Second Opinions

Starting All Over, From Square One

By Ross Kodner

The Sweet Spot WHETHER laptop or desktop configuration, there has always been a "sweet spot" in the computer market. This can be loosely defined as the point where there is a balance between reasonable price and projected three year life cycle, generally about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up the product range. Here are today's specs: Desktop PCs: * Speed: 1.5 GHz Pentium III, 1.4 GHz AMD Athlon RAM: 256 MB minimum * Monitors: 17-inch minimum * CD-ROM: 48x or 12/8/32x CD-RW (CD burner) * Hard Drive: 20 GB as a network station * Network Card: 3COM or Intel 10/100 only -- no cheapie network cards! LAPTOPS: * Speed: 850-900 MHz and some 1 GHz * RAM: 256-512 MB (more is better) * Monitors: 14.1- inch or 15-inch TFT (active-matrix) only, avoid low-quality passive-matrix displays * CD-ROM: 24x or internal CD-RW * Hard Drive: 12-30 GB * Network Card: Built-in 10/100 or Xircom or 3COM 10/100. -- Ross Kodner

THESE lawyers face a challenging question: "How do we jump-start our practice systems?" The process of determining what a small firm should implement must be methodical and multi-focused. It calls for a careful analysis of short-term and long-term needs, balancing affordability, practicality and the achievement of defined goals.

Presuming a five lawyer general practice firm with perhaps 10 total employees, let's explore the process of re-establishing the PC-based technology systems. The most important process in buying a new computer system has nothing to do with debating whether to buy Dell or Gateway or Compaq PCs, or engaging in a Word v. WordPerfect debate. The best place to start is two giant steps back -- and plan, plan, plan.

Planning involves taking a "big picture" look at the firm's technology needs. This starts with the important element of workflow or perhaps better stated: "info-flow." How does the firm manage its client files? What happens from the time a new matter is accepted and a file is opened to the time it is ultimately final billed and closed? What kind of information flows into the firm during the case intake process? Is a "single entry" of case information the ultimate goal? (P.S. it should be!)

The next step covers the more technical side. Questions to ask include what kinds of technology systems did the firm have in the past? In what formats are the firm's current data files -- for billing and accounting, calendaring, addresses and case contacts, and of course, the firm's documents?

Finally, look at the most valuable assets of the firm: its "live-ware." Survey your people to gauge technology knowledge. Determine the level of proficiency in using the firm's prior software systems. Based on the information gathered, training on new programs can be customized to be most effective.

This process of self-examination, whether led internally or through the use of a consultant, can help match the practice situation with the right hardware and software systems.

Ideal Mix

Key software areas for any firm include the four basic technology groups:

1. Billing and accounting systems

In the smaller firm arena, TABS III (from Software Technology, Inc.) and PCLaw (from Alumni Computer Group) offer integrated billing and accounting capability. Many firms find this preferable to Timeslip's non-integrated approach.

2. Document generation

Choose between the Corel WordPerfect Office series or Microsoft's Office XP product line, or a combination of the two. Consider making Adobe's Acrobat 5.0 a key part of your firm's document compatibility repertoire.

3. Case information management

This encompasses tracking intake information on cases, dates and deadlines, storing and searching through conflict of interest information, and serving as the shared electronic contact management system.

Most firms will choose from the "big four" in the smaller firm case management system marketplace: TimeMatters from Data.TXT, Amicus Attorney from Gavel & Gown, CaseMaster from Software Technology, Inc. or AbacusLaw from Abacus Data.

4. Document management

With regard to document management and work product retrieval (adjunct capability to the document generation tools, remember that your firm has two things to sell to its clients: a) your expertise, and b) your words.

The ability to do this profitably turns on your ability to find, leverage and recycle your storehouse of prior work product. This is what document management systems do. Worldox (from World Software Corp.) doesn't use the more costly SQL database system, making it more affordable for smaller firms than its counterparts, iManage (from iManage Inc.) and PC DOCS Open (from Hummingbird Ltd.)

In addition to these four areas, there are many "front office" substantive legal practice systems, including litigation support products such as Summation, Concordance, or InMagic; and document assembly tools (Ghostfill or Hotdocs). These may ultimately make sense, but none are core products essential at the point of startup.

Finally, your firm's new computers need to be networked. In a firm this size, there are two practical networking options: Novell's high-value NetWare for Small Business 6 bundle and Microsoft's Windows 2000 Small Business Server (or the forthcoming inevitable Windows XP version).

Ross Kodner is president of MicroLaw Inc., a Milwaukee-based legal technology consulting group. He is a member of the LTN Editorial Advisory Board.