CBA Record November-December 2024

ment software. Some of the cloud-based systems have more robust accounting systems than others, but all offer some form of time entry and billing. Because people won’t use a cumbersome, confus ing system, many packages offer auto mated ways to keep track of time or offer suggestions for potential time entries based on activity. That could be useful, and improved time capture could offset the expenditures involved in switching systems. A key reason attorneys hesitate to switch to different practice management software is the challenge of data migra tion. Universal Migrator is a relatively new company that has made it easier to transition existing data out of a cur rent platform and into a new one. They started off as a small vendor at ABA TECHSHOW in 2023, when they won first place in the “Startup Alley” compe tition. By 2024, they were a sponsor of the show. I encourage anyone looking at a data migration to check them out and compare them to competitors. Practice management software has come a long way from where it started, and it is worth looking at it with fresh eyes. I encourage anyone interested in topics like these to come to our CBA Law Practice Management and Technology Committee meetings and suggest topics that might help you run your own prac tice better. You can join the committee at www.chicagobar.org or email Meredith Loehr at mloehr@chicagobar.org.

LPMT BITS & BYTES BY KEVIN THOMPSON Your Practice Management Software Can Do So Much More F or those who don’t know me already, I have been a member of the CBA Law Practice Manage

messages sent as part of a representa tion. As the average age of lawyers and their clients gets younger, this becomes an important consideration, as younger demographics tend to communicate more by text. And if personal devices are used, it is often difficult to capture those texts and keep them as part of the case file. Some software allows for text messages to be sent through the system, which decreases the need for attorneys to use their per sonal devices. Document management is a key func tion of practice management software. Proper versioning and the ability to collab orate are key features. Some packages now offer enhanced collaboration tools and the ability for more than one editor to work on different parts of the same document at the same time. Gone are the days when a document is “locked” and cannot be edited by anyone else until it is released by that single user. Many packages also offer some type of form document generation, such as sample interrogatories that follow your firm’s guidelines and preferences. Calendaring is another key function to consider. Many practice management software packages now offer improved integrations with Microsoft Outlook or other calendaring systems. These make it easier for litigation groups to share calen dars without overwhelming everyone with alerts for cases they are not involved with. Accounting is yet another consider ation when evaluating practice manage

ment and Technology Committee since 2005, and I’ve been the Chair on and off since 2011. In addition to my intellectual property law practice, I like to help law yers in diverse areas of law run their prac tices better. So, I am pleased to be asked to take over the LPMT Bits and Bytes column. I’m what I call bilingual, in that I prefer Macs and iOS devices personally but have used PCs as my primary work machine throughout my professional life. I use my iPhone and iPad Mini (with Apple Pencil) for work emails and for notetaking in meetings, syncing my notes back to my work PC using OneNote. In this column, I’ll look at practice management software and how it can be used better. So many people I talk to aren’t using their existing software to its full potential. I’ve heard horror stories about someone stepping into a litigation case, only to find that none of the deadlines have been docketed centrally and none of the important documents are accessible. Going beyond this obvious example of why to use this software in the first place, I’d like to cover a few ways to use it better, focusing on texting, document manage ment, calendaring, accounting, and data migration. Much practice management software now provides some way to capture text

Kevin A. Thompson heads the intellectual property practice at Levin Ginsburg, where he is a partner; he also chairs the CBA’s Law Practice Management and Technology Committee and co-chairs the International

and Foreign Law Committee. He receives no compensation by vendors for products mentioned in this column.

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38 November/December 2024