find a law firm today that does not use e-mail.
●Contacts and Calendar
If a law firm had e-mail, it was likely that they used Outlook as their e-mail software. If the law firm using Outlook for their e-mail took the time to look more closely at Outlook, they realized that not only could they send, receive and organize e-mail using Outlook, but they could also make use of Outlook’s calendar and contacts. Imagine that. A computer program that could keep a list of your clients and other attorneys and, at the same time, keep a calendar!
●PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and Smart Phones
Now, not every law firm used Outlook. Some lawyers discovered there was a small, handheld computer that could keep track of their contacts, appointments and task list. The great technology developers must have had attorneys in mind when they developed the PDA and, later, the Smartphone (cell phone and PDA combined, with internet and email service). So long as the data on it could be backed up and kept secure, it was the lawyer’s “best friend” technology. They could take it to court, to the office and even use at home. Their calendar, contacts and e-mail was easily accessible at all times.
●Document Management
By this time, law firms were starting to think, “If there are software solutions for preparing documents, tracking time, preparing bills, sending e-mail, tracking contacts and calendaring, there certainly must be a tool to help us organize our electronic documents.” Enter the document management software (DMS). The development of DMS made it easier to save documents as well as to easily locate them. As lawyers dared to abandon paper management altogether and test the waters of the “paper-less” law office, mail and other incoming documents could be scanned into the computer, then organized with the DMS. No more franticly searching files, cabinets, inboxes, lawyers’ desks for documents.
Additionally, by this time, there were more demands on the software.
● “I want to be able to see, in one place, all the attorneys, witnesses, judges, courts, insurers, etc. who are connected to a client’s file. Isn’t there some way to do that with a computer program?”
● “I do a lot of web research. I would like to save my research on the computer and somehow organize it with my client’s file.”
● “I use a time and billing software, but I need something to help me with my calendar and due dates and my billing software does not do that.”
● “We use an electronic calendar at our office, but we can’t share it. We would like one centralized, electronic calendar that all of us can see.”
Now you say,
“I have all of the above computer tools do I still need another Software?”
A logical Conclusion:
If you have been practicing law for some time and, during that time, have accumulated some or many of the above technological tools, you might come to a conclusion!
Something is not right with this Picture?
A House Divided
First Second Last
Like a house that goes through years of remodeling, each time with a new add-on or room, end result was splintered. There was no flow. No continuity.
That is, there was one software for word processing, another for billing, another for email, another for the calendar and contacts, yet another for the PDA, and one for the document management system and even more for the document assembly. To benefit from all these wonderful tools, an attorney and staff had to become specialists in all these different software products. Not only that, there was duplication of work.
One had to enter the client’s name and address and phone number in each of the different software products. This not only took more time, but there was more room for error , not to mention a lot of different software databases to keep up, updating information is a nightmare. There were more software licenses to buy, to upgrade, to keep trained on, to pay for support.
'Splintered' Software have Consequences.
More is required of the attorneys and support staff to be multi-talented in their skills, in particular, administrative and management skills. When an attorney starts out, with no support staff at all, he/she must do it all: take calls, do intakes, prepare documents, maintain communication with clients, track time, do bills, schedule appointments and calendar deadlines, check for conflicts, open files, close files, everything! To have separate computer software for each of these tasks is a huge imposition on the lawyer, and decidedly so on the sole practitioner
What If There Was One Type of Software that Could Bring All of These Functions Together?
Actually, there is such a single software solution for these splintered functions. It is called:
Practice Management Software (“PMS”).
The term “practice management software” has come to mean: one software that comprehends all of the day-to-day administrative and case processing functions of client representation and managing a practice…with the added bonus of being developed especially for law firms.
What Makes Practice Management SoftwareSpecial for Law Firms?
“Whether you're a newspaper journalist, a lawyer, a doctor. You have to organize your thoughts. -Frederick Wiseman.
● Practice Management Software is a relational database, starting with the Client’s contact information, then adding a case/matter for that client, and “relating” (or linking) all contacts, phone calls, time tracked, calendar items, e-mail, documents, etc., to the case/matter.
● So, being able to create one Contact card or record, then “relate” (or link) it to all the related matters or cases, means that if that Contact record changes (i.e. the client moves), that Contact record need only be updated once. Then, all the cases or matters that Contact record relates to will reflect the updated address.
● Likewise, being able to create one appointment or task on the calendar, then “relating” (or linking) it to a case or matter, means that not only will you see the appointment or task on the calendar, but you will see it in the linked-to matter or case.
● Combine the law-firm-specific benefit of a relational database with the centralizing of all the splintered functions in a law practice and you get
…A Practice Management Software!
●Deadlines easier to track
●Documents are always a few keystrokes out of reach
● Billable work is less likely to slip through the cracks because time keeping is easier to do
● Attorneys can work with case and client files away from the office (remote)
● Documents and information are easier to share with clients and associate attorneys
● In case of disaster, case and client files can be recreated from computer file
● Deadlines and appointments are on a calendar shared by the entire staff
● Phone communications and e-mail can be saved with the file and with other staff (if desired)
● Increased attorney and staff productivity
● you go to one software each day to find information and store information
““Has he come armed, then?” she asked anxiously. “Has he brought a pistol or a sword?”
Ian shook his head, his dark hair lifting wildly in the wind.
“Oh, no, Mam!” he said. “It’s worse. He’s brought a lawyer!”
―Diana Gabaldon, Voyager
ChambersLegalThe Legal Practice Management Software
ChambersLegal
●ChamberLegal is feature rich PMS developed by Proteux Technologies Limited for the Nigerian Legal Practice clime to ease the practice of Law
● The philosophy of ChambersLegal is that when a lawyer sits down at his desk to work, all that he needs to accomplish his work is just 1 click away within chambersLegal
ChambersLegal Features:
Contact database:Clients’, attorneys’ names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, etc
Case/Matter information: Case type, parties, notes, etc..
Grouping/Classification: Contacts can be classified in more than one way, e.g. client, attorney, judge.
Audit Trail: Shows changes made to a record.
Multiple Viewing Options: Calendar view, case view, client view
Timekeeping: Track time spent on phone calls, events, appointments, preparing documents, etc..
Calendaring/Docketing: Appointments, deadlines, reminders, rolling list of to-dos
Alerts/Reminders of Inactivity: Case status notification
Single entry data input: You should only have to enter one type of data one time only, then link/relate it.
Keyword and/or full-text searching capabilities
E-mail Integration: Can save e-mail with client or matters
Report generating: Printing out the data in various forms, e.g. address lists, mailing labels, time reports
Security: Ability to restrict or grant access to specific parts of your practice management database?
Front Office/Back Office: Practice management features (front office); and HR, Payroll and Accounting functions (back office) built-in
Has an integrated e-mail client, Word Processor, Browser & Personal Information Manager (PIM)
Synchronizes calendar, tasks, contact and notes with your Smart phone through your google account
Import/Export Capability: Can easily transfer data from your current database into this practice management database and vise versa
ChambersLegal Features: (Continued)
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