Law Office Technology

Renumber Matter/Client

File -->  Matter --> Renumber Matter/Client

This feature in PCLaw is used quite often and can cause some confusion.  I will go through all reasons where you would use it.

1. Renumber Matter:  You use this when you want to change the Matter ID of a Matter to a Different Matter ID.  If you wanted to change Matter ID 06-5004 to Matter ID 06-5003, this is where you would change it.
2. Renumber Client:  This is where you would change the Client ID.  If you wanted to change Client ID BaeCra to Client ID BayCra, this is where you would change it.  If BaeCra is attached to 5 matters, it is going to change the Client ID on all 5 Matters.  Often PCLAW users will use this feature when they should use #3.
3. Apply to a New Client: This is where you would take a matter and apply it to a totally new client.  If BayCra is attached to 5 Matters, and you decided that the client on one of those matters is actually his wife Jessica Bayer, BayJes, you would use this feature.  It would keep the other 4 matters still attached with BayCra and move the selected Matter to BayJes. 
   

You could acctually move more then one  matter to BayJes by checking them off after you hit next.

The Calculated Bank Journal does not match the Actual Bank Journal Balance

I got a call from a Client today that was trying to reconcile her bank account for the first time in PCLaw.  She had checked off all her items and gotten the difference down to zero but when she tried to reconcile she got this message: The Calculated Bank Journal does not match the Actual Bank Journal Balance.

To explain why this happens and how to fix it, I must have a larger discussion about how to start using the PCLaw banking feature.  Let us pretend it is Apr 1st 2006 and we just started using PCLaw.  We will need to enter an Opening Balance for our main Operating Account.  Hopefully you have some sort of record that accounts for outstanding checks written prior to Apr 1st and can enter in that balance.   The error above usually occurs when that balance is wrong.

A little over a month has gone by and you have gotten April's bank statement.  In PCLaw you will go to the End of Month/Year Tab and click on Bank Reconciliation.  You will enter April's starting and ending balance from the bank statement and hit okay. 

Once you do, you have the option of entering all prior checks that did  not clear on the March bank statement but were not entered in April.  This is pretty self explanatory.  In this example I entered in $750.00 dollars in checks.  Now look at the bottom of this window.  My Journal Opening Balance is $2000.00 as is my Statement Opening Balance.  The Diff is -$750.00.  I need to make this difference $0.00 before I can reconcile. 

To do this I need to find out if all my Priors were included in my calculations for my Operating Account's Starting Balance.  In this case I did not counted these two checks so my starting balance really should have been $1250.00 instead of $2000.00.  If I hit change, I can change the balance to $1250.00.  Once I change it, my Diff becomes 0.00 and I can saftely reconcile the account.

During the next reconciliation PCLaw will carry over all the Check and Receipts that you did not put a check mark next to.  It will never ask you to enter priors again.

2 New Amicus Products

NEW AMICUS PRODUCTS

• Amicus Accounting - Amicus Accounting is a complete time, billing and accounting product.  It can be used standalone, or integrated with Amicus Attorney V+ (Advanced or Client/Server Edition) or Amicus Attorney 7 (Standard or Premium Edition)
  
  
• Amicus Small Firm - Amicus Small Firm is a combination of Amicus Attorney - Small Firm Edition (based on Amicus Attorney V+ Advanced Edition) and Amicus Accounting.  It is sold as a single product on a single CD.  It is targeted towards solos and small firms who want basic practice management without the need for more sophisticated features.  It is a great solution for the small firm and it is priced very competitively.

View:  www.amicusattorney.com for more information.

How to add TO DO's to the Group Calender

In Amicus V when you would click on the group calender it would show you other team member's appointment and To Dos.  Amicus 7 has this capability, but you have to program it.  You will not be able to view multiple team members To Do's by click on multiple team members checkboxes below your name.  You will have to setup a profile that shows this. 

In the calender view go to create a new profile.  Click on What and in To Dos change it to all To Do's.  Make sure you setup your Team Members, Setup a Saved profile and then save it.

How to run the Works on a V Database

I posted a whitepaper on how to run "The Works" on your Amicus V Database.  This should solve most V Database issues.

Display Settings in 7

If your DPI Settings on your graphics card are NOT set to normal, you might have problems with Amicus display bleeding over onto other screens.  Change it to normal and restart your computer.

To get to these settings, right click on your desktop, click on Properties --> Settings --> Advanced.

Changing Assignments

The way to add or remove users from contacts and files records is different in Version 7 then in Version V and it is alot better.  In 7 you can go to the files and contact module, highlight a group of records and go to Action --> Change Assignment.  You can then add or remove users from the records.

PCLAW Document Manager

I posted a new whitepaper about how to use the PCLaw Document Manager.

Database Backup Restore

I have posted a new white paper about how to do a backup restore without opening Amicus Administrator in Version V

Finding the Wordperfect Macro

Installing the Wordperfect toolbar is a little more complicated in Amicus 7 then the Word Toolbar.  You need to run a Macro, but sometimes this macro does not ship with Amicus Attorney.  I recommend doing a search for aaptbtlr7.  If you cannot find, you need to call Amicus Techsupport and request it.  Open up Word Perfect and findout where your default Macro are installed (Tools --> Settings-->Files-->Macros) and dump the files then give you into it.