Aderant 2012 Solutions Guide: Mange, Grow, and Protect Your Firm

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Aderant's innovative technology solutions for the legal and professional services industry help firms of all sizes better manage, grow, and protect their business. Learn about our product offerings in this solutions guide.

Transcript of Aderant 2012 Solutions Guide: Mange, Grow, and Protect Your Firm

  • 1. Manage, Grow, and Protect Your Firmwww.aderant.com

2. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmManage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmAderants family of best-in-class solutions and services helps clientsworldwide manage, grow, and protect their businesses.A global industry leader for more than 30 years,Comprehensive, Innovative Product PortfolioAderant delivers a powerful combination of traditionand technology, experience and innovation,Aderant is the most innovative technology companyreliability and results. Strategic acquisitions and providing the broadest portfolio of products andstrong partnerships help us bring together the best services for the legal and professional servicesproducts, services, and industry expertise, so we can industry with a focus on meeting client and marketprovide our clients with the tools they need to achieve needs in a timely fashion with reliable products. Withimproved profitability, higher revenues, and smartall products leveraging industry standard Microsoftleadership. Aderant delivers everything you need to technology, Aderant software is easy to deploy, use,ensure your firms success: proven software solutions,maintain, customize, and upgrade.professional consulting, and outstanding service.Aderant products add value across the firm fromWith the recent acquisitions of CompuLawback office financial management to front office case(including Deadlines.com), Client Profiles (including management and business development, to riskCRM4Legal), and RainMaker Software, Aderant isprotection and process optimization based on bestthe go-to partner for law and professional services practices.firms of all sizes worldwide. Aderant is the largestindependent software provider to the legal market. Nearly 400 team members with deep domain and product expertise Nearly 2,800 clients in more than 30 countries with a combined retention rate of 95+% Consistently high client satisfaction ratings across all product lines 60% of AmLaw 200 firms are clients 70% of the worlds largest firms are clientsAderant is a seamlessly integrated organizationfocused on providing a world-class customer serviceexperience and best practices across the entireorganization. 1 3. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your Firm MANAGEGROWPROTECTTime & billingCRM Calendar / docketAccounting Marketing Court rulesFinancial management Client & matter intakeMatter management Practice managementMatter planningWorkflow Case management Profitability analysis Document management Business intelligencePerformance managementRecordS management Dashboards EMAIL managementProduct Integration Brings Multiple BenefitsAderant is currently working on several integrationprojects so that our clients gain new levels of efficiency,productivity, information access, performance, andscalability. The first integration completed is betweenClient Profiles case and financial management andCompuLaw court rules. Users now have at theirfingertips case management, calendaring, docketing,time, billing, and financial management tools all in oneapplication. The integration maximizes efficiency withthe ability to utilize all functions in one place, savingresources and allowing more time to work on strategicinitiatives.Other integrations are in progress and will beannounced as they become available.2 4. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmAderant Expert 8.0Setting the performance standard for practice and financial management systems.Aderant Expert Release 8.0, our flagship practice example, firms can choose from multiple time capturemanagement system, is now available. As the mostmethods to support varying needs and user preferen-extensive update of Aderant Expert delivered in ces, giving them unprecedented flexibility. Extensiveseveral years, this release includes substantial newconfiguration options enable firms to meet the precisecapabilities that enable firms to better manage their requirements of individual timekeepers. The newbusinesses for increased productivity, revenues, andengagement view option enables a timekeeper, suchprofits. Aderant Expert capabilities include: as a billing partner, to see all time entries across alltimekeepers for a matter or group of matters, provi- Time & billing ding true matter-centric visibility. Firms that have Expense management deployed the recently released Found Time module Disbursement managementwill find that the solution implements as an integral Reconstruct missed timepart of Time Management, giving attorneys the ability General ledger to create time entries from daily activities with the Accounts payable / receivableclick of a mouse. CollectionsAdditional enhancements include redesigning rate Cash managementmanagement into one module to simplify the process Global accountingof creating and managing fee rates. Users can define Financial reportingrate levels, rates sets, variable rate levels, fixed fee Imagingaction codes, client rates, and matter rates all from Case & matter managementwithin one application with a feature-rich, yet easy-to- Calendar / docketuse interface. Role-based dashboards Profitability analysisThe popular Paperless Billing application released in Matter planning / AFAs2011 has also been enhanced to provide increased New business pricingflexibility for prebill review and editing. Approvals Conflictsare seamlessly incorporated into the prebill markup Matter intake workflowworkflow. Expert Matter Planning now includes Marketingscheduling capabilities in the planning phase ofnew matters. Firms can create matter plan groupsNew Featuresto support alternative fee arrangements that spanmultiple matters.With Aderant Expert 8.0 firms have access to a newExpert Time Management module that providesrobust capabilities to maximize billable time. For 3 5. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmBuilding on a robust framework developed usingMicrosoft technology, Aderant Expert 8.0 alsodelivers extended workflow capabilities along withan enriched user interface and includes a host ofother enhancements that will drive productivity andefficiency in law and professional services firms.Aderant will continue its substantial investment inthis platform with expanded capabilities planned for2012 and beyond. The company invests a significantamount of its revenue to research and developmentto ensure that all products meet the highest standardsfor quality and reliability.4 6. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmClient Profiles Case ManagementImprove the performance of your law practice with a powerful Microsoft Office-based casemanagement solution that takes all of your firms critical case information and puts it at yourfingertips.One of the most significant technological challenges Case Commentsfaced by todays law practice is how to implementDocument Assemblythe right mix of case management functionality for a Time Entrydiverse group of legal professionals. Profiles by Client ConflictsProfiles was developed to overcome this challenge. Case InformationIf there is one thing that our 1600+ active clientsReportinghave taught us, it is that user adoption is the key to asuccessful case management rollout.Custom-Built To Fit Your Needs Profiles is fully configurable. You establish views,The Best Case Management System is the information, and workflow tuned to the diverseOne Your Staff Already Knows How to Useneeds of your office community. Different users,Profiles is built on a rock solid framework of Microsoft departments, and offices can configure the softwaretechnologies that allows your user community to their specific needs. Each staff member and officeto function both within the case managementprofessional will feel as if the firm acquired a solutionenvironment and Microsoft Office. Case managementjust for them and the specific file on which they arefunctionality is embedded within Microsoft Office andcurrently working.can link your staff directly to detailed case informationwithout having to manually switch programs.Whether you are a high volume litigation lawDesigned to increase your offices productivity andfirm, business transaction practice, corporateprofitability, Profiles gives users a tool to better legal department, or government entity, Profiles isperform their jobs and meet client demands.built to fit your needs and improve organizational performance. Profiles is a case management solutionA powerful solution, Profiles represents the mostthat will work for every user in your group.complete and comprehensive case managementapplication available in the marketplace. Modulesinclude: Docketing Calendaring Workflow Contacts Email Management Document Management Scanning 5 7. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmIntegrationsIf you are a Microsoft Outlook/Office user, the CPAssociate feature allows you to save emails, calendaritems, and documents within the case in Profiles.Profiles also maintains the industrys only directlink with Microsoft Outlook, allowing users to enterappointments, personal contacts, and emails in eitherProfiles or Outlook and associate them to the case.Profiles also has connectors for virtually all majorlegal-specific applications.Instant AccessImagine having an entire case file right at yourfingertipsevery document, every e-mail, andevery contacteverything relating to a file instantlyavailable to every user at the same time. No longer willyou have to share a hardcopy file amongst your team.Cant find what you are looking for? Profiles providesglobal searching within each module.Profiles also gives you the ability to automate reportsto be sent to clients, management, and staff. WithProfiles, youll have greater capability to make well-informed decisions.6 8. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmClient Profiles FINANCIALManagementIncrease the profitability of your law practice by reducing operating costs, enhancing thedecision-making processs, and improving client satisfaction.The reality of todays business landscape demandsBecause Profiles financial management is a seamlesslegal technology solutions that do more than just getcomponent of the full Profiles Practice Managementthe client statements out the door and vendors paid. Suite, including the industry-leading Profiles caseYour financial management technology solutionmanagement system, it is the perfect solution forneeds to help your firm to be more competitive in thefirms looking for a complete firm automation tool.marketplace. Client Profiles financial managementsystem is designed to meet the needs of the most Workflow Driven Functionality Supports thedemanding law firm practices. Capabilities include: Way You Conduct Business Time & billing Expense recoveryThe expansive functionality found in Profiles is Accounts receivable seamlessly driven by easily configurable workflow Collections capability. Based entirely on commercial standards Accounts payablesuch as the Microsoft .NET development platform General ledgerand MS SQL Server database, Profiles fully leverages Trust / Escrowthe richness of these Microsoft products for Conflict avoidanceunparalleled ease of use and implementation. Management reporting Event notificationBusiness Intelligence (BI) Designed for Your Business intelligence FirmReduce Operating Costs Business Intelligence is not just about producing reports for firm management. It is about deliveringAs clients and attorneys place increasing demands real-time performance information to the righton the billing and accounting function, many groups people at the right time in the form that they need it.find themselves spending countless hours manually Profiles leverages and extends the BI tools inherenttrying to keep pace with these new requirements. The in the Microsoft SQL Server platform and deliversunique design of Profiles eliminates these manual audience specific reporting to the professionalsprocesses, improving the efficiency and productivity desktop.of the entire organization. Whether your focus is on meeting complex billingThe underlying architecture of Profiles makes it ideal requirements, solid financial accounting standards,for complex billing requirements, sophisticated or business intelligence reporting designed to bettermanagement reporting, and compliance with new manage your firm, Profiles brings robust functionalityemerging industry standards. The flexibility found leveraged by Microsoft standards without the highin Profiles not only improves your operation today, costs previously associated with enterprise levelbut keeps you ahead of the curve going forward. solutions. 7 9. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmCRM4LegalThe complete marketing, business development, and client care solution for law firms.CRM4Legal is built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Matter Trackingto provide your firm with the marketing, business Client Care / Help Deskdevelopment and client care tools necessary to grow Data Integrationyour business, and drive profits while improving client Web and Mobile Acccesssatisfaction. More than ever, legal professionals areengaged in the business of law, and the efforts thatMarketinghelp them win and retain clients.CRM4Legal is designed to help law firms connect theefforts of marketing and business development groupsCRM4Legal, powered by Microsoft CRM is a completewith lawyers and their secretaries. In CRM4Legal themarketing, business development and client caregoal of each marketing campaign or event is to ensuresolution for law firms. It provides all of the tools andthat the campaign targets, campaign activities, andcapabilities needed to create and easily maintain athe results of the campaign activities are related andclear picture of client relationships from first contact,captured in a consistent format.through business development activities and long-term relationship-building efforts. With modules forBusiness Developmentmarketing, business development, matter trackingand client care, CRM4Legal delivers a fast, flexibleFor Business Development managers, practiceand affordable solution that drives measurablemanagers, lawyers and partners, CRM4Legal providesimprovements in every business process. It enablesinsight into the deal pipeline, including the abilitycloser relationships with clients and helps your firm to track types of opportunities, close ratios, revenueachieve new levels of success and profitability.forecasts, and other important business developmentinformation.CRM4Legal provides everyone in your firm acomplete view of your relationship networks,Client Careprospects, and clients directly from Outlook,providing a familiar and intuitive work environment The service management module of CRM4Legalthat encourages user adoption and productivity. And consists of core components including: Servicebecause it is developed by Aderant, it looks, feels and Requests which can include client service requestsperforms like it was built for the legal professional.and client complaints to mini-projects; KnowledgeBase, a repository of articles containing firmCRM4Legal capabilities include: information, best practices, technical details, or any Outlook-based CRMother documentation that business users access to Marketingaddress and resolve issues; and, Queues, containers Relationship Intelligencefor work items, such as service requests or inbound Business Development emails.8 10. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmCompuLaw VisionProtect and build your practice with the #1 name in rules-based calendaring.Malpractice exposure from calendar related errors CompuLaw Vision includes:is a significant risk for every lawyer and every firm. Rules-based calendaringYou can greatly reduce that risk with CompuLaw Matter database managementVision, the most powerful legal calendar and matter Rules database librarymanagement system available today. Documents database Report writerCompuLaw Vision enables users to automatically Case notesschedule critical dates in accordance with court rules Related parties databaseapplicable to their case. The actual rules of court and Audit trail systemcourt holidays are built into the software, eliminating Security / password protectionerror prone and time-consuming docket calculations. Outlook, GroupWise, and Lotus Notes Furthermore, when the rules change, Vision willintegrationautomatically adjust any deadlines on calendar toconform to the changed rules. Using Vision is the Vision Web Portalmost accurate and reliable way to manage yourcalendar and matter information.The Vision Web Portal is the easiest way to access yourVision calendar data from the office or on the road,When it comes to accessing calendar information 24/7. You can view your data through your browser,throughout your firm, Vision offers unparalleledanytime, filtering to choose the exact data you need.choices. Whatever works best for your firm, however Screens can be customized for various practice groupsyour firm wants to work, Vision will comply.or new events, and changes can be sent back to yourdata entry department for automatic import intoVision.Vision is a Comprehensive Calendar andMatter Management SolutionWith CompuLaw Collaborate, Web Portal users haveVision is much more than the most accurate legala convenient access point for attorney collaborationcalendaring system available its also a detailed on all legal calendaring event list information.matter management solution. Vision is incrediblyCollaborate is a web part component that integratesflexible, allowing you to customize and filterVision Web Portal with Microsoft Office SharePoint.information, track parties and documents, and This Event List Web Part provides law firms with directstreamline results, giving you just the information you access to critical information on all events related to aneed to see, when you want to see it. specific client, matter, team, or department.9 11. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your Firm Deadlines.com Easy access to critical deadlines for affordable malpractice prevention. Deadlines.com is a SaaS-based legal deadline greatly reduce your risk. Many professional liability calculation service that protects small law firms andinsurance carriers even offer discounts to users of solo practitioners from the leading case of malpracticeDeadlines.com in the form of risk management claims. Deadlines.com uses CompuLaws date credits. calculation engine and extensive court rules library. CompuLaw has earned a reputation for being the Apply Court Rule Changes most accurate solution in rules based calendaring for mid-size and large law firms. Through Deadlines.comDeadlines.coms patented Change Notification the same reliable technology is available to smaller Service (CNS) immediately notifies users via email law firms and solo practitioners at a fraction of theif we believe your deadlines have been affected by a cost. With a highly intuitive web interface, flexiblechange in the court rules. We also provide a link to pricing, and easy access to your critical deadlines, quickly and easily regenerate your deadlines using Deadlines.com offers you affordable malpracticethe updated rules. CNS is provided to all users at prevention.no additional cost because we pride ourselves onproviding the most accurate information available. Calculate Court DeadlinesRun Reports of Upcoming Dates Deadlines.com allows smaller firms to generate deadlines using the same technology that is trusted by Our View Deadlines page allows you to generate, more than 70% of the top 100 firms in the country email and print a variety of reports. Filter by case, by simply, accurately, and affordably. Deadlines.comevent, as well as various date rangeskeeping the even makes it easy to bill the charges back to yourinformation at your fingertips to ensure you dont clients as a research fee. miss a deadline. Minimize Risk and Help Avoid the Leading View On-Screen Calendars: Monthly, Cause of Malpractice ClaimsWeekly, and Daily Views According to the ABA, calendar-related errors areDeadlines.coms On-Screen Calendars provide the leading cause of malpractice claims and over graphical views of your deadlines, mobile access 70% of claims occurred in firms with five or fewer to your calendar and an offsite copy of your critical attorneys. With Deadlines.com accurately calculating deadlines for disaster recovery proceduresa big plus your deadlines, automatically adding them to yourto professional liability carriers who want to know calendar and emailing you remindersyou canif your calendar will be accessible in the event of anemergency.10 12. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmRainMaker Bill ScRubberRules set. Billing guidelines met.Is your cash flow succumbing to the complex billing Pre-determined Rules or Build Your Ownguidelines put upon you by your clients? Law firms areincreasingly under pressure by their clients to adhereBill Scrubber is equipped to catch the most commonto complex guidelines for the submission of legal bills.billing guideline rejections. These include:Non-compliance with these rules results in your ebills Time Entry narrative not to exceed xx charactersbeing rejected or disputed, causing payment delays Cost Entry narrative not to exceed xx charactersand /or write downs. Time Entry trigger words or phrases and suggest replacementsBill Scrubber is designed to help law firms save time Cost Entry trigger words or phrases and suggestand improve cash flow by ensuring compliance withreplacementstodays complex billing rules and guidelines. Bill Look for special characters in Time Entries andScrubber reduces costly write-downs by examining Cost Entriescost and time entries, comparing them to pre-defined Look for approved Timekeepers in all Timerules, and highlighting items that need your attention.EntriesThe software provides suggestions for change based Look for approved Cost Items in all Cost Entrieson client/matter approved narrative, phases, tasks Check Time Entry Rates and make sure theyactivities, and timekeeper types.match the C/M rate assigned Ignore Flat Fee Time EntriesBill Scrubber will: Look for duplicate Time Entries, same attorney Save time proofreading bills by automatically Look for duplicate Time Entries, different attorney adhering to pre-defined rules Look for duplicate Cost Entries Find and highlight all time entries with violations Reduce write-offs and short pays Spot duplicate entries and narrative words subject to rejection Accelerate the ebill submission and approval process from vendor sites Get your bills out the door quickly and efficiently Ultimately improve cash flow11 13. Aderant Solution Guide - Manage, Grow, and Protect Your FirmRainMaker XLerator with Dynamic LinkChanging the way you report.XLerator with Dynamic Link provides a direct linkre-keying the data into a spreadsheet. Utilizing thebetween your database and Microsoft Excel, makingXLerator Task Pane, a user can select informationreporting quick and easy.from hundreds of data items and, within any Unites the Platinum database with Microsoft spreadsheet, click on where they would like to placeExcel allowing complete control and access tothat data. The information is instantly extracted fromyour firms vast array of data.the database and placed in the spreadsheet. When the Empowers end-users to analyze information user saves the spreadsheet, the link to the data alongin exactly the format they choose withoutwith all formatting and user calculations are alsothe constraints of canned reports, customsaved for future use.programming, product limitations, or the burdenand risk of re-keying the data.How XLerator with Dynamic Link Works Quickly and reliably create complex, multi-dimensional models and manipulate existing XLerator with Dynamic Link is based on exposingdata to analyze trends.existing data queries from RainMaker Platinums database. These queries are used by the application software to generate reports, provide inquiries, buildSpreadsheets Meet the 23rd Century web parts, and other common tasks. PreviouslyXLerator with Dynamic Link provides a direct linkthese queries were hidden from users and availablebetween Microsoft Excel and the data stored in law only to programmers. RainMaker users can easilyfirms databases, including financial management.build custom queries, with the Platinum businessThis means that any piece of data, from any module,intelligence product, that become immediatelycan be retrieved while working in Excel; makingavailable for use in XLerator. More advanced usersthe spreadsheet analysis virtually endless. Since thecan quickly build their own queries in SQL or copyinitial adoption of the spreadsheet as a means ofand paste them from any other compliant reportingreporting in the 1990s, it has been nearly impossibletool such as Crystal Reports or Microsoft Access.for non-technical users to point and click on dataelements from a list and then have that informationXLerator with Dynamic Link can be used for:immediately appear in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. New or existing spreadsheets Pivot tablesWhy Risk Re-keying? Charts and graphs Trend analysesXLerator with Dynamic Link empowers users to Consolidating informationanalyze information in exactly the format they choose Complex multi-dimensional modelingwithout the constraints of canned reports, customprogramming, product limitations or the burden of 12 14. 3525 Piedmont RoadBuilding 6, Suite 620 Atlanta, GA 30305Sales: +1 888 604 2366 [email protected] www.aderant.com