Activating a simple Google search on the phrase “Inspect your Expectations”, will yield a wealth of information on the topic. The purpose of this article is not to add to the pile, but more to serve as a reminder that in business and personal life, we need to constantly monitor our benchmarks and goals. Certainly easier said than done (and requiring the perennial inner-reflection we all seem to dread), tracking your “results” can seem like a daunting task.

In essence, one can view goal monitoring as a reactive or proactive situation. This is very similar to home security. We only begin to see the necessity to protect our homes after an incident has happened, because we perceive the statistics as isolated incidents. In business, it is this constant need to actually monitor our progress that keeps us afloat. In life, the lack of inspection can lead to troubled marriages, broken homes, and a host of other issues.

There are many resources available to you in this age of information for the purposes of monitoring your goals in both business and personal life. From digital software solutions, to local consultants, you need only take the first step. That step begins with a step “back”, and focuses on the figurative “big picture”.

We challenge you to ask yourself the question today: “Am I effectively inspecting my expectations in all aspects of life?” What are some of the things you do in your personal and business life to monitor your expectations or goals?

Too often I find clients spending too much time sorting out IT issues. Either they can’t get a file to print or they are busy calling the product manufacturer trying to sort out what’s not working; Taking valuable time from their actual job. Here are a few quick tips for getting the right IT professional:

Is it time to have somebody on site full time? If you are spending more than 5-10 hours a week sorting out technical issues it may be time to start thinking about hiring a full time IT professional. A lot of small firms contract out IT professionals or hire a firm to remotely manage their technical issues. For about 25% more than what you pay your traditional employees you should be able to find a quality IT professional cross trained in what your fulltime workers do. Now you have someone who is able to manage your network, know the ins and outs of your system, handle the issues that are holding you back, and when no technical issue is afoot, work just as any other employee does to maintain your business.

Make sure you hire the right person. This cannot be stressed enough! Too often, technicians embellish their skills to land the job and then find themselves in way over their head.  And, the business owner does not know enough about the technical aspects of their business to know that the person they hired is unqualified. In order to find the right technician, you need to know what you are trying to accomplish and what obstacles may arise on that path.

Here are a few steps that can lead you down the right path to finding a quality IT person to help you maintain your business:

1)      Identify past problems that have consistently kept your office from being productive.

2)      Identify issues that you would like to resolve, or objectives you would like to accomplish in the future. Contact someone who has already resolved these issues and ask them what type of technical issues they had encountered.

3)      Know your system, and what data do you access daily. Is it stored in a database? Do you have a peer to peer network or a client-server network? How are you backing up your critical data?

4)      After answering the previous questions, get a list of questions together that test the potential employee’s ability to manage tasks associated with your setup. If you are unsure what to ask, find someone competent that has successfully helped you in the past and ask them to generate a few questions for you.

5)      In IT, experience is everything. It’s great if someone has obtained certain IT credentials such as COMPTIA certification or an IT Degree but nothing makes up for experience. Anyone is able to obtain a degree but to be able to work a technical issue requires a different sort of problem solver. Make sure your potential employee can not only answer questions on paper but also solve real world problems. Have a live test ready to evaluate their competency.

6)      Find someone you can trust, it’s very hard to tell from a resume and an interview whether or not you can trust someone. You need to be able to trust your IT person. They need to be aware of every aspect of your business so they can identify potential issues. This may involve divulging information you wouldn’t usually disclose to other employees. How can you tell if you can trust someone? Well there is no easy answer for this; integrity is a value that is practiced. Does this potential employee practice integrity? Have some interview questions ready that will identify this value. CHECK REFERENCES!!!

For IT job seekers:

The information age is upon us, the job listing may not say “Looking for an IT professional” but most if not all offices are in need of finding a quality IT professional but some don’t know it. Research potential openings and identify needs for a quality IT person, if you think you can handle the specifications for the current opening and you feel they could benefit from your IT skills, bring this with you to the interview, give a brief presentation on how you would be able to benefit the company, filling their immediate need and offering solutions to other not so obvious needs.

Congratulations to Janice Whitehead of Janice H. Whitehead & Associates located in Tennessee. She is the winner of the Prevail iPad giveaway. Janice won an Apple iPad (16gb / wifi) for participating in our promotion. Stay tuned for further details on our up and coming Kindle giveaway!

Law Office Automation 101: Choosing and Implementing a Case Management System

No technology project can positively impact the efficiency of a law firm like the selection and implementation of a good case management software system. Strangely enough, however, the majority of law firms in the U.S. still do not have case management systems. This fact can be attributed largely to a lack of knowledge about what case management software is and what it can do. Hopefully we can clear that up here.

What is a Case Management System?

Simply put, a case management system is a piece of computer software that allows you to make fewer trips to the filing cabinet by tracking a great deal of client information right on the computer, and then using that information to help you run your practice. Although different systems have different levels of functionality, there are certain functions that are central to virtually all case management systems.
The focal point of any case management system is a shared database of all your client information. This information is stored in a common location so that it is accessible to all of your staff. The information stored varies by system, but typically includes anywhere from a few dozen to several thousand fields of information about your cases and contacts. Aside from basic biographical information (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) many systems also allow you to view and instantly retrieve any document related to a specific case.
Document handling and document generation capability are very important defining factors of a case management system: The better ones have very powerful document generation capabilities built right in. In just a few mouse clicks some case management systems can create complex documents right in your word processor with the pertinent case data merged in automatically. Higher-end systems can also save them for you, diary them automatically and make time and cost entries in the appropriate case file.
Having your documents and case data integrated into a single system gives you several significant advantages over doing things the old-fashioned way. The first is shared access – If you’re relying on hardcopy files you have to deal with the physical reality of possession. That is to say, if one person HAS the file, it means by definition that nobody else has it, and thus nobody else can work on that file. A case management system eliminates this problem by allowing ALL users on a network to share the same information at the same time.
Another important advantage of a computerized case management system is the ability to work remotely. Once the information you need to work on is centrally stored on your office network, you can easily access that network from home or anywhere else where you have internet access. You no longer need to take a stack of files home with you if you want to work at home – all you need is a way to connect to your office network. This capability is built into most Window’s Servers. On other operating systems the solution can be as simple as setting up an account with Logmein.com. If you’ve got a high-speed internet connection both at home and at the office, you’ll find that the speed of working remotely is very nearly equal to that of actually being in the office.
Just about every case management system in existence has some sort of calendar function built-in. This function brings with it many important advantages. First of all, you don’t have to worry about who’s got “The Book” when you want to schedule an appointment. By definition, EVERYONE has “The Book” in a computerized case management system. You can instantly see any user’s calendar from any computer on the network. If one user schedules an appointment, all other users see it immediately. Many systems also allow you to download your calendar and task lists to a PDA or smart phone(e.g. iPhone, Android, etc.) with the touch of a button. This saves you from having to constantly print out your calendar when you leave the office.
Most case management calendars also include task or “to-do” lists for each user. This function keeps you aware of approaching deadlines with warnings and reminders that pop up before things become past-due. Aside from keeping you out of trouble, these task lists give you the peace-of-mind that comes from knowing anything that doesn’t get taken care of today will automatically show up on tomorrow’s list.

Choosing a System

Before you start looking at case management software packages, take a long look at your practice. What are you hoping to accomplish by implementing one of these systems? You need to start out with specific goals in mind, and then evaluate systems based on how well they can help you achieve those goals.
The first thing you need to look at is the diversity of your practice. The systems you see on the market will generally fall into one of two camps: The purpose-designed systems and the generic systems. A purpose-designed system is one which was developed for a specific area of practice (e.g. personal injury litigation, workers’ compensation, etc.). These systems tend to already be set up with all the necessary fields and functions required for the practice area for which they were designed. Generic systems, on the other hand, tend to be very open-ended. They can be configured to handle a wide variety of cases, but right out of the box they’ll do very little. If you go with a generic system, plan on spending several thousand dollars for customization for each type of law you want the system to handle.
Which type of system works best depends on your practice. If yours is a homogenous practice (that is, you do mostly one type of case) you’ll probably get up and running quicker, and ultimately get more functionality out of a system designed specifically for your area of practice. If, on the other hand, your firm has a number of disparate practice areas you’d do well to look into a generic system. While it might not provide all the specific functions required by each practice area, it would at least provide basic functionality to all of them.
When selecting a system, pay special attention to user-friendliness. If you can’t look at a screen and immediately tell what it’s for, look elsewhere. Remember that the resistance you’ll encounter from your staff in implementing a system is directly proportional to the learning curve for that system: The harder it is to use, the less likely it is to be used. Unless you’re ready for a battle with your staff, select a user-friendly system.

Implementing Your System

The best way to get up and running with a new system is to get your data into it – QUICKLY. People will use the system if the data is in it. The faster you get your data in, the better. If it means paying overtime, pay it. If it means hiring a temp, hire a temp. Getting your data in should be a sprint, not a marathon.
During this process, seek to identify and enable your “power users.” It will quickly become clear that one or more users on your staff “get it” better than others. Take advantage of this fact. Give these “power users” responsibility for helping with the implementation and sharing their knowledge with others.
Make sure you maintain frequent contact with your vendor’s technical support during the whole implementation process. You’ll have a lot of questions in the early stages of your implementation. Ask them ALL. Don’t be shy about calling for tech support. That’s what those people are there for. Don’t assume your software can’t do something until you call tech support and ask if there’s a way it can be done. There are frequently a number of different ways to solve a given problem – and the tech support representative is the person most likely to know them all.
It is almost always a good idea to spring for onsite training: Even if your vendor doesn’t require onsite training (many do), it’s a good idea. Firms that have had onsite training tend to get up and running roughly twice as fast as those that haven’t.
Throughout the whole process it is important to remember that it’s just that: A process. Implementing a new system is a process, not an event. Be realistic: Productivity is going to go DOWN while you’re struggling through the implementation process. Be ready for it and don’t freak out when it happens. It’s completely normal.
Once you get past the initial struggles, productivity will go back up and quickly surpass its pre-implementation level. There’s a lot of work involved in this process and there will probably be some turmoil as well. Look past all that. A few months down the road your firm will operate more efficiently than ever.

Let’s face it—Case Management Software isn’t cheap; it represents a substantial investment for most firms. I’m often amazed that firms are willing to spend a lot of money on such a powerful tool, and not fully commit to using it. It’s common for me to talk to a new Prevail user and hear the following:
“Our new Prevail system seems to do a whole lot, but we don’t really have time to learn how to use it. We’re just going to put minimal client data into it for now and maybe learn how to do the other stuff later on.”
That sounds fairly reasonable to most ears, but not mine. Maybe this is because I’m very familiar with the concepts of case management, and I know how big a difference it makes in your life when it’s properly implemented. To understand how crazy a statement like that sounds to me, just replace “Prevail” with “Buick”, and you’ll come up with something like this:
“Our new Buick seems to be a very nice car, but we don’t really have time to learn to drive right now. We’re just going to sit in it and idle in the driveway for now, and maybe we’ll learn how to drive later on.”
You wouldn’t spend all that money on a car if you didn’t know how to drive, would you? Why should your computer system be any different? If you don’t roll up your sleeves and learn how to use it, it’s just an expensive Buick idling in your driveway. It’s a big mistake, but a more common one than most people would like to admit.
If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve already spent the money for your case management system—so let’s work on making sure you get your money’s worth. In the past ten years I’ve overseen hundreds of case management installations, and I’ve noticed trends which clearly differentiate firms which get their money’s worth from those that don’t. I’ve put together a profile of five characteristics common to virtually all successful Prevail installations. Read over these characteristics and see if they describe your firm. If they don’t, you’ve got some work to do before you begin realizing a return on your investment.

Immediate Data Entry

“We’ll put data into the system when we get a chance” doesn’t cut it. Put your data into Prevail right away. The sooner the better. No system can do anything for you if there’s no data in it. The whole idea behind having a case management system is not having to go pull the file every time you want to work on a case. This means somebody has to take the time to put that information into the system. If it means you have to close your office for a day and have everybody enter data, it’s worth it. If it means you have to pay everybody overtime to come in on a Saturday to have a data entry pizza party, it’s worth it. If it takes more than a month to get your data in, you’re doing it too slowly. The firms that get up and running quickly are the ones that get their data into the system quickly.

Put Document Assembly Functions To Use Right Away

Prevail comes with lots of forms and form letters which it can create and track automatically. This ability, more than anything else in the system, can dramatically cut the staff time required for repetitive tasks. It’s easy to move this function to the back-burner because it requires somebody to go through the existing letters and tailor them to meet your needs, or put field codes into your pre-existing form letters. Granted, this is a daunting task, but the firms that begin reaping the rewards of automation soonest are the ones that make it a priority.
Look at how often you’re going to use each form letter, and make the ones you use all the time your highest priority. Remember that each time you use Prevail to generate one of these, you’re saving several minutes of staff time. The more time you save by generating those documents automatically, the more time you’ll have to work on other documents. You don’t need hundreds of form letters in the system to use it effectively, but you should at least have the 25 or 30 documents you use on a regular basis set up for automated production.
Remember—once you “teach” Prevail how to do these documents (i.e. set them up to merge the way you want them), it’ll keep doing them over and over for free. Sure, you can pay a staff member to type and format those documents each time you need them, but wouldn’t you rather let the computer do it for free? You’re always going to need staff, but no staff member can create and track documents as quickly as Prevail can. Go ahead and let the computer do what it does best. This will free up your staff to do the things that only a person can do – like provide friendly personal service and develop goodwill among your client base.

Place Power Users High In the Chain of Command

I’ve learned that you can’t really implement any complex system without a power user developing somewhere on the staff. It may not always be who you expect it to be, but look for one or more power users to develop as your firm feels its way through the implementation process. Some people “get it” much sooner than others, so look for the people with the light bulb over their heads, give them the ball and let them run with it. The rest of your staff will be much more likely to ask your resident “Prevail expert” a question than to call PTI for technical support. People always seem to be hesitant to call us and ask questions when they feel they should already know the answer – but they won’t hesitate to turn to a co-worker and say “Hey, Bob…”
Another thing I’ve noticed is that the higher up in the chain of command the power users are, the faster the implementation goes. The reasoning for this is simple. If the boss knows the system as well or better than anybody else, it’s impossible for the rest of the staff to skate by with feeble excuses of why they can’t use the system to do their work. Understand that it is human nature to avoid change and take the path of least resistance. Because there’s work involved in setting up and learning to use something new, you’ll likely get staff resistance when implementing Prevail. You’ll get a million and one excuses, and some of them may even sound logical if you haven’t learned enough about the system to know otherwise. It’s much easier to overcome this resistance if you’re leading by example. It’s also impossible to get bamboozled by logically indefensible excuses. I can guarantee that your staff will take the time to learn and use the system if you do. If you don’t, you’re taking your chances.

Frequent Contact With PTI Technical Support

We’re a small company and we listen. All our software updates are determined by client requests. The clients we hear from most often are the ones whose ideas are most likely to make it into subsequent Prevail releases. There’s also a pretty good chance that a particular feature that you’d like to see (or a similar feature that will accomplish the same thing) is already in the software. We can give you lots of ideas and help you solve a lot of your problems if you just call and ask.
Training
This isn’t a plug to get you to pay us to come train your staff, but I have noticed that, as a general rule, firms that have onsite training meet the break-even point (the point at which net productivity after installing Prevail surpasses net productivity before installing Prevail) much sooner than firms that don’t. Make no mistake—there will be a dip in productivity for a time, no matter what you do. You can, however, minimize the duration of that dip by electing to have onsite training. Even if you don’t want to go to the expense of having a PTI trainer come work with your staff, you should have some sort of formalized training. Learn the program and teach the staff yourself if you want—just do something. The value of training goes far beyond the pure instructional aspect. In many ways, the opportunity for your staff to get together, ask questions and share information about how they’re going to use the system is more important than any knowledge imparted to them by a trainer. The mechanics of using the system are very easy. How you are going to use the system is what’s important – and that’s where training helps the most.

Sincerely,
Carl D. Dirkes

Five ways to kick start your law office into the New Year:

1) Online marketing Search Engine optimization.

In a recent study 97% of consumers look online when researching products or services in their local area. (http://www.kelseygroup.com/press/pr100310.asp) That’s why tools such as Google Analytics and Google Adwords have become so important. Search engine optimization (SEO) is quickly taking over as one of the most important things you can do for your business to increase sales and reach out to potential clients. Contact a search engine optimization specialist in your area to see what you can do to be “seen” by the search engines.

2) Refine your business process-

No matter how evolved your business processes may be there are always opportunities to increase productivity and refine your process.  Implementing case management software is an absolute must if you have not already done so. Make sure the legal software your company uses handles the important aspects of your business, if it does not, contact the company to inform them of the shortcomings or shop for new software.

3) Business Continuity Management

The beginning of the year presents an ideal opportunity to test your backup procedure and the response of your IT team. Find out where you are falling short now in a controlled environment rather than later where the results could be catastrophic. If your IT team can’t answer your questions or assure you that your firm is safe and data is protected then it’s time to shop for a new IT provider.

4) Go Paperless/Go Green

The new year often seems like an ideal time to turn over a new leaf – going green by converting your office to a paperless environment is obviously environmentally preferable.  Realistically, there’s no such thing as a paperless office, especially when consideration is given to critical documents which require original copies.  Going “paperless” requires planning and consideration and can potentially save your firm a considerable amount of money.

5) Retain Employees

Employees are the most important investment in your business; they are your first line when communicating with clients and prospects. Do your employees know you appreciate them? Losing an employee because of lack of appreciation could possibly be the worst reason to lose a valued member of your staff. Displaying appreciation can take just fifteen minutes once a month but goes a long way to keep employees happy and save your company thousands in re-hiring and re-training.  One bad egg can spoil a whole basket and negativity can spread quickly through your office.  Think that your clients won’t pick up on your staff being unhappy?  Think again.

J.R. Phelps offers valuable information regarding disaster preparedness for law firms in this May 2006 article from The Florida Bar Journal: http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/JN/JNJournal01.nsf/c0d731e03de9828d852574580042ae7a/dcdafe736e4515d18525715b006b3288!OpenDocument&Highlight=0,insurance*

On Monday, President Obama announced a two-year pay freeze for federal workers. Though the freeze may not affect certain areas of the country considerably, approximately 261,000 Marylanders (three times the national average) are civilian federal employees. Local economists predict that the pay freeze will impede the state’s economic recovery and could lead to federal job cuts.

The pay freeze is planned to extend through 2012 and will affect all federal civilian workers, including Defense Department employees.

Some affected employees are taking the freeze in stride, simply saying that they will tighten their belts even further. Others, though, feel that Obama is treating federal workers as “sacrificial lambs.”

Perhaps it’s only fair, since Social Security recipients will not be receiving a cost-of-living increase, either.

What are your thoughts?

There has been a movement in recent years to become more environmentally friendly, both for humanitarian reasons and financial benefits. The legal industry tends to be both paper- and technology-intensive, thus increasing the harmful consequences to the environment and the burden on your checkbook. On earth911.com, Jordan Rassás offers numerous ways that your office can reap the rewards of “going green.” Even if your office can only implement one of these strategies, you will be helping make the world a better place for future generations.

1) Encourage your employees to carpool, if possible. See if two or more employees live near each other and would be willing to share a ride to the office. They will be helping the environment while saving money on gasoline and tolls.
2) Start using fluorescent bulbs. Over the life span of a bulb, a fluorescent tube will save 640 kWh of electricity over a standard 100-watt bulb. According to the United States Department of Energy, lighting accounts for about 29% of energy use in a typical office.
3) Office equipment accounts for about 16% of energy use in a typical office. Here are some suggestions for reducing that use:
* Turn machines (e.g., computers, copiers, printers) off at night. A recent study showed that one computer workstation (PC and monitor) left on after hours is responsible for power plants emitting about one ton of carbon dioxide per year.
* Activate the sleep mode on your printers, copiers, and fax machines. That way, during inactive periods, these machines will not be energy hogs!
* Purchase Energy Star-qualified equipment. Energy Star is a government-backed program that encourages homeowners and business owners to purchase energy-efficient products and adopt energy-efficient practices. Energy Star products reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants caused by the inefficient use of energy.
4) Save paper!
* Consider purchasing a case management system. Software can reduce the need for paper by automating your client intake procedures, reducing the need for printing hardcopies of documents, and a host of other functions.
* Use two-sided printing when possible. A ten-page letter printed single-side will cost approximately $0.65 to mail, while the same letter printed double-sided will save you five sheets of paper and about $0.21 in postage.
* Use a “sticky note” as a cover sheet on the first page of a fax, rather than using an entire sheet of paper for a cover sheet.
* Reuse paper (for scratch paper) when it has only been used on one side.

Please share your “green” ideas, so that other law firms may learn from your best practices.

Every so often, we’ll get a prospect who wants to forgo software training. “I’ll just read the manual,” they say. Granted, some people are fully capable of self-teaching with software or any other product, for that matter. But, the benefits of formal training go far beyond what you would get out of simply reading the instructions.

• One of the main reasons law firms purchase case management software is to increase their efficiency. If you’re spending your time reading a manual and trying to train your staff, you’re definitely not making the most of your time as an attorney.
• Professional software trainers can show you and your staff the best ways to enter data consistently. They can also demonstrate the importance of this consistency, particularly when it comes to document and report generation.
• By learning how to use the software properly from the get-go, you ensure that you won’t have to fix mistakes later. It’s MUCH easier to enter data the first time around than it is to fix information that was input incorrectly.
• The trainer can provide you with tips and tricks gleaned from other firms’ experiences. Many of our clients have developed more efficient practices simply by learning about other attorneys’ routines.

Yes, training does add to the cost of your new software. But, the return on investment makes it well worth it.