Tag Archives: legal practice management software

Land Ho!: A Log Of Discovery During The Voyage Of Divorce

Although the waters of divorce are well charted, family law attorneys know they need to keep a careful discovery journal along the way. Since divorces are so contentious, the discovery process is essential to presenting a judge with an accurate picture of marital assets. In addition to using software to help complete the Case Information Statement NJ family law attorneys can use the tool to track the discovery process.

Careful discovery documentation can be more important than the actual documents being requested. Let’s say you request a document and the opposing attorney does not produce it in a timely manner. When you show the judge the discovery motion, backed by data from your NJ divorce software discovery log, then the opposing attorney’s case becomes weaker.

For the same reason, you need to stay on top of discovery requests to avoid hurting your own client’s case. For example you probably know that if you receive an “admissions of fact” and don’t return the document within 30 days, then that will be considered by the court to be a tacit admission that the statements are all true. “Oops I forgot” isn’t going to go over well with the judge.

Tracking discovery by hand in a single divorce case can be a paperwork nightmare. It’s easy to overlook one request or not aggressively pursue requests to the opposing attorney, and that means you can’t present the best case possible for your client. Multiply that by a dozen simultaneous divorce cases and it’s nearly impossible to keep up without using New Jersey matrimonial software.

Easy Soft’s Case Information Statement software includes an integrated discovery log. You can easily track requests made and received by your practice, each request categorized by case, document type, request date and more. Unlike a paper log, you can link each discovery entry with the actual electronic document stored on your computer or your practice’s network.

An attorney must work diligently to produce the best case possible for a client. In today’s fast-paced, information-heavy world that is impossible without high quality legal practice management software. Don’t work at a disadvantage. Incorporate the latest electronic technology into your law practice right away.

Posted by Rick Kabra on May 24, 2013 in Family Law Software, Legal Software, Legal Technologies, New Jersey Family Law | Leave a comment
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Free Training Resources For Easy TimeBill Users

We’ve designed Easy TimeBill to have a simple and intuitive interface, allowing you to start using it confidently within minutes of installation. However simple doesn’t mean simplistic and our legal billing and accounting software includes many powerful features you might need a little help with to use to their best.

Your first stop for information would be the lawyer billing software‘s extensive online help system. Just hit F1 or select Help -> How Do I from the top menu to find easy answers to most of the questions you might have on how to use the tools and reports included. You can also select Help -> PDF Manual to see a comprehensive manual you can view or print out.

If you still have questions then come to our side to view free legal billing software training videos that take you step by step through everything from initial setup to generating invoices to bank reconciliation. Here you will also find videos on our other products such as Easy Trust and Easy HUD.

Sometimes you need more personal attention or have specific questions on how our time and billing software can be used for your unique needs. In that case we suggest you attend one of our free training webinars. Every two weeks we offer a live online training session on Easy TimeBill and Easy Trust. These sessions are a great way to stay on top of the latest laws and how they might affect your practice, and are an opportunity for you to ask specific questions about the software.

Finally, you can always contact us directly with your questions. Our team of support professionals is happy to share their expert knowledge of any of our legal practice management software with you. We can help you install, configure and use our products in ways that will improve your practice’s efficiency and profits, and help you help your clients.

Posted by Rick Kabra on May 20, 2013 in Legal Billing, Legal Software, Legal Technologies | Comments Off
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HUD Software For Real Estate Attorneys

We often talk about how Easy HUD makes it easy for real estate agents to speed up closing times by up to 70%, as well as ensuring calculations are performed correctly. However Easy HUD isn’t just for agents. It’s the ideal real estate closing software for attorneys as well.

Real estate attorneys are often included in real estate transactions to generate documents such as rental agreements or purchase contracts. Agents can fill out boilerplate versions of these contracts but if the base document requires modification, then a lawyer must make the changes to ensure the new document is still legal and binding. Add the Real Estate Docs Module to our title closing software to get access to over 200 customizable real estate documents including agreements and contract clauses. Attorneys can easily add to these, creating their own contracts for easy distribution to the agents they work with.

Attorneys are often involved in the purchase negotiations. Buying property is not as simple as writing a check. A host of fees and taxes turn a simple transaction into an accounting nightmare, and yet to effectively negotiate a deal the attorney needs to be able to calculate how a given deal will affect the bottom line. With HUD settlement statement software attorneys can generate a comprehensive new offer within seconds, and if they use the cloud version they can access the software from anywhere they have an internet connection.

Attorneys provide due diligence by reviewing a final deal to be sure it is fair and legal. The HUD 1 statement is complex and even experienced real estate agents can make errors. Software simplifies the process and allows attorneys to make changes effortlessly. If the agent is also using Easy HUD then the attorney can simply load the agent’s data file for immediate review.

Easy HUD works well with our other products. For example attorneys can export the ledger from the real estate software and import it into Easy Trust to oversee all escrow account transactions. Add Easy HUD to your suite of legal practice management software to automate and simplify your real estate practice.

Posted by Rick Kabra on May 9, 2013 in Legal Software, Post Closing Service, Real Estate Closing, Release Tracking Services | Comments Off
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April Is Fair Housing Month

This month marks the 45th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, a law signed by President Johnson. That law and its amendments make it illegal to base decisions on sale or rental of property based on a person’s race, color, national origin, religion, gender, family status or disability.

Although racial discrimination is less frequent today than it was in 1968, fair housing violations still happen. The HUD blog recently pointed to events where a woman with children and a man with hearing loss were each denied housing. Anyone who has been discriminated against can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under a HUD program designed to investigate and correct any actions taken in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Fair housing is a year-round law, not just something to think about in April. However Fair Housing Month is a good opportunity for real estate attorneys and agents to take a look at their practices and ask themselves if they are discriminating without meaning to. Something as simple as not showing properties with stairs just because your client is in a wheelchair could be seen as a fair housing violation rather than a compassionate act.

This would be a good time to mention how Easy Soft’s HUD 1 settlement software helps you maintain a fair practice…but it doesn’t. It reduces the time it takes to complete closing forms, automatically enters property taxes and other calculations, and includes optional features that generate hundreds of real estate documents, integrate with real estate accounting software for trust management or allow you to file 1099-S forms electronically but it’s still up to you to ensure you treat all your clients equally.

However this blog isn’t just about trumpeting our products. We want to give you information that adds value to your real estate practice. In a previous blog entry we pointed you to HUD software that helps your clients get fair housing advice or file a fair housing complaint. We stay on the lookout for changes to HUD laws or tax regulations that will affect your business.

Fair housing affects us all. Real estate attorneys and agents have to be especially careful to avoid even the appearance of bias when dealing with clients. Easy Soft’s line of legal practice management software automates and simplifies your practice, allowing you to focus on providing quality service to all your clients.

Posted by Rick Kabra on April 22, 2013 in Legal Software, Legal Technologies, Real Estate Closing | Comments Off
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Are You Ready For The Surge In Home Sales?

Spring is traditionally when home sales volumes trend upward and recent numbers indicate 2013 might be the best year in quite some time as the country slowly lumbers out of its real estate slump. If you aren’t prepared to handle more business then you are throwing money out the door with every missed sale. Now is the time to invest in HUD settlement statement software to streamline your business.

This can happen in any industry that sees a downturn. Professionals unconsciously adjust their expectations to the new normal. Agents who struggle to make a few sales can take the time to complete a HUD closing statement manually because there aren’t a lot of those forms going out each month.

The problem with this attitude is that when sales rise and more potential business walks through the door, the agency isn’t prepared. Their old system holds them back by creating choke points in the process. What’s worse is people make the mistake of assuming busy means successful, when busy often just means inefficient. Wouldn’t be great if you could fill out the HUD 1 settlement sheet faster and more accurately? You can if you use software designed specifically to facilitate real estate industry transactions.

Today there is no excuse to be completing HUD paperwork by hand. It doesn’t matter if you are a small office on a tight budget. Software is inexpensive and pays for itself in no time in increased sales. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand computers. Real estate title software is easy to use and agents can be up and running within minutes. It doesn’t matter if you are using an older version of Windows, a Macintosh or even a tablet computer. Cloud-based software can be used on virtually any computer.

Make sure you are ready for the rise in house sales many experts see coming this summer. Automate your real estate office with legal practice management software that is flexible, straightforward and affordable. Clear the path now so you are ready to handle all the new clients that will be coming your way in the near future.

Posted by Rick Kabra on April 5, 2013 in Legal Technologies, Real Estate Closing | Comments Off
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Child Support: You Can’t Avoid The Grunt Work

Recently a New York court threw out the divorce settlement in the case of David vs. Cruz because, despite the fact both parties agreed to ignore the formulas set forth by the Child Support Standards Act (CSSA), calculations of those formulas weren’t included in the settlement. Divorcing couples still have to fill out the NY Statement of Net Worth and all the other paperwork associated with divorce settlement even if they come up with their own support plan.

The law states that before parents can waive the child support calculated by the CSSA, they have to be presented with those numbers. This means attorneys still need to calculate state-mandated child support just so the parents can say, “No, we don’t want that.”

Frustrating? Sure. A waste of time? Maybe. Required by the courts? Yes.

Let’s be honest: collecting the information required to satisfy the state-mandated formulas governing New York State spousal support and child support is a huge amount of work for the attorneys and the divorcing spouses. Yet you better do it anyhow.

Of course if you use New York child support software you’ll find the process a lot easier. The state formulas can be calculated in a snap, printed out to be included in the agreement, and then completely ignored if that is what the parents want. The software also makes it easy to set up custom support scenarios and compare them to the state formulas.

One reason the state insists on this is it is possible for one parent to bully or trick the other into an agreement that is unfair. When both parents see the numbers calculated by the CSSA formulas they may realize their prearranged agreement is unreasonable.

It doesn’t pay to try to get around the law. Even if you think you’ve found a reason why you wouldn’t need to complete some of the paperwork, it’s not going to hurt to do it anyhow. New York family law software automates and speeds up the process. The attorneys are going to have to gather much of the information anyhow, so they might as well go through the motions just to protect themselves.

If you aren’t already using legal practice management software in your family law firm then download a demo of Easy Soft’s products to see for yourself how our tools help you serve your clients better.

Posted by Rick Kabra on April 3, 2013 in Legal Technologies, New York Family Law | Comments Off
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