South Carolina Trial Law Blog

I was starting to get bogged down in the minutiae on getting a case management program running so I decided to step back, take a deep breath and see where things where going. What’s even the purpose of having one and what did I want it to accomplish?

Basic Goals: To have a smooth running, efficient office. I want to help people, do quality legal work and also be profitable. I would like the computer to help me with that.

Okay. So far so good. That’s some fine goal making, but what does that mean? Here’s some processes that should be streamlined:

• Client Intake – These should be scripted based on the type of case and set questions for the receptionist to ask. The receptionist can then fill in the blanks and forward the info to myself or my senior paralegal who can then make a decision on the case. The information from the initial phone call, should transfer to the case file. (Needles excels at this, TrialWorks makes everything a case instead of a potential case).


• Production of Documents – I want to be able to produce documents quickly and easily. The simpler the better. Ideally, if I’m in a workers comp case and I am in the Correspondence section, I only want to see letters relating to that type of case. I don’t want to see pleadings, motion or discovery. I don’t want to see workers compensation letters. I just want to see what is available for me on that selection. When I pick who I want to send the document to, I only want to see people associated with that case. If there’s a defendant, a defense attorney, an adjuster, four doctors and two witnesses on the case, that’s all I want to see. I don’t want to see every possible person in my Contacts database. I want fast, simple, easy. Make it easy for me. Don’t make me click through 3–4 menu structures. (TrialWorks excels at this, Needles has strong document assembly features but is rather kludgy. There’s no filtering for the case, case type or type of document).


• Master Case Plan – I want to be very clear and explicit how this case is handled and what needs to be done to consider this case was handled properly and the way we want to treat our clients. Of course a good case plan can also be a manual case plan, a checklist on paper, but it’s important for the attorneys and paralegals to be on the same sheet of music. (Even though they use different terminology, both TrialWorks and Needles do well at having a master checklist).


• Handling and Tracking Client Costs – We order and pay for a lot of medical records. We also have investigator fees, expert fees, court reporter fees, videographer fees and all of the normal expenses. A good way to process and keep track of these would be helpful. (TrialWorks will do a batch process from QuickBooks after the check is written, Needles will do a batch check request to QuickBooks to write the checks. Both have adequate workarounds, neither excels at this).


• Tracking What We Need – Keeping track of the things that we’ve requested but haven’t received yet is very important. Whether we’re waiting on medical records, discovery requests, a response from an investigator or a deposition transcript. We need to track that we need it and that it’s not in yet. (TrialWorks excels at this. Needles does this well, but does not do it as naturally smooth as TrialWorks).


• Calendar and Tickler System – It seems like more and more of the programs are moving to Outlook for their calendaring. There needs to be a To Do system with an automatic (if desired) follow function. But more than that, there needs to be a good easy method to create a system of To Do’s. For example, every time we open a case we do 1, 2 and 3. Every time we schedule a deposition, we do 1, 2 and 3… (TrialWorks and Needles both excel at this).


• Imaging of All Documents in the Case – I would like the cases to be portable. That means scanning and imaging. I would like to send demand packages out as a .pdf with all of the appropriate documentation. I don’t think this function is as mission critical, but I do think it is important in moving forward to where we want to go.


• Disbursements – Once the case is settled (or there is a verdict) how quick an easy is it to generate a disbursement statement, consent order of dismissal and other appropriate paperwork? We handle workers compensation cases and there’s a bit (but not too bad) of a lengthier disbursement process, so the program needs to take that into consideration. Obviously the better the costs are handled, the easier this part is. (I believe both TrialWorks and Needles handle this moderately well subject to the comments on client costs).


• Technical and Customer Support – Once you put your entire life in the hands of a software company, what kind of support do you get? Do they help make the installation a success? What kind of training do they provide? What kind of customization do they provide? When there are problems, what kind of response time do they give? (Needles is legendary for their support. TrialWorks appears to have very good customer support. In my dealings with them, it is something that they have prided themselves on).

Lots to think about and cogitate on. But sometimes it helps to get back to the basics. I didn’t list any reporting features because everyone can do reports, and if they can’t there’s always Crystal Reports, a custom reportwriter that hooks into any ODBC compliant database (and many that aren’t).

How would TimeMatters and Amicus compare to the two programs that you reference in this post? Would you need both TimeMatters or Amicus and TrialWorks or Needles?