LAW
PRACTICE
MANAGEMENT
The Benefits of Automation By Jerry Schwartz
Automation is very important to the financial success of the law office. The benefits of automation should be considered by those who have not automated and should be reviewed by users. Those that have not automated will see the deficiencies in their operations and the users will be encouraged to fully utilize the power of the hardware and software that they have purchased. Not including word processing, which should be automated in every law office at this time, these are the four major classifications of law office software and some of the benefits which should be enjoyed from their use in the law office: Time and Billing: Easily provide access to client names, addresses and telephone numbers. Provide immediate access to current financial and client data on demand.
Increase overall efficiency and prod ucti vi ty. lmprove cash flow. Increase law office profits. General Ledger, Trust Accounting and Accounts Payable Integration with the billing system to eliminate duplicate entries. Standardization of reporting with the use of a chart of accounts. Monthly reporting of income and expense and comparison to budget and previous periods. Monthly reporting of the law office assds, liabilities and capital on a balance sheet. Ability to analyze information for budget and cost containment purposes. Automatic transfer of trust funds to the billing and general ledger
Keduce the amount of repetitive
system. Review of trust account
clerical tasks and duplicate entries. Reduce the month end work load. Reduce the amount of time spent billing clients for attorneys and staff. Flexibility of billing formats.
transactions and balances of client funds. Reduce time in preparation of accounts payable checks. Facilitates cash management by anticipating cash requirements. DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT ( LlTiGATlON SUPPORT) SOFfWARE Store documents in full text and/or document abstracts. Efficient search of multiple files. Ability to perform proximity and conditional searches.
Produce management reports to
allocate resources and identify problem areas. Reduce write-offs caused by late or undetailed bills. Reduce the amount of unbilled time and disbursements through the use of Work in Process reports. 38
ARKANSAS LAWYER
SUMMER 1993
Encourage productivity of lawyers and staff. Reduce outstanding Accounts Receivable.
Ability to add and search notes added to documents. Listing of documents which meet search criteria. CASE MA AGEMENT SOFfWARE Tracking of case data including case name, case value, case type, incident information, attorneys involved, fee arrangement and referral information. Tracking of plaintiffs, defendants, witnesses, expert witnesses, doctors, insurance policies and adjusters. Provide information on court and arbitration information including judge, court, term and number, trial date. Statutes of limitation are calculated to insure that important deadlines are met. Conflict of interest checking of all parties included related parties. Ability to store notes on case. Report on the status of case events. Law
offices
that
are
not
automated or are only partially automated should consider the benefits of automation and make the decision to move forward with an investment in the future of the law office.
Jerry SchWllrtz is the presidellt of Legal Management Services, [rIC. of Memphis, Tennessee, a consulting and management
services firm specializiflg in profitability improvenumt for small and medium size law
offices.