Gavel & Gown Software announced on September 8, 2005 that they will be building on the success of their award winning Amicus Attorney software product by releasing a time, billing & accounting product to be called Amicus Accounting.

“We are excited to be bringing another great software product to market that will help to make law firms more productive,” said Ron Collins, President of Gavel & Gown Software Inc. “For years our customers have been asking us to take the Amicus philosophy and apply it to a billing product. And that is exactly what we have done.”

Amicus Accounting will act as a companion product to Amicus Attorney, creating a total solution for firms looking to integrate their front office and back office processes into a single easy to use tool. It will also be sold as a stand alone solution.

Amicus Attorney will continue to integrate with other time & billing solutions. “We have built our customer base by linking Amicus Attorney to all the major legal billing products on the market and we will continue to link to these products,” said Les Hansen, VP Sales & Marketing at Gavel & Gown. “Amicus Accounting will simply provide customers another option in selecting the software products that are best suited for the firms”.

Amicus Accounting is slated for release in 2006.

For a complete copy of the press release, go to Gavel & Gown Press Release.

One of the best kept secrets in law office technology is that you already have many of the tools you need to automate document creation.

Built into Microsoft Word, and also WordPerfect if you are one of a shrinking minority of firms still using the Corel product, is the ability to create document templates. Templates allow you to create instantly new documents based on your most-used standard forms, then easily add in client or case- specific information. Once a template is created and placed in a shared folder (where all network users can access it), anyone in the firm can create a new document based on that template without fear of damaging or accidently overwriting the original template. Templates can be used for standard enclosure letters, fee agreements, pleadings, or any other document you use regularly.

Start by creating templates for your 10 most used documents. The increase in efficiency will astound you. And you will avoid the embarrassment and potential liability that arises when you simply copy a document from one client's folder on your network and forget to remove all of the old information before you click on "save as" to preserve and print the revised version of the old document.

Beyond basic templates using only your word processing software, you can further automate document production by automatically inserting client or case-specific information from your case management software, such as Amicus Attorney or PCLaw, directly into your document. The Amicus Master Documents feature is an especially powerful tool for automation of your practice. With a few mouse clicks, you can have a completed and fully customized document for each client.

We can create templates for you or come to your office to train your staff on the process of template creation in Word or Amicus Attorney.Call us at (513) 755-1377 with questions or to schedule training on document template creation

Missed deadlines, blown statutes of limitations, and other calendar-related failures are a major cause of attorney malpractice.

Practice management software allows precise tracking of all deadlines, due dates, and limitation periods. This information is instantly available to both the lawyer and his/her assistant, so it is not necessary to rely on a calendar which is accessible to only one staff member at a time.

It is important to note that a practice management software package that is not implemented properly can give you a false sense of security. It is imperative that you and your staff are trained properly to use the software. Then you really can build the best malpractice avoidance system and make your malpractice carrier happy to boot.

Consistent use of a practice management program allows attorneys and legal assistants to accurately keep track of all client work and therefore capture a higher percentage of billable time.

Think about the activities that take place every day: court appearances, meetings, telephone calls, emails and document creation are the most common. If the practice management program is linked to a time/billing program, the time is transferred without the need to re-key the time entry.

The link between Amicus Attorney, the most intuitive practice management software, and PCLaw, the best small and medium firm time/billing/accounting package, is especially solid.

Within a few months, a practice management program can pay for itself with increased billable time.

Check your UPS unit batteries After the summer storm season passes, we tend to forget about those little boxes with batteries sitting on the floor that protect our sensitive computer equipment from power spikes and outages. However, the need for a good uninterruptible power supply (UPS) continues throughout the year. Year-end is a great time to check your UPS unit to make sure it is functioning properly.

It is important to remember that the batteries in your UPS units do not last forever. Battery life depends on a number of factors including ambient temperature, battery chemistry, cycling and service. Generally, the battery should be replaced every two or three years. Often it is no more expensive to replace the entire unit than to replace only the battery, so consider that option before you order a replacement battery.

Once you replace the battery (or entire unit), mark your calendar for year-end two years from now. Most calendaring programs let you set repeating events on a daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis, so this should not be difficult to do. At that time, test your UPS unit again. You can use the monitoring software that came with your unit or try a real-time test by closing all of your programs and then unplugging power to the UPS. If the battery is OK, it will have enough power to allow you to properly shut down the computer (automatically via the software or manually by exiting Windows and turning off the computer).

And if you have tempted fate by not having a UPS unit for all of your computers and network hardware (not a wise move in this climate), now is absolutely a good time to purchase the UPS units you need. If you are running Windows XP, it will automatically monitor the status of your UPS if you connect the unit to your computer using the USB cable that came with your unit. If not, use the software that came with your unit along with the included serial or USB cable.

Are your backup tapes more than a year old? If you use a tape drive to back up your important documents and data, it is critical that your backup tape cartridges are in good working order. Tape cartridges are mechanical devices and will wear out over the span of 8 months to a year.

If your tapes are more than 6 months old, you may want to mark your calendar to replace your tapes at year- end. In some cases you may notice tape errors or unreliable backups before the one-year anniversary of your tapes. If that happens, replace them earlier or consider going to an alternative backup method.

During the past year or so, we have urged firms to revisit their devotion to tape backup systems. New technologies such as, External USB hard drives, DVD or CD recorders, and on-line backup services, alone or in combination, promise better reliability and reduced cost. If you are interested in hearing about these alternatives, call CNI at 513-755-1377.