LEAP Legal Software has released a new version of its flagship product LEAP Office. Available from 20 August 2010, it brings to an end the previous series of LEAP Office which began in 2007.
 
According to LEAP Managing Director Richard Hugo-Hamman, the new release includes hundreds of enhancements and has been in development for more than two years. The user interface has been revamped with a move towards the design paradigm of Microsoft Windows.
 
LEAP Office 10 introduces compatibility with Microsoft Office 2010.
 
One of the significant new additions to functionality is the "Portable Timesheet". Time recording can be done when away from the office with the LEAP database able to be updated via an internet connection. 
 
Link to review of LEAP Office's new features
 
Link to LEAP Legal Software

18 June 2010 - Stacks Goudkamp Implements Practice Evolve

Stacks Goudkamp is a NSW based personal injury law firm comprising a team of 30 people.   It has implemented the document and business workflow management system from Practice Evolve. This company is the local presence of Irish software developer Documatics, whose system has now been deployed to around 2,000 users in Europe and another 1,000 around the world.

Prior to implementing Practice Evolve, the firm simply stored documents in shared folders. The Sydney and Newcastle office manager of Stacks Goudkamp, Sandra Brandt said “As far as creating documents, that’s been quite easy. We’re working on a set of precedents that we’ve devised ourselves. But everybody’s using the same precedents, so if somebody picks up a file, they’re all using the same document. And there’s one person in charge of updating, so it has made it a unified system.”

According to the firm’s principal Tom Goudkamp, implementing the new system has brought significant efficiencies to the firm: “Keeping a shared list of the contacts we use is much easier. Whereas before everyone was using their own. Now it’s on the screen and you can get to your contacts far more easily. I think preparing briefs to counsel is about ten times quicker.”

When selecting a software solution, an important consideration was that the system had to be able to run on Apple Mac computers, which Stacks Goudkamp uses exclusively. The system integrates with Apple versions of Microsoft Office.

Link to Practice Evolve

More about  the Stacks Goudkamp selection and implementation of Practice Evolve

15 June 2010 - Strong Take-Up of CATS Software

Conveyancing and Trust Account System (CATS) software has experienced strong support from its home market in South Australia. In just the first year of the system being available on the open market in South Australia, over 80 licensed conveyancing practices and 6 law firms have implemented the software. 

CATS is a joint venture between Nickel IT Systems and the Australian Institute of Conveyancers South Australian Division (AICSA).

A spokesperson for CATS stated that “communication with users is fundamental to the ongoing development program and long term goals for customer service and reliability of CATS”.

“In this electronic age, word has somehow spread and enquiries are coming from practices in other States. While one business in Alice Springs is being supported, interstate expansion plans will only progress when it can be assured that backup and support are available, to ensure the integrity of the service. So watch this space for more updates” stated the CATS spokesperson.

More about the system

The key functions of the software include full trust accounting, document management and document assembly. Additional features include business management tools. The ability to set authorisation levels for individual staff functions and a series of statistical reports of business activities are also available.

The software comes with conveyancing precedents which are automatically populated with client information. There is also an ability to modify and/or create your own customised precedents.
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CATS produces settlement statements that include a tax invoice component. A GST summary is produced with every fee draw report and there are many other reports that ease the process and workload. There is no office or general ledger accounting functionality, with most users likely to be using other accounting software to handle this aspect.
 
The origin of CATS

The AICSA began searching several years ago for the right software package that would meet a set of stringent criteria, now and into the future. They believed that the best option was right there in South Australia with CATS and Mr Nick Xenides.

Mr Xenides began developing the software 5 years ago for his own conveyancing firm. His background has been important to the software’s development. He is both a currently practising licensed conveyancer and a computer programmer. Until recently, he lectured on computer programming at the University of South Australia.

Mr Xenides and AICSA worked together to create the first release. This was a new upgraded system that was tested and modified for six months in a busy working conveyancing business. Continual feedback and discussions with clients over the past year has enabled Mr Xenides to improve and modify CATS to become what it is today.

Link to CATS

4 June 2010 - LawWare Becomes Mac Friendly

"Will it run on a Mac?" is probably the most frequently asked question by any Mac user. The most frequent answer for small law firm Mac users has been "No". The game is changing because the question "will it run on a Mac?" is becoming redundant. More and more software is becoming available on remote servers which are often accessed through web browsers.
 
This is the cloud computing phenomenon. Macs can just as easily access and use these software products as Windows computers. Cloud computing in its typical form avoids the need to install software on local computers. The revolution for Mac users is that software doesn't have to run on a Mac to be used by a Mac.

While it is not technically cloud computing, some of these principles have been adopted by Australian practice management software company LawWare. For the past 12 months it has been working with a small law firm that has Windows small business server and a network of Mac workstations. LawWare and the law firm have developed a method for users to be able to use LawWare software from any Mac workstation.

For firms with stand-alone Macs, the usual method of simulating a Windows environment so that they can use LawWare, is the recommended solution. Greg Upex, the technical director of LawWare, prefers Parallels software over the other options. Parallels is inexpensive and LawWare's Mac clients have had excellent results with it.

The not uncommon approach of software companies has been to send Mac users away but now LawWare has become a Mac friendly company and Mac users are very welcome.

Links to LawWare and Parallels

 

2 May 2010 - Practice Management Black Belt Will Knock Your Firm Into Shape

If they awarded black belts for practice management expertise, they would certainly award one to Michelle Lucantonio. Michelle's experience has included being responsible for the finance and support functions of an Australian law firm, which during her 14 years of service, grew from 28 to 140 people.
 
Firms across Australia, especially those in Adelaide where she is based, can now call upon her expertise. Michelle told Legal Practice Intelligence that "small law firms are often not commercially focused in their business operations". She believes that software solutions can help by "introducing discipline into the management of a firm."
 
Michelle has become the South Australian representative of Filepro practice management software. One of the key advantages of Filepro, says Michelle "is that it is a one database solution".

CATS (Computer Application Training Solutions) is the business name under which Michelle provides her services. These also include the training of law firm staff in Word and other Microsoft Office applications.
 
If your firm needs knocking into shape, Michelle Lucantonio is available to assist. Charm or karate chop - whatever it takes to help you operate at your most efficient. Michelle can be contacted on Tel: 0408-081-531 or email michelle@catsolutions.com.au

  Michelle Lucantonio of Computer Application Training Solutions

29 April 2010 - More Than 400 New Document and Court Form Precedents Have Been Developed For Use With Filepro Software
 
Cascade Consulting has become a major independent developer of document automation for use with Filepro practice management software. In the past 6 months it has added more than 400 new document precedents, bringing the total to more than 700.
 
Cascade Consulting is based in Queensland and its single largest precedent suite is for Queensland conveyancing. Other suites include Family Law Court Forms, UCPR Court Forms, Bankruptcy, Wills and Estates and Motor Vehicle Accidents.
 
The Filepro programmers have been busy lately as well, introducing a range of enhancements and new features including branch/department accounting and many new management reports. There is also the ability to create banking files which take money straight out of a client's bank account to pay your invoice. 
 
Cascade Consulting's latest newsletter is available by clicking here

12 April 2010 -  Law Firms Can Run Software On A Personal Computer

One can imagine, way back in the 1980s, the birth of the revolutionary idea that a small law firm could run its practice management software on one of the new computing devices known as a personal computer. “What should we call this software? What about ‘PCLaw’?” Seems like a perfect name, don’t you think?

LexisNexis acquired PCLaw in 2005 and soon after it was renamed ‘LexisNexis PCLaw’. Eventually it became known as ‘Lexis Back Office powered by PCLaw’. At the time there was another product known as ‘Lexis Front Office’ powered by something else.

‘PCLaw’ hung precariously at the end of this huge mouthful. Inevitably and sadly it fell off. By 2008, the Australian version added the word ‘library’. Lexis Back Office Library (LBOL for short) included precedents and research, hence the word ‘library’ - get it? We didn’t get it either.

Now, in Australia, ‘PCLaw’ prevails again. The counter-revolutionary forces have retreated and ‘PCLaw Plus’ has come into being. LexisNexis Australia states that “This new name reflects the improved functionality and features that help you save time, improve profitability and boost client satisfaction.”  More about PCLaw Plus.

14 March 2010 - LEAP Legal Software Pty Ltd Acquires The BING! Family Law Software Business: LEAP has acquired the family law precedents business of BING! Software. Approximately 400 firms use the BING! Family Law Suite. Late last year GlobalX acquired BING!'s conveyancing software business. Legal Practice Intelligence has learned that this development brings to an end the BING! company's 10 plus years of involvement in the legal software market. It is likely that the majority of BING! clients were not using LEAP software and this could help LEAP quickly reach a new milestone of 3,000 firms using its software. Websites: www.bing.net.au/cms and www.leap.com.au

13 February 2010 New Product: Turn Outlook Into a Professional Practice Management System: Credenza is the name of a brand new practice management system that integrates with and works inside Outlook. Based around client files, it includes time sheets and document management. It is a self install program priced at US$9.95 per user per month. Credenza informs Legal Practice Intelligence that it is available to and suitable for Australian firms. Time sheets can be imported into various accounting programs. Link to Credenza.  

Solicitor Karl Scott, based in Brisbane, has been an early adopter of Credenza and reports that it has been a very worthwhile acquisition:  

"Having file management and time recording intuitively integrated into Outlook is excellent. I also run Xobni in Outlook and the combination was seamless and even more effective. The ease of operation for which Amicus is justly famous is present in Credenza, albeit in simplified form. And for a lot of small firms and sole practitioners, simplified is just fine, thank-you very much. Matters, Time and Phone Calls, tracked, organised and recorded. The billing integration is very effective as well.

In what it adds to Outlook, and how it improves Outlook's functionality, Credenza is a very effective application for any small firm."
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karlscott         twitter.com/LUCID_Twit  

9 February 2010 (AUST): MYOB Going to the Cloud: Legal Practice Intelligence has learned that there will be a range of announcements from MYOB in March 2010 detailing new product initiatives. One of those initiatives will be an online MYOB solution. This is likely to lead to an integration frenzy with software developers keen to integrate their own cloud offerings with Australia’s most popular accounting product. LEAP Legal Software recently launched LEAP Expedite. These developments may encourage LEAP Legal Software to integrate a documents and accounting solution for small law firms in a cloud format. This would be in addition to the already available hosted solutions that are possible with LEAP software and other practice management systems.

9 February 2010 (AUST): ADERANT Practice Manager for Small and Mid-Sized Law Firms: ADERANT has informed Legal Practice Intelligence that it sees the primary market for its new cloud software solution as firms with 10 to 30 fee earners. They believe that this is a flexible range and that it could  be easily deployed by firms with as few as 5 lawyers and as many as 50. ADERANT is currently working on dedicated functionality to meet the regulatory and compliance needs of Australian law firms, such as trust accounting. North American pricing for ADERANT Practice Manager starts at US$79 per month per lawyer and US$69 per month for other billable staff members. More below at earlier news item 6 February 2010. 

6 February 2010 (AUST): Two Mobile Phone Access Beta Tests Underway: (1) LexisNexis is offering access to a beta version of a mobile legal information platform which provides access to over 170,000 full text decisions from Unreported Judgments. Link to Unreported Judgments for Mobile. (2) Cabenet Accounting Services, who provide a web based software service for law firms, is currently testing mobile phone access to features such as time recording and billing. It is expected to support iPhones and HTCs initially. www.cabenet.com.au. 

6 February 2010: ADERANT for Small Firms. How Small is Small? ADERANT's client list includes the largest law firms in Australia such as Freehills, Clayton Utz and Allen Arthur Robinson. It also includes some smaller firms such as Hunt & Hunt and Arnold Bloch Leibler. So when ADERANT launches a product vaguely described as being for "small and mid-sized law firms", it is probably wise not to jump to any conclusions about what "small" and "mid-sized" actually mean. Nonetheless it is a hosted or cloud solution, requiring only a web browser and internet connection. Link to news about ADERANT Practice Manager

2 February 2010 (USA): WestlawNext Launch Hype Dented By Surprise LexisNexis Announcement: Westlaw (part of Thomson Reuters) has been building the hype for the major update to its legal research solution, branded as WestlawNext. On the day of its unveiling however LexisNexis announced "Lexis for Microsoft Office". The next generation in legal research versus a transformation in the way legal research is conducted. View press releases side by side.

29 January 2010 (Malaysia): Smokeball Enters Malaysian Market: Through www.smokeball.com.my a limited number of free court forms have become available. Smokeball is reaching out to potential legal authors to develop its signature Step-by-Step Guides for the Malaysian market. The site announces that "Step-by-Step Legal Practice Guides for Malaysia will soon be published for Sale and Purchase of Property and for Wills and Estates".

20 January 2010 (AUST): LEAP Legal Software Launches LEAP Expedite: The product promises a simple self install to take advantage of document management and assembly including access to Smokeball forms and precedents. It is priced at $80 (plus GST) per month per person.

LEAP describes the product:  "The LEAP Host acts as your Server and all your data is synchronised each time you connect to the Internet.... You work in LEAP Expedite which is on your PC, access Step-by-Step Guides in a web browser, and instantly merge data from your Electronic Matter into a standard Word document that you have selected from the browser, and save it onto your PC....The matter data and [your] documents are created on [your] PC and replicated on the [LEAP] Server....You can take LEAP Expedite with you and work offline or online to the Internet." Link to LEAP Expedite.