Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a practice management system for small law firms with a new mobile time-tracking technology (see article below), a cloud document management system, an iPhone app that increases reading comprehension and speed, and a cloud collaboration application. Don't miss the next issue.
Bill Your Time Everywhere Your Practice Takes You
The best billable time-tracking tool is the one you have with you in your pocket — namely, your smartphone. But you can't run your entire law practice on your smartphone. There's no app for that. Accordingly, your firm's billing and practice management system and your smartphone seem like two silos with regard to time tracking. Instead, they should function as an integrated system.
Amicus Attorney Small Firm Edition … in One Sentence
Launched recently, Gavel & Gown Software's Amicus Attorney Small Firm Edition (Amicus Small Firm) is a billing and practice management system with a new mobile billing technology.
The Killer Feature
Amicus Small Firm runs on a server, but the hardware requirements are modest — a low cost Windows PC is all you need. The server facilitates the use of Amicus TimeTracker, a new billing technology that works in mobile and desktop web browsers, including the iPad and iPhone.
With Amicus TimeTracker you can create new time entries, edit previous time entries, and see a list of time entries with running totals for each day, week, and month. You can also view time entries by client and file (matter). To facilitate faster time entry, you can create shortcuts.
When you create or edit a time entry, Amicus TimeTracker uses bank-grade encryption to update your Amicus Small Firm database at your office (if you don't have an Internet connection it updates as soon as you have one again).
"We're very excited about Amicus TimeTracker, which is only available in the 2013 versions of our products," Gavel & Gown President Ron Collins told us. "Lawyers receive so many calls and email messages on their smartphones that it's essential to track that billable time. The fact that Amicus TimeTracker pushes these time entries to your firm's practice system enables you to work out of the office for days yet still get your bills delivered on time."
Other Notable Features
Gavel & Gown describes Amicus Small Firm as being designed "from the lawyer down, not the technology up." For example, the Time Entry Assistant lists all your unbilled activities so that nothing slips through the cracks. Amicus Dailies enables you to stay on top of your agenda and, if you work in management and have full administrative privileges, the entire firm. The software even suggests client development opportunities based on your data, thus enabling even solo practices to benefit from "business intelligence" just like much larger law firms.
Other features include legal calendaring, document and matter management, tasks based on triggers such as court rules or a prior dependent task, and the ability to create automated time entries upon completion of designated tasks. Amicus Small Firm's "Do" button enables you to automate some of your work from dialing telephone numbers to creating documents.
What Else Should You Know?
Pricing for Amicus Small Firm starts at $399 for the first license for new users and $299 for those upgrading from prior versions. Additional user licenses sell at a significant discount. You can add Amicus Small Firm Accounting for an additional charge or choose from a number of third-party accounting programs that integrate. Amicus TimeTracker is included at no additional charge if you're on an annual maintenance plan. Learn more about Amicus Small Firm.
How to Receive TL NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TL NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The newsletter's innovative articles enable lawyers and law office administrators to quickly understand the function of a product, and zero in on its most important features. The TL NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
