Law Office Technology

Amicus 2008PE and Worldox Link

I was asked today what the link between Amicus Attorney 2008 PE and Worldox GX is like.  First off, it is much better then the Amicus V series / Worldox link.  Their is some setup at the admin level.  Once that it done your users will click on the Documents Tab on the Amicus Brad

When they do, Amicus will query Worldox to do a search based on the client and matter id of that file and bring up the results in Worldox.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you create a new client / matter in Amicus, the message below will show up and ask you if you would like to create the client and matter id in Worldox.  It is pretty easy to use.

 

Amicus 2008 PE: PCLaw to Amicus

You have two options when using the accounting exchange.  You can create matters in Amicus Attorney and exchange them into PCLaw.

When you create the file, Amicus will use the automatic numbering in PCLaw if the feature is turned on.  If not, you can manually type in the client and matter id.

Disadvantage:  You will then need to open up PCLaw and setup your billing settings.

You can also create Matters in PCLaw and then exchange them in Amicus.

In Files in Amicus go to Actions --> Accounting Exchange

Disadvantage: The files will only be assigned to the responsible attorney and no one else.  You will need to open the responsible attorney's office, open up the file and then assign them to everyone.

Lets talk about Amicus 2008 Premium

I have been back from the Amicus consultant conference in Toronto for about two weeks and have been doing a lot of Amicus 2008 Premium. A lot means:

• A fresh install of Amicus 2008 Premium for a 5 user firm in New Orleans.
• An upgrade from Amicus 7 to Amicus 2008 Premium for a 10 user firm for a firm in Jackson, MS.
• A Pilot install for Amicus V+ to Amicus 2008 Premium for a 15 user firm in Baton Rouge.

As some of you might know Amicus X and Amicus 7 were not the easiest programs to install and support.  Lots of written off hours and some unhappy clients.  I have stuck with Amicus for so long because hands down it is the most intuitive piece of legal practice management software out there.  Law Firms have high turn over and it is not practically to spend 8 hours which each new staff member on how to use one piece of software.  Most legal staff can get the core concepts of Amicus with an hour or two of instruction.     

These 2008 installs went very smoothly.  Warning: This is my experience in a two week period, so my frame of reference is not that great. 

PCLaw Link:  Very easy for me to setup.  Pretty much followed the instructions and it worked perfectly.  I remember Amicus 7 being a pain in the neck. 

Outlook, Contact Calendar Task Link:  Had a lot of problems initializing it.  Once I got it working, no issues.  My problems dealt with Vista and a user who had Calendar entries with descriptions that read like novels.  With the help of tech support, I fixed these issues.  None of my consultant friends have any issues with this link, just me.

Speed:  Pretty good, nothing like the lags in X or 7.

Stability:  Great.  The only time Amicus crashed was when I was importing 10,000 contacts into the system on 3 different machines at the same time, which I should not have been doing anyway.

Email:  Easy to setup and maintain.  No issues.

Document Generation: No Problem.

The Library:  Come on, no one uses the library!  Actually, Our firm does use it to store menus of restaurants near the office. 

SQL:  To me, this is the big time saver.  It is very easy to go into the actually database and make changes firm wide without having to go to each user's workstation.  It was impossible to do this with the old Amicus Database

I once described Amicus 7 to a consultant friend as the really hot girl that you start going out with and think she is really cool and then suddenly discover she is completely unstable.  (Caveat Lector, I somehow always date this girl, so I always use her in analogies).  Amicus 2008 Premium is the hot girl you start dating and suddenly realize that it is time to take her home to mom, quit playing the field and make the investment for the long hall.  Software divorces are pretty messy, especially with children involved, so I don't make this statement lightly.

Before I install Amicus 2008 Premium at a firm, the staff and I spend a lot of time planning and running pilot programs.  This is not software you just decide to buy and install on the same day.  Spend the time getting everything ready.

Not be a complete brown nosier, but I would also cut Gavel and Gown some slack for Amicus X and Amicus 7.  Microsoft spends more on R&D then most nations GDP and they have put out some less then stable software like Windows ME.  (I can't say Vista because all my experiences have been pretty good)

Word Processor and Email Requirements for Amicus 2008 Premium

Outlook Contact, Calendar, Task and Email Integration

Microsoft Outlook 2002 (XP), 2003, or 2007

Amicus Tasks Toolbar in Word Processor

Microsoft® Office 2000, 2002 (XP), 2003, or 2007*, or Corel® WordPerfect® 10, 11, 12, or X3

Document Assembly

Microsoft Word 2000, 2002 (XP), 2003, or 2007* - Corel WordPerfect 10, 11, 12, or X3

 

In my opinion these are pretty reasonable.  Office 2000 is over eight years old.  So is WordPerfect 9. 

Amicus 2008 - Importing Contacts

Here are several things I have learned

• Use a tab delimited file instead of a csv.  Tab seems to work all of the time, where csv is less reliable.

 

• Don't import more then 1000 contacts at a time.  I tried to do 5000 at once and it made it to 4100 and stopped cause of an error.  It was a pain in the neck to go back.  On my next install I broke my file down into groups of 1000.  It was much easier to manage.

 

• There is no hour glass so all you will see is:

Actually this message sits behind an Amicus Window.  You just have to wait it out.  The task manger is not that reliable for this, so again wait it out.  If you break it down into 1000's it should not take over an hour. 

Amicus 2008 Contact Import - Tab Delimited

I am doing my first Amicus 2008 Premium install this week.  It has been extremely easy setting up the link to PCLaw.  It only took me about 20min where the Amicus 2007 would take me four hours.  Anyway I have been trying to import 5500 contacts into Amicus and the import has been crapping out on me.  Was getting pretty frustrated until I decided to save the contacts in a tab delimited file instead of a csv.  Once I did this the import worked like a charm. 

Amicus Mobile

Besides the release of Amicus 2008 Premium, the most important announcement at the Partner Conference was Amicus Mobile.  This is an application for mobile phones or smartphones that basically allows you to use Amicus Attorney real time on your phone. 

My Take on the Best Features:

• Now, when your secretary sends you a phone message in Amicus, it actually shows up on your phone.
• You can send a sticky from your phone to your assistant and she will get  it real time.
• When you make or receive a phone call, Amicus asks you if you would like to record the phone call and bill for the duration of the call.
• You can open up files and view file information.

The big issue with this product is that it will only be available on Windows Mobile Phones and not Blackberry and Palm.  To me this is a no brainier.  Palm is been slowly dying and losing tons of market share.  Blackberry is a pain to develop and support software.  If a user of mine has a blackberry, I have to spend 2 hours setting up the Blackberry enterprise server and the client has to pay money to use it for real time synchronization.  The iphone is a really cool product, but not practical in a business environment.  Windows mobile takes about 5 minutes to setup and is very stable and user friendly.  If your contract on your phone is running out, consider getting a windows mobile device. 

Updates from the Amicus Attorney Conference in Toronto

I have been in Toronto since Wednesday at the Amicus Attorney Partner Conference.  These conferences are usually timed with the release of a new software and this year it is Amicus Premium 2008.  While previous versions of Amicus ( X and to a lesser extent 7) have been problematic, Amicus 2008 is the real deal.  It actually has been installed in the field and used successfully by law firms in the beta version and is know ready for wide release.  I have had many drinks with the consulting firms that implemented 2008 and have been impressed on how smooth the upgrade has gone.  For those using Amicus 7, it brings much need stability and some new features.  For those using Amicus V, this is a much needed upgrade, with tons of new features.  Note that Amicus V came out in 2001 and most Amicus Users are still on that version (At least my clients).  You have until March 31st to purchase 2008 with a significant upgrade. 

New Screencast on how to Transfer Files and Contacts to a user in Amicus

http://www.lawot.com/screencasts.htm

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