Sticky Keys in Time Matters Notes? by Jeff Krause

Here is a Time Matters tip that will make you scratch your head.

I received an e-mail today from a client who thought she was going crazy. She described unusual behavior that was occurring while she typed Time Matters notes. Specifically, she described times when the Cap Lock key seemed to be pressed even though she did not see any indication of it and could not turn it off. At other times, she could not type numbers.

She is not crazy. I have seen similar behavior. In my case, I most commonly experience the Ctrl key being locked. Of course, since Time Matters has many keyboard shortcuts that start with the Ctrl key, this can be a problem. For example, Ctrl-Shift-T will create a new ToDo. If Ctrl is locked and you try to type a sentence starting with the word “The,” you are going to add a ToDo because Time Matters sees the Shift-T as Ctrl-Shift-T. I don’t know what causes it. I cannot make it happen on queue. All I know is that I see this from time to time and only while typing Time Matters notes. Time Matters notes are rich text so they are different than other parts of the program. I have always associated it with hitting Enter twice to start a new paragraph but, again, I cannot do it on queue.

I DO know what fixes it. There are actually two things. A reboot will do it and I am sure this is what most people do. However, in researching this issue it occurred to me that this behavior is very similar to Windows Sticky Keys being turned on. Sticky Keys is a function that was designed for disabled persons to be able to hit key combos (like Ctrl-Alt-Delete) one key at a time. The toggle for turning Sticky Keys on and off is to hit the Shift key 5 times in succession. Guess what? Hitting Shift five times also stops this from happening in Time Matters notes. I have no idea whether this is on any known issue list. It might even have been addressed in Time Matters 10. But, if it is happening to you, now you know how to fix it.

Moving Your Existing Documents Into Time Matters by Jeff Krause

I am doing a little desktop cleanup today. I found a set of instructions I had put together for a client regarding how to move documents from their old Windows based system into their new Time Matters document management systems. Since this subject comes up all time, it seemed like a nice opportunity to write a white paper.

The resulting white paper is only a few pages long but describes the process of either linking or moving legacy documents to Time Matters. If you link the documents, they remain in their original location but are visible from Time Matters. If you move the documents, there is an extra step but the documents will be in the same location as the rest of your new Time Matters documents.

The new white paper is available on my website. Just visit http://www.krausepm.com/resources/articles2.shtml.

Client Intake IV - Using Less Paper by Jeff Krause

This is the fourth in a series on client intake. I will focus on some of the reasons why it makes business sense for a law firm to develop and use a client intake system as well as how a practice management system can help make the whole process much easier.

A final reason to streamline and automate your intake process is to use and retain less paper. It is possible to use your electronic practice management system in a way that eliminates much of the paper you are currently creating as part of file administration. If your information is collected and stored correctly, there is no need for file info sheets. Checklists can be stored electronically, documents can be scanned and stored electronically and many other administrative tasks can be incorporated into your file intake process.

The most flexible format for your scans is PDF. Most document and practice management systems provide an easy way to save your PDFs and index them with the system. Scanning is fast and easy with tools like the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500.

The bottom line is that using less paper has to begin at the intake stage or it may never happen. Are you currently collecting a stack of documents only to place them in the paper file at intake? Why not just scan them, save them in a searchable and easily retrievable format and give them right back to the client? If you do need a copy, you can always print the PDF.

On April 15, 2010, I had the pleasure to do a nationally broadcast webinar entitled Best Practices: Client Intake. The webinar was sponsored by LexisNexis and a recording of the webinar will most likely be made available on the Legal Business Community site. Try searching for the recording there as I do not have a link as I write this post. I also invite you to download a white paper from my website describing how to apply some of these client intake methods in Time Matters. That white paper can be found at http://www.krausepm.com/resources/documents/ClientIntakewithTimeMatters.pdf.

Client Intake Part II - Information Gathering by Jeff Krause

This is the second in a series on client intake. I will focus on some of the reasons why it makes business sense for a law firm to develop and use a client intake system as well as how a practice management system can help make the whole process much easier.

Another reason to use a practice management system for your client intake is the information you can accumulate and use to help grow your business. Therefore, after you have created and documented a client intake process, the next step is to consider what information you are collecting from your prospects and clients. Every file requires that you collect certain information from your client. There are certain obvious pieces of information such as the client’s name, address and other contact information.

What other information would you find valuable? Perhaps you would like to begin sending your clients birthday or anniversary cards. Are you collecting these dates? What about their spouse’s name or hobbies? Do you even know how that client learned about your services? There are so many pieces of information that are useful for marketing and other purposes. If your intake process requires specific information, your staff is much more likely to gather it.

Your practice management system will likely have quite a bit of pre-customization for both clients and matters. However, you will probably want to track information unique to your firm that is not pre-set in your practice management product. For this reason, a product like Time Matters or PracticeMaster that allows for additional customization can be of great benefit. Both products give you the ability to add a number of custom fields for the information you want to track.

If you would like to learn more about efficient client intake, I invite you to attend a webinar I will be giving on April 15, 2010. The webinar, entitled Best Practices: Client Intake is sponsored by LexisNexis and is free. You can register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/833521633. I also invite you to download a white paper from my website describing how to apply some of these client intake methods in Time Matters. That white paper can be found at http://www.krausepm.com/resources/documents/ClientIntakewithTimeMatters.pdf.

Client Intake Part I - Define a Process by Jeff Krause

It has been a crazy couple of months. Probably the busiest quarter Krause Practice Management has ever experienced. Unfortunately, that meant very little time to blog. Now that things are finally calming down, even if only a little, I am going to make a serious attempt to start blogging again on a regular basis.

This is the first in a series on client intake. I will focus on some of the reasons why it makes business sense for a law firm to develop and use a client intake system as well as how a practice management system can help make the whole process much easier.

The first reason to create a workflow within a practice management system is to streamline workflow within your office. A well designed and consistently used intake process ensures that your files are opened correctly and makes it far less likely that they will fall through the cracks or otherwise cause problems later.

Many offices have an intake process and a file management system. The problem is that the system is not documented, is seldom reviewed and is not always followed. When your intake and other file management processes are documented, the administrative aspects of your files follow a specific set of rules as they progress through your office. Once documented, it becomes far easier to consistently completely tasks and to train new employees to perform those tasks. In addition, it gives your attorneys and staff confidence in the system and makes it possible to identify and correct issues in the process.

Checklists are easy to create. A simple Word document with a three column table works perfectly. Column 1 is labeled “Done” and is used to check items off as they are completed, Column 2 contains the specific step to be done and Column 3 is labeled “Notes” and used for comments and suggestions. A practice management system provides even more flexibility. Most provide some ability to create checklists. Many also include the ability to create these checklists in date dependent formats.

If you would like to learn more about efficient client intake, I invite you to attend a webinar I will be giving on April 15, 2010. The webinar, entitled Best Practices: Client Intake is sponsored by LexisNexis and is free. You can register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/833521633. I also invite you to download a free white paper from my website describing how to apply some of these client intake methods in Time Matters. That white paper can be found at http://www.krausepm.com/resources/documents/ClientIntakewithTimeMatters.pdf.

Changes in LexisNexis Time Matters AMPs by Jeff Krause

Last week, LexisNexis announced a change to their Annual Maintenance Policy (AMP) for Time Matters and PCLaw. The full text of the policy and announcement can be found here. In short, Lexis will charge a customer an AMP reinstatement fee if their AMP lapses and, in the future, they want to take advantage of an AMP benefit (product upgrade or technical support). Basically, this means that customers can no longer let an AMP lapse then purchase a new one just before an upgrade. My understanding is that they would have to make up the approximate cost of the payments missed.

I have had quite a bit of feedback on this policy change. My friends in the CIC community tell me they have as well. Most of the responses accuse Lexis of trying to get more money out of their customers, holding people hostage, or something similar. Without going too extensively into the fact that many other software companies have a very similar policy, I want to discuss the cost aspect of this change.

Many of you will remember how Time Matters upgrades used to work. From versions five through nine, a new version of Time Matters was released every year, usually in September. Upgrade pricing was typically something along the lines of a 55% discount if you were upgrading one version, 35% if two versions and 15% if three or more versions. So, for example, when version 8 was release, a firm that originally spent $3000 for Time Matters could expect to spend approximately $1350 if they were upgrading from version 7, $1950 if they were upgrading from version 6 and $2550 if they were upgrading from version 5. I will grant you that the software pricing in general was a bit lower back then but $3000 would equate to about 7 Enterprise users under the old model.

At first glance, the current AMP pricing looks a bit different. However, if you used to upgrade at least every third version under the old model, you come out the same or better under the AMP pricing. Your initial purchase of $3000 equates to approximately five users but the price includes the first year AMP. The AMP portion of the price is around 30% of the total, lower than the 45% you would have paid for a new version within the first year under the old system. Renewing the AMP the following year will cost another $915. Once again, this is approximately 30% of the original purchase price. However, you are now eligible for any upgrades in the two year period for a total of 60% of the original price. This is still slightly ahead of the old model which would have offered you the ability to upgrade for 65% of the original price. After three years, you fall behind 90% to 85% when you pay another 30% of the original price. After that, you are paying significantly more in the fourth and subsequent years.

Now be honest. How many of you waited more than two versions to upgrade? Very few of my clients did. Approximately 50% upgraded every year and another 40% waited two versions. In other words, the new AMP actually saves most of my clients a little money on upgrades. The support component used to be free and essentially still is when you consider that you would have spent the money on upgrades anyway.

I know that many of you feel that Lexis is forcing you to pay for the AMP as opposed to the voluntary upgrade system of the past but they already require a valid AMP in order to obtain technical support. The big change announced yesterday is that you will have to pay a “reinstatement” fee if your AMP lapses. Assuming the fee is to simply make up the payments you missed, are you really paying more? Essentially, you can stay current on your AMP and pay as you go or pay the whole amount when you need the AMP for support or an upgrade. Either way, you are paying the same or less than you were to upgrade under the old system. So, once again, are you really paying more that you were before?

Annual Maintenance Plans for Time Matters Support by Jeff Krause

LexisNexis has announced a change in its technical support policy for Time Matters. This change effects many long time customers. In the past, Lexis allowed customers who were not on the current Annual Maintenance Plan (AMP) to receive free technical support provided they worked with a CIC and that CIC called technical support on their behalf. Effective January 4, 2010, CIC’s will no longer be able to obtain technical support on behalf of a customer unless the customer is the owner of a valid AMP.

Like many CICs, I pride myself on being able to resolve most Time Matters and PCLaw issues without having to call LexisNexis technical support. Unfortunately, there are situations where one of our consultants has to call LexisNexis for a serious technical issue. This new policy means that we will not be able to obtain support unless the customer has a valid AMP.

Regardless of this change, there are very good reasons to have a valid AMP. In addition to providing LexisNexis based technical support, an annual maintenance plan provides you with the opportunity to always install the most recent version of Time Matters or PCLaw. We have been encouraging our clients all along to have a current AMP because of the upgrade benefit that it provides. This change in policy is one more reason that it makes sense. It is also worth mentioning, while this is certainly a change for LexisNexis, especially with regard to Time Matters, annual maintenance requirements are quite typical for specialty software applications used in the legal industry. PCLaw, TABS and Worldox have all had annual maintenance plans for years.

Lexis has informed us that each customer will be entitled to one complimentary technical support call after the new policy goes into effect. During the call, you will no doubt be strongly encouraged to purchase an AMP.

If you need assistance in purchasing an AMP or deciding whether to purchase one, contact your CIC or Time Matters sales. If you don’t work currently work with a CIC, I would be happy to help if you contact me directly.

Time Matters 10 Released by Jeff Krause

This past week, Lexis began rolling out emails to their customers on Annual Maintenance Plans (AMP) announcing the availability of Time Matters version 10.

Time Matters 10 is the first new version of the program in two years. It is not as rich in new features as some previous version but it offers some very significant enhancements. Most important, version 10 is SQL only. Essentially, Time Matters Professional has been eliminated in favor of Enterprise. This means that everyone previously on Time Matters Professional will be getting an upgrade to Enterprise and receiving all of the benefits. See http://www.krausepm.com/resources/articles/consider.shtml for an article I wrote a few years ago about these benefits.

In addition to being all SQL, Time Matters 10 offers automated data backups and a new feature called Desktop Extensions. Desktop Extensions bring Time Matters data to your Windows desktop, allowing quick access to calendar, contacts and documents.

Personally, I think the installation of Time Matters 10 is going to give some users trouble. My guess is that most of them have never installed a SQL database. In addition, the automated installation routine will help some users but get others in trouble. The install routine will make some choices that may or may not be correct for a given location and moving the SQL database, if the automated routine installs it in the wrong place, will be difficult for most end users. For this reason, I recommend that users seek the assistance of a qualified CIC if they intend to upgrade to version 10 from a previous version of Time Matters Professional.

Time Matters Boot Camps Back This Fall by Jeff Krause

After a short break over the summer months, IP Associates has scheduled seven Time Matters Boot Camps and seven Time Matters Advanced Boot Camps (Power User Training) for the fall. Neil Johnson will be doing Boot Camps in San Francisco, Columbus, Ohio, and Irvine, California. I will be doing them in New York and Portland and we will be teaming up in Chicago and New Orleans. You can check dates, times and specific locations at the IP Associates website. We will be using Time Matters 10 as soon as it is available, so come out and learn something about Time Matters and see the new version of this popular program.

Blawger Survivor Update: One day to go. Over at Halo Secretarial Blog, Laurie Mapp has a post on working at home with kids. Wow, can I relate to that. Even though my kids are older, having them around the “office” all summer has caused more than a few disruptions. I have one more post to go and my office mates have one more day before they are back to school.

Time Matters Tip - Connecting Existing Matters to a New Form Style by Jeff Krause

Flight delayed. Might as well post.

You finally have found the time to customize your Time Matters screens the way you have wanted to all along. Now you have a dilemna. You have lots of existing Matters using your old form styles. Now what? Do you simply change the classification codes? Stop! If you do this, you could lose data. If any fields (and, more specifically, data types held in those fields) have changed, you could lose data. This is because data in a form style will simply update to the new format of the field unless you are careful.

One simple way to handle this is to do nothing. Use your new code and new form for new Matters. Let your current and old Matters wrap up using your previous form style. While not ideal, this saves time and avoids the pitfalls I have described above.

If that is not an option, follow this process:

Print out the old form style
Print out the new form style
Carefully detail fields that have changed
Carefully detail which data needs to be moved to make it work in the new form style
Locate and tag all of the Matters that have to be updated
Select Process, Change Records
Select New Template
Select “Move Data from one field to Another” then follow the prompts to tell Time Matters which data in the old form should be moved to work with the new form
Select More Changes and continue to tell Time Matters which changes to make
The last change should be to change the Code to your new one
BACKUP WHEN PROMPTED
Select Finish

If you have done everything correctly, your data will now be in your new form. If I am making this sound easy, it is because I have done this many, many times. Therefore my last piece of advice is to call an expert if you don’t feel comfortable doing this. Why waste your time and jeopardize your data when there is probably someone who can do this for you in a few minutes?

Blawger Survivor Update. Tax Girl has an interesting post on how the IRS is offering a Voluntary Disclosure Program for UBS customers who are concerned they may come under scrutiny for money held at the Swiss banking giant. UBS will turn over records for 4450 accounts out of the estimated 52,000 accounts held by U.S. citizens. The dilemna? If less than 10% of the accounts are being sent to the IRS, do you take the chance that you are part of the 90%. I am glad I don’t have choose.

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Sticky Keys in Time Matters Notes? by Jeff Krause

Moving Your Existing Documents Into Time Matters by Jeff Krause

Client Intake IV - Using Less Paper by Jeff Krause

Client Intake Part II - Information Gathering by Jeff Krause

Client Intake Part I - Define a Process by Jeff Krause

Changes in LexisNexis Time Matters AMPs by Jeff Krause

Annual Maintenance Plans for Time Matters Support by Jeff Krause

Time Matters 10 Released by Jeff Krause

Time Matters Boot Camps Back This Fall by Jeff Krause

Time Matters Tip - Connecting Existing Matters to a New Form Style by Jeff Krause

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