Easy Practice Management Through Law Office Billing Software

You've seen them. We've seen them. These are the headlines that make the lawyers nervous: jury awards millions in legal malpractice suit; lawyer disbarred for unethical conduct.

Lawyers are not immune from being listed as “defendants.” Lawyers USA reported a verdict in 2010 against a law firm for $103 million on findings of legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duties, conspiracy and interfering with business relationships. The underlying fact pattern involved a conflict of interest.

A big part of why we do what we do at Easy Soft is to help lawyers get into good habits using our legal billing software to automate key areas known to result in grievances and professional liability lawsuits.
This week, in a special three-part blog series, we're going to highlight the three, critical areas for lawyers where using Easy Soft legal software will be defense as the best offense: (1) trust account bookkeeping; (2) conflict management; and (3) docket control.

Each of these high-risk areas can be easily brought to a well-managed business practices when you utilize Easy Soft's trust accounting software and billing programs. With more than 25 years of experience and more than 15,000 clients, let Easy Soft law office billing software to help you reduce risk and manage time so that you can maximize profitability.

Our “Easy Trust” and “Easy TimeBill” legal software programs are available as a free trial and with a 30-day unconditional money back guarantee. With features from three-way trust account bookkeeping to comprehensive database searches for conflicts of interest to multi view and print calendar controls, our legal billing software sets the gold standard in its field.

Not only is our website stocked with tips and videos to help you explore all of the features of Easy Soft legal software , we have live support operators ready to take your call when you have questions.

Let's spend a few moments together for the next, three blogs and develop a plan of approach to good practice management that will have you seeing just how easy our law office billing software can be.

Easy Docket Control Through Easy Soft’s Law Office Billing Software

Let's grab just one more topic this week related our theme of professional liability and ethics compliance. As our third example, let's talk about consider docket control systems, and how we make them easy using “Easy TimeBill” law office billing software and “Easy Trust” trust accounting software .

The idea behind a docket control system is to build two or more sources of reminders for the functions you are responsible to complete. Listing two or more docket control systems is a routine question on applications and renewals of professional liability insurance – the more activity there is around managing your schedule the lower the odds that you'll forget to do something or be somewhere.

When you use Easy TimeBill and Easy Trust legal software , you incorporate computer automation into your docket control system through your law office billing software and trust accounting software . These programs have calendaring and to-do lists, which act as a docket control system.

In Easy Soft legal software , there is a module called “Case Management,” through which you can maintain a calendar, create task lists, write notes, and link documents. To add a task, simply select the client, identify a due date, flag the priority level of the task, write your description, and assign it. As you progress a matter, you can go back into the attorney billing software task list and update the record with how much of the task has been completed. Our legal software will even allow you to see a list of completed tasks.

With our pair of legal software products, you will also be able to see the same information in different views. For example, once you have added a to-do task, another way our law office billing software will remind you of the task is to show it to you when you click on that particular client. If you forgot about the task and were going into the file to record another activity or expense, the scheduled task will be the first thing that you see.

To recap, this has been the week to highlight trust account bookkeeping, conflict management, and docket control, and how you can successfully serve yourself in all three areas by using Easy Soft's legal software . In our litigious society, the best defense is the best offense, and that means incorporating law office billing software to automate your business practices in high-risk areas of the law office.

And, as a special bonus-added offering, we're including a good night's sleep, at no additional charge.

Easy Conflict Checking Through Easy Soft’s Law Office Billing Software

This week's special topic what lawyers need to do to keep themselves in compliance and ready to defend against an ethics inquiry or a lawsuit.

As a second example, let's consider the conflict checking system. And for the sake of argument, let's continue with the premise that the answer is as easy as Easy Soft's legal software , specifically, “Easy Trust” trust accounting software and “Easy TimeBill” law office billing software .

You get hired by a client. There is an opposing party. If you can remember the names of your current clients, what about your former clients? Opposing clients? Other members of the Board of Directors? Witnesses you've grilled on cross-examination? Co-employees listed on e-mails but not charged? Opposing counsel? Judges?

Grievance committees and malpractice carriers alike expect that, as a routine part of business, lawyers will have a conflict control system that is used no less than when a new client calls for a consultation and when you offer to represent a client. Ideally, it is used at multiple points during representation, as well, such as before issuing subpoenas to testify at trial.

Easy TimeBill law office billing software contains a unique database feature that allows you to build a database and search the database for conflicts with the simple click of a button. The Easy TimeBill data base feature of our legal software encourages you to enter the names of all persons associated with a case – not just the parties. When you input the names of witnesses, counsel, and the judge into our legal software , you go the extra step to build aggregate data in one database, ready to search.

The Easy TimeBill legal billing software also allows you to enter the names of former clients and people associated with their cases. If you have not previously used an automated client conflict system, this will help you to establish one. Even if all you do is enter the names of the parties from cases you have closed out within the past few years and then continue to use this system going forward, you will have a foundation for a conflict check system using Easy TimeBill legal software .

Why not treat today like an opportunity to upgrade and automate your conflict checking system? Easy Soft offers a free trial of our attorney billing software , along with a 30-day money back guarantee, and personal support operators.

Separate, corner office not required.

Why to Use legal billing software?

In present scenario, busy law offices incorporate and call for optimal potency. As lawyers and law companies struggle for clients they're regularly challenged to proffer services at lowest prices with larger potency, so that law companies grow practice-specific procedures and utilize modern technologies to help in completing such challenges. Confining complete to be billed time and producing invoices in a suitable manner are crucial for the profitability of any law firm. Legal time and billing software is a technique to boost obedience and reduce prices.
Why Use legal billing software ?
Legal software is a proficient mode to track your firm's monetary records. These days, legal time and billing software is employed by several lawyers in nearly each and every practice, to track and bill their time properly. Benefits of this automated software include:
•  Accuracy:   Lawyer Billing Software proffers a perfect book keeping system that aids to sustain the premier standards of compliance, which is awfully vital for any legal firm. Managing and tracking time and expenses in a professional and timely manner is vital for the profitability of the firm and aids to shorten the turn-around time for compilation.
•  Simple Use: the most effective section is that legal time and billing software can be employed & used by anyone with very little or no assistance. In simple words you'll be able to track the bank transactions of your legal firm and settle accounts when required, speedily while not sweating.
•  Simple to Install: As a separate application, lawyer billing software can be installed simply, it takes negligible time to line up, organize, and use.
•  Automation: The main aspect of legal time and billing software is that it automates regular billing cycles. If you've regular or repeated clients, or if you are constantly making invoices for a particular company for the supply of merchandise or services, the software eradicates plenty of pointless paperwork and by making new invoices automatically completes the work hassle free.
•  Multiple Users: If your law company uses a wireless network, your billing software can be lined up with multiple user support across your complete network. You'll be able to produce extra password protections to confirm that solely licensed users and staff are able to use your invoices and bills.
•  Time Saver: the key benefit of billing software is that it roughly lessens the amount of your labor and time that you or your staff got to pay while making invoices. By automating the method, you'll be able to collect payments more quickly and revel in potency enhancements which will boom throughout your complete business.
Efficient time tracking software repays itself. Having the ability to exactly track the time spent on numerous projects allows you to bill your clients exactly and handle your time more professionally. Legal time and billing software is very simple to find out and use, and embody reporting and billing options.

Law Office Billing Software As Easy as a Good Pair of Black Shoes

Ahhh. The versatility of Easy Soft. Our legal billing software called “Easy TimeBill” can be used when billing on an hourly rate, a fixed or flat rate, and a contingency fee. One program - all types of legal billing.

For hourly fee practices, our legal software is designed to record your receipt of client advance retainer deposits, balances, expenses remitted, and invoices paid. Easy TimeBill law firm billing software has screens for time billing, complete with a visible clock, and a feature to set your minimum billing increment. And it has expense screens to list and describe expenses as incurred on a file.

By contrast, let's say you are billing on a fixed fee, perhaps for a house closing or an individual bankruptcy. Our attorney billing software offers you the choice of ‘fixed fee plus cost' or a ‘periodic fixed fee bill.' You can still record the billable hours and document each step of your professional services, but our legal software will ensure that when it generates the monthly invoice, it will not exceed the terms of the fixed fee arrangement.

Or, if you are in a contingency fee arrangement, such as a personal injury case, Easy TimeBill allows you to enter expenses and generate monthly invoices for those expenses. Our law office billing software includes a closing statement to include receipt of settlement funds, deposit of those funds in the trust account, the expenses to be deducted against, the percentage to be paid to the firm, and the balance to be released to the client.

What's particularly handy if you have a blended case practice is that our legal software will help you with accurate billing to each type of client. When you are first hired by a client, you enter a new client on one screen, including fill-in fields with the type of billing for the file. You only have to enter this information once. Our legal billing software will remember that information for all future bills.

You might think that a single computer program that offers this many features would be expensive, but Easy TimeBill is easy on the wallet. Licenses start at $249 and include free technical support for one year.

I See You Through the Network of Law Office Billing Software

Easy Soft TimeBill is all the legal billing software your law firm will need. From individual password log-in to individual billing rates to automated finance charges on past-due accounts, Easy Soft designs legal software specifically for attorneys and their staff.

Just one of the key features of the Easy Soft attorney billing software is its network capability. Within the law office environment, networking is critical for efficient and timely task completion. Computer server technology allows attorneys on different floors and in different buildings to communicate with each other concerning client matters. Our law office software has also developed to the point that an entire law firm can use one program linked in to one database that serves as a network for all of the billing activity of the entire firm.

For the manager of law office billing, the permissions for the network settings within Easy Soft legal billing software allow him or her to see every member of the firm. Is the new associate properly entering time upon return from court? Is the seasoned paralegal using routines within the law firm billing software for daily time and expense entry that will minimize omissions and maximize profitability?

With Easy Soft law office billing software you can also limit the permissions of what data is available on a person-by-person basis. Particularly if you are using the billing software in connection with the trust accounting software , you can limit what is seen on the screens of associates and support staff. Our billing software can put everyone in the firm on the same system, but allow for added confidentialities when and how you find appropriate.

All of our Easy Soft legal software products are network capable, and programs like Easy HUD allow various members on the closing team to input information as it becomes available, sharing the work through the development process to the printing of even the HUD-1 . And, all of our products have free trial down loads and a 30-day money back guarantee.

When Easy Soft law office billing software is part of your firm's work environment, you take advantage of what network technology offers to add value to your bottom line. Why not watch a ten minute video on our Easy Soft website to gain an introduction into the network and other features of our product? The download of the free trial takes only a few more minutes.

Just think, with your selection Easy Soft network-capable legal software , within about fifteen minutes, you could be on your way to Easy Street.

Legal Billing Software To Enhance Revenue Flows

Cash flow governs profitability. This applies as much to lawyers as it does to any businessman or professional. However, lawyers have a different billing and account system, governed by state and federal laws. They need specific legal billing software that incorporates their needs and handles not only billing but also managing back office accounting and trust fund accounts that can stand up to any future audit or scrutiny. Legal time and billing software built around a lawyer's needs saves him time, ensures compliances and enhances revenue flows.

Lawyers use four broadly classifiable billing and accounting methods. These are: hourly billing, fixed fee billing, retainer based hourly billing and contingency billing. Separate itemized account of costs involved in each case along with the actual lawyer's billable hours have to be maintained in respect of each client and each case of the client separately should there be multiple cases from the same client. Competent, affordable yet feature rich attorney time billing software includes these facilities.

A lawyer has to maintain matter based record keeping. In a lawyer's case he has to be very precise and specific in billing and accounting for each case, in respect of his billable hours and his expenses even though all the cases relate to only one client. The law office billing software handles this quite competently, freeing an attorney of all worries about accounting.

The right attorney time and billing software ensures compliance state regulations freeing the attorney to concentrate on his cases instead of having to check whether all his billing and accounting procedures are in conformance. Meticulous records are archived for future retrieval in case of audits or checks.

Any attorney considering legal billing software will certainly want it to handle client retainers separately where they deposit advances in trust accounts. The right billing software takes care of this effortlessly and seamlessly, blending it with the rest of the software and functions.

The beauty of this law office billing software is that it has been designed in coordination with legal professionals, is user friendly with a short learning curve and has an intuitive interface, designed to work for the maximum benefit of the lawyer. The legal time and billing software reduces burden on the attorney, generates bills automatically and keeps perfect track, enhancing revenue flows.

Legal Billing and Accounting Software Take Drudgery Out Of A Lawyer’s Life

Given the complexity of billing and accounting in a lawyer's operations, the more clients he takes on, the more time he has to spend on maintaining accounts. This can become drudgery, eating into his time and preventing him from devoting more time for the cases in hand. Legal billing and accounting software take drudgery out of a lawyer's life. If an attorney chooses wisely and goes in for lawyer billing software that does all that he has been doing manually, he saves a lot of time and energy handling routine billing and accounting tasks. Computerized and automated, these tasks can be done fast. Though expensive, the investment in such attorney billing software is easily recouped considering that the lawyer now becomes more efficient and has more time to devote to existing as well as new clients. Almost all lawyers using the right lawyer billing software report an increase in productivity and revenues.

There is a huge market for attorney billing software and in their rush to capture a market share developers usually leave out features, make the software cumbersome or heavy code-wise, making it slow and prone to errors. The user interface is complicated and not easy to navigate with features commonly required hidden behind menus and sub-menus. Incomplete and buggy software can hamper rather than help lawyers in their billing and accounting functions and for this reason alone lawyers have become cautious in selecting a software that actually works the way they want it to. The perfect legal billing and accounting software for most lawyers is the one that does all that they used to do manually, smoothly and flawlessly. The right attorney billing software has a very intuitively designed interface and navigation structure plus additional features that prove quite helpful such as compiling all relevant documents pertinent to a case in one folder for archiving and retrieval at any time in the future.

A well planned and integrated legal billing software would have these features and naturally include what is expected of it such as keeping track of each client and his billable hours plus expenses separately, issuing bills when the amount of advance amount falls below a pre set level. The lawyer billing software would naturally handle billable hours where no advance is received and bills are issued periodically in respect of billable hours and expenses. In cases where lawyers work on contingency basis and an account is created on this basis, the software would keep track of expenses and the percentage of amount to be billed when the lawyer inputs “completed” against the case. Attorney billing software lawyers appreciate usually has these features in addition to keeping track of retainers and trust accounts and matter based record keeping that is extremely important to avoid confusion and mix-ups and importantly, comply with federal and state laws in that regard. These are the basic minimum required to work flawlessly regardless of the number of cases and time period.

Comprehensive Attorney Billing Software

Lawyers and attorneys are busier than ever and to help them maintain records and account, they have access to attorney billing software . However, not all software includes the needed features. A law firm billing software needs to comprehensively cover all the specific requirements of record keeping, billing and accounting that are specific to legal practice in the United States , in consonance with its laws, further complicated by the fact that each state may need a lawyer to comply to local rules too.
Before choosing a lawyer billing software , attorneys need to check and consider whether that particular software offers them what they need. If one important part is left out, then the utility of the software reduces dramatically and may even be worthless as a lawyer will have to maintain the record manually. Billing and accounting are inter-related and if an important element is left out it does not serve the purpose at all. When considering a legal billing and accounting software , attorneys need to consider the features and scope for future upgradeability.
Minimally, a lawyer billing software should cover the basic requirements of billing and software. Lawyers follow different billing methods for each client and one particular client may be billed on an hourly basis in one particular matter while the same client may be paying him a fixed fee for another matter.
Consider the desirable features of a law office billing software:

• A facility to bill according to arrangements with clients either on an hourly basis, on a fixed fee basis, on a retainer plus hourly and on a contingency basis as may be previously agreed upon. The legal billing software keeps track of each individual case and related expense for each client. In case of retainer plus hourly billing basis, the software automatically creates an alert when funds fall below a defined level.
• A feature that keeps track of each individual case, billable hours and related expenses in respect of multiple cases for a single client on a matter based record keeping basis.

• An ability to keep track of all monies received towards billable hours and for expenses according to State defined code of ethics to answer all audit queries when raised.

• A feature that keeps perfect trust accounts in respect of retainers paid by clients to comply with existing federal and State laws, keeping lawyers safe from any charges of negligence in case of audits in future.

• A lawyer may need reports and statements at any time and the law firm billing software easily provides this. An attorney may wish to be alerted to the outstanding receivables and have weekly, fortnightly or monthly statements to ensure that cash flow is maintained through regular billing.

As a practice grows, an attorney needs a software that does virtually all the back office functions for him. Moreover, it should be easy to operate, be very user-friendly and provide a variety of statistics and reports when needed besides archiving old cases and making them available whenever needed in future. A legal billing software like this saves a lot of time for lawyers and lets them focus on their cases and clients.

Billing Software for Lawyers Keeps Track and Frees You to concentrate on Work

If there is one thing attorneys dislike but find it unavoidable, is to keep track of the hours they have put in for each client, the money received and associated with book keeping. As clientele grows, they have to devote more time to such book keeping activities and find it clashes with their main work: legal practice. If done manually, it involves long hours of work. An attorney billing software or a lawyer billing software, as it is known, uses computerized technology to help lawyers.

Most lawyers usually operate on an hourly billing model. If he has only a few clients, it does not take much time to keep track. However, as clients grow the work load increases. A legal time and billing software is just what a busy lawyer needs to remain up to date on the accounts side without losing focus of his practice.

Some lawyers work on a fixed fee basis, regardless of the number of hours or days a case takes up, with incidental expenses charged separately as they crop up with the progress of the case. In such cases too the legal billing software proves invaluable, keeping the fee separate from the various expenses that are all accounted separately. A lawyer can easily generate reports and print these for his and his client's convenience and for transparency in dealings.

Some lawyers work on a retainer plus hourly billing basis with expenses accounted for separately. A retainer or advance needs to be accounted for under a separate head and might complicate matters were it not for the sophisticated facilities of the legal billing and accounting software so easily available these days. At any point in time an attorney can review account status and if need be call for funds to top up the account.

Law office billing software is just as useful for those lawyers involved in personal injury cases, working on a contingency billing method. The law firm billing software has inbuilt utilities that permit him to calculate the claim amount, his percentage if he wins and the costs that he incurs, all under separate heads.

In each case, the lawyer simply enters the figures in a menu-based screen and the software takes care of most of the things in the background. Since accounts are always current, he never faces any problems with audit and can devote more time to working on cases, gaining more cases and generating more revenue. A well thought out and designed legal billing software will integrate all financial transactions in an easy to use interface with facilities to generate reports, bills and statements at the click of a button. In today's busy environment, the software is indispensable.

Billing Software for Lawyers Keeps Track and Frees You to concentrate on Work

If there is one thing attorneys dislike but find it unavoidable, is to keep track of the hours they have put in for each client, the money received and associated with book keeping. As clientele grows, they have to devote more time to such book keeping activities and find it clashes with their main work: legal practice. If done manually, it involves long hours of work. An attorney billing software or a lawyer billing software, as it is known, uses computerized technology to help lawyers.

Most lawyers usually operate on an hourly billing model. If he has only a few clients, it does not take much time to keep track. However, as clients grow the work load increases. A legal time and billing software is just what a busy lawyer needs to remain up to date on the accounts side without losing focus of his practice.

Some lawyers work on a fixed fee basis, regardless of the number of hours or days a case takes up, with incidental expenses charged separately as they crop up with the progress of the case. In such cases too the legal billing software proves invaluable, keeping the fee separate from the various expenses that are all accounted separately. A lawyer can easily generate reports and print these for his and his client's convenience and for transparency in dealings.

Some lawyers work on a retainer plus hourly billing basis with expenses accounted for separately. A retainer or advance needs to be accounted for under a separate head and might complicate matters were it not for the sophisticated facilities of the legal billing and accounting software so easily available these days. At any point in time an attorney can review account status and if need be call for funds to top up the account.

Law office billing software is just as useful for those lawyers involved in personal injury cases, working on a contingency billing method. The law firm billing software has inbuilt utilities that permit him to calculate the claim amount, his percentage if he wins and the costs that he incurs, all under separate heads.

In each case, the lawyer simply enters the figures in a menu-based screen and the software takes care of most of the things in the background. Since accounts are always current, he never faces any problems with audit and can devote more time to working on cases, gaining more cases and generating more revenue. A well thought out and designed legal billing software will integrate all financial transactions in an easy to use interface with facilities to generate reports, bills and statements at the click of a button. In today's busy environment, the software is indispensable.

Attorney Billing Software For Higher Productivity and Profits

When you started your career as an independent attorney, you may not have anticipated it. Back office operations including accounting, bookkeeping and tracking of billable hours can actually eat into your time and keep you from concentrating on the important task of handling clients' cases. Have you considered using attorney billing software to take care of all the complex and time consuming accounting tasks? Legal billing software takes care of all the back office operations and frees you to concentrate on your legal profession, handle more cases profitably, and yet be relaxed.

As an attorney, you would be handling cases on a variety of payment options. One very popular method is the billable hours basis. It does involve your having to keep records of the number of hours worked and then issue invoices, keep track of payments received and balance outstanding while preparing the next invoice and related issues. In addition to billable hours, there is the matter of keeping track of expenses that need to be included in the bill yet maintained separately. Legal time and billing software handles all this effortlessly. If you have agreed to work on a retainer-cum-billable hours basis then your invoice for replenishment shows how the advance is used. As if this is not enough, there is the matter of trust bookkeeping and legal billing concerning trust accounting and bank reconciliations. A negative balance in trust accounting means you have used trust funds and this could reflect adversely on you, that could very well be prevented by using legal billing and accounting software. Why let all this happen, when a fully integrated lawyer billing software works seamlessly in the background to handle everything, generate reports and keep you updated of each client's account and each matter in a very easy and time-saving way?

When you are so busy with your professional life and handle so many clients, it is not easy to keep track of each one manually or by using a spreadsheet—both are laborious and time-consuming. You may overlook so many small outstanding amounts that add up to a sizeable sum. Law firm billing software improves your cash flow by generating reports of such unpaid amounts periodically. The law office billing software is a computerized process with no margin for error and perfect accuracy in generating invoices, detailed statements and records for audit and in case of disputes. This also enhances your image with a client since there is transparency and accuracy in billing and accounting.

The beauty of this attorney accounting software is that it keeps accurate track of all your various bookkeeping, billing and accounting methods, generates reports for you, automatically generates bills periodically, payments statements, bank reconciliations, collection reminders and the important matter of trust bookkeeping and billing, in compliance with existing laws of your state.

The Right Attorney Billing Software Makes Life Easier For Lawyers

Unlike other countries, attorneys in the States operate on billable hours, quite different from methods employed in other businesses. In today's hectic world, as the workload on an attorney increases, he finds it difficult to keep track of the advances and the billable hours he has worked for each client. The best solution is an attorney billing software. The right legal billing software will take care of all financial related activities of a lawyer's firm. The right software handles matter based record keeping, trust activities, integrated billing, reports and summaries efficiently and in a user-friendly way so that even those with passing knowledge can use it personally.

Legal billing is done in a variety of ways:

• Fixed fee basis.
• Hourly billing is another method in use where the time an attorney spends on the matter along with incidental costs are recorded and a lawyer bills his client accordingly.
• In a retainer based hourly billing method, the advance paid by the client is adjusted against the hours a lawyer puts in and deducted from the retainer with additional requests for funds.
• In personal injury cases, most lawyers will usually work on a contingency billing basis where the amount of costs and fixed percentage previously decided upon are deducted from the settlement amount and paid to the lawyer. If he loses, he gains nothing.

If a mistake occurs in the billable hours then either it results in the lawyer incurring a loss or the client raising doubts, resulting in loss of goodwill. Legal time and billing software eases the burden of bookkeeping. The convenience of such law office billing software can be gauged from the fact that even if one client entrusts the law with separate legal matters, each is tracked and accounted for separately, avoiding confusion, disputes and doubts. A positive balance in one matter cannot be offset against a negative balance in another matter without the client's consent and thus the legal billing and accounting software keeps financial matters transparent for both the lawyer and the client.

A further benefit of using the law firm billing software is that it keeps complete audit track of all billing and related matters to comply with existing laws in each state. In the right lawyer billing software the client's advances are accounted for separately in attorney trust accounts to comply with laws. This relieves lawyers of this concern, helps them concentrate on their profession and generate more revenues. It is obvious that the benefits of using the right lawyer billing software with all the desired functions soon repay the costs of investing in one.