We arrived in Toronto March 24^th and it was snowing with an incredibly long line to get transportation from the airport to the hotel in downtown and temperatures in the in the 10F (-10 C).

The next day we had a welcome from Gavel & Gown president Ron Collins who gave us a state of Amicus Attorney products. Then we had some classes on Amicus Attorney 2011 SFE and PE including the top 10 problems support calls.

We continued with a deep look into Amicus Billing an integrated billing program to Amicus Attorney. Amicus Billing is using the same SQL database that Amicus Attorney uses so there is no link problem or maintenance of two databases.

George Alves is the project manager for Amicus Billing. He was some time back the project manager in a company called Alumni that made PCLaw. When Alumni was purchased by Lexis-Nexis, George and a big part of the Alumni employees were hired by Gavel & Gown and started working on Amicus Billing.

One of the goals of Amicus Billing is to have a billing program that it is very, very easy to use and provides the attorneys with quick financial information on clients and matters without the needs to generating reports.  From what we have seen so far it is quite promising and I can’t wait to see the finished product. There is nothing to install. When you install Amicus Attorney, Amicus Billing is part of that installation.You activate Amicus billing by requesting a code. All the familiar billing functions are there including trust accounts.

Amicus Billing is not a general ledger program so you will need QuickBooks Pro or similar programs for that function.  They have not told us a date when Amicus Billing will be released on the market, but it seems reasonable that in a couple of months we should at least have a date if not the product itself.  I am looking forward to test the final version and write in this blog more details about the new Amicus Billing.

Paolo Broggi, IT Engineer
2b1 Inc.
www.2b1inc.com

Gavel & Gown in January has delivered a new version of Amicus Attorney 2011 Small Firm Edition and Amicus Attorney 2011 Premium Edition. The major new addition is the Time Entry Assistant and additional improvements on entering time sheets. The Time Entry Assistant is a tool that goes and checks for all the events – appointments and to dos, phone calls and e-mails that have not a time entry and it lists them in a convenient sortable list. From there you can click on them and create time sheets like you normally would do or you can click on the “Time Saver” button that will take all the information in the event and automatically create an time sheet.  Time Entry Assistant in the new Amicus Attorney 2011 SFE and Amicus Attorney 2011 PE will prevent you to forget about that one 15 minutes phone call 3 days ago, or that half hour appointment last week. All these time adds up quickly.

Amicus Attorney 2011 SFE new Time Entry Assistant

Another welcome new feature is the ability to choose the timekeeper when entering new time sheets. Now assistants don’t have to log into the timekeepers’ Amicus Attorney office. From their office they can create a new time sheet and select the right timekeeper for that one entry then they can click on the new “Save and New” button that will save the current time sheet and immediately open the next one.

Amicus-Attorney 2011 Time Entry Details

Yet one more improvement in Amicus Attorney 2011 time tracking is the addition of a new page in the Amicus Attorney 2011 Calendar in the Today view on the  left side of the page in Amicus Attorney 2011 SFE and on the right side of the page in Amicus Attorney 2011 PE there is a grey button that says To Do. Click on it and select Time Sheets. Now in the Calendar you can see all your time sheets for a particular day and match them up with your appointments for that day.  This is an additional great tool to make your live simpler.

Amicus Attorney 2011 Calendar Time Sheets

All these new Time Sheets improvements in Amicus Attorney 2011 will make the program pay for the upgrade price by itself in a very short time.

For more information about Amicus Attorney 2011 SFE and Amicus Attorney 2011 PE, contact us at 415-284-2221.

By Paolo Broggi, Information System Engineer and Certified Amicus Attorney consultant since 1997
2b1inc.
www.2b1inc.com

04/13/2010

I have created two short videos that demonstrate some of the  features that Amicus Attorney 2010 PE has

1. Amicus Attorney 2010 PE New Adjournments and

2. Amicus Attorney 2010 PE Calendar Printouts

We have now a new software that allows us to create videos faster. If you are interested in seeing more videos please let us know and we will select the most requested ones. If you want to learn more faster contact us via web or call us at +1 415 284-2221.

Enjoy.

Amicus Attorney 2010 PE Adjournments

Amicus Attorney 2010 PE Calendar Printouts

If you are interested in seeing more videos please let me know what topics www.2b1inc.com then click on Contact Us

by Paolo Broggi, Information System Engineer and Certified Amicus Attorney consultant since 1997
2b1inc.
www.2b1inc.com

In this blog entry I am going to discuss how Amicus Attorney was intended to be used.

Many of my clients are using Amicus Attorney as a contact manager, a calendar and a way to enter time. However Amicus Attorney can do much more than these basic functions. It can stream line processes so that only in a few minutes you can create new files, check for conflict, enter several events on the calendar and even print a retainer in one swoop.

Amicus Attorney Custom Fields

Step 1.  Most law offices have already intake forms for new clients. We need to look at these intake forms to get an inspiration for the additional information that we need to track beside name and address, e.g. Retainer Amount, County, Separation Date, Date of Death, Court Name and Case Number and so on. This type of information can be easily entered in Amicus Attorney Custom Fields.  Amicus Attorney SFE allows for 50 custom fields for file type e.g. Criminal, Family Law, Probate etc. Amicus Attorney PE is more flexible and allows us to enter an unlimited amount of custom fields and give us control over the layout.

Amicus Attorney Template Selection Window

Step 2. Once we have the custom field in place the next step is to use them to generate Amicus Attorney templates. Here by using Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect we can create retainers, letterheads, fax cover pages, proof of services, pleading headers, medical record requests letters and many more. A template is a document that has place holders for the information that will be coming from the Amicus Attorney database.  For example the name and address can come from the client’s information in the Amicus Attorney’s contact card and the retainer amount from the Retainer custom field we created earlier.

Amicus Attorney Precedents

Amicus Attorney Saving Precedent Window

Step 3. Now that we have our templates in place we can move on to the next step and create a set of linked To Dos and Appointments called Precedents. Let’s say that when we have a new client we want to 1. Check for conflict, 2. Prepare a retainer, 3. Follow up if the retainer was returned, 4. Look if retainer payment was receives. 5 Send an acknowledgment to the client, 6. Call the client to setup a meeting to discuss the details of the case. With a “New Client” Precedent we can link all these events (appointments and to dos) and in some of these events we can attach a DO button that will have the event create a retainer letter and another one to track a phone call.

Amicus Attorney Intake Form Creation

Amicus Attorney Intake Action Items

Step 4 . We are at the last step. Here we put it all together with an Amicus Attorney intake form. These forms (one form for each file type) allow us to quickly create a new file and we will be prompted to enter information in the custom fields. Then they can start automatic conflict check, add the “New Client” precedent that will put all 6 events on the calendar. Then it can even generate a retainer letter and finally send out an e-mail to the people involved with a confirmation that the file has been open.

By thinking about what other repetitive tasks you are doing and taking advantage of these custom fields, Amicus Attorney templates and Precedent you can stream line many annoying tasks so that you can focus on practicing law.

If you have specific needs please contact us we will be happy to discuss in details how Amicus Attorney Small Firm Edition and Amicus Attorney Premium Edition can be customized for you.

Paolo Broggi,
IT Engineer and Amicus Certified Consultant since 1997
www.2b1inc.com
Check out our 2b1mail and 2b1backup services

Amicus Attorney 2010 PE

Amicus Attorney 2010 PE and Amicus Attorney 2010 SFE New Calendar Features

On January 2010 Gave and Gown Software has released a new version of its flagship practice management software Amicus Attorney 2010.

In this new incarnation Amicus Attorney 2010 Premium Edition and Amicus Attorney Small Firm Edition adds some very nice features. The most visible one is in the Calendar module where now we can color code categories of events. For example we can have all court categories in read, all new clients meeting in green and regular client work in gray. By using colors the events stand out visually continuing on the ease of use and friendliness interface that Amicus Attorney built its reputation on.

Sating in the Calendar module Amicus Attorney 2010 PE and SFE now have Adjournments. This allows a user by checking a box in the appointment Event Detail window to keep track of any changes made to that event. If I move the appointment, a window pops up and asks to give a reason for the change before I can modify the event. Then after I move the event, a copy of that event stays on its original place but grayed out to leave a trace of the history of the changes. I can click on Details button in the Event Details window to see the list of the reasons of the changes.

To Dos also have been improved by having Progressive Priority Levels. This new feature allows a To Do with the progressive priority level turned on to change its priority level as it get closer to the deadline. For example I can create a To Do to file an answer and set my deadline then I can check the Progressive Priority check box and from the pull down menu select “20, 10 and 5” (if my deadline is 30 days from today) this will change the average priority to go to “High” 10 days before the deadline and to “Top” 5 days before it automatically!

An additional feature in Amicus Attorney PE will allow the calendar of a user to be shared completely with an assistant/paralegal so that even private events (events that don’t have a files associated) will be visible to the people selected. This is a big  improvements on small offices where the assistant needs to log into the attorney office to see all appointments (because the attorney forgot to select the file…) Now is not a problem, the assistant can quickly open that event and fix it without the need of switching to the attorney office. This feature is enabled in the Office>>Preferences>>Calendar – Other on the attorney PC. In the middle section you can click on the blue head and pick the name of the assistant(s).

Amicus Attorney 2010 PE Share Calendar

This is all for today. As I get some more time I will cover more new features. I do want to tell you that I had a chance of installing over a dozen of upgrades of Amicus Attorney 2010 PE and Amicus Attorney 2010 SFE. Upgrade time for the server for 2010 PE is about 4 hours since we need to upgrade also MS SQL 2005 to 2008. Amicus Attorney 2010 SFE is a much easier upgrade and the time depends on the size of the database (normally about an hour on the server for most small offices).

If you have a need to upgrade your Amicus Attorney please let me know and I’ll be happy to help you out with it. We now have a great tool do remote installations and trainings over the Internet. Contact us

Thank you.

Paolo Broggi, IT Engineer and Amicus Certified Consultant and Trainer since 1997
2b1 Inc.
www.2b1inc.com

Gavel & Gown Software has notified firms using Amicus Attorney in conjunctions with CompuLaw that due to changes in the court rules a new CompuLaw engine had to be developed to accommodate these changes. The new changes are taking effect on December 1^st 2009.

Who is going to be affected?

Every firm currently using Amicus Attorney and CompuLaw will be affected as early as Amicus Attorney  IV to Amicus Attorney 2009 SFE and Amicus Attorney 2009 PE.

What needs to be done to have Amicus Attorney and CompuLaw working?

As of today we are been told by Gavel & Gown Software that only upgrading to Amicus Attorney 2010 SFE and Amicus Attorney 2010 PE will update the CompuLaw engine which allows the use of the new Court Rules. Amicus Attorney 2010 is not currently available. Gavel & Gown Software is hoping to release a version to the CompuLaw users before December 1^st.

What happens if I don’t upgrade?

Using CompuLaw without the new engine update will cause to calculate wrong dates leaving the door open for malpractice issues.

How much will the upgrade to Amicus Attorney 2010 will cost?

As of today a price for the upgrade to Amicus Attorney 2010 with the new CompuLaw engine has not been announced. A memo saying that a promotional price of 30% off the upgrade price would be offered was sent to Amicus Attorney Consultants. If someone would opt for the 3 years maintenance plan the upgrade price will be 50% off the regular price.

Will be a CompuLaw Engine for earlier versions of Amicus Attorney made available?

From what I can understand so far due to the high cost of changing the engine in the earlier versions of Amicus Attorney an updated CompuLaw Engine will not be made available.

As more information will be made I’ll post it here

If you have questions you can call 2b1 inc at 415 284-2221

Paolo Broggi
Amicus Certified Consultant – since 1997
www.2b1inc.com

Today Gavel & Gown announce an update to Amicus Attorney 2009 SFE that fixes four problems:

1. Right click Cut, Copy, Delete and Select All functions are now working in the text fields

2. Auto Text unexpected behavior

3. Phone message forwarding if the From field has no contact can now be forwarded.

4. Wrapping of text in the Note Details field is now working as expected

This patch is available online at the following address:

http://amicusattorney.com/support/downloads/support_dl_09sfe.html#

Paolo Broggi
2b1 Inc. Certified Amicus Consultant since 1996
www.2b1inc.com

Recently we had to move QuickBooks 2006 from an old PC to a newer PC since we were taking to old PC out of service. We took the QuickBooks 2006 CD and we installed the program with the product number and serial number. After the installation we opened it and we get a messaged that there are upgrades that we need to download. We download the updates and we install them. About half hour later we see that the system is still installing these update so we start looking at the different messages Calculating Space, Copying File, Deleting Temporary Files and then we see that the process starts again and again.

After another 20 minutes of looking the installation process going in a loop we stopped it. We went on the Internet but we could not easily find help within QB site. We ended up calling support who with a strong Indian accent offered us to upgrade or get a $79 one month support plan. We chose that last option. The support person went on the download page of the QuickBooks web site and downloaded the QB 2006 update and installed it outside the QuickBooks program and that fixed the problem.

The thing that puzzles me is that Intuit puts in QuickBooks an automatic update tool that is not functioning. Then there is no information like a Frequently Asked Questions FAQ or a knowledge base site to look up these problems so that you have to get QB support and pay for the support plan. To top it of the following day I got an e-mail survey with a link that was not working.

I know I am not the only one having this kind of problems. Any of you have a similar experience with QB?

I am back writing new entries in the 2b1 blog. We have been very busy in the last months to create new exciting services for the small and medium size law firms and learn about the new Amicus Attorney 2009 PE and Amicus Attorney 2009 SFE.

I would like to start by presenting the new 2b1 Backup Service. We have notice that in many small firms not much attention is given on backing up the data and documents on the server. Some have backup tapes others have external hard drives; however very few have a comprehensive approach that will better protect the firm’s data.

The weak points of the backup systems mentioned above are the human factor and the maintenance. We have seen that some firms do have tape systems but the people at the firm are not changing the tapes regularly or the tapes have no information on them. With the external hard drives rarely someone checks regularly if the backup is working and all too often we find out that the files needed were not backed up.

Another point that often is overlooked is that something can happen to the office like a fire or burglary then people realize that they don’t have a copy of their data off site and the firm is forced to close.

2b1 looked at all these problems and came up with a clever way to resolve them. We have setup backup servers one in Phoenix, AZ and a second one in San Diego, CA on two data centers with fast Internet connection. Now with the 2b1 Backup Service you can backup your data in a local hard drive and off site on 2b1backup servers. Your data is compressed and encrypted before leaving the firm up to military/bank encryption. You can choose how often the backup will run and the information will be on two separate servers in two different states. You will get an e-mail status to let you know if the backup was successful. If something should happen to your office you can download your documents and data e.g. Amicus, Timeslips QuickBooks, PCLaw databases etc to any PC connected to the Internet and setup your office there.

We have had a great response with 2b1 Backup Service since with have a high end backup system at a fraction of the price. Please contact us to find out more about the special discounted rates we have right now on 2b1 Backup Service.

Paolo Broggi
2b1 Inc., IS Engineer
www.2b1backup.com

Yesterday I had a client that needed to see his To Do list in a specific way. He used to use Palm Desktop to print out a list of his trial events but once we upgraded the law firm to Amicus Attorney 2009 PE. He could not see the To Do list like it used to. After showing me the print out from the old system, we went to the Tasks module in Amicus.

There in the Show Custom Tasks Profile we selected Custom to get to the Tasks Profile windows. In the Who section we selected the attorney name. In the How section we selected the Simple view that shows us the Done, Date, Priority, Initial, Title and File field of the To Dos. We let the Sort on Date and secondary sort on Priority. Under When we selected the Next 90 days since today. Finally under What we selected all tasks for all files. We named that profile and set it as his default. The very final test was to print out the list on the screen. File>>Print Preview gave us a picture of what we wanted so we printed and that was very close to that list To Dos that he was used to.

There are many ways to customize profiles in the new Amicus Attorney 2009 PE. If you want more information please contact me by going to the Contact Us page.

Paolo Broggi
Amicus Attorney Certified Consultant
www.2b1inc.com