At the last Amicus Consultant’s Conference I demonstrated some innovative ways of improving the way HotDocs and Amicus interact. A recent post on the LinkedIn user’s group, Amicus Wizards, has prompted me to post some pictures from that demo. The question was asked why is the HotDocs interview generated automatically by Amicus so long with so many dialogs. The answer is that the automatically generated interview DOES NOT HAVE any dialogs, it is merely a list of variables that are used in the template in the order that they appear in the document.
Category: Amicus Attorney
HotDocs-Amicus Master Component Eases Integration
SQL Adventures – Navigating PCLaw Billing Preferences From HotDocs
T
he answer to the question is “MatterInfoSpareLong2″. After several hours of searching, calls to former PCLaw product managers and tech support directors, I got the answer I was searching for. My odyssey had started with a simple request: “Produce a report that combines File details in Amicus Attorney with billing and receivables details in PCLaw. Having presented a seminar on integrating Amicus Attorney and HotDocs, I thought it a simple matter to integrate HotDocs and PCLaw.
On the surface, it was easy. In PCLaw there is a MattInf table that stores the Matter information. You can use the MatterID from within HotDocs to query the SQL database and get file information. On the MattInf table there is a ClientID that links to information on the primary client, allowing you to pull in client data. For current statistics, there is a MattBal that contains data on each file regarding account balance, receivables, billings etc.
How to Access Amicus Attorney Custom Records From HotDocs
At the recent Gavel & Gown consultants conference, I demonstrated a new way to access data stored on Amicus Attorney Premium Edition. Because Premium Edition is run on SQL Server platform, there is a way, through a secure connector to access the data for document assembly through HotDocs. More on that later.
Credenza – Practice Management Lite
Basha Systems has recently gotten certified for Credenza, a product of Credenzasoft.com, but really a spinoff of Amicus Attorney. Check out our new subdomain for information (amicus-attorney.bashasys.com). The reason is really simple. Credenza is for those who are not ready for full blown legal practice management. It strikes a balance by including those features which most attorneys with practice management ACTUALLY USE.
We have gone through the certification process … attending the classes and taking the exam. We have installed and configured a few test systems. AND we have implemented the system for our first live client. The “sale” was easy. Who objects to $19.99/month … that is $240/year for each user. What are the hardware requirements? Does your PC run Outlook? Does it have a connection to the internet? Thank you … you can have Credenza.
If Credenza is “so easy” and “so cheap”, what is there for a consultant to do? The answer, actually, is more than you think. And that is because “practice management” is fundamentally different from email and contact management. It requires some discipline, some planning, and some training. All can be delivered our the web with web-training tools like GoToMeeting.com. If you are going to use Credenza for billing and if you are going to take advantage of Cloud-based file-synchronization and database-synchronization, you will need to understand the configuration and setup issues. And you will need to do some planning.
For example, the Credenza File contains a field called “Client ID” and “File ID”. If you plan to post your time entries to Timeslips or Quickbooks, then you will need to fill these fields with the appropriate linking data. Otherwise, you will be posting your time entries to never-never-land. That would make Peter Pan and Wendy happy, but won’t exactly bring you any revenue.
The system also allows you to create “custom fields” on the file. It supports basic data-types. But you need to create the same fields on each file type. Moreover, the reporting system for custom fields is practically non-existent. You can do a “details report” that lists each file on a separate page, but you can’t export multiple files with their custom data to a spreadsheet or a usable CSV. A usable CSV is on where fields are delimited by “commas”, and if data is lacking in a given field, a comma is still provided so that when that data is opened into Excel or another database, all the data lines up in the appropriate column.
As a company that does a lot of document assembly automation, I am often asked why can’t I use the data in my practice management system, here Credenza, to feed the answer file in my HotDocs templates. HotDocs has become more sophisticated in recent years. In the old days, you needed “field mapping” tools and special answer files and component files to connect a practice management system to HotDocs. Now, it’s really simple. All you need is an ODBC driver and an understanding of the data structure of the practice management database. You can even work with linking to data services, that serve as an intermediary between the database and HotDocs. For now, I am told there are no plans to connect to HotDocs, and the database is locked to access by any external program. Hopefully that will change in the future.
But for $19.99/month … Credenza is hard to beat. And for users, it functions as an Outlook plugin. My recommendation, for full security is for a client to get hosted Microsoft Exchange services so that their Outlook files are properly secured and backed up. That may add $10-15/month to the fee, but again no special hardware install or licensing is required. And many Hosted Exchange companies will toss in a license to the latest version of Outlook.
Upon Returning from Banff
I have just returned from the Amicus 2010 Consultants conference in Banff. They were kind enough to invite me to speak on document assembly to their consultants and to demonstrate how Amicus Attorney can support and facilitate complex document assembly workflow. The setting, high in the Canadian Rockies, was nothing short of spectacular. Some days were sunny and warm (I wore T-shirt and shorts) and other days it snowed. But what was real exciting was the transformation from Amicus Attorney from the “warm familiar” attorney practice management system that “anyone” can use into a powerful, fully customizable, extensible workflow powerhouse.
Workflow Possibilities
I took several days to prepare for my session, evaluating just how far and how easily Amicus could be modified to support complex workflow. The answer was that “within constraints” there was no limit to how far it could be customized. Customization is permitted on Contacts and Files in the form of “Custom Pages”. Each custom page can be designed. All field types are supported. You can layout the prompts and the data entry boxes in any fashion you want. You can (and are recommended) to use the same fields across multiple file types. However, you can apply them in a different order, in a different grouping, and on different pages across multiple file types. You also have “custom records” which can be used on files and contacts, with no restriction on the number and type of custom records.
This is all done without substantially altering the familiar look and feel of Amicus. But in the process, it truly transforms the product. Gone are the limit of 50 custom fields for Files and 20 custom fields for contacts (assuming of course you are using Premium Edition). In preparation for the session I prepared 3 custom pages with a total of 100 custom fields of various types including dates, picklists, checkboxes, text, and memo fields. I also added custom pages for contacts on the file. And I created two new record types. It was all done rapidly. I was able to define the field names, the prompts, the size of the text boxes, the location on the page, and even use alignment fields to make everything “pretty”. I was also able to add text label boxes to provide further clarification.
The fun begins
This would have been enough, but the focus of my presentation was document assembly. Amicus lets you access all the fields, including custom fields, in both “merge templates” and through HotDocs. The merge template builder gives you access to the custom data on the file with fields grouped by file type. If you are “rigorous” on your field naming, your field lists can self organize by subject area.
As for HotDocs, Amicus takes full advantage of the HotDocs API. You can use a default “map file” which will automatically create a HotDocs component file will all the data on the file (with the exception of custom records at the present time). This include all matter data, including custom fields, all data on the “primary client” including custom fields, basic information on people on file (in a repeat) and special fields for data on events, tasks, notes, calls etc. It creates a CMP file and will generate the requisite answer file without any mapping required. That doesn’t prevent you from creating your own custom maps to an existing set of HotDocs templates. Nor does it prevent an advanced HotDocs developer from creating his or her own master component file and using an INSERT command to bring the interview into the template.
Even more exciting is the ability made possible by SQL Server that ships with Premium Edition. You can create a database component in HotDocs and “query” the database for any data that is not coming over automatically. You can use the Short Filename in your query to go back and grab more related data. Or, you can build your own dynamic reporting system.
Conclusion
As you can see, it was a busy few days. I learned a lot about Amicus and met a lot of great new consultants and made some new friends. In my standing room only presentation, it is my hope that I have excited them as much about document assembly and its possibilities, as I am now excited about Amicus.