For many years Amicus Attorney's practice management software has been the leader in ease of use and integration with the top time/billing/accounting programs for law offices. The new version, Amicus Attorney 7, has some great new features that will give you even greater control over the information in your practice. Here are some highlights:

Favorites - you can set up quick shortcuts to any record type in Amicus 7, so that you can quickly access these records from anywhere in Amicus. This also includes your Internet Favorites, which can also be easily accessed from within Amicus.

Multiple Files and Contacts - You now have the ability to keep multiple Files and Contacts open at the same time. Along with this, you can assign phone calls, events, notes, etc. to multiple Files and/or Contacts. So you can now keep records of a conference call among more than one Contact / File / Firm Member. And you can set up associations between multiple files.

Log in from any desk in your firm - now you can access your Amicus Office from any PC on your network - you are no longer tied to a workstation. You can also easily connect over the Internet (Premium Edition only).

Customization - In Amicus 7, you don't just have custom fields, but you can set up custom records, and lay them out the way you want to see them on a File. If a divorce attorney wants to record the names, DOB's and SS#'s of the children from a marriage in Amicus 5.x, he or she can create custom fields but has to lump the information for multiple children together in some way. In Amicus 7, you can create a record type that has the following fields: Name, DOB and SS#. You can then store the information for each child as a discrete record. (Unlimited Custom Fields and Custom Records are only available in the Premium Edition).

Appointment Notification - Amicus 7 has built in notification of appointment changes, either to assigned firm members or to all assigned contacts. Imagine the power of your client getting an e-mail confirming the new appointment time without you having to do anything more than move it in Amicus? Reminders of upcoming appointments can automatically go out by e-mail as well.

Searching - You can now search through Amicus for anything in one very powerful dialog box. You can search for text across Files, Contacts, Notes, Documents, Library Pages, etc. - and you can save search definitions for conducting a similar search in the future.

Contact records - you can now link contacts to a master client record, and you can have unlimited addresses for a contact. That means that if any of the client's contact information changes, all contacts linked to that client change automatically.

E-mail Integration - In Amicus 7 you can see Outlook in the ComCenter, not just a link to your e-mail, but you actually see Outlook itself. Many users (and consultants) found the sacrifices of managing our e- mail through the Amicus 5.x ComCenter too painful - those sacrifices are now gone.

Auto-Text (Text expansion) / Spell Check - you define your own list of text shortcuts, and when you want your text anywhere in Amicus, just type the abbreviation, and the text will expand. And the Spell Check feature automatically gives you red-lined spell check features.

Attaching Documents and/or Folders - Just associate a folder from your hard drive or server) to a matter, and all documents placed in that folder will appear in Amicus. You can now also attach documents/folders to a person, not just a File.

Chronologies - of every type of record can also be found on people - not just on a File.

Automatic histories on events - keep track of who reschedule a meeting, who cancelled the conference call - automatically

Precedents / Linked events - Much more powerful precedents and linked events - easy ways to change the events in a precedent, and easy ways to see what events a precedent is made up of

Notes / Stickies - Improved "Stickies" - you can easily create a Sticky, and decide whether to send it now, or at a later date

Billing Activity Codes - you can create your own personal list of most often used billing activity codes so you don't have to search through the list of all 50 for the firm.

Document Assembly - more options - greater flexibility and easy of use. Better template naming conventions and a new document template tree for easy selection

Workgroup Calendar - Instant workgroup calendars that make it faster and easier to coordinate with your colleagues - and you can now see a full 24-hour day

Enhanced Document Assembly Options - more flexible document generation options, better template naming conventions, and a new document template tree for easy selection of templates - still works great with Word, WordPerfect and HotDocs

Document Management - The Premium Edition has considerably expanded document management. Network folders can be automatically created for each Client/Matter, and all documents will be stored there by Amicus, no matter where they are created.

Firm Directory - all users of Amicus Attorney now have access to a Firm Directory in the People module, which also allows users to see all of the people involved in a file, including Firm Members.

Customizable Floating Toolbar - the Amicus toolbar can be customized to display some or all of the quick select icons, and can include the timer in the vertical display

These features sound great, but how do they work in the real world? Here is your chance to find out - for free!

We are using the magic of Web-based conferencing to offer demonstrations of Amicus 7. Demonstrations will last 30 minutes and are scheduled by appointment. Be sure to email Carmen Relatores at crelatores@cni-incorporated.com ASAP to reserve your spot. We will send you the log-in information for the web demo via return email.

AUTOTEXT

AutoText is a way to store and quickly insert text (also graphics, fields, tables, bookmarks, and other items that you use frequently). Word comes with a library of built-in AutoText entries (see the items listed under AutoText on the Insert menu or turn on the AutoText toolbar, then click on All Entries). Most importantly, you can create your own AutoText entries with either of the following methods:

Method 1:

 

Method 2:

 

AUTOCORRECT

AutoCorrect is similar to AutoText, except the desired text is automatically inserted when you type the shortcut text or characters and then hit the space bar. Use AutoCorrect for often typed words, names, or phrases. For example, create an AutoCorrect entry for your name and the names of others in your firm or major clients so that typing their initials will automatically result in their full name being inserted into your document. You can do the same thing for frequently used legal or technical terms such as plaintiff (perhaps "pl") or defendant (maybe select "def"). AutoCorrect entries can be short or long, such as a full paragraph or even multiple paragraphs, of boilerplate language. Just be sure to pick a shortcut that isn't a word you might otherwise use, because as soon as you hit the spacebar, your AutoCorrect entry will be instantly inserted into your document.

DEFAULT FONT

Every firm has it own preferred font style and size. (If you don't, you should - standardized document appearance is part of firm "branding" in your marketing strategy). To set your default font:

Standard forms should be saved as document templates with the .dot extension. As templates, they are better protected and can be used to create new documents based on the original template.

It is remarkably easy to create a document template in Word. Just open your standard form and click on Save As under the File menu. At the bottom of the Save As dialog box will be a drop-down list of file types. The standard document format (.doc) is selected by default. Instead, hit the drop down arrow and select Document Template (*.dot) as your file format.

Before you click OK, you will notice that the location for saving your template has been automatically changed by Word. By default, Word stores its document templates in a hidden folder buried deep in your user profile on your local C: drive. That may not be the best place for it. For one thing, that hidden folder is almost never backed up by your backup software. If your hard drive crashes, you lose your templates. Also, the contents of that folder are not generally shared across the network with other users. If you have a great form that is of use to others in the firm, you should share it.

To do that, before you hit OK in the final step of saving your template, browse to a shared folder on your network where you want to keep all of your firm's standard forms (this may already exist or you may have to create it). Save your template into that folder so others can benefit from your hard work!

The final step in this template sharing process is to set your Workgroup Templates folder to point to that shared folder on the network where you are now saving all of your firm's standard forms (make sure it is being backed up!). Go to Tools>Options and select the File Locations tab. Click on Workgroup templates, then the Modify button, and browse to the location where you are now storing your firm's templates. Finally, click OK. You will need to do this on each computer in your office separately (or at least each computer you want to have ready access to your templates).

Word's Track Changes feature gives you this ability. Track Changes allows an author (or a group of co-authors) to retain deleted text to be accepted or rejected once the document is finalized. With the feature activated, Word "red lines" text deleted from the original document so that is visible, but distinct from the surrounding text. A related feature, called Compare Documents, highlights the differences between two versions of a document. It will be described in the next section of this newsletter.

To turn on Track Changes:

 

If you have the Word's Status Bar (Tools>Options>View tab) on the bottom of your screen activated, you can simply double-click on the grayed-out TRK to activate Track Changes. As you make changes for your second draft, you'll see how Word displays the changed text.

The Track Changes feature can be a bit tricky to use, especially if multiple authors are collaborating on a document. For multiple authors, you can also enable document protection with the tracked changes feature. This will allow reviewers to edit the document, but they will not be able to turn off Track Changes and they will not be able to accept or reject changes. To protect a document for tracked changes:

• Complete your first draft and save it.
• Choose Protect Document from the Tools menu.
• Under Protect document for select the Tracked changes radio button.
• Enter a password (you'll be prompted to confirm the password).

Comparing documents is easy:

 

• First, save your current document (just to be safe).
• Then go to Tools>Compare and Merge Documents.
• In the dialog box that opens, browse to the document you want to compare to your current document (perhaps the original version you emailed to your collaborator) highlight it, and click the Compare button.

You will now see a new document that combines the two you are comparing and highlights the differences. You then have the option of using the Accept or Reject Changes feature in the Reviewing toolbar (also available in Track Changes) to accept or reject the differences.

A style is a set of formatting characteristics. These characteristics include font, spacing, margins, justification, indents, etc. You can apply a style to text in your document quickly. The Style list is that dropdown list on the Formatting toolbar, where it usually says Normal in a white box. You apply styles by selecting text, then choosing a style from the list. There will be a few there by default. You can create your own styles:

 

• Select the text that contains the formatting you want to use for your style
• On the Formatting toolbar, click inside the Style box.
• Type over the existing style name to create the name for the new style, then press Enter.

You can set additional formatting characteristics for paragraph styles:

 

• On the Format menu, click Styles and Formatting.
• In the Styles and Formatting box that appears on the right of the screen, select the style you want to modify, click on the dropdown arrow, and then select Modify.
• Select the options you want.

Note: Styles travel with the document. However, you can use the Modify option to copy them to other templates or your default Normal template.