Every matter will have an Activity History view, so the user can see a timeline of all the activity on a matter, such as:
- Files / documents, including fee notes , correspondence and case papers without these needing to be downloaded directly onto the individual user’s computer
- Free form “note” entries
- Workflow outcomes (e.g. conflict of interest checks)
- Updates to stage of the case;
- Emails sent and received, both internally and externally
- Phone calls made and received
- Recordable events (time recording for tasks such as Attendance, Waiting, Preparation, Travel) in relation to that matter.
The LawPage software applications helps lawyers manage their case files securely and efficiently, but doesn’t enforce a way or working on its users:
- All of a matter’s files are stored within a user’s business SharePoint site, which that business (not LawPage) manages.
- The content can easily be synchronised to a user’s OneDrive folder, and therefore a user’s own device.
- Files can be organised in folders, and/or categorised according to user-definable taxonomies.
- Smart tags automatically be applied to files and emails to make future retrieval and sharing easy.
A user can sort and/or filter the Activity History according to any particular field, including the ability to view just the the emails received on a particular matter.
Documents can be created directly from within a matter itself and automatically saved into the Activity History; they can be sent directly from the LawPage system with the associated time recording included.
Individual time recordings can be opened, viewed and amended any time from within the Activity History. For example, if a recordable event is created for a lawyer’s attendance at court, but the barrister forgets to input the detail of the hearing, this can easily be re-opened and added.
Activity History items can be copied or moved onto other matters. So if a lawyer is acting for co-defendants on a criminal case, files from one defendant’s matter can be copied onto the co-defendant’s matter without deleting it from the original matter. This is particularly helpful where a lawyer attends court and deals with both clients in one hearing, as the attendance records do not need to be separately created. Alternatively, two clients can be added to the same matter – the system is completely flexible and does not force its users to work in a particular way.
Emails which are sent and/or received with a specific (unique) matter identification code in the subject line are automatically synced to the matter’s Activity History and the associated time immediately recorded to the file. This makes:
- Billing far more efficient
- Finding specific emails a much easier task
- It easy to comply with one of the basic tenets of data protection: data should not be held for longer than is needed (built into the LawPage system is file destruction, so that after 7 years (or longer if required), all files stored on the system relating to a specific matter are deleted).