Prolaw Brochure v11
Prolaw Brochure v11
Prolaw Brochure v11
ProLaw
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ProLaw
prolaw.thomsonelite.com
All-in-one software to automate the practice and manage the business of law.
case management contacts and client relationships calendar and email docketing and court rules Westlaw integration robust security physical records management flexible reporting document management and assembly tasks and deadlines integrated accounting time and billing multi-office support remote access
ProLaw is an all-in-one software solution from Thomson Elite, the premier provider of financial and practice management solutions to legal organizations.
ProLaw
The Business Case for ProLaw
All-in-one software to automate the practice and manage the business of law.
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* Requires a subscription to Westlaw. ** Some court rule sets are sold separately.
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The ProLaw Dashboard provides one-touch access to everything users need in one convenient location.
Organize and Manage All of Your Client and Matter Information Run all aspects of your practice from one place.
ProLaw is accessible to users from the convenience of a Windows desktop or Web browser*. Case, relationship and document management, as well as time tracking, billing and accounting functions are available anytime, anywhere in one simple solution.
ProLaw
The Business Case for ProLaw
From within Outlook, users can create and save calendar entries and documents to ProLaw and open related ProLaw matters.
ProLaw fully integrates with Word. Open or create a document in Word and save it in ProLaw with the related matter.
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ProLaw automatically indexes the contents of word processing documents, emails and PDF files. Search for text and ProLaw retrieves all documents containing your search terms.
ProLaw
The Business Case for ProLaw
All-in-one software to automate the practice and manage the business of law.
Automate and Coordinate Your Law Practice Easily create documents and manage workflow.
Intuitive document assembly and case management capabilities help automate follow up activities related to events. When depositions are scheduled, ProLaw sends out notifications. Once an interrogatory is received, due dates are docketed. When a new client meeting is scheduled, the fee agreement, client acceptance letter, notification of counsel, complaint and discovery requests can all be easily created. ProLaw takes care of routine activities and correspondence to streamline the entire case management process.
Document automation simplifies production of documents, reduces data input errors and creates a valuable repository of the organizations critical documents.
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With a simple right-click of the mouse, ProLaw users can directly access specific Westlaw databases to find vital information about a relevant contact or matter. Research results can be copied and pasted into ProLaw.
ProLaw
The Business Case for ProLaw
When users open a new litigation matter, a checklist displays the administrative action items that must be completed before any time can be billed to a matter.
Any case management event such as updating case notes on a conference call, creating a document and docketing a follow up can be easily converted into a time entry with just a click of a button.
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Users can easily manage mailing lists for marketing activities including newsletters, practicespecific mailings, holiday greetings and more.
ProLaw delivers automated court rules for hundreds of jurisdictions and venues that are written or edited by attorneys and reviewed by prominent docketing departments.
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Manage Your Business Profitably and Effectively Connect case and client information with accounting and billing.
ProLaw connects your case and client information with your accounting and billing information. As an integrated solution, all your applications share one set of data. Enter information once and it automatically flows to documents, contacts, calendars, accounting and billing, reports wherever it is needed. Integrated data also means the risk for inaccuracies and inconsistencies is reduced.
Users can review the financial standing of every case with one click. When costs are advanced, they are allocated to appropriate matters so you know exactly what has been invested in a case.
The ProLaw general ledger automatically updates and maintains all balances and history. Users only need to make journal entries for end-ofmonth accounting adjustments.
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Powerful financial analysis tools allow users to easily generate a wide variety of management reports.
The ProLaw Portal allows users to easily manage case activities from any location with an Internet connection.
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ProLaw
Service
All-in-one software to automate the practice and manage the business of law.
Implementation. Consultants work closely with you to ensure that implementation is completed on time and on budget. Training and adoption. Flexible training options are available for everyone in your office, including attorneys, accountants, firm or office administrators, legal assistants and IT professionals. A wide variety of convenient instructor-led and online training program options are offered. Online programs include live and pre-recorded Web-based sessions or personalized training can be requested. For instructor-led training, ProLaw training staff members can travel to your office or on-site classroom training can be attended at selected Thomson Elite offices. Ongoing support. Highly trained and experienced support professionals are available via phone, email or over the Web. Other resources include user groups, online client forums and an annual user conference. ProLaw customers can also access a client portal at www.prolawportal.com that delivers immediate, online access to software updates, product support, online knowledge base, documentation, education courses and technical notes.
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Practice Management
Practice Management
ProLaw simplifies and streamlines your law practice by delivering a single integrated solution to manage cases and matters, contacts, scheduling, documents, emails, records, conflicts searching, time entry and more.
When changes are made to rules-based events, ProLaw automatically adjusts other related events. ProLaw automatically tracks related information about who, where, when and why, and provides automatic reminders to individuals who need to know. Integration with Microsoft Outlook, IBM Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise allows docket events scheduled in ProLaw to automatically appear on each users calendar in Outlook, Notes or GroupWise. From within Outlook, users can also create and save calendar entries to ProLaw and open relevant ProLaw matters. Link responsible parties. Responsible parties can be assigned to ProLaw events and can be comprised of a single attorney or an entire legal team. Manage dates and venues. ProLaw tracks the time and location of each docket event via a point-and-click calendar that provides full calendar views for easy scheduling. Manage docketing calendars in Outlook and ProLaw. Calendar entries for court dockets are maintained in ProLaw and optionally in Outlook. ProLaw will automatically coordinate an Outlook calendar to reflect the information recorded in ProLaw. And, if you want to keep working in Outlook, you can create a docketing calendar event in Outlook and attach it to the related case in ProLaw.
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Rules-Based Docketing
Docketing in ProLaw is always done within the context of the matter. Users can view and update events that have already been scheduled and create new events. Court rules in ProLaw provide a calendar of events required by specific courts and jurisdictions, so attorneys will never miss a required filing, response or appearance.
ProLaw
Practice Management
All-in-one software to automate the practice and manage the business of law.
Document Assembly
ProLaw includes event-driven document assembly capabilities that follow the life cycle of law practice activity, from scheduling client meetings to generating fee agreements, filing complaints and conducting discovery. ProLaw automatically merges information with pre-defined and custom templates, and integrates with your word processing and other document management software. Customize forms. ProLaw enables the easy creation of forms for review and printing in minutes. Within Word or WordPerfect, users can create new or modify existing forms; select fields from the ProLaw database and drop them into a form.
Document Management
The ProLaw document management system (DMS) makes files easily accessible to any user with appropriate rights access. Documents and files related to any case can be located on any workstation. Being able to access electronic documents, scanned images and locate physical files from a single integrated desktop is a significant advantage for users managing cases. Manage emails. Powerful email management capabilities allow users to store critical correspondence sent or received through Microsoft Outlook/Exchange and view the information in ProLaw within the context of the matter to which it pertains. Store scanned images. Built-in support for document imaging enables whole or selective storing of scanned case files. Full text searching. Comprehensive full text indexing stores the content of each document and simplifies search efforts. Users can type in keywords to locate all relevant documents, without the need to know the individual file or matter with which the document is associated. Document shadowing. Automatic document shadowing saves files to a local hard drive, enabling the recovery of important documents in the event of a network failure. Automatic pleading indexing. Provides another way to categorize and report on documents. Document check-in and check-out. Lets users work on files offline while making sure others dont make simultaneous changes to the documents they have checked out. Document versioning and history tracking. Helps users keep track of various file versions.
Conflicts Management
Advanced conflicts searching allows users to find related parties and every case they have been related to, as well as any other contacts with whom they are associated. ProLaw automatically notifies relevant parties to vote on any conflicts and easily tracks pending and declined cases. Now you can expedite the process of evaluating new business while still ensuring that clients and the firm are protected.
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Practice Management
Item level security. Protects information access down to the specific item level. Integration. ProLaw integrates with stand-alone document management systems from Hummingbird, Interwoven and WORLDOX.
Right-click search for Westlaw Litigator databases*. ProLaw provides one-click links from case and contact fields in ProLaw , and automatically directly to valuable databases in Westlaw Litigator* fills in the Westlaw search field with relevant data from ProLaw. ProLaw remembers the databases you recently accessed so its even easier the next time. Multiple search layers enable you to find the information you need quickly.
Practice Libraries
ProLaw Practice Libraries are available for a growing variety of practice specialties, including litigation, corporate, employment, insurance defense, intellectual property, personal injury, mass torts, immigration, probate, bankruptcy, corporate transactions and business organizations.
Integrated Workflow
ProLaw has an advanced rules-based calendaring system that lets you manage related events and deadlines associated with everything from opening new matters, to managing your docketing process. This powerful workflow feature links events together, so if the date for one changes, all the others are automatically changed based on pre-determined rules.
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ProLaw
Financial Management
All-in-one software to automate the practice and manage the business of law.
Convert events to time entries. Case management events can be easily converted into time entries. Any activity, from updating case notes on a conference call to creating a document and docketing a follow up can be easily entered as time. Use flexible timers. Convenient timers help attorneys efficiently keep track of their time even while multi-tasking. Multiple timers can be run simultaneously, with one timer stopping as another one is started.
Financial Management
ProLaw simplifies and streamlines operations by delivering a single integrated solution for managing your general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, billing, trust accounts, financial reporting, budgeting, check writing, cost recovery, collections and subrogation, split origination and other financial reporting.
Time Tracking
ProLaw takes the time out of tracking time. With built-in timers, abbreviations, spell checking and running subtotals, the process is faster and easier than ever. You can even track time by the effective dates during which attorneys were involved with a case. Simplify task-based billing. ProLaw makes tracking time for taskbased billing as easy as possible. Users are automatically reminded when they need to assign tasks for a particular client. Appropriate task lists are provided so users can simply point-and-click on the relevant task.
Easy-to-use time entry functions allow users to capture more billable time.
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Financial Management
Flexible Billing
ProLaw enables attorneys to present all client invoices in a clean, professional format that matches clients requirements. Attorneys have complete control over the look and feel of client bills. Built-in billing and statement formats can be used as templates, or users can choose to design brand new formats with drag-and-drop ease using customizable fonts, sizes, styles, colors and lines. Bill preparation is also fast and easy with ProLaw and even includes the ability to automatically split transactions across multiple matters. Distribute bills in electronic format. Electronic billing support is built into ProLaw, allowing legal professionals to print statements and create electronic bills simultaneously. LEDES, as well as a variety of other industry standards for electronic billing are supported. Flexible agents allow users to easily schedule the generation of billing statements and reports. Generate instant statement images. Users can easily retrieve images of client statements within ProLaw and print, fax or email copies to clients. Transactions split. ProLaw creates the appropriate transactions for splitting billable hours and expenses across multiple related matters, saving countless hours of manual data entry. For example, users can allocate numerous photocopy expenses across multiple matters, creating thousands of transactions automatically. Split billing scenarios. ProLaw allows for multiple billing parties per matter. Billing parties are assigned a percentage of the billing for which they are responsible. Statements automatically calculate the amount due for each billing party based on their percentage. AR can be viewed from a matter perspective or a billing party perspective. Split origination reporting. Using ProLaw, firms can have multiple originators on a client or matter. The system tracks the effective date of all professionals assigned to each client and matter so that analysis reports accurately reflect the percentage splits specified when multiple originating attorneys are involved during overlapping or distinct time periods.
Integrated Accounting
ProLaws integrated accounting solution delivers a general ledger, payables, receivables, trust accounting, financial reporting, budgeting, check writing, trust account management, cost recovery, collections and subrogation, and statement generation capabilities. The solution also integrates with popular cost recovery and payroll software. Easily view financial information for a matter. Intuitive inquiry capabilities allow users to locate financial details pertaining to clients or matters in seconds. Users can easily check accounts receivable, trust, retainer and WIP balances, review the complete billing history for a matter, or recall an exact image of any bill or statement. Financial analysis reports. ProLaws billing analysis and compensation calculations automatically track the original attorney hours and billing rate versus the amount that was billed and presented to the client. The business can be analyzed from multiple perspectives: originator and client, client and working attorney, matter type and department any combination necessary. Firm managers can view firm and case profitability, hours worked vs. billed, fees billed vs. budgeted, deadline efficiency per professional, WIP aging per client, case or professional, AR aging and many others.
Powerful billing analysis capabilities allow users to easily create reports that analyze the firms business from multiple perspectives such as area of law.
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ProLaw
Financial Management
All-in-one software to automate the practice and manage the business of law.
Manage investments. ProLaw makes it easy to access the financial standing of any case at any time. Costs advanced are automatically allocated to cases during payable entry. With full cost detail, users can track the specifics of what has been invested in an individual case. Track liens. ProLaw tracks liens throughout the life of the case, including across multiple settlements. Users can view the total lien and the amount paid to date. Liens are automatically included in any settlement analysis. Automate settlement efforts. ProLaw automatically creates the trust deposit and checks to the client, firm, co-counsel and lien holders. Attorney allocations can be based upon time tracking or percentages, and expenses can be applied before or after fees.
Reporting
ProLaw offers a built-in report writer that eliminates the need to use third party report writers and enables the production of detailed management reports for quick and efficient data analysis. A variety of default reports are provided that can be customized to meet individual needs. Users can also generate reports from any list of results that appear on-screen and print or save the data in the file format of their choice. Choose pre-defined or design your own reports. Drag-and-drop fields produce reports that meet individual attorney and client needs. Columns can be moved, headers can be changed and fonts can be modified, all with the click of a mouse. Create original report designs or use the default report templates. Use default and custom fields. ProLaw allows matter and contact reports to be designed using both default and custom fields. Access current and historical information. Current and historical information can be accessed for reporting purposes. For example, accounts receivable, work-in-process (WIP) and analysis reports can be generated without time period limitations.
Contingency Accounting
ProLaw fully addresses the special accounting requirements for managing contingency cases. Analyze settlement options. Using the intuitive settlement worksheet, users can enter a proposed settlement amount and receive an instant calculation of the client and the firms net, taking all costs, liens and co-counsel into account.
Use the ProLaw settlement worksheet to quickly calculate and analyze settlement scenarios.
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Collections
Document Management PCDOCS, DOCS Open, DOCSFusion, Hummingbird DM, Interwoven WorkSite and WORLDOX Cost Recovery Provides definable templates for importing costs from telephones, network printers, copiers, fax machines, and more. Most cost recovery systems that can produce a text file can be used, including Billback (Thomson Elite), Equitrac and Copitrak. Import payroll data from PeachTree Payroll or Intuit QuickPayroll.
Cost Recovery
Court Rules
Payroll
System Requirements
ProLaw features an n-tier architecture that scales to meet your organizations needs. Built upon a 32-bit foundation, the solution leverages the power of Microsoft SQL Server to automate your organization. Workstation requirements: Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional Database server requirements: Microsoft Server 2000 or Windows Server 2003 running Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or the MSDE version of SQL Server 2000. For additional system requirements details, visit prolaw.thomsonelite.com or call 800-977-6529.
Financial Reporting
*Add-on modules and some court rule sets are sold separately.
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ProLaw
All-in-one software to automate the practice and manage the business of law.
Scalable and Adaptable Over Time
ProLaw software is a scalable n-tier architecture that adapts and configures to meet your business needs. Plus, Thomson Elite continuously invests in research and development to deliver innovative upgrades that address your evolving requirements.
Robust Security
ProLaw provides powerful flexibility to control user access at various levels of the application, from matter and contact level security, to specific item-level access control. In addition, audit trails are provided to track relevant activity on contacts and matters. Visit prolaw.thomsonelite.com for additional information about how ProLaw was designed to meet the unique needs of law firms, as well as corporate and government law departments.
Superior Service
Thomson Elites experienced professionals install, provide ongoing support and customize ProLaw for your practice needs to ensure maximum benefits from your investment. Additional support resources include user groups and an annual user conference. ProLaw customers also have access to a client portal that delivers immediate online access to software updates, product support, documentation, education courses, technical notes and access to the Thomson Elite Knowledge Base.
For more information or to schedule a demo, please call 800-977-6529 or visit prolaw.thomsonelite.com.
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Corporate Office
5100 West Goldleaf Circle, Suite 100 Phone: 323-642-5200