Home

Issue Archive

E-mail Lists

News Briefs

Reviews

Forms

Upcoming Events

Job Bank

Links

Paralegal
Students


Becoming a
Paralegal


Media Kit


Press Center  New

About Us

Contact Us

Subscribe


"I Want To Be Surveyed!"


 

logo4.gif (10052 bytes)

bar3.gif (1641 bytes)


Trial Works Case Management Software

Convert your practice into a paperless office.

CONTACT LAWEX TODAY FOR A FREE ONLINE DEMO.
(800) 377-5844
www.trialworks.com

Back to Legal Technology Showcase


  • Litigation Management

  • Document Management & Assembly

  • Image Scanning

  • Calendaring/Docketing

  • E-mail Tracking

  • Manage Billable Hours

Being buried alive under tons of paper never crossed my mind, until building engineers suggested that the extensive use of it in our office was going to become ever more costly. At the same time, the idea of not seeing my desk for several weeks – as it stood holding a mountain of documents – urged me to find a solution that did not involve increasing physical capacity of our offices. Although hesitant to move away from the traditional operations of a law practice, it was clear that – without a logging permit – our company needed to move to digital. While exploring the realms of document management we realized that case management software was possibly the answer we were looking for. Since then our practice has never been the same. 

To this day I marvel that a ton of paper now only weighs 5 ounces and fits in the palm of my hand. Apart from being portable, the information we now have digitized is highly shareable. This, in turn, has allowed our practice to branch out to multiple offices, all with live access to our case work. Never mind being on vacation, but for the first time this year I managed to prepare for trial while sitting on a beach in Kauai.  

Without going into too much detail on how we accomplished this transition, there was one critical part to our success: a software program capable of working with the documents, gathering client and other party data, managing all contacts, tracking costs, keeping schedules and dockets, and dozens of smaller functions essential to a law practice. For us the choice was clear: TrialWorksTM Case Management Software.  

One of our concerns was the transition process. Fortunately, TrialWorks, is built on a familiar Microsoft Office platform, and fully integrates with applications like Microsoft Word, Outlook, and Excel. However, although MS Word is a standard for our practice, the software can also use WordPerfect to handle documents.  

When a case is presented to our office, via telephone call or a referral, we begin by entering all of the basic information into TrialWorks. Generally this involves a few names and some important dates. Immediately this information is available to everyone at the firm. From that point our staff generally begins the document generation process, which is done automatically in TrialWorks. For the most part, our letter and legal document writing consists of a few clicks.  

The incoming documents are scanned in our office, and filed into the cases in TrialWorks. With the addition of a high capacity scanner, the entire process takes just under an hour each day – for one employee. What is more shocking is that we’ve managed to save thousands of dollars in document costs which ranged from the endless use of paper to shipping, or even freight, costs associated with providing records.  

I mentioned earlier that the ability to share the digital information was a critical part of the process. This is where TrialWorks has completely changed the way our practice operates. For starters, with the implementation of Terminal Servers, we have the ability to access our information from anywhere with an internet connection. The TrialWorks Mobile additions to the software synchronize case data with laptops and PocketPCs, making our staff highly mobile. Finally, database replication enables us to have separate offices work with synchronized data. We are eagerly awaiting new products like TrialWorks Black­Berry and TrialWorks Online, which will feed live case data to handheld devices and give case information access to clients respectively. 

Having the appropriate software, and a staff trained in using it, enables our law firm to create a high output of legal work in a short period of time. We are able to handle more cases than we have in the past, and always have the information related to the cases available – whether on the road, at home, or in the office. 

William A. Austill is Managing Partner at Austill Lewis & Simms, Birmingham, Alabama.

 

Special Advertising Section



bar3.gif (1641 bytes)

| Home |
| Issue Archive | Listserv | News Briefs | Upcoming Events | Links |
| Becoming a Paralegal | Media Kit | About Us | Contact Us | Subscribe |

Updated 10/25/06
© Legal Assistant Today Magazine
[email protected]
www.legalassistanttoday.com
(800) 394-2626