Summit Recap: Legal Practice Management Made Easier With Automation

With today’s growing advancement in legal practice management software. Document automation is one solution for law firms to collate all documents for a matter in one central place. This helps lawyers to spend less time on time-intensive tasks and more time in areas that require their skills and expertise.

At Smokeball, we continue to evolve and innovate to stay ahead of the curve and provide law firm owners with all the tools for success.

If you were unable to catch Tony’s live practical training stream session, we’ve summarised some keynotes below.

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Document Automation

Embrace the benefits of legal document automation to enhance the quality and speed at which you can respond to clients. The document automation process is as simple as it is effective.

Document automation is the powerful concept of entering data once, and then utilising that data many times throughout multiple documents, ensuring that vital information is organised and correct. Whether you’re sending emails or taking notes on a client’s matter, document automation draws from previous data removing human error.

Benefits include:

• Increased efficiency – you can create a wide range of legal documents in a fraction of the time it previously took to create.
• Boost profitability – reduces the time it takes to create documents, lawyers are free to work on other matters.
• Reduce manual errors – eliminates the concerns of human errors when creating and recreating legal documents from scratch or the copy-paste method from multiple sources.
• Better customer experience – the speed of delivery and being able to provide customised legal documents quickly to improve client satisfaction and retention.

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Matter Management

In Smokeball, we’ve taken your entire client’s matter with related emails, documents, tasks, events and contacts, and made them all accessible and viewable in one place. When you open an existing or new matter, the below sections are displayed by default.

Matter View:

1. Stages – a list of stages the matter will proceed through on its way to completion.
2. Document List – a standard list of document folders can be created. Allows for better organisation of documents, searches, emails and anything else saved into the matter.
3. Notes – just like your post-it notes, these are available on your main screen at all times, until they are checked off or deleted.
4. Billing Widget – provides an overview of all billing activity within the matter.
5. Matter Tags – tags are used to classify matters further than just the matter type, or you can use them to group matters.

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Matter Configuration

Every matter on Smokeball will have a matter category assigned which is customisable. Making changes to the configurations is easy - you will be able to view, edit and create your default document folders; tags; notes, time & fees, relevant URLs, and stages in the configuration window.

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Matter Templates

You can prefill the data alongside other settings. If you have a series of matters that will reuse the same information (e.g. acting for a vendor for a series of lots on a single development) you can set it up so that as you open up a matter for each lot all the common information will be automatically in place.

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Workflows and Task Management

Manage your entire firm’s daily routine with tasks and reminders with Smokeball’s legal workflow software. This will enable you to save time, let you know what actions to take each day, and reduce errors.

A workflow is a standard list of tasks that you apply to a particular matter type. It works by linking the individual task to the data on each matter that you apply it to. As soon as you fill in a key piece of data, such as settlement date, court hearing date on a particular matter, the task linked to it automatically determines when it needs to become due. These tasks can also contain links to any documents or precedents necessary for the completion of the task, as well as all important information.

Smokeball offers standard workflows, across an extensive range of practice areas, including family law and conveyancing. You can always amend and customise these workflows or create your own to achieve your maximised efficiency.

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Smokeball’s Daily Digest feature shows you the important information for each day at a glance, with the ability to quickly show what tasks are due for completion, what events are in the calendar, any messages from other staff members, and a summary of your day’s activities. You will also receive an automatic email message first thing in the morning containing the same vital information. The feature gives you a run-down of your missed messages. When other members of your firm take your clients’ messages, they can auto fill them with your client matter details and tag you, so you have everything you need to follow up.

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About Tony Hastings

Tony is a Training Specialist for Smokeball Legal Practice Management Software. Tony has over 15 years of experience in the legal and conveyancing industry, including working as a conveyancer for small and mid-tier law firms. He is passionate about helping small law firms get the best use of their practice management software - to maximise their productivity and earning potential.