Law Office Technology

How to Access Amicus Anywhere from your Mobile Device

On your smartphone, Amicus defaults to the Time Tracker App, even if you go to www.amicusanywhere.com.  If you want to get to Amicus Anywhere:

1. Click on Showing…

 

2. Scroll to the bottom and Click on Go to Amicus Anywhere

How to chose Between Microsoft 365 and Google Apps

A big part of our business is moving legal clients from in-house Microsoft Exchange to the cloud.   When our company does “cloud migrations” we have to decide whether to use Microsoft 365 or Google Apps. 

	365	Google Apps
Cost	$4 per User	$4 per User
Storage	25GB per user	25GB per User
Outlook 2010,2007	Yes	Yes
Outlook 2011*	Yes	No
Direct** Clio Sync	No	Yes
Direct** Amicus Sync	N0	Yes
Direct** PCLaw Sync	N0	No
Direct TimeMatters Sync	Yes	No
Amicus Cloud	Yes	No
Gmail Interface	No	Yes
Web Mail	Yes	Yes
Easy Migration	Yes	Yes

* Outlook 2011 is the Mac Version of Microsoft Outlook.  It is a pain in the ass to deal with.  On my Mac,  I run Parallels and Windows Outlook 2010.   Another thing to consider, if a program says they have Outlook integration, it means Windows Outlook not Mac Outlook.     Hey, if it weren't complicated I would not have a job.

**Direct means that the software syncs via the application and not Outlook.  Clio, Amicus and PCLaw all have applications that you can install in Windows Outlook that syncs To Dos, Contacts, and Calendar.  For each user that wants to sync you have to install this in Outlook and their computers need to be on and Outlook running for the sync to work.  In a Direct Sync Environment,  nothing needs to be on.  Clio and Amicus support a direct sync with Google Apps.  Clio is also working in a Direct Sync with 365.  TimeMatters and Amicus Cloud has a direct sync with 365.  Direct sync is the way to go. 

 

Still confused?  Here are some questions I ask clients during our tech audit:

Are you in a Mac Environment running Outlook 2011?

365

Are you using Clio or Amicus Attorney?

Google Apps

Are your users familiar with Gmail?

Google Apps

Do you hate Microsoft?

Google Apps

Are you running TimeMatters or Amicus Cloud?

365

Do you hate Google?

365

Never Install Office 64-bit

 

I was installing the NetDocs Word plugin for a client and kept getting error messages when attempting to use.  I went into Word –> Help  --> About and sure enough they were running the 64-bit of Word (and Office).

That means that the following wont work:

 

• NetDocs Integration
• Amicus Integration
• Worldox Integration
• PCLaw Integration
• Probably every other software you want to integrate

 

So unless you are working with file sizes over 2gb, never install 64-bit office.  It never plays nice.

Where is the PCLaw Log in Amicus Attorney?

If you have a matter that will not exchange with PCLaw, Amicus will sometimes refer you to the PCLaw Link Log. However it does not tell you where to find that. It is located in the Temp Folder of Windows

Tip for adding new users in Amicus Attorney and saving time

Lets say you have a 5 user firm with Amicus Attorney.  The firm has a policy where all users get added to all new files and contacts.  They decided to hire a new employee and add a new amicus license.  To make sure this user gets added to all new files and contacts you would have to go to each existing amicus user and add that new firm member to the new file and contacts section.  This can be time consuming and a pain in the neck.  To get around this issue, Lawot does the following: 

In Amicus Firm Preferences  (Office –> Administrator)  we add a Firm Group called All Amicus Users. 

For each user of Amicus we go to the New File and New People Entries  (Office –> Preferences)

And add the All Amicus Users.  Notice we Toggled to Group Names

Back in Users Settings (Administrator –> User Settings) we go into group membership for each user and

add All Amicus Users

Therefore when a new user is created,  we only have to deal with their preferences and not have to worry about changing any of the entire firms. 

For larger firms with multiple practice groups we follow the same methodology by creating groups like All Bankruptcy Users and All Estate Planning Users.  This also works very well for people that have setup Calendar and Task Profiles.  These do not need to be changed when a new user is created. 

New Time Entry and Tracking Features in Amicus Premium 2011

The new version of Amicus Premium has many new features that make it much easier to capture billable time.

Time Entry Assistant

This feature alone makes the price of the upgrade worth it.  I have had many clients tell me that they have been capturing an additional 5-10 hours of billable time a month. 

Tools –> Time Entry Assistant

 

This will bring up a list of all actions that no Time Entry associated with it.  You can filter by date and item type.    You have two options for converting these events into billable time:

1. Do A Time Entry

This will open up the Time Entry window.  You will need to fill in the amount of time. 

 

2.  Time Saver

Highlight a Time Entry and Click Time Saver

This will automatically create a time entry. 

Amicus will create the Time Entry using the Minimum Time Entry Settings in Amicus. 

Time Entries on Behalf of another Timekeeper

Amicus will now allow you to create a Time Entry for another user without having to go through the process of opening up another users office.  

Save and New

Amicus has added a Save and New button which will reopen the Time Entry Windows automatically. 

View Unposted Time Entries from the Calendar

This makes it extremely easy to compare the time entries for the day compared to what is on your calendar and find missed entries. 

Automatic Client Numbering Using the Amicus and PCLaw Link

Amicus has no automatic numbering capabilities so everything is controlled in PCLaw. The systems settings in PCLaw make it look like you can disable Automatic Client Numbering, but that is not the case.

In PCLaw if you have Disabled Automatic Numbering and you are using Numerical Characters (12345) instead of alpha characters (BayCra) PCLaw will still Automatically Number the Client ID. This is not a big deal in PCLaw, because you can easily change the Client ID but in Amicus, it will assign a client ID for you.

You have 3 Options:

1. Don’t use a numeric numbers in your Client ID. That way PCLaw will not be able to automatically number a client.

2. Create ALL new Matters in PCLaw and then run the exchange in Amicus. Office –> Actions –> Accounting Exchange

3. Create the File in Amicus and then immediately disable the link, close the file, reopen the file, enter in the correct Client and Matter ID and then uncheck disable link.

Amicus Attorney 2011 PE

Amicus 2011 has been released and I am starting to get questions from Clients if they should upgrade.  This year we decided to take a list of the new features,  create a screencast for each, and publish them here.  By next week we should have a video on each feature.  There is a significant discount if you decide to upgrade this month, plus Lawot offers 25% of consultant cost for these upgrades.  Check this page throughout the week for more information.

Here is Amicus’s Whitepaper on the Upgrade

Screencast's:

 

1. Adobe PDF Integration: http://screenr.com/ttE
2. SQL Server Reporting Services:
3. Time Tracking:
4. File Index Enhancements:
5. People on File:
6. Custom Fields / Phone Labels:
7. Outlook Contact / Calendar Link:
8. Worldox Link:

Tracking RX Dates in Amicus Attorney Premium Edition

Missing a Prescription Date is one of the easiest ways to have a malpractice lawsuit on your hands.  Using Amicus Attorney Premium Edition, we recommend that clients setup a monthly RX Deadline Calendar like the one below.

This is a monthly calendar that shows every RX Date in the firm.  It is very easy to setup, and we highly recommend you do. 

 

Step 1:  Create an RX Deadline Event Category.

You will need to be an Amicus Administrator to do this.  Go to Office –> Administration –> Firm Settings  --> Event Categories 

Click New and create an event called RX Deadline.  I usually make the color black so it stands out. 

Step 2: Make sure all your RX Deadlines use the RX Deadline Category

For Best Practices we recommend that RX Deadlines be Appointments and not To Dos.  We usually set them for 8am to 9am.  You are less likely to miss appointments then To Dos.

Step 3: Create a RX Deadline Calendar

WHO

For People choose ever single user in the Firm.  At Law Office Technology,  we always setup a Firm Group called Entire Firm and make sure that all the users are assigned to it.  That way you don't have to update the calendar every time you add a new user. 

For Save this Profile as, call it RX Deadline.

HOW

 

Choose MONTH

WHAT

Choose Only Appointments of Category RX Deadline.

To Dos:  Do not include. 

Conclusion

You will now have a calendar that you can go through and easily see all prescription dates.

As a little bonus,  your users will now be able to run reports to see their RX Date Schedule. 

Have them go to Reports –-> My Events – Selected Category (List)

They can easily see all of their RX Dates.

Change File Types but Keep the Same Custom Information

This is mainly going to be of use to people who upgraded Amicus V and Small Firm Versions to Premium.

In this whitepaper we will be working with a firm that needs to change their file type on a matter while still retaining some of the custom information.

Firm XWZ wants to change a file type from Risk to Civil Litigation and still retain some custom fields.

In our Custom Pages, we have the following critical information:

This is the information we want to keep.

In Amicus, Go to Custom Pages and Create a New Custom Page, under Civil Litigation.

Lets label it Transfered from Risk:

Click on Available Fields:

Copy the fields that were in Risk over to this new page:

Once this is done, lets open up our file and change it from Risk, to Civil Litigation.

If we go to the Transfer from Risk Page, all the data is still there.