I first talked about the software and tools I use to manage my own practice last April. I have changed a few things since then, so here is an update.
As most readers know, I do not use case management software. This is partly because most case management software is pretty awful, and partly because I like being able to use the best tool for each need. That way, I can change one tool without changing everything. If I were using a typical, monolithic case management solution, I would be stuck, or I would have to change the way I manage my whole office.
So here are the tools I am using now.
- Calendar: Google Calendar/Google Apps. Google Calendar is a fantastic tool, and I use Google Sync to keep my online calendar in sync with my Blackberry. You can sync up Google Calendar with Outlook, Evolution, and Sunbird/Lightning, as well. I also use Google Calendar to embed a free/busy calendar in my website to make scheduling easy.
- Tasks/to-dos: Remember the Milk, paper and pen. Nothing new, here. RTM syncs with my Blackberry, and they keyboard shortcuts allow me to input scheduling order sfast. For a “big picture” view of all my cases, I use my work planning template. It just works better than anything else, and gives me room to scribble notes and to-dos, as well as a daily list of most-important tasks.
- Contacts: Gmail/Google Apps. Gmail’s contacts manager has gotten much better, and Google Sync now allows me to sync contacts with my Blackberry. With the calendar and RTM syncing, I never need to plug my Blackberry into a computer. Plus, with Google Apps, I can share my contacts with anyone on my Google Apps account, so that we work together to build a comprehensive database.
- E-mail: Gmail/Google Apps. Gmail is just better, and once again, Google has a great Blackberry application so I can get my mail on my phone.
- Word processing / document creation: OpenOffice.org. Still using OOo because it is still better than Microsoft Office.
- PDF creation: OpenOffice.org, Ubuntu Linux, and Acrobat 7.0 Standard. Many documents are as simple as hitting the “convert to PDF” button in OOo. To print websites and things, I use the built-in PDF printer in Ubuntu Linux. For PDF document editing and assembly, however, Acrobat is indispensible.
- Timekeeping & billing: Freshbooks. I used to use spreadsheets for timekeeping and billing, but after trying the free version of Freshbooks, I switched. Freshbooks is a simple, powerful, and elegant timekeeping and billing solution. It beats anything else I have seen or tried by a mile.
- Bookkeeping / accounting: GnuCash. Still using GnuCash, which lets me handle the books like a bookkeeper so that I can see what is happening. Since switching, I have not had a single transactional error for my accountant to correct. I can’t say that for Billing Matters Plus.
- Backup: Dropbox, rsync, and external hard drives. I just went over my backup strategy in detail, but I replaced Unison with Dropbox shortly after that post. You can read more about why I love Dropbox in yesterday’s post.
As you can see, I rely heavily on the cloud. A lot of lawyers are still nervous about doing this. I am not. Most of those “cloud” apps now sync locally using Gears, software developed by Google to allow software like Gmail and Remember the Milk to store their data locally so you can use them even if you are not connected to the internet.
As for security, most cloud-based apps are more secure than most lawyers’ offices or computers. In fact, because cloud-based apps generally use stronger encryption and more-frequent backup than even I do, I think my data is probably more safe online.
Most importantly, with everything in the cloud, I have access to my entire office no matter where I am, and no matter what computer I am using.
I would love to hear what you are using to manage your solo law practice. Here is a template you can copy into the comments box:
- Calendar:
- Tasks/to-dos:
- Contacts:
- E-mail:
- Word processing / document creation:
- PDF creation:
- Timekeeping & billing:
- Bookkeeping / accounting:
- Backup:
Sam Glover is a business and consumer rights lawyer and the creator of Lawyerist.
Lawyerist is the #1 law practice blog. We write about marketing, practice management, career development, and more.
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Google is my best friend. I use g-mail/Google apps for my e-mail, calendar, and contacts (and sync everything on my Blackberry). I am also a big fan of Open Office for my word processing/PDF needs (thank you for introducing me to it).
I am trying to figure out a system for my tasks/to-dos. I have a RTM account, but just haven’t used it consistently. I tend to write myself notes on whatever scrap of paper I can find. Yesterday I started playing around with Toodledo, it syncs with Google calendar and I think it might be helpful for me to see my tasks with my calendar.
I am still using spreadsheets for my timekeeping/billing/accounting tasks. I do have a Freshbooks account I have used, and I do like their features. I once downloaded GnuCash, and just couldn’t figure it out and did not have the patience for it. I have considered getting Quickbooks because I do have some basic experience with it.
I need to work on my backup system. I have a flash drive that I back my files up on every couple weeks, but I know that is not sufficient.
I agree with most of your tools.
*Calendar – Gcal w/ BBsync
*To Do’s – Tasks (Crowd Favorite), Jott and paper.
*Contacts/Email/IM – Google Apps
*Word Processing – Word 2008
*PDF – Acrobat, Viewer
*Timekeeping & Billing – Bill4Time
*Bookeeping – QB
*Backup – Dropbox/SuperDuper
*Client Extranet – Sharefile, but considering Google Sites.
*Phones – RingCentral
*Doc Scanning – Fujitsu Scansnap
*Signatures – Docusign/Echosign
Great post! I posted a response using your template over on my blog:
http://linuxlawoffice.com/post/76325391/what-i-use-to-manage-my-practice-zimbra-by-yahoo
I hope to hear more ideas from people! Maybe someone can suggest a better accounting solution than GNUCash…
@WPS: If you prefer Quickbooks-style accounting, give AppGen a try. I absolutely love GnuCash, though. It does what I want exactly the way I want it to.
Awesome post, Sam! It looks like we have many systems in common. Here’s my current lineup:
Calendar: Google Calendar
Tasks/to-dos: Remember the Milk (I have a great system set up. Each client has his own task list. Then I use a smart list to pull the important to do’s into a “Today” smart list.)
Contacts: Gmail
E-mail: Gmail
Word processing / document creation: Word and Pathagoras (Word document assembly add-in)
PDF creation: doPDF for printing to PDF and Nitro for editing
Timekeeping & billing: FreshBooks
Bookkeeping / accounting: Microsoft Money Home & Business
Backup: SyncBack to copy everything to a local network hard disk, and Mozy to provide a second-tier backup
For my business invoicing needs I have recently started using invoicera. I also have harvest account but no longer use it. My invoicing efficiency has definitely improved. You can check the website at http://www.invoicera.com. It might be of some help.
Thanks
JC
Calendar: Time Matters
Tasks/to-dos: Time Matters
Contacts: Time Matters
E-mail: Outlook, Yahoo mail, GMail
Word processing / document creation: Wordperfect X3, Word 2007
PDF creation: Adobe Acrobat 9
Timekeeping & billing: PCLaw
Bookkeeping / accounting: PCLaw
Backup: Acronis True Image, Ironmountain
I was intrigued to read about the means you use to run your practice. As you can see I have much more conventional approach with the off-the-shelf software. I am still wary of the using the “cloud” especially in light of the power and relative cheapness of hardware. However, you have gotten me to take another look at RTM, FreshBooks and Google calendar. One question, however, if you have any lawyer’s trust accounts, how do you include them in Gnucash?
For me, the cloud is a way to make sure I can access all my business information securely from any computer, not just the one in my office. It is hard to do that with local software, unless you use remote access, which is not as flexible or as fast.
As for trust accounting in GnuCash, trust accounting is simple bookkeeping. the Minnesota state Bar Association is actually working on a guide for using GnuCash for trust accounting. I don’t know if they have published it, yet, but that should make it easier for most people to get started.
I also use the Google suite for just about everything. I am checking out Freshbooks for billing, but I am not sure it translates well to a law office. Can you give me a rundown of how you make it work for your purposes? How do you handle large, partially-paid invoices when there is no balance-forward feature? If I have a case that spans a year or two and doesn’t get paid until it settles, that seems to cause a huge headache with Freshbooks.
I really want this program to work for us, so any tips or advice you’d be willing to share would be appreciated.
I am pretty sure Freshbooks has a solution for the balance-forward issue, but since I rarely bill by the hour, I have not had to deal with it. Check the excellent support forum, if you can’t find the answer in the FAQ.
As for long-lasting contingent-fee cases, that is the bulk of the timekeeping for which I use Freshbooks. I haven’t had any problems with that. I just run an invoice at the end, if I need to. How has it been a headache for you?
I will say that the documentation and especially the support forum are excellent. If you cannot find a solution in the documentation, try the support forum. There is really nothing very unique about the way lawyers bill for services, and the staff and other users at Freshbooks seem very helpful when it comes to any particularities to a particular business.
[Practice Management]: After several years with TimeMatters (TM) and BillingMatters, I’m ready for something else. While TM may be right for many, it just never felt right to me. I’m liking what I’m seeing in Clio’s 30 day trial (goclio.com). Recently heard from an attorney who likes RocketMatter, too.
[Calendar]: Was TM with outlook synch, but now trying Clio to bring my practice calendar together. Still appreciate google calendar for family and other calendars.
[Email]: I like gmail but I like email redundancy, too, so I have a mailtrust account that forwards to gmail. My law partner uses only the mailtrust account and likes it fine.
[Documents]: Word, Excel, Adobe Acrobat, and google docs for some things.
[Scanning]: ScanSnaps S510′s at home and office.
[Jott] is great for quick on the road reminder or billing dictation.
[SpeakWrite] (was CyberSecretaries) for occasional dictation.
[MA general areas/forms]: TurboLaw saves me from keeping current on many court forms and good support.
[Blog]: Scribefire saved me from going mad in Movable Type. Wordpress.com for minor “other” blogs. Justia set up my main blog and website. Someday I would like to work with LexBlog as I had a good conversation with them when starting to blog.
[Billing/Accounting] – I’ve tried others but can’t kick QuickBooks. BillingMatters was great and then I couldn’t trust it when some data disappeared. Maybe it’s fixed, but once was enough to scare me off.
[***Biggest Recommend***]: Using two monitors; after a week I couldn’t imagine going back.
[E-Mail list]: Icontact but AWeber looks nice,too.
[Data Backup]: IronMountain, but I experiment with others from time-to-time, too (I still like the redundancy idea with access from multiple places). Rotated external hard drives, too.
[Google Reader and Alerts are useful tools.]
[Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn] round things out.
Still searching for the holy grail (and hoping it lies somewhere out there in the cloud)… @KevinWhitaker
I don’t know much about the LexBlog stuff, but if all it does is give you a blogging solution, carefully compare the cost of LexBlog (or Justia, for that matter) to the cost of hosting your own WordPress site. I pay a bit less than $7/month for my own hosting. From what I know of Lexis and Thompson products, you are likely to pay a lot more for essentially the same thing. And generic content, which some may appreciate, but which ends up a negative if you want to pull in search engine traffic.
Great stuff. I am a new attorney, working at a small family law/estates firm. The firm has the traditional setup: Amicus Attorney for Calendar, Case management, and To-dos. Used to use Timeslips for billing, now using PCLaw. Outlook for email, and lots and lots of paper.
I am turned off at the lack of mobility the office has. I have looked into paperless, but found that our practice requires litigation and tons of paper. I want to be able to use my netbook and iPhone to get work done on the go.
Based on your post, I signed up for a drop-box, remember the milk account, and am interested in freshbooks.
I do litigation, but it requires very little paper. It’s all in how you set up the office. I still have to print pleadings and things, but I serve discovery on CD and store everything digitally. Most lawyers are happy to communicate via email, as well, which makes life easy and paper-free.
We use Time Matters for calendar, Todo’s, all case management. We are paperless and use Xerox DocMate 252 for everything. I have 30 of them floating around the office. The only bad thing about Time Matters is that is does NOT sync well with my Blackberry.
What do you use to manage and automate intake? This is where we have a challenge managing and keeping in contact with 30 or 40 potential clients who are in various stages of deciding if they want to engage our services.
I don’t think you can automate the sometimes drawn-out process of intake. All you can do is make sure you are tracking those cases.
For organizational purposes, I treat potential clients like any other client. They get a folder and a place on my work plan.
No matter what you use, the important thing is to keep a “next action” on your task list at all times, even if you are just waiting on something. That way you keep yourself—and the potential client—moving forward.
Now that Google has tasks, we quickly abandoned RTM’s awkward interface with Google Calendar. If ONLY Google Tasks could be shared! Know of any workarounds or solutions?
@Joseph: I don’t know of any. I think RTM has the superior interface, but it does take some getting used to. Then again, RTM is design with Getting Things Done principles in mind. If you are not a GTD’er, it may not make as much sense.
Thanks for the helpful information here. I’m helping to set up a new solo law practice and want to try Open Office. Have you encountered any compatibility problems trading documents outside your office? In other words, does saving as .doc always work?
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