Zebra Selects CT TyMetrix 360 for Billing

Prior to selecting CT TyMetrix as our e-billing system, law firm invoices were processed manually and routed through me. I stamped each invoice, coded it with a general ledger number and passed it on to the attorney who was handling that particular matter for review.

The legal department did its best to organize everything and make sure that the correct ledger accounts were being charged. However, the law firms didn't always properly segregate the matters ' especially when multiple locations or foreign associates were involved in a particular matter. In many cases, the law firms would include multiple matters on a single invoice. That required me to separate the charges by matter and make the correct general ledger allocations. Sometimes, I had to charge three or four different general ledger accounts to a single invoice. I also made copies of the invoices before giving the originals to the accounting department for payment. The process was not only tedious, but the amount of paper to wade through was voluminous and not very friendly to the environment.

To keep track of everything, I'd manually enter all of the information into an Excel spreadsheet ' total amount, billing code, etc. When transferring information from one place to another, there was the possibility that something would get lost or entered incorrectly. If I got a call about an unpaid invoice, I'd have to go back and see if it was on my spreadsheet and then check with accounting to see when it was paid. It usually turned out to be a scavenger hunt. In conclusion, the manual system was not very efficient and we decided it was time to search for an e-billing system.

Searching for a Solution

Since we wanted to make sure the e-billing system we selected would be compatible with our law firms, we asked several of them which e-billing systems they were using and what their experiences were with the various systems. We asked what they liked and what they didn't like about each of the e-billing systems. Based on this feedback, we narrowed our search to three providers.

We contacted the three providers for more information about what they offered and how they would support us through the implementation phase. In the end, CT TyMetrix 360' ' the Professional Edition ' was the best option for Zebra. All of our law firms were very positive about it and each had a good experience using it. We liked that this version was configurable; that we could customize many of the screens with information that was most useful to us. It also allowed us to customize many of the dynamic fields that would populate the matter pages in the system; that it ultimately providing us with the kind of information most important to our reporting needs. Another consideration was that we were already using CT for our registered agent services and CT's hCue for corporate records management. It made sense to stay within the same family of solutions.

Getting Up and Running

The support and training that we received during implementation was very valuable. There are always bumps in any implementation process, but someone from our CT TyMetrix team was always there to help.

As the person responsible for managing the day-to-day administration of T360' system for Zebra's legal department, I needed to be trained to handle all functions of T360'. I was responsible for the implementation from start to finish. CT suggested that I start with some of the Webinars before my in-person training, even though I wouldn't understand everything. The advice was very helpful. When I got to the Hartford, CT-based training at CT TyMetrix's offices, it all clicked. The training was a confirmation of some of the things I'd learned during the online training courses. The two-day training session in Hartford was useful because the class was a mix of CT TyMetrix employees, people migrating to the new T360' system as well as rookies like me. The collaborative nature enabled me to get ideas and learn from others. I left tired, but with a good understanding of this technology.

I built the actual database myself. I'm not a programmer, but we knew what we wanted and that it needed to mimic Zebra's general ledger accounts. I worked with each of the law firms to get their matters loaded correctly. This was very tedious and time consuming. Our CT TyMetrix implementation expert was a wealth of information.

Once the training and implementation was complete, we sent our law firms a letter detailing our plans and sought their assistance with the process. We gave them a month to begin tracking their time in LEDES (the Legal Data Exchange Standard codes) and began accepting invoices into the T360' system one month after that. It took awhile for our law firms to understand our particular rules and needs so that things were processed correctly. The first month was definitely rough.

A More Efficient System

Although it took more time to process everything in the beginning, it now saves us time and there's no paper to handle. The CT TyMetrix 360' Professional version integrates all of the necessary financial data and case documents for every matter. T360' provides immediate access to relevant information; our legal team can view fees and expenses, timekeepers, case aging and budget figures for any matter at a glance. All of our matters, documents, notes and tasks may be quickly viewed from the core matter or invoice. T360' alerts the team when any new matters are opened or new invoices are posted for review. It also enables Zebra's legal team to create reports that show fees and expenses in a variety of formats. T360' enables us to run monthly reports based on the vendor, a matter or family of matters, a billing group or budgets.

Overall, CT TyMetrix 360' has been well received by our general counsel and attorneys. It takes a lot of effort, planning and time to put a technology solution in place, but in the end, it saves us time, makes us more efficient and provides valuable financial and budgeting information.

Prior to selecting CT TyMetrix as our e-billing system, law firm invoices were processed manually and routed through me. I stamped each invoice, coded it with a general ledger number and passed it on to the attorney who was handling that particular matter for review.

The legal department did its best to organize everything and make sure that the correct ledger accounts were being charged. However, the law firms didn't always properly segregate the matters ' especially when multiple locations or foreign associates were involved in a particular matter. In many cases, the law firms would include multiple matters on a single invoice. That required me to separate the charges by matter and make the correct general ledger allocations. Sometimes, I had to charge three or four different general ledger accounts to a single invoice. I also made copies of the invoices before giving the originals to the accounting department for payment. The process was not only tedious, but the amount of paper to wade through was voluminous and not very friendly to the environment.

To keep track of everything, I'd manually enter all of the information into an Excel spreadsheet ' total amount, billing code, etc. When transferring information from one place to another, there was the possibility that something would get lost or entered incorrectly. If I got a call about an unpaid invoice, I'd have to go back and see if it was on my spreadsheet and then check with accounting to see when it was paid. It usually turned out to be a scavenger hunt. In conclusion, the manual system was not very efficient and we decided it was time to search for an e-billing system.

Searching for a Solution

Since we wanted to make sure the e-billing system we selected would be compatible with our law firms, we asked several of them which e-billing systems they were using and what their experiences were with the various systems. We asked what they liked and what they didn't like about each of the e-billing systems. Based on this feedback, we narrowed our search to three providers.

We contacted the three providers for more information about what they offered and how they would support us through the implementation phase. In the end, CT TyMetrix 360' ' the Professional Edition ' was the best option for Zebra. All of our law firms were very positive about it and each had a good experience using it. We liked that this version was configurable; that we could customize many of the screens with information that was most useful to us. It also allowed us to customize many of the dynamic fields that would populate the matter pages in the system; that it ultimately providing us with the kind of information most important to our reporting needs. Another consideration was that we were already using CT for our registered agent services and CT's hCue for corporate records management. It made sense to stay within the same family of solutions.

Getting Up and Running

The support and training that we received during implementation was very valuable. There are always bumps in any implementation process, but someone from our CT TyMetrix team was always there to help.

As the person responsible for managing the day-to-day administration of T360' system for Zebra's legal department, I needed to be trained to handle all functions of T360'. I was responsible for the implementation from start to finish. CT suggested that I start with some of the Webinars before my in-person training, even though I wouldn't understand everything. The advice was very helpful. When I got to the Hartford, CT-based training at CT TyMetrix's offices, it all clicked. The training was a confirmation of some of the things I'd learned during the online training courses. The two-day training session in Hartford was useful because the class was a mix of CT TyMetrix employees, people migrating to the new T360' system as well as rookies like me. The collaborative nature enabled me to get ideas and learn from others. I left tired, but with a good understanding of this technology.

I built the actual database myself. I'm not a programmer, but we knew what we wanted and that it needed to mimic Zebra's general ledger accounts. I worked with each of the law firms to get their matters loaded correctly. This was very tedious and time consuming. Our CT TyMetrix implementation expert was a wealth of information.

Once the training and implementation was complete, we sent our law firms a letter detailing our plans and sought their assistance with the process. We gave them a month to begin tracking their time in LEDES (the Legal Data Exchange Standard codes) and began accepting invoices into the T360' system one month after that. It took awhile for our law firms to understand our particular rules and needs so that things were processed correctly. The first month was definitely rough.

A More Efficient System

Although it took more time to process everything in the beginning, it now saves us time and there's no paper to handle. The CT TyMetrix 360' Professional version integrates all of the necessary financial data and case documents for every matter. T360' provides immediate access to relevant information; our legal team can view fees and expenses, timekeepers, case aging and budget figures for any matter at a glance. All of our matters, documents, notes and tasks may be quickly viewed from the core matter or invoice. T360' alerts the team when any new matters are opened or new invoices are posted for review. It also enables Zebra's legal team to create reports that show fees and expenses in a variety of formats. T360' enables us to run monthly reports based on the vendor, a matter or family of matters, a billing group or budgets.

Overall, CT TyMetrix 360' has been well received by our general counsel and attorneys. It takes a lot of effort, planning and time to put a technology solution in place, but in the end, it saves us time, makes us more efficient and provides valuable financial and budgeting information.