In the rapidly expanding world of legal technology, development of new products and customized integration of two or more products are making your choices more complex, but your life easier. In this 2-part series, I am exploring a few vendor products and practices that continue to expand the possibilities of taking some, or all, of your practice online.In Part 1 we looked at PBWorks and Case Record, two apps that help streamline your online experience. Here we will talk about the ability to integrate AdvologixPM and NetDocuments, and MuchBeta, a Saas development company with some interesting ideas.
AdvologixPM and NetDocuments: The Perfect Marriage
While Saas products are undisputably the best choice for solos and small firms wanting to take their practice online, their drawback is that, unlike Iaas and Paas enterprise systems, they cannot be customized. But that didn’t stop some savvy developers from collaborating on integrating their systems to offer customized solutions to a client’s needs.
AdvologixPM is a very robust Saas product for solo and small firms, built on salesforce.com’s platform. It offers the full range of practice management functions such as contact and matter management, scheduling and docketing, time and billing, and document automation, assembly and management. However, its document storage capacity is somewhat limited, and it does not offer all the features of a fully functional document management system (DMS).
Enter NetDocuments, an incredibly powerful and advanced DMS offering such functionality as versioning, full-text search, client portals, matter centricity and more. This is particularly significant for prominent solos who have come from larger and midsize firms. With NetDocuments, small firms get exactly the same DMS tools that large firms have in an enterprise environment.
Such was the case for Jim Lumpkins and Sarah Spiers, two Virginia solos who joined forces, bringing with them substantial databases and document inventory. They decided to put their practice online using the integration of AdvologixPM and NetDocuments. Together, these services enable Jim and Sarah to access powerful web-based matter and case management functionality combined with robust document management features essential for law firms that need rapid access to accurate information. The combination of provided them with efficiencies and capabilities that they would not have with traditional in-house solutions.
At heart, tech developers are innovators. So if you’re shopping for a Saas platform, but don’t find one that meets all of your needs, don’t be afraid to approach the provider with your concerns. Chances are you will be able to tap into the innovative spirit and get what you want!
Doing it MuchBeta
MuchBeta.com is a software development company with a sense of humor (their contact page says “Give us a Click: You’ll Feel MuchBeta.” OK, I’m easily amused). But there’s nothing funny about their products, except the joy of using them. So far there are three of them, and not one of them is like anything I’ve seen elsewhere. Check them out:
- LawRD: Reports on Demand – At first blush, this looks like a simple cloud-based practice management system with an emphasis on time and billing. But it is not called Reports on Demand for no reason. The system is designed to track money, time, productivity and profitability in such a way as to produce reports, graphs and charts on such issues as:
the most profitable clients
what each lawyer did on each matter
time spent on each client
profit per lawyer
profit per matter
- teepin: harnesses the power of ideas – teepin is an idea management and channeling system designed to motivate employees to participate in an exchange of ideas, and enables you to manage these conversations. Ideas are uploaded and debated by all employees. They can follow, vote and comment on them, thus keeping up-to-date on the debates and status of idea development. Teepin strengthens team spirit by counting on every employee as key when solving problems and creating new solutions.
- Yoomit – Enables you to simplify and organize your meetings and minutes by using the automated “Minute Taker”. Meetings are scheduled, open or closed within the system. A meeting stays open until its minutes are fully written and closed. Action items are included and can be assigned and scheduled through the Minute Taker. Although all participants who are users can collaborate on the meeting, the Minute Taker is the only participant that can write the minutes, preventing errors and miscommunication. Yoomit connects directly to your Google Calendar, so scheduling of meetings and action items appear in all participants’ calendars.
As efficiency and cost containment have become absolute priorities in the business world, IT products have moved from the ranks of toys to necessities. While keeping pace with their development can be daunting, using productivity tools is a necessity. One way to stay current is to subscribe to Technolawyer.com and receive their newsletters containing valuable information on the latest in legaltech development.
If you use or have heard of other innovative apps or integration, please leave a comment or email me and I will gladly write Part 3 to this series!
