Software for a law firm that you describe in plain words

Where it starts

Run until now from email, shared folders and personal calendars. The business in this demonstration: Six lawyers and three paralegals handling matters for small businesses and families.

This is a product demonstration with a made-up business, not a customer story.

What the app takes care of

• Matters, deadlines and client documents were spread across email, shared folders and personal calendars. Each matter holds its dates, documents, team, time and activity in one place, and people see the matters they are on.
• Last month the firm nearly missed a court filing deadline. Every deadline has an owner and a backup who must acknowledge it, and it climbs to the partners step by step if nobody does.
• Lawyers recorded time on paper or forgot it, so the firm under-billed. Time is recorded in a few taps against the matter, and days with no time are pointed out to the person.
• Clients called to ask what was happening on their case. Each matter has a plain summary of where it stands and a dated activity log, so whoever answers can reply at once.
• The partners could not see workload, unbilled time or which matters were at risk. The partner view shows at-risk matters with the reason, each person's workload and the unbilled time.
• It was hard to know how much work was still waiting to be invoiced. Ask which matters are at risk and how much time is unbilled, and the crew answers from the records.

The screens the crew designed

• The firm this morning, for Partners: Matters at risk with the reason in words, escalated and overdue deadlines, unbilled time and what each person has on.
• Today, for a lawyer, for Lawyers: Deadlines waiting to be acknowledged come first, with a thirty-day strip of what is coming and a nudge for a day with no time recorded.
• A matter, and what to tell the client, for Lawyers and paralegals: A plain summary of where the matter stands for whoever picks up the phone, then its next dates, team, documents, time and activity.
• A deadline with an owner and a backup, for Lawyers: Who owns it, who backs it up, and each reminder and escalation step, so a date cannot sit unseen.
• Time, in four taps, for Lawyers and paralegals: Pick the matter, tap a duration, write a note and save, with the week and any missing days beside it.
• Unbilled time, oldest first, for Partners: What has not been invoiced, matter by matter with the oldest entry, the open draft and the invoices issued, paid and late.

Routines it runs

In this session the crew planned reminders that are shown in the app from the stored dates, and said plainly that nothing is sent in the background on its own.

• Deadline reminders. When a deadline is added, changed or reassigned: The owner and the backup are told in the app, and the deadline shows its reminder steps from its stored dates.
• Escalation. When a deadline is not acknowledged in time: It shows as escalated to the backup and then to the partners, and the matter is marked at risk until someone acknowledges it.
• Missing time. When a working day ends with no time recorded: The day is listed on the person's own page and on the partner view, unless it was marked as a day off.

What changes for the owner

• A deadline always has someone on it. Every date has an owner and a backup, and it climbs to the partners if nobody acknowledges it, so a filing cannot slip by unseen.
• Time that gets billed. Hours are recorded as the work is done, and the partners see unbilled time every morning.
• An answer when the client calls. The matter page opens on a plain summary and the latest events, so anyone in the firm can say where the case stands.

Who works on it

Leo, the lead, brought in the experts this job needed: Leo, Archie, Dax, Dez.

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