Time Matters can be configured to more proactively manage matters and complete work sooner. Borrowing the concept from health professionals of ’teaching rounds’, certain leading law firms have been able to maintain the same volume of matters per year, yet reduce the number of active files by half. What’s would the value be to you if could reduce by half the number of active matters at any given time, yet still maintain the same revenue.
Essentially the lawyer and paralegal act like a doctor/intern using scheduled conferences to quickly revue each matter (patient) on a regular basis. Over time the paralegal (intern) becomes more self sufficient and each matter (patient) receives better thus moving the matter to completion in far less time.
Specifically, the firm tracks key monitoring information to track the progress or lack of progress on each matter. Essentially the laywer/paralegal are monitoring the cash status and case status once per week. A critical system component is the inclusion of certain information fields including a matter status field with a rating of 1 thru 10 where 1 is a new matter and 10 a completed matter. The description of each status may be different per matter type and for each style of practice, but new files are a 1 and half complete files are a five, etc. The lawyer reviews a list of similar matters with the responsible staff/paralegal each week . The matters are sorted by status 1 thru 10, and the screen or printed report show key matter progression fields, staff notes, etc.
This has become a simple and effective solution for staying on top of files, reducing the number of active files, freeing up lawyer time thru delegaton with effective supervision.
In Time Matters software this approach involves use of Matter Quick Tabs to filter matters by type, customized fields (for fees, payments, key file progression dates) and powerviews and reports to view cash status and case status information in an effective time saving view.