Feature Package Case Study / Testimonial:

 Success with Knowledgeable On-line Support

This is a great example of how a feature package combined with on-line support can be combined to achieve a customized solution with a reasonable investment of time and $.  The text of this e-mail was recently posted on the NAELA list serve. 

-----Original Message-----

[mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ]On Behalf Of Jane Skelton

Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 9:08 AM

To: NAELA Members

Subject: [members] RE: TimeMatters -- The First Step (s)

Renee,

Funny you should ask ....  Just last week, with the assistance of Tom Caffrey of Premier Software (who sat at his computer in New Jersey and worked via the internet with our system here in Bangor, Maine) we installed and then customized to our liking the Matter forms in the Elder Law/Estate Planning Feature Package sold through Time Matters and by Tom, its creator.

 Last week, we also learned about TM's formattable clipboard for creating routine letters.  Fabulous.  We took the dramatic but delightful step of junking TimeSlips.  We are now just going to use TM for billing.

 This is going to sound like a commercial (a very long one), but here goes

...

Working with Tom was great!  How did I know to hire him?  I met him at the Symposium in Baltimore.  I have attached at the end of this message to you, my e-mail to Tom after my return from Baltimore.  I share it because it may give you an idea of what our TM goals were when I first consulted him.  Also attached is his response to me.  Since then, we had 3 sessions, once a week for 3 weeks, and then for each of the 4 work days last week for about 2 hours a day.

There is NO question in my mind that we never could have learned what we no know without Tom's assistance.  But now I know all I need to know to create the rest of our Matter forms and Clipboard documents.  Tom is going to help us incorporate Hot Docs in July, and as of September 1, we are going paperless (thanks in great part to the enthusiasm Ron Fatoullah, an admitted non-techie).  (I haven't decided yet, but I think we are going to half-adopt EEPDS.  I hope that is not like being a little pregnant.)

To address your questions, yes, we now have different forms for different categories of matters.  Second, I hesitate to share the first 5 because they are probably copyrighted or something.  But I'll be happy to share the SNT/DIS Matter form which we will probably create in the next few weeks.

We struggled with the question of what to use for an intake sheet. We have customized the Matter forms in hopes that the Primary screen asks all the necessary questions at intake.  When in doubt, the receptionist is to initially use the Matter form, and we can easily correct that later.

Only now that we have gotten this far do I see how useful different Matter forms can be to use as an easy reference while the matter is open but, more so, as a database for all sorts of things after the matter is closed.

Are you asking the right questions to get started?  Yes.  If you haven't done so already, you should get rid f pink telephone slips and use Time Messenger.  You should also store your documents to Time Matters.  That will make you dependent on the software and motivated to learn more.

Renee, if you'd like, please call me.  You might be able to tell that I am pretty enthused at the moment.  (Admittedly, my head was spinning in the middle of last week.)  We could even do a conference call with your law clerk and my assistant.

Jane Skelton

Below is a copy of the message I sent to Tom C. upon my return from the Symposium.  You can decide for yourself whether you are where we were when I wrote that in April.

Dear Tom,

I was one of several people crowding around you after Tom Rowe's session and again after the EEPDS demonstration.  I want to order some of the software your firm has developed, and I am also considering the possibility of inviting you to Maine for 2 or 3 days to help us make our system function as well as we are dreaming it might.

First, let me introduce us.  I have been practing here in Bangor for 13 1/2 years, the first 13 of them at a "large" firm (by Bangor standards).  About 4 years ago I started to focus my practice in elder law and soon realized that a large firm is rarely a good fit with elder law.  I sensed that if I had the freedom to build a system and sufficient staff I could be a better, more efficient lawyer and provide significantly higher quality services to our clients.

Last November, my long-time assistant and I struck out on our own.  I have hired a part-time assistant as well, and we work on a 3 computer peer-to-peer network with (as of last November) start-of-the-art computers.

I learned about Time Matters through other NAELAns and I attended a introductory session with Robert Fleming and Christine Gilsinan last November.  At the same time, I pre-ordered Tom Begley's EEPDS.  At the end of November, a local TM consultant joined us during the first week of our firm and worked with us for 3 days on Time Matters.  Unfortunately, several things are still unresolved, like linking Time Matters and Timeslips, but I am hoping he will return and help us with that.  More important, we are using only a small portion of the potential of Time Matters and we have not begun to incorporate EEPDS.

I sense that your firm may be able to bring us closer to our goals of quality and efficiency.  I am also interested in moving toward "paperlessness."

Certainly, our distance from one another is a challenge and an expense, but I suspect that your previous work with elder law attorneys and Begley's EEPDS may make any added expense actually a prudent investment on my part.  

Where do we go from here?  Would the next step be a proposal for software and consulting services?

Thank you for your time and your thoughts.

Skelton

TOM'S RESPONSE

Dear Jane,

Thank you for your thoughtful e-mail. It was quite the stampede after Tom Rowe's session. I really do want to come to Maine. (Last time I was there I kayaked the Kennebec and also made it out to Monegan island.)   However,  we should first try out our on-line approach since it most likely will be more cost effective.  I have a meeting in Philadelphia this morning so I'll try to call you later today.

We simply need to run through a brief Time Matters planning process to a) determine and priortize your needs and b) show you want we have available for your consideration.  Once this is done we can work through our punch list of items in an orderly manner.

Our concentration with Time Matters and our sub-specialization with certain practice areas has allowed  us to develop some time savings configurations of Time Matters.  In addition to me,  our team of Time Matter specialists includes  Denise Novello and John Papasadora who are both excellent resources for you.

Thanks again.

Thomas E. Caffrey

-----Original Message-----

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[mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ]On Behalf Of

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 6:43 PM

To: NAELA Members

Subject: [members] TimeMatters -- The First Step (s)

   I have hired a law clerk and chained him to the computer until we have TM up and running.  Although I've gone to trainings and sent my legal assistant to trainings and we know more than we can use, we are not TM operational--and need to be.

 Here are the hurdles (and the concommitant requests for help, of course):

    1.  The Contact Form = step number 1.  But it's best to customize it.

For each type of client.

    Without getting immersed in TM, how do you customize it?

    Has anyone customized the forms for different types of clients?

    Would you be willing to share your customized Contact Forms?

    Do you have a client intake sheet that is parallel to the Contact Form?

    Do you have a client information sheet that is parallel to the Contact Form?  (and has anyone customized the forms for Begley's system yet?)

    Other Step #1's -- the Matter Form (s) and the Classification Codes.

    Any suggestions for customizing those?