New Release from Time Matters

Time Matters Version 5, the latest iteration of the popular law practice management program, was released in May, 2003, and Service Release 1, which added more features, such as linking to HotDocs v. 6, was released in August.

The biggest change is the addition of Billing Matters, a complete billing program fully integrated into the Time Matters program code. As such, it provides integrated timekeeping and billing with the contact, case, calendar, and task management functions in Time Matters. It does not yet have an accounting module, but links with QuickBooks for general ledger and check writing.

This development continues the trend of legal application vendors attempting to provide “one-stop shopping,” ie, including many essential functions in one program. In the past, attempting to use one program for many essential functions meant you had to compromise on at least some of them. The other alternative was to choose the “best of breed” of the half-dozen or so applications needed to practice law. However, because these programs could not “talk” to each other for the most part, the same information had to be entered in multiple programs, and all practice information could not be seen at once.

Having all your practice information in one “bucket” is a boon to the practice of law. Customization of, and training on, one program takes less time than having to master many programs. Getting technical support from one vendor reduces finger pointing. These synergies make it easier to accomplish the goals of practicing law better, faster, and cheaper by leveraging technology, and that is the key to managing a profitable law practice.

Billing Matters

Billing Matters is not the ugly sibling of Time Matters, or an afterthought that was developed on the cheap, it is a full-fledged timekeeping and billing system that is just as good or better than anything on the market. It is sold both by itself, which comes with the four major types of records (contacts, matters, events, and to do's) and calendar functions as in Time Matters, or in combination with Time Matters. Because all of the programming code from both programs is present in either combination, Billing Matters can be added to Time Matters, or vice-versa, by simply entering a registration number. No additional software installation is required. A Timeslips conversion function is included.

There has not been a major billing program written from scratch in many years, probably because the legal time and billing market is both small and mature (how many firms go looking for a new program each year?), and development costs to rival the existing players are huge. Most of the existing programs have been around for 15 to 25 years. While this means they have withstood the test of time, it also means that they may be written in code that cannot take advantage of modern day database applications.

Time Matters has always given users multiple ways of accomplishing a task, and Billing Matters has taken this ball and run with it. There are many ways to enter time: from a view that mimics a paper timesheet, one that mimics a calendar, by opening a “slip” form, from an invoice, and from any Time Matters record, such as an Event or ToDo record. It is very efficient to bill a task from the underlying record (eg, Event, Phone Call, etc.) because you do not have to re-enter the client, matter, date, time, and description. They are “inherited” from the original record. This process can also be automated, eg, a new billing record can be popped up when a ToDo is marked “done.” For firms still recording time the “old-fashioned way,” an assistant can enter time using an analog of a written timesheet.

There are also numerous ways to generate an invoice or bill, one at a time or en masse by category, responsible attorney, etc. The Bill Flow Manager tracks all bills through the process of draft bill, review, approval, and final billing.

With both Time Matters and Billing Matters installed, it is easy to view not just all of the notes, documents, phone calls, etc., associated with the matter, but also the work-in-process, balance due, and billing history. All information regarding a matter is in one place. This has the potential to save a firm many hours of rifling through paper files and other programs for needed information. When a client calls with a question about a billing item, the entire timeline of all records can be viewed chronologically, to see where that item fits within the context of the matter.

Time Matters v. 5

Perhaps the most significant new feature in version 5 of Time Matters is the addition of Power Views. Time Matters, like most database programs, lets you view information either in a list view, which looks like a spreadsheet with columns and rows and only shows a small percentage of the information in the record, or a form view, which looks like an index card and may be comprised of multiple forms. The more information you have in each record, the more forms you have to peruse to find the information you are looking for. This can be time-consuming when you know what information you want to access, but it takes you several mouse clicks to get there. It also makes the learning curve steeper.

The best way to describe its advantage is to compare it to the preview window of your e-mail client, such as Outlook. An Outlook user can view a list of e-mails, and as they scroll from email to email the content of the e-mail is displayed in a Preview Window without having to open each e-mail. Similarly, a Time Matters Power View lets you see the content of matter, contact and other records as you scroll through them, without having to open each record. You view the standard list of records on part of the screen, eg, a list of all matters, and specific detailed information regarding the selected record in HTML format on the other half. It is like looking at the record through a magnifying glass. Time Matters has made it easier to resolve the conundrum of how to store a lot of information, but make it very easy to view.

Many Power Views are included with the program, eg, Summary View, Document View, E-mail View, Note View, and Phone View. Defaults can be set so that all users see a specific Power View when viewing the Matter list, but it can be overridden on the user level so that, eg, the managing partner sees the “negotiations view.” This is a good example of how the system can be configured to each user's needs and flatten out the learning curve when customized to a firm's needs.

The Power Views are user-customizable. Minor changes can be made by an experienced Time Matters user. Because Power Views use HTML codes, as do Web pages, major changes will more likely be done by someone with HTML expertise, shared among users, or purchased from Time Matters consultants.

The overall look and feel of Time Matters has been improved. The interface has more a Windows XP look to it. The data forms default to 800 x 600 pixels, and are now are now sizable (they can cover the entire screen, or be infinitely resized).

Version 5 can manage a lot more information than version 4. There are almost twice as many user-definable fields in each type of record. (Time Matters has 12 records types: contacts, matters, events, to do's, custom forms, notes, phone calls, mail, e-mail, documents, billing, and Web.) The contact and matter record types each have 167 customizable fields.

The length of most fields was doubled from 50 to 100 characters. Document paths and other similar fields where long data strings are common have been increased to 256 characters. In addition to customizing the field labels and properties for different types of contact, matter, event, and to do records, eg, the data entry form for a client contact can be customized differently than for an expert witness contact, this function (Form Styles) is now available for the other eight record types, so the fields in a pleading document record can be customized differently than those in a medical document record.

Document management has been improved substantially, and now supports versioning. It is still an “open” document management system (DMS), ie, it does not prevent the user from saving a document outside the system. If you absolutely have to have a closed system, you need one of the dedicated DMS programs. Native Adobe PDF support is now available. Documents can be scanned into the DMS using the popular .pdf format without having Adobe Acrobat installed, and reports in both Billing Matters (bills, invoices, etc.) and Time Matters can be printed directly to PDF.

For some users, it is not intuitive to start a document from within a practice management system. Version 5 closes the gap between it and dedicated DMSs and makes the DMS functions available from within Word or WordPerfect by placing three buttons on the word processor toolbar: one to save the document into the Time Matters DMS (TM Save), one to create a document by merging a template with the data in one of the Time Matters records (Insider), and one to open the document list, which can be automatically set to a specific subset, eg, “all the documents I've created today” (TM Open).

The report writer is much improved, and makes it easier to create your own reports. Multiple levels of sorting and subtotaling are available, as are other ease-of-use features normally found only in stand-alone report writers. All reports, as well as bills, can now be “printed” to PDF format so they can be e-mailed easily and anyone who has the free Adobe Acrobat Reader can view them.

One of the strengths of Time Matters has always been its firm-wide calendar, which makes it easy to see everyone's schedule in a single or multi-day columns, a weekly planner view, and a monthly planner view. Version 5 adds a parallel view, which shows an unlimited number of staff members' calendars, each in a separate column, for one day. There is also a scheduler function, which shows available blocks of time for any number of staff, and makes it easy to schedule a meeting by selecting the block of time from the screen.

E-mail is now faster, and handling html e-mail has been improved. A powerful spam filter has been added. Not only can you filter out e-mail with “mortgage” in the subject, but you can “whitelist” the addresses in your contact list so that if a client sends you a message with a subject of “Please prepare a mortgage for me,” it will not get filtered.

A core functionality of Time Matters for many versions has been its Quick Tabs, on click searches that help you filter sub-sets of your data (eg, with one click you can see your PI cases, your expert witnesses, or the ToDo's that you have to do today). Time Matters 5 enhances Quick Tabs by giving them their own sort orders, and alternating row colors to make the lists easier to read.

A great Quick Tab improvement is the addition of the Staff token that is used in searches. When users log into Time Matters they default to a Staff identification. In version 4, a Quick Tab had to be set up for each user in order for them to have a “My ToDo's” Quick Tab. Now, with the Staff token, only one such “My ToDo's” Quick Tab needs to be set up because the user's staff code is inserted into the token when the search is run. This reduces setup time, especially for larger firms or ones with a lot of turnover.

Existing users of Time Matters will find that there is more to like about version 5. New users will find a cornucopia of practice management tools at their disposal. As with word processor, litigation support, and other computer programs, the problem is not that there are not enough features, the problem is figuring out how to use the darn things, and customize the program to your practice.

In addition to a 500-page manual and on-line help, version 5 comes with two CDs. One is the program itself. The other is called the HelpCam, and contains 44 videos, complete with sound, to help you learn the program's features. Many of these are also on the Time Matters Web site at www.timematters.com/products/videos/. Classroom training is also available at Time Matters HQ in Raleigh, NC, or through a nation-wide network of Time Matters Authorized Independent Consultants.

Investing the time to learn Time Matters (and any other program you use to manage your practice) and customize it to the way you practice, is among the best investments you can make in yourself and your practice.

Time Matters Version 5, the latest iteration of the popular law practice management program, was released in May, 2003, and Service Release 1, which added more features, such as linking to HotDocs v. 6, was released in August.

The biggest change is the addition of Billing Matters, a complete billing program fully integrated into the Time Matters program code. As such, it provides integrated timekeeping and billing with the contact, case, calendar, and task management functions in Time Matters. It does not yet have an accounting module, but links with QuickBooks for general ledger and check writing.

This development continues the trend of legal application vendors attempting to provide “one-stop shopping,” ie, including many essential functions in one program. In the past, attempting to use one program for many essential functions meant you had to compromise on at least some of them. The other alternative was to choose the “best of breed” of the half-dozen or so applications needed to practice law. However, because these programs could not “talk” to each other for the most part, the same information had to be entered in multiple programs, and all practice information could not be seen at once.

Having all your practice information in one “bucket” is a boon to the practice of law. Customization of, and training on, one program takes less time than having to master many programs. Getting technical support from one vendor reduces finger pointing. These synergies make it easier to accomplish the goals of practicing law better, faster, and cheaper by leveraging technology, and that is the key to managing a profitable law practice.

Billing Matters

Billing Matters is not the ugly sibling of Time Matters, or an afterthought that was developed on the cheap, it is a full-fledged timekeeping and billing system that is just as good or better than anything on the market. It is sold both by itself, which comes with the four major types of records (contacts, matters, events, and to do's) and calendar functions as in Time Matters, or in combination with Time Matters. Because all of the programming code from both programs is present in either combination, Billing Matters can be added to Time Matters, or vice-versa, by simply entering a registration number. No additional software installation is required. A Timeslips conversion function is included.

There has not been a major billing program written from scratch in many years, probably because the legal time and billing market is both small and mature (how many firms go looking for a new program each year?), and development costs to rival the existing players are huge. Most of the existing programs have been around for 15 to 25 years. While this means they have withstood the test of time, it also means that they may be written in code that cannot take advantage of modern day database applications.

Time Matters has always given users multiple ways of accomplishing a task, and Billing Matters has taken this ball and run with it. There are many ways to enter time: from a view that mimics a paper timesheet, one that mimics a calendar, by opening a “slip” form, from an invoice, and from any Time Matters record, such as an Event or ToDo record. It is very efficient to bill a task from the underlying record (eg, Event, Phone Call, etc.) because you do not have to re-enter the client, matter, date, time, and description. They are “inherited” from the original record. This process can also be automated, eg, a new billing record can be popped up when a ToDo is marked “done.” For firms still recording time the “old-fashioned way,” an assistant can enter time using an analog of a written timesheet.

There are also numerous ways to generate an invoice or bill, one at a time or en masse by category, responsible attorney, etc. The Bill Flow Manager tracks all bills through the process of draft bill, review, approval, and final billing.

With both Time Matters and Billing Matters installed, it is easy to view not just all of the notes, documents, phone calls, etc., associated with the matter, but also the work-in-process, balance due, and billing history. All information regarding a matter is in one place. This has the potential to save a firm many hours of rifling through paper files and other programs for needed information. When a client calls with a question about a billing item, the entire timeline of all records can be viewed chronologically, to see where that item fits within the context of the matter.

Time Matters v. 5

Perhaps the most significant new feature in version 5 of Time Matters is the addition of Power Views. Time Matters, like most database programs, lets you view information either in a list view, which looks like a spreadsheet with columns and rows and only shows a small percentage of the information in the record, or a form view, which looks like an index card and may be comprised of multiple forms. The more information you have in each record, the more forms you have to peruse to find the information you are looking for. This can be time-consuming when you know what information you want to access, but it takes you several mouse clicks to get there. It also makes the learning curve steeper.

The best way to describe its advantage is to compare it to the preview window of your e-mail client, such as Outlook. An Outlook user can view a list of e-mails, and as they scroll from email to email the content of the e-mail is displayed in a Preview Window without having to open each e-mail. Similarly, a Time Matters Power View lets you see the content of matter, contact and other records as you scroll through them, without having to open each record. You view the standard list of records on part of the screen, eg, a list of all matters, and specific detailed information regarding the selected record in HTML format on the other half. It is like looking at the record through a magnifying glass. Time Matters has made it easier to resolve the conundrum of how to store a lot of information, but make it very easy to view.

Many Power Views are included with the program, eg, Summary View, Document View, E-mail View, Note View, and Phone View. Defaults can be set so that all users see a specific Power View when viewing the Matter list, but it can be overridden on the user level so that, eg, the managing partner sees the “negotiations view.” This is a good example of how the system can be configured to each user's needs and flatten out the learning curve when customized to a firm's needs.

The Power Views are user-customizable. Minor changes can be made by an experienced Time Matters user. Because Power Views use HTML codes, as do Web pages, major changes will more likely be done by someone with HTML expertise, shared among users, or purchased from Time Matters consultants.

The overall look and feel of Time Matters has been improved. The interface has more a Windows XP look to it. The data forms default to 800 x 600 pixels, and are now are now sizable (they can cover the entire screen, or be infinitely resized).

Version 5 can manage a lot more information than version 4. There are almost twice as many user-definable fields in each type of record. (Time Matters has 12 records types: contacts, matters, events, to do's, custom forms, notes, phone calls, mail, e-mail, documents, billing, and Web.) The contact and matter record types each have 167 customizable fields.

The length of most fields was doubled from 50 to 100 characters. Document paths and other similar fields where long data strings are common have been increased to 256 characters. In addition to customizing the field labels and properties for different types of contact, matter, event, and to do records, eg, the data entry form for a client contact can be customized differently than for an expert witness contact, this function (Form Styles) is now available for the other eight record types, so the fields in a pleading document record can be customized differently than those in a medical document record.

Document management has been improved substantially, and now supports versioning. It is still an “open” document management system (DMS), ie, it does not prevent the user from saving a document outside the system. If you absolutely have to have a closed system, you need one of the dedicated DMS programs. Native Adobe PDF support is now available. Documents can be scanned into the DMS using the popular .pdf format without having Adobe Acrobat installed, and reports in both Billing Matters (bills, invoices, etc.) and Time Matters can be printed directly to PDF.

For some users, it is not intuitive to start a document from within a practice management system. Version 5 closes the gap between it and dedicated DMSs and makes the DMS functions available from within Word or WordPerfect by placing three buttons on the word processor toolbar: one to save the document into the Time Matters DMS (TM Save), one to create a document by merging a template with the data in one of the Time Matters records (Insider), and one to open the document list, which can be automatically set to a specific subset, eg, “all the documents I've created today” (TM Open).

The report writer is much improved, and makes it easier to create your own reports. Multiple levels of sorting and subtotaling are available, as are other ease-of-use features normally found only in stand-alone report writers. All reports, as well as bills, can now be “printed” to PDF format so they can be e-mailed easily and anyone who has the free Adobe Acrobat Reader can view them.

One of the strengths of Time Matters has always been its firm-wide calendar, which makes it easy to see everyone's schedule in a single or multi-day columns, a weekly planner view, and a monthly planner view. Version 5 adds a parallel view, which shows an unlimited number of staff members' calendars, each in a separate column, for one day. There is also a scheduler function, which shows available blocks of time for any number of staff, and makes it easy to schedule a meeting by selecting the block of time from the screen.

E-mail is now faster, and handling html e-mail has been improved. A powerful spam filter has been added. Not only can you filter out e-mail with “mortgage” in the subject, but you can “whitelist” the addresses in your contact list so that if a client sends you a message with a subject of “Please prepare a mortgage for me,” it will not get filtered.

A core functionality of Time Matters for many versions has been its Quick Tabs, on click searches that help you filter sub-sets of your data (eg, with one click you can see your PI cases, your expert witnesses, or the ToDo's that you have to do today). Time Matters 5 enhances Quick Tabs by giving them their own sort orders, and alternating row colors to make the lists easier to read.

A great Quick Tab improvement is the addition of the Staff token that is used in searches. When users log into Time Matters they default to a Staff identification. In version 4, a Quick Tab had to be set up for each user in order for them to have a “My ToDo's” Quick Tab. Now, with the Staff token, only one such “My ToDo's” Quick Tab needs to be set up because the user's staff code is inserted into the token when the search is run. This reduces setup time, especially for larger firms or ones with a lot of turnover.

Existing users of Time Matters will find that there is more to like about version 5. New users will find a cornucopia of practice management tools at their disposal. As with word processor, litigation support, and other computer programs, the problem is not that there are not enough features, the problem is figuring out how to use the darn things, and customize the program to your practice.

In addition to a 500-page manual and on-line help, version 5 comes with two CDs. One is the program itself. The other is called the HelpCam, and contains 44 videos, complete with sound, to help you learn the program's features. Many of these are also on the Time Matters Web site at www.timematters.com/products/videos/. Classroom training is also available at Time Matters HQ in Raleigh, NC, or through a nation-wide network of Time Matters Authorized Independent Consultants.

Investing the time to learn Time Matters (and any other program you use to manage your practice) and customize it to the way you practice, is among the best investments you can make in yourself and your practice.