We at Practice Technology develop legal case management software for a living, but when I tell people that I often get confused looks—even from lawyers. "What is legal case management software?," you might ask. Well, I'll tell you... 

Case management software, whether it be ours or anybody else's, generally does two things:

1. It allows the computer to replace the hardcopy file as the central reference
   point for information about the firm's cases.

2. It uses that information to automatically perform basic tasks and generate
   work product.

Okay, maybe that's a gross oversimplification, but that's the gist of it. The most important conceptual difference between having a case management system and not having one is that when you do have one, you go looking for the hardcopy file about one tenth as often as you otherwise would. Virtually all of the information you need to do actual work on the file is right there on the computer. You can pull up a case and find any of that information in just a few seconds. The exact types of information stored on each case vary from one case management system to another, but a good system will have the vast majority of the information you need to work on the file. For example, here's a cross-section of the information Prevail stores on a typical personal injury case:

• Names, addresses and phone numbers of plaintiff, defendant, insurance companies,
  insurance adjusters, opposing counsel, co-counsel, witnesses, etc.

• Accident date, description, location, conditions, injuries, etc.

• Complete medical treatment history (names & addresses of all providers, treatment dates,
  notes, when records were requested and when they were received)

• Negotiation history with dates and amounts of all demands and offers

• Complete history log of every document either sent out or received in the entire life of the
  case, where any document can be retrieved with a single mouse click

• Photos of the injured party, accident, scene, etc.

• Full calendar of all hearings, depos and other appointments scheduled in the case

• Unlimited notes page with date, time and user logged for each entry

• Complete time log of all specific tasks performed in the case by each staff member

• Itemized cost ledger for all costs advanced in the case

• Important notes or warnings to your staff about the case

There's a lot more information than this stored on each case in Prevail, but this should give you an idea of what's included in a good case management system. The more fields of information, the better. A field is nothing more than a place to put your data. Good case management systems have space to put just about anything you would ever want to know about a case.

Now, what do you do with that information? That, too, varies from one system to another. Lower-end case management systems don't do much with the data. They just serve as a place to put your information, and let you work on the case. Better case management systems actually do some of the work for you. No, they are not going to practice law for you, but they can do the simple stuff a lot faster than you can.

For example, let's say you have a personal injury case where the client has just seen a new doctor. You want to request records from the doctor, and set a tickler for a follow up to make sure that you actually get the records. Then you would want to make some notation in the file that you requested the records. A system like Prevail will do all of that for you. Simply select the "Request Medical Records from Doctor" form letter, and Prevail will automatically create the document for you directly in your word processor. It will automatically insert the correct client information, date of accident, social security number, etc. It will also insert the correct address for the doctor. It will even save the document, put it on your letterhead, and generate an envelope. All you have to do is fold the letter and send it. Prevail will also automatically log the letter into the document history. Therefore, anyone else that would like to view the document, can view it with a single mouse click. Since you'll probably want to check back in thirty days or so to make sure you got the records, Prevail will automatically remind you that you should have received a response to your letter, and it will keep reminding you until you get the response. Prevail can also automatically make a time ledger entry so that if you should ever have to do a time affidavit, this task will have already been recorded.

Your total time investment in this whole exercise will be somewhere in the thirty second range, but a lot of things are done automatically for you. That's what a case management system is all about—doing simple things for you so you can have more time to practice law.

Ten years ago, case management software was something of a novelty, used primarily by gadgeteers who wanted to be on the leading edge of legal technology. That is no longer the case. Today, case management software is a virtual necessity for running a competitive law practice. Whether or not you elect to implement a case management system, one thing is certain—you will be competing for business against firms that already have them in place.