PCLaw 10

I recently sat in on a Webinar/user’s group for PCLaw. The difference with the Time Matters user’s group was like night and day. First of all, the presenter stated clearly that while PCLaw has some resources for end users, at a certain point they would be better off hiring a consultant, and even went so far as to show attendees how to look up and find a Lexis-certified consultant on the web site. More generally, the presenter was obviously very knowledgeable about the product.

More importantly, as the user group reviewed the new features in the upcoming PCLaw 10, two facts stood out. First, that PCLaw 10 will be an incremental release. Given the recent layoffs of programmers and support people, this is probably a wise move. Trying to do too much could result in Time Matters-type disasters.

The second interesting fact is that although the new features are minor, they are in fact responsive to things that people have been asking for for years. So the response to the traditional mantra: “don’t bother upgrading unless there is a feature that you have been dying to have for a long time” may well be that there is indeed such a feature.

Some of the new features include:

The ability to change the screen fonts in the grid displays (i.e. in the Register). I have several clients who have been complaining about this for years.

An improved way to show courtesy discounts on bills. This has also been an annoyance for many people.

The ability to pay off previous balances from the Trust account – you didn’t use to be able to do this.

Comments

[Thomas Moore]

I'm the office manager at www.moorefamilylawMN.com a small (2 attorney) firm in Minnesota, USA. Most of our business is in Family Law and most of that is in Hennepin County / Minneapolis area. Hennepin County is pretty well organized. If there is a divorce case, I know that I will have to keep track of the following if we go to trial: Our first meeting with client; our signing a contract with the client; an Initial Case Management meeting with the court, a Pre Trial hearing with the court, and a trial with the court. I'd like to have, in PCLaw calendar function - or - somewhere! - a calendar template which I could just click on, fill in the matter number for the client, and fill in the dates for when all these meetings will take place - and - have a way to view, add, change delete this of course so that I can see what's been scheduled and what, not.

Any way of doing this? In V. 10 of PCLaw? In V 9.31D?

Tom Moore

[Joe Accetturo]

I have been using PCLaw for several years. I purchased it for TE. I am using it with a Palm 755P. When I hotsync I get duplicate files. Is there an easy way to delete these duplicate files from the contacts. Also, will PC Law be doing something to allow for syn on Palm PRO in the near future. Thanks

[Hassan Maje]

In response to Tom Moore: Yes it is very possible to set up a Calendar template in current PCLaw versions (dont know if PClaw 10 has enhanced functionality). You can make use of Linked Dates in the PCLaw Calendar and set up your templates with base dates. The dates of your next set of events can also be fine tuned to be contingent upon the completion date of a prior event. Play around with this feature in the Experimental books and you will get ahang of it.

Best

Hassan Maje