case mamagement for lawyers

8/9/2019 Case Mamagement For Lawyers

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Case Management and Document Management

for the Estates Lawyer

By Daniel B. Evans

(Portions of the following materials are taken from the author's book "Wills, Trusts, and Technology: An Estate and Trust Lawyer's Guide to Automation,"

now in it's second edition.)

Although case management and document management have usually been addressed as separate

subjects, they have common goals, and the software used for case management and document

management overlap in at least some areas, so these materials will address them together.

Goals and Benefits

Software for case management and document management usually serve one or more of the

following goals and benefits:

Faster Access to Information and Documents

Automated systems allows lawyers and legal staff to find case information and case documentsmuch more quickly and easily than paper systems. Studies have shown that law firms typically spend

hours each month looking for files and information in files, and putting the information (and documents)

on computers can save those hours of searching. For example, if a client calls and asks about a filingdeadline on a particular case, a lawyer or paralegal at a computer should be able to find the information

within seconds, and without touching the physical file. Similarly, tax returns and other documents that

have been filed can be kept on the computer as digital images and retrieved within a few seconds if aquestion should arise about deductions that were claimed or any other issue.

Avoiding Missed Deadlines

Through automated to-do lists and calendars, it is easier for lawyers and paralegals to keep track of

due dates and appointments and make sure that obligations to clients do not “fall into the cracks.”

Better Time Keeping

Case management systems have built-in timekeeping systems, so that lawyers and paralegals can

better track time spent. For example, if case management software is used to take notes during

telephone conversations, the software can time the call automatically and automatically create a timeslip for billing the client for the time spent on the call.

Eliminating Redundant Data Entry

By integrating different types of functions, case management software can eliminate the need to re-

type the same information once it is in the system. As noted above, the software can use the client

information used to create telephone notes to create a billing slip, so the timekeeper needs to enter theclient name or billing number only once to both record the telephone call and create the time slip. The

software can also transfer the notes of the telephone into the time record, so that the timekeeper only

needs to describe the conversation once. Another increasingly useful function of case management



software is the collection and application of client and case data to the production of substantive

documents, so client and case data can be used to generate letters, notices, and other routine forms of documents.

Coordination within Firm

The automation of case information makes it easier to schedule appointments and meetings within afirm, identify possible conflicts of interest with new clients or matters, monitor due dates to make sure

that filing deadlines are not missed, and check on the status of clients and matters while a lawyer is on

vacation or otherwise unavailable.

Case Management Functions

Case management has historically been organized as a series of discrete functions, such as the nameand address “Rolodex,” the “tickler” or to-do list, and a calendar. These functions are being integrated

in case management software, but most case management programs still provide those discrete

functions, and it is still useful to view the case management process, and case management programs, interms of those functions.

Name and Address Database

One essential function of case management is recording and retrieving all the names and addresses

related to a case or matter. In estate planning, the relevant parties include the client, family members

involved in the estate-planning process, accountants, insurance agents, corporate fiduciaries, and anyone

else involved in the planning process. (Although it is a good idea to obtain the addresses of executorsand other fiduciaries who will serve after the death of the client, it is usually not necessary to keep them

in a computerized database.) In estate or trust administrations, it will be necessary to communicate with

the fiduciaries as well as the beneficiaries, lawyers who may represent other fiduciaries or beneficiaries, probate court officials, taxing authorities, accountants, brokers, depository banks, and other persons

involved with the assets of the estate.

But the name and address database should be more than just an “electronic Rolodex,” and the

information should do more than just sit on the computer screen to be read. The software should includethe ability to prepare letters, notices, and other communications to relevant parties as quickly and as

accurately as possible, using the name and addresses in the database. For example, certain types of routine notices or inquiries (e.g., date of death bank balance inquiries or notices to beneficiaries required

by local rules of court) might be generated by the case management program or a document generation

system.

And the program should be able to organize names not just by case or matter, but also be able tomark or group names into mailing lists for firm announcements, newsletters, holiday greeting cards, and

other kinds of mass mailings. (Document generation is discussed in more detail below.)

Case Information

In addition to the names of parties, case management programs can be used to save the information

needed for an estate planning or estate administration practice, such as the domicile of the client, theEIN of the estate or trust, the size of the estate, the date of the will or codicils, the date of death, tax

issues to be noted (e.g., marital deduction issues or generation-skipping elections to be made), and so

forth.



To-Do Lists (“Ticklers”)

An important part of case management is identifying (and remembering) what must be

accomplished and when it must be done. Lawyers often find it difficult to remember what must be done,and this can be a particular problem in estate administration, which often requires a long list of small

steps to be completed. (Also remember that the most frequent cause of legal malpractice is missed filing

deadlines.)

A to-do list should usually include the following information:

Project or Matter

The system should identify each task by what estate, client, or matter the task relates to. In that way,a responsible lawyer can obtain a list of all uncompleted tasks for a particular matter and quickly view

the status of a matter in response to a client request (or for any other reason).

Description of Task

There obviously must be a description of what needs to be done.

Type of Task

In some cases, it might be helpful to sort tasks by the type of task to be performed. For example, it

may be convenient to list all cases requiring legal research or all cases with federal income tax returns to

be prepared.

Identifying the type of task is also useful in those systems which provide a “do” button for each

task. After a user reviews his or her to-do list and selects and task to be completed, clicking on the “do”

button can cause the software to initialize other functions or programs needed to carry out the task. For

example, if the “to-do” item is a reminder to return a telephone call, clicking on the “do” button could bring up a telephone message slip with the caller’s name and number already displayed, along with the

case reference and perhaps a record of the most recent call to or from that person (which may be helpfulin preparing for the call). If the to-do item is the preparation of a document, clicking on the “do” buttoncould initiate the document drafting system, perhaps even going so far as to begin to fill in relevant

information (client and case information) if the form of document is specified as part of the task.

Completion Date

Each task should have a date on which the task should be completed. Due dates sometimes slip, inwhich case the system should continue to remind the user that the task is due until the task is completed

or the due date is changed.

When due dates are known when the file is opened, they should be scheduled within the system

when the matter information is first entered into the system. For example, the federal estate tax return isalways due nine months from the date of death, and an estate administration file should have that due

date entered as soon as the file is opened, and should issue a warning eight months after the date of

death, regardless of whether the responsible lawyer has determined whether a tax return is necessary.This kind of scheduling can be done automatically through the "precedents" or "road maps" described

below.



Responsible Person

When tasks are assigned to an associate, paralegal, or other staff member, that information should

be recorded so that each responsible person can obtain a separate list of things to be done.

Priority

Each task should have a priority assigned to it. This is particularly important when tasks areassigned to associates, paralegals, or other staff members, because subordinate employees should not

need (or be allowed) to make decisions on what matters should be given priority over other matters, and

so priorities should always be specifically stated.

Even when tasks are not assigned to others, a list of tasks that is sorted by a previously assigned priority can help a lawyer focus on the important things that need to be done.

Precedents and Roadmaps

Often, a number of due dates will be known when a file is first opened, or a single event will give

rise to a number of tasks with different due dates, or the completion of one task will lead to another task

with a particular due date. For example, there may be a state inheritance tax deadline three months after the date of death, while the federal estate tax return is due nine months after death. Or, the grant of letters must be advertised within a certain time after the probate of the will, and then an inventory must

be filed within a certain time after the advertisements have been published.

To handle these kinds of automatic due dates and multiple tasks, case management programs

include some sort of template, sometimes called “precedents” or “roadmaps,” that allow the user to pre-define sets of tasks (and due dates) for certain kinds of cases. So, by applying the template to an estate

administration, the program will automatically generate the list of tasks, and enter them in the to-do list,

with the deadlines already built in. And, tasks can be defined so that the completion of a task (or event)automatically creates additional new tasks and new deadlines. (If a particular task that is part of a

template is not needed for a particular estate, such as a federal estate tax return for a small estate, it is

simply deleted or marked "done" when it appears.)

Billing

Most case management systems now include time keeping systems and ways to either prepare bills

directly or transfer the recorded time to a separate billing program. This is helpful to both hourly billing

and those firms offering task-based billing or value billing.

The advantages of recording time through a case management system should be obvious. If thecase management system is used to start tasks (through the to-do list or otherwise) and end tasks (by

recording what was done and creating new to-do tasks for the next steps), then the system should also be

able to start and stop timers when tasks are started and stopped. For example (and as noted above), most

case management systems will automatically start a timer whenever a telephone message slip is opened.So a lawyer who makes a call or receives a call can open a message slip to take notes of the telephone

conversation and simultaneously start a timer to record the length of the call. When the call is over, asimple mouse click allows the lawyer to create a time slip for the length of the call, with the case

management software automatically transferring the file number and the name of the caller as well as the

date and time of the call from the message slip to the time record. It may also be possible to transfer the

notes of the telephone conversation to the time-slip description to be edited as a description of the time



spent for the bill. In this way, the billing system really becomes a logical extension of the case

management system.

Budgets

In either a case management system or a billing system, there should be a way of projecting the time

necessary to complete a task. This can be helpful to an associate or paralegal worried about spending toomuch time on a task, and may also be useful to lawyers trying to develop systems for value billing,

because it will help the lawyer find out whether tasks actually require (or exceed) the time budgeted.

Document Generation

As noted above, a case management system should be more than an electronic Rolodex. After

entering data into a system, it should be possible to do something with the data beyond just printing outlists of the data. One useful application is generating letters and other documents from the data. Some

existing (or possible) applications include the following.

• As part of estate planning, it might be necessary to change the ownership or beneficiary designations

on a number of life insurance policies. Once the insurers and policies numbers are in a database, itshould be possible to generate transmittal letters (and even some standard beneficiary designation

forms) automatically. Similarly, the funding of a lifetime revocable trust may require large numbers

of nearly identical transfer documents, letters, or other notices.

• Much of the information involved in the administration of an estate (e.g., date of death, date of will,

Social Security number, names of executors, etc.) are used in many different documents, and itshould be possible to generate those documents automatically, without entering a great deal of

additional data.

• After death, many routine inquiries must be sent to banks, life insurance companies, brokers, andothers holding assets of the decedent. These are the kinds of letters that should be automated, if

possible.Case management systems can create these kinds of documents either by creating "merge" files that

can word directly with word processing software, or by transferring the relevant data to a separatedocument drafting program, such as HotDocs or GhostFill.

Document Management

Some case management systems are beginning to include features that can provide document

management capabilities, so that client documents can be saved and retrieved from within the casemanagement program. (See the discussion of document management functions below.)

Document Management

What is often described as "document management" started out as a way to deal with the short file

names ("8-dot-3") imposed by the DOS operating system. Since then, document management has been

expanded to include not just the files we create (word processing and spreadsheets), but also thedocuments and files we receive from others, and not just "documents" in the sense of things that will be

(or have been) printed to paper, but also faxes, emails, voice mail, pictures, videos, and anything else

that is in digital form.

For law firms, document management systems should address some or all of the following issues.



Searching

Of course, once the document is saved, the document management software must have a way of

searching for the document, finding it again, and retrieving it, based on some or all of the informationthat was used to save the document. So it should be possible to retrieve not only all documents saved

for a particular client, but all correspondence for a particular client, or all document written by a

particular lawyer for any client within a particular date range.

Most document management software includes the ability to perform full-text searches, either basedon an index that is created of the documents as they are saved (which results in very fast searches but

uses up some disk space) or by searching "on the fly" within each document saved within the search

range.

Some software will also perform optical character recognition (OCR) scans of document imagesautomatically or at periodic intervals and then save and index the words found in the document image,

so that it is possible to do full-text word searches on scanned documents and documents saved as digital

images.

ViewingThe document management program should be able to open retrieved documents within the same

program that created them (e.g., word processing files should be opened in word processing programs,

spreadsheets should be opened in spreadsheet programs, and digital images should be opened in imaging

programs) so that the file can be viewed, edited, and printed, but some document management programs

also allow the user to view the contents of the document immediately, without actually opening the file.This can be useful if all that is needed is information from the document (such as a number from a tax

return) and the document does not need to be edited or printed. (It is also useful to make sure that the

document is the one the user really wants before actually opening the file, which typically takes moretime for the computer, particularly if the application that created the file is not already running and must

be launched before the file can be opened.)

Version Controls

When a document is edited, it is often useful to save the previous version along with the editedversion, not only for historical purposes, but also so that the two documents can be "compared" to create

a "blacklined" version for the client (or opposing counsel) that shows what words have been added and

what words have been deleted. Some document management programs provide automatic versioningcontrol, so that users can easily save multiple versions of the same document under the same name and

same document information. Typically, only the most current version is visible in file listings or file

searches, but prior versions can be retrieved with a few extra mouse clicks.

Revision Controls

Another problem with some law firms with networked electronic files is that two people might try

to edit the same file at the same time, or that someone might accidentally (or deliberately) change a filethat is the responsibility of another lawyer. Another growing problem arises when lawyers copy

documents to laptops, edit the documents on the laptops, and then want to copy the document back into

the firm's computers, because someone else might have edited the same document while the lawyer wasediting the same document on the laptop computer. Some document management programs provide

solutions to these problems by allowing users to impose restrictions on who can view or edit files, and



by providing a "check out" system that prevents anyone else from using or viewing a file while another

lawyer is working on it, whether the other lawyer is working on the firm's computers, on a laptop, or at ahome or other remote computer.

Archiving

At some point, inactive files should be transferred out of the working directories of the law firm,and yet lawyers will still want access to those files, and will still want a record of the files within the

document management system. Even if the firm's computer system has the storage capacity to hold the

files, there is still the problem of "tripping over" inactive clients and matters while searching for currentfiles. A document management system should therefore allow for "archiving," keeping information

about the files within the system but allowing the files themselves to be moved to a different directory,

hard drive, CD, DVD, or tape until needed again.

Intranets and Extranets

Newer document management systems are moving beyond the walls of the office and allowinglawyers to access documents from outside the office, while at home, at a client's, or on the road, and are

also allowing clients, co-counsel, and outside counsel to have access to selected documents within thefirm's computers. (With proper passwords and other security measures, of course.) This is usuallyaccomplished through software tools that either use the Internet itself or the protocols of the Internet.

When that kind of system is internal to the law firm, it is sometimes known as a "intranet," and when it

is accessible to people outside the firm, it is sometimes known as an "extranet."

Software Products

The two most popular general-purpose case management programs for lawyers are:

Amicus Attorney

Gavel & Gown Software, Inc.

800-472-2289www.amicus.ca

Time MattersDATA.TXT Corporation

800-328-2898www.timematters.com

An alternative to legal-specific case management software is business-oriented “personal

information managers” or “PIMs,” including Microsoft Outlook. These programs are really special-

purpose databases, but they can carry out case management functions such as contact management (i.e.,name and address database), calendar and scheduling, task management (i.e., to-do and tickler lists), and

information management (i.e., other case information). These kinds of programs can carry out most of the functions identified previously for legal case management, and may be of interest to some lawyers or

firms looking for relatively simple solutions to their case management needs.



The most popular document management programs are:

DOCS Open; DOCS Fusion

Hummingbird, Ltd.(416) 496-2200

www.hummingbird.com

iManage

iManage, Inc.(650) 356-1166

www.imanage.com

WORLDOX

World Software Corporation(201) 444-3228

www.worldox.com

Although not usually considered to be a document management program, the Paperport program

from Scansoft (800-443-7077; www.scansoft.com) is very good at scanning documents and thenmanaging both the scanned images and other kinds of documents.