this) is at:http:// www17.pc.ibm.com/cgibin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?account=aba&prrfnbr=722803&prmenbr=1000
Pricing starts at about $3,000.
AmicusAttorney version V--one terrific product
If you are a present user of AmicusAttorney, you will definitely want to upgrade to version V. If you are not presently a user of case management software, you must take a look at the marvelous, new version of this leading product.
Many lawyers have chosen AmicusAttorney for its ease of use. Ron Collins, the creative entrepreneur who is the mover and shaker behind this product, created his first version on the Macintosh. When the Windows-based produced joined the Mac predecessor, the exact "look and feel" of the Mac-version was ported over. And, so, AmicusAttorney has always been noted for its intuitive interface and ease of use.
Version V adds a number of new features to this product that make the product even more powerful and useful. Ron Collins gave me a lengthy and complete tour of the exciting new features of this award-winning product. My suggestion? If you are in the market for a very-easy-to-use, lower-in-cost case management software product, go to the AmicusAttorney Web site to find details of the product, and if you are fortunate to be in a city where there are local Amicus resellers, contact them and let them know you must see the product as soon as it is available. http://www.amicusattorney.com/
ProLaw software for large and small law offices
ProLaw Software had a very active booth at the ABA Tech show, and for good reason. To-be-sure, the ABA Tech show is for larger law firms, but ProLaw is focusing now on smaller law firms as well. Their idea of combining "Front Office" with the "Back Office," for "One Office" when it comes to a fully integrated software product makes a great deal of sense to me. And, one of the trends I see in the law office automation arena is a winnowing down of the number of vendors who are around in a few years with the law of the jungle, "survival of the fittest" to be the usual rule of the day.
ProLaw's roots are in large law firms and they have a very significant installed base. As to price, for very small law firms and solos, you are looking at a license fee of $1,000 per user, but that should not and must not prevent you from taking a very hard look at this product. Why?
When I purchased my first word processing "machine" in the mid-1970s, it cost me $20,000, not counting financing costs and charges. My small, five-lawyer law firm ended up buying another such machine and the second one cost us $20,000 as we added telecommunications and other advanced features. Now, that's 1970s prices. And, all the machine did was produce documents...nothing more. (As an aside, my first home purchased in the early 1960s, cost me $24,000, so my standard of comparison was that the first machine cost almost as much as my first home! And, the total of the two cost more then my first home!) But, the increases in productivity and profitability of my law firm because of these purchases was unbelievable. My law firm took the risk and reaped the rewards.
The point of the story is that if you have a need for five licenses of ProLaw, and chances are that you already have the computer and network infrastructure to handle the hardware requirements of ProLaw, your initial investment is $5,000 for ProLaw. Cost should not be your main concern, if the product fits your needs and vice-versa.
ProLaw has the most comprehensive brochures I have ever seen, and it really details all the features and resources provided by the product. Further, their Web site does a similar job of providing the details. Definitely one of the products you want to be looking at.http://www.prolaw.com/
RapidDocs™ for document assembly
Document Assembly continues to be the "Holy Grail" of law office automation. More and more work and effort is being devoted to this capability. A "new kid on the block" is a Great Britain import, "Rapidocs."™ Created by Epoch Software in the United Kingdom, it is an easy-to-use, all-in-one document assembly, document management and workflow tool.
Here's how the product works:
The program ASKS a series of questions that the user answers. Rapidocs takes the answers via an intuitive interface which has customizable help. Rapidocs then automatically generates the completed document with the user's answers. The product is word-processor independent and can be used with WordPerfect and WORD.
The product has a very interesting history that you can read all about on their Web site. If you've been waiting for a truly intuitive document assembly software product that you can and will be able to learn quickly and use regularly, this may very well be the "holy grail" you've been looking for. I like the product a lot. http://www.rapidocs.com/
WordPerfect and COREL
We were happy to see WordPerfect at the Tech Show, although COREL should get its money back...the ABA had them in a very remote location and there was hardly any traffic there ... you had to almost trip over this aisle, hidden behind a screen, to know anyone at all was there.
WordPerfect 2002 is the latest and greatest version of this product. Although I understand the power of Microsoft and the need to know how to use WORD, I still prefer WordPerfect for a variety of reasons, including "Reveal Codes."
It is good to know that WordPerfect is there and a super alternative to any competitors, and, the world of word processing and focused applications programs for the most part, needs competitors and new innovations for the legal market.
To see the press release on the Spring, 2001 release of this new product, go to: www3.corel.com/cgi-bin/ gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=Corel/PressRelease/Details&id=ZZZZ8DJU79J
Disappearing, Inc., for disappearing electronic mail
A company much in the news these days, and a company lawyers must know about is e-mail that automatically disappears.
First of all, this may very well be a product we all should be interested in. You can use this product to cause your e-mail to "disappear" within a time frame you set. Think about it! This may have strong interest to many for many reasons. For corporations, it will likely become a main-stay ... think about how many cases we read about or know about that have been won or lost of late due to the contents of email messages.
For your own purposes and those of your clients, take a look at the vendor's Web site where you will learn all about this interesting and useful product. http://www.disappearing.com/
You can download a single user version free!
WebDictate--as they say, "what you speak is what you get"
Imagine dictating via normal voice-dictating methods, and having the dictation stored on your computer. Then, imagine, sending the voice file to your secretary on your network or sending it to a remote office or service center via the Internet. Now, imagine that voice recognition software makes the "first-run" at typing the text you have dictated. And, then your secretary or the service facility can then both read the typed text and listen to your voice transcription to make certain that the text is absolutely perfect.
If this sounds like a dream, it's not. Combining the power of voice transcription, computer technology to create voice-files, voice-recognition software to convert the voice file to a text file and the internet to put it all together, you have an idea whose time has come.
A vendor, new to me, exhibited at the ABA Tech show, by the name of WebDictate. The product works with both DRAGON Systems software and IBM's ViaVoice.
If you are looking for a product that really puts it all together, whether for your own voice recognition software needs or on a network or when working with remotely located staff, this seems to be a very fine product that works very well. Visit them at either of the following sites. http://www.dictanet.com/ Englisch/ e_frameset.html. http://www.webdictate.net/
WestGroup and visions of the future, today
I've always been a "futurist" and as a practicing lawyer of long standing, I've always been interested in goods, products, services and vendors that could make my life as a practicing lawyer easier and better. We all, to-be-sure, know of Westlaw and West Group's series of products, good and services designed to be of great value to attorneys.
It has been my honor to have had an opportunity to work with many, many of the fine people at West Group over the years and to have shared dreams and visions of the future with them. West's experts did not need my suggestions to frame a vision of the future, but their vision, for the greater part, has been my vision. And, what I saw at the ABA Tech show in March, 2001 in Chicago means that my dreams, my vision and my hopes for lawyers in private practice and our clients has come true.
The significance and importance of the resources being provided by West Group more then merits your attention. Details are provided in the next section.
Final comments
There were many other exciting and innovative vendors present at the Tech Show; however, the above are those that most impressed me and I think will provide you with some thinking-to-do and visions of where your future investments in technology will take you.
By Paul Bernstein, Esq.
Since the beginning of law practice, lawyers have viewed their efforts as a profession and not a business. However, changing times have required lawyers to learn to use good business practices in their profession, and its not been an easy road to travel.
Today, most every lawyer knows they must have a computer on their desk and communicate with those in their office via a network and with others via electronic mail and the Internet. Yet, with all of these advances, there have been a plethora of new goods, products and services and lawyers, without enough time to practice our profession as well as we might like, have had scant little time to figure out which of those technology wonders they really could use effectively and which vendors to choose from.
It has been my privilege to have worked with West Group for many years now and to share with much of their leadership, our mutual visions, dreams and hopes for the ultimate use of technology in the practice of law and the resources to have available. After all, what we practicing lawyers want is to, transparently and without devoting much time or effort to it, to be in total control of the business and administrative aspects or our law practices and have all the time we need and want to do what we went to law school for....to be lawyers!
What West now has available (or which will be coming to your town very soon) tells me, and I think it will tell you, that the future is here today. Take a few deep breaths, fasten your seat belt and be ready for a most interesting ride on West Group's offerings that will take you along the road to achieving these goals.
WestWorks™--Web-based practice management
WestWorks is, when you get right down to it, case management via the Internet. Due to the close working relationship between West Group and Microsoft, Microsoft Outlook™ 2000 and Exchange Server 2000 (providing e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks and notes) are an integral part of West Works.
When you subscribe to this service and log on via your Web browser over the Internet, you come to what West calls your "home view" There you can:
* Create customized links to frequently used Web sites;
* Enter a quick search in West's KeyCite®;
* Display today's firm docket tasks and have your calendar before you;
* View recently used documents, matters an contacts;
* Add contacts, matters, billing information and docket events;
* Link to Westlaw.
WestWorks' "contacts"
Think about case management software. Then consider what WestWorks offers. Let's start with "Contacts"--you can have your contacts information online. WestWorks contacts lets you: add contacts; add organizations; add, view and delete matters, contacts and related docket items; add, view and open related documents, notes and phone messages; send email to a client; create custom fields to track whatever information you want for your needs.
This is a very full-featured, flexible, customizable contacts resource and rolodex for your firm.
WestWorks' "matters"
Again, think about case management software. Handling your clients' matters is another part of case management. The "matters" part of WestWorks allows you to: view the matter list with standard or customized views; search by matter name or use multiple field searching; add matters: add, view and delete related contacts, docket items and documents; add, view and open related notes and phone messages; track additional information with custom fields you define; use integrated "intake sheets" for West Works Practice Library, which includes a growing library of such intake forms including planned forms for plaintiff, personal injury.
Sounds like case management to me.
WestWorks' "phone messages"
This resource tracks all your phone messages and relates them to particular contacts and matters.
WestWorks' "docket"
To-be-sure, one of the most important parts of your case management system. With this part of the system you can: view standard or customized docket reports or listings; search the docket; add events; assign events to staff and quickly create multiple reminders; use rule-based tasks with reminders and, of course, delete docket items.
WestWorks' "document management"
West created its own "document management" resources and this resource is tightly integrated with Microsoft WORD 2000.
WestWorks' "time and billing"
West has cleverly chosen to work out a relationship with the Timesolv product from Elite.com for time and billing.
There are other modules to be sure, but let's move on to other matters:
West Group's strategic relationships
West has taken their core competencies ... lawyers use Westlaw, we have confidence in the confidentiality associated with our use of Westlaw, West Group has publishing, computer, computer storage, telecommunications and other assets and a long-time relationship with and commitment to the legal profession. This background, along with West Group's association with other major vendors in the technology arena have allowed West to provide an environment of great productivity and efficiency for lawyers and law offices. Existing partners include Microsoft, IBM, Elite and a growing number of bar association.
What you need to work with WestWorks and why you will want to
You would best be running Microsoft windows 2000, Microsoft Office 2000 and Internet Explorer 5.x or greater. A minimum of a 256 Kbps DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connection of the Internet is essential. When it comes to Internet speed, more is better.
The idea is that WestWorks provides a uniform technology infrastructure that allows lawyers and law offices to spend much less time dealing with computers and computer technology and much more time practicing law. Their idea is to provide you with your Internet-based, accessed-from-anywhere-anytime, case management and more resources. Their package is very powerful and very full featured.
You may have some concerns about security and what happens if the lights go out in Minnesota; West has answers to those questions, but that is another article for another day. I believe, as lawyers, our concerns about these topics have been dealt with by West in a very focused and concerned way.
For more information on WestWorks directly from West, go to:
http://www.westworks.lawoffice.com/
The next step WEST WORKSPACE powered by Eroom
First, you must make the distinction between "WESTWORKS" and "WEST WORKSPACE."
WESTWORKS is like having your case management, billing and document management and document assembly resources on the Internet on resources provided by West Group.
WEST WORKSPACE on the other hand, is a private, secure, Web-based EXTRANET for fellow workers, referring sources and clients to communicate and share information.
In this effort, West has collaborated with eRoom Technology, Inc., a leading provider of these types of resources. eRoom provides a number of resources:
West WorkSpace "discussions"
A "discussion" is an area on West's servers where a group of persons you select can have non-realtime "conversations" over an extended period of time. Like ListServ technology in one respect (you can enter messages that are sent to all others on the "list" and all those on the list do not have to be at the same place on the Internet at the same time), discussions create their own "transcripts" so they are extremely useful for referring to later on or for new team members to get into the swing of things. I and many others call those "threaded discussion forums."
The best way to think about threaded discussion forums or "discussions" is to compare them to ListServ technology where messages are sent out, one by one or in a daily or weekly compendium, to those who "subscribe" to the List. However, readers get overwhelmed with messages in this fashion and the history of discussions is often and almost always impossible to find.
A threaded discussion forum on the other hand, preserves all comments over a period of time and allows each individual to be aware of and read or participate in only those parts of an overall topic that the individual reader is interest in. Example: You are the plaintiff's expert witness and are invited to participate in the discussion; however, you are not interested in, nor should you be allowed to view, anything but the very specific discussion that relates to your expert expertise. Other members of this discussion could be the senior partner in the law firm and the client.
Another threaded discussion forum may be on work flow, where the paralegals and staff are working together, with the "boss" checking from time to time, just to be the boss and keep up to date on what is going on.
Another threaded discussion might be between the senior partner and the client only, as to settlement negotiations and tactics.
Another discussion might be with referring and cooperating counsel on focused topics of mutual interest.
Again, if a new member is added to a particular part of a matter, the new member can be added to the list of participants in a given discussion and get up to speed very quickly.
It is clear too that these discussions are extremely useful for the retention of wisdom and information in the law firm.
West WorkSpace "Files," "Links," "Polls"
You can post files on the Extranet, Links to other web sites and polls so as to ask questions and get answers from those involved in the poll. All these features are easy to use and to implement.
To read much more on these technologies, take a look at the following Web sites:
http://westnetsolutions.lawoffice.com/extranets.htm and http://www.eroom.com/
The practical value of this technology
Collaboration and communication is the name of the game for lawyers and law firms, and WorkSpace provides the infrastructure and environment for that to take place. Whether the communication is between lawyers in the firm, or lawyers and staff, or lawyers and clients, or lawyers and referring attorneys or experts, or lawyers putting their wisdom and forms and expertise in a permanent repository where they can be found over time, the Extranet is a great place to post such very important assets.
The very best way to understand how WorkSpace can work for you is to see a demonstration of the product. Because of West's proper caution in introducing the product and because the roll-out of new technology requires time to introduce the technology first to West regional offices, WorkSpace is not yet available nationwide, but during the year 2001, West Group is rolling out the technology to their various major cities and regions.
Between WestWorks for case management and WorkSpace for knowledge management and communications, West is providing all the infrastracture that your law firm may need.