We just implemented a new feature in LawRD: the tenths of an hour.

With this new feature LawRD users will be able to input time and invoice clients using this time measure.

If you are already a LawRD user and you want to work with tenths of an hour please follow this steps (only users with Administrator profile can perform the first step):

• Activate the 10th of an hour feature in your LawRD account settings. After clicking in Settings just check the following check box:

After enabling this option, all the users will see timesheets according to the the tenths of an hour time measure (they must sign out to see the changes).

• All new clients created after the previous change will be automatically billed with the tenths of an hour system.

• All the clients created before this features’ implementation will be billed by the 00H00m system. You must activate the Use tenth of an hour check box in every client if you only want to work in this system:

• You can work with both system at the same time. You can uncheck Use tenth of an hour in the client record and this client’s billing sheets will be issued in the 00H00m format (although time input will still be in tenths of an hour).

It is already available in Apple App Store, the LawRD iPhone application.

Optimized with the aim of simplifying the inclusion of time in the various matters of each customer, wherever you are.

For now, the application allows the inclusion of time and the user can update the information in any place and at any time from your iPhone by syncing right away with your online application.

This is the first of a series of developments that will accompany the Web version of LawRD. Our goal is to allow, over time, total access to application functionality, with the advantage of access via mobile.

With this new application, LawRD follows the needs of its users and facilitates the effective management of your time, focusing on maximum efficiency and productivity of their work.

Now you are ready to use, just download it at the App Store.

Post by Daniel Ray, lawyer and managing partner at Scott, Money, Ray & Thomas and LawRD user since summer of 2011:

I am the managing partner of a small firm outside Dallas, Texas. We have 6-8 billers, including attorneys and paralegals. Until recently, we had failed to find a cost-effective legal billing program. Any of the programs my partners and I used at large national law firms were extremely expensive and unwieldy for a small firm. We tried mass-marketed billing software that was inexpensive, but did not provide the functionality necessary for technical projects with variable rates and fees.

In the summer of 2011, we began using LawRD. We were skeptical of the low per-person price tag, especially because the software provides user support at no additional charge. However, we tried a thirty-day trial and were quickly impressed by the ease of use the program offers and the wide variety of customizations available for each client and case. We decided to switch to the LawRD software within a week.  We have seen an immediate increase in productivity due to the software and have been particularly impressed by the customer service.

We have only had minor complaints about the program – all of which were quickly addressed.  In one instance, we informed the support staff that it would be helpful to have a larger billing window to allow us to see multiple long entries at the same time. That issue was e-mailed to the support staff, and the program was changed within 24 hours.  At one very large New York-based firm I worked for, our overhead for billing was more than 5 times the cost of this program per user, and making user-requested changes was generally not an option – much less one that would be addressed so quickly.

I would recommend LawRD to any firm looking for software overhead savings and billing functionality.  The ease of use will allow you to spend more time billing and less time entering time, and the low per-user cost provides an immediate benefit to the bottom line.

First and foremost we must apologise to you, Lawrd’s blog reader, for our radio silence since July 2011. Our inactivity in the blog did not meant a inactivity in the work: From August to September we have been busy with many Lawrd’s developments and enhancements. For you to be in the know:

• The process of billing is faster;
• 5 bugs reported by our clients considered to be a priority have been fixed;
• Our Amazon servers have been optimized;
• Backups are more efficient than ever so that downtime can become old news;
• PagSeguro is up and running for our Brazil readers.

During the last two months we have defined, once again through feedback of our clients, what developments to do until the end of 2011. We have 13 scheduled developments that will be reported in this blog along the way.

Today we implemented a more simple version of the Billing Tab. From now on, while accessing the Billing Tab, you can filter the data you want to view by client - being able to see the Unbilled values , the Unpaid billing sheets and those already fully paid (Paid Invoices):

In the sub-tabs Unpaid Invoices and Paid Invoices, you can add or delete payments as well as deleting billing sheets.

When deleting or issuing a payment, there are immediate implications in the client’s account, as you are able to immediately view the client’s financial position on your law firm after the accomplished actions.

When deleting a billing sheet the client’s account is updated and times and expenses included become available in the sub-tab Unbilled so they can be later included in a new billing sheet.

We are certain that you will be pleased to be able to delete a payment in such a straightforward way.

Post by Nuno B.M. Lumbrales, lawyer, partner at Lumbrales & Associados and LawRD user:

I was asked to write a personal review on LawRD, from a user point of view, a little bit over one year’s use.

Without being a fully comprehensive one, given the limited use within my firm features such as those related to billing (except for the use of timesheets which, once reviewed are the basis for issuing invoices via outsource accounting), LawRD stands as an important part within our management.

The features we use the most - contacts, matters, tasks and expenses - are all gathered in a single tool, both inexpensive and easy to use as well as particularly reliable, wherein the our data base is hosted, for consultation and billing purposes (as I mentioned above the latter is not our case,though).

I am adamant in saying that LawRD is a sure asset for our management efficacy and key in our practice’s success.

Post by Jared Correia. Jared is the law practice management advisor with the Massachusetts Law Officer Management Assistance Program, providing free and confidential law practice management consulting to Massachusetts attorneys.  True to certain veiled promises, he makes his thoughts on law practice management available generally online, most notably through the LOMAP Blog and his Twitter account.

As a law practice advisor for Massachusetts’ Law Office Management Assistance Program, I am afforded a ringside seat for the viewing of trends in the legal field, through, what has become, my informal, detached study of modern lawyers’ habits.  One of the trends that I have noticed, over the time that I have spent in my current capacity, is that most of the attorneys with whom I consult are desirous of finding appropriate new technologies, that can: (1) unlock previously undiscovered efficiencies within their practice; and, (2) save them money. Given these qualifying motivations, it is, perhaps, unsurprising that many of the attorneys with whom I meet are ready, and most willing, to begin to incorporate SaaS solutions into their practices, to the extent that they have not already done so.

SaaS systems essentially (and, I won’t belabor this point, because if you’re a regular reader of LawRD’s “Your Law Firm in Progress” blog, you likely already know what SaaS systems are, and what they do) move the traditional software program from residence on your computer/system to residence on the web, accessible through a secure portal by you (and invited collaborators), following a set of security checkdowns.  SaaS systems, especially SaaS systems with practice management features, like the LawRD: Reports on Demand program, answer for the above-referenced requirements respecting efficiency and cost.  Online practice management systems are, in my experience, more accessible, easier to learn, more intuitive to use and faster in operation than those systems that continue to reside on your own computer systems. Given that certain systems, like LawRD’s, offer practice management components, for the better leveraging of client matter and contact management and for time and billing (among a number of useful features), the efficiency upgrade will be obvious in terms of adding a practice management system where, perhaps, none existed before; and, generally, the ease of use/intuitiveness, and speed additional to such programs, means that you’ll be working faster, and more efficiently, not harder.  Of course, one of the obvious reasons for the speed advance achieved with the use of SaaS systems is the fact that such programs are removed from your own computer system, and are not competing directly for space, memory and processing speed with the other applications that you have already downloaded to your machine; this also means that you’ve got fewer costs related to desktop/system support moving forward, and that the remainder of your traditional software systems will work faster, as well (competition having been removed), making you more efficient, saving you more money.  The cost savings of a move to SaaS are also inherent in the pricing models of most of these systems versus the pricing models of traditional software programs.  Generally, with traditional software systems, you’re paying a significant initial rate, plus for program updates, usually each year. With an SaaS system, you’re paying a fairly reasonable monthly rate (rather than a significant up-front cost), with updates taking place automatically, and behind the scenes, and without additional charge. The cost savings can become large-scale, depending upon the SaaS system you select, and depending upon the size (in terms of accessing employees) and needs of your firm; and, the additional efficiencies achieved through the immediate application of important updates and upgrades, without your spending any time to apply same, can also become significant.

If you want to learn more about SaaS, check out the “The Use of SaaS in the Legal Field” episode of my podcast.  With respect to the vetting of SaaS providers, and some of the security questions related to the utilization, by lawyers, of SaaS systems, look over my blog post respecting a North Carolina Bar Association proposed ethics opinion that attempts to provide some clarification in that space.  And, of course, you should continue to follow LawRD’s “Your Law Firm in Progress” blog, for product-related updates, and information relative to SaaS.

When deciding on the purchase of SaaS products in the legal space, you might consider LawRD’s flagship “Reports on Demand” program; you should also consider, as well, (LawRD parent company) muchBeta’s other useful SaaS product offerings: Teepin and Yoomit.

Post by Daniel Nunes, muchBeta’s Chief Financial Officer:

A client current-account represents the financial situation before a lawyer or law firm.

That being said it’s all very clear: when I (lawyer) issue a billing sheet to clients they owe me money, therefore I will log that debtor position on the current-account. By the time clients pay billing sheets, they no longer owe me any money, i.e. they now have a creditor position before me (lawyer). Thus, clients payments are always credited on their current-accounts. This is why, whenever a money provision is advanced for fees and expenses, I have to credit the client’s current-account.

Yet, a current-account that just reflects financial movements and responsibilities is not enough. A practical example:

A lawyer starts a new matter for a client and asks for a fee provision of $2,000. The current-account shows a creditor balance of $2,000.

Throughout one week, a lawyer has input 20 hours of work into the client’s matter. If that lawyer charges a $150/hour fee, what is the client financial position then?

For any usual billing software the answer would be: the client is creditor of $2,000. According to that application all is OK regarding this client.

But if that lawyer were a LawRD user, when checking the client’s current-account the information would have be:

LawRD displays two balances:

• A green one shows the amount of $2,000 representing a credit to the client, for the advanced provision.
• A red one with the negative amount of -$1,000.

This red -$1,000 stands for the real financial situation of the client towards the lawyer. By the end of the month LawRD will read the client situation as:

$2,000 (provision) - [20 hours input x $150] = $2,000 - $3,000 = -$1,300

LawRD displays two diverse concepts of current-account:

• The traditional, i.e. one that reflects the issuing of billing sheets and the client payments.
• And another, we call Global Current-Account, which mentions tasks and expenses already logged on the matter, but not yet issued  and billed to the client.

Given the scenario on the example, a lawyer faces two options: either a new provision is requested or all debts are billed to the client so that the balance is altered.

Looking at the first option and that a new provision of $2,500 has been added, the current-account will show a positive balance of $4,500, if only financial flow is considered. A positive balance of $1,500 is shown if the total input of tasks already accomplished but not yet billed is taken into consideration, though:

That $1,500 balance equals about 10 hours worth of work ($1,500 divided by $150) that the lawyer may use for that matter. Once that happens, the client will be in debt before the lawyer, again.

Should the lawyer bill all work to the client, the balance in both accounts will be the same: a negative -$1,000:

LawRD displays as negative and in red all the client’s debtor positions. This is a way to red flag the client’s debtor positions to the matter manager or anyone in charge of the administration.

So, what is the upside of showing two concepts of current-account? Here’s one: the client financial situation to the lawyer or law firm is displayed in real time. Billing never keeps up with the work actually done. By using LawRD, users are informed earlier when the client’s financial position is negative… and real time info is valuable for it allows swifter decisions without having to wait on the administrative time it takes for billing sheets to be issued and only then being able to decide.

LawRD is valuable data for your valuable time.

To celebrate our presence at London’s European Lawyers event next June 5th, we’re giving a LawRD - Reports on Demand special offer:

• 3 months free trial of LawRD for all European Lawyers fans in Facebook.
• 3 months free use, extra, to all participants at the event.

This means a special offer of, up to 6 months, free use of LawRD.

To access this give away, just click the following fields in LawRD, when signing up for free trial:

We’d like to stress that during free trial, LawRD is fully functional for the better assessment of our app.

This is another initiative in order to strengthen our bond to European Lawyers, just like it happened with the 2009 Brussels event. We’re counting on all of you being there… if the Icelandic volcano doesn’t decided to alter our plans.

We have been asked whether muchBeta - developers of LawRD - Reports on Demand - issue invoices and receipts proving LawRD user monthly payment. Of course we do.

Our clients can use one of two ways to paying the monthly fee: credit card or bank transfer.

Should a client choose to pay via credit card, invoices and receipts are automatically issued thus being available on LawRD’s dashboard so they can be downloaded on PDF.

If the payment is done by wire transfer, LawRD will inform the client on the amount to be transferred and the IBAN account number.

The invoice and receipt will be issued once muchBeta has confirmed the due transfer is done (2-5 working days on average).

For clients to view their invoices and receipts, a LawRD administrator will go to the ‘Settings’ tab and click on:

The PDF containing invoices and receipts is reachable by clicking on ‘Current-Account’:

Finally, given that muchBeta is located within the European Union, our company is compliant to all VAT regulations.

Nicole Black mentioned LawRD - Reports on Demand on a post in the Firmex company blog.

Nicole Black is a lawyer who writes books and on blogs about legal issues. Firmex’s blog is one of them. Firmex provides Financial Advisory Firms, Corporations, Private Equity Groups and Law Firms with a privately branded virtual data room to securely share and exchange documents online. Law firms are among their clients ranks.

The post titled Web-based Law Practice Management Systems starts by standing out the advantages of the SaaS solution:

“Advantages include lower costs due to reduced overhead, less hassle related to maintaining and upgrading the case management system and greater flexibility, since the Web-based system can be accessed anywhere, at anytime.”

Further on the post, she refers 4 of the most interesting SaaS solutions for law firms. LawRD is on the list:

“Another web-based system well suited for larger law firms is LawRD. A distinguishing feature of this platform is that it helps managing partners review and track associates’ time sheets, expenses and assigned tasks.”

LawrRD offers a distinguished output that provides its users reports to support law firm management making available, at any given moment, data on productivity and profitability either concerning employees as well as clients.

LawRD’s team is grateful to Nicole Black and to Firmex’s team for mentioning LawRD: thanks a lot!