ProLaw – General Tips

General Pro Law Instructions

Conflict Checking

1. 1. Go to Contacts and select Conflicts from the shortcuts panel on the left side.
2. 2. Type in the full names of parties you need to run.  Put a hard return between each name (ie, each name appears on a separate line)
3. 3. Click the magnifying glass to run
4. 4. Matches will display the contact file.   You will need to go Related Matters in the Contact file to review matters and to see what role this person played in the case.
5. 5. If you think there is a conflict, refer to designated conflict checker.   See Conflict Protocols Memo on the R drive.

Searching for Client File 

There are two ways to find files in PL.  

1. 1. Open Matters and use Quick Find to locate your file using Client Sort.   Client sort searches by Last Name, First Name.  However, you can also search by Matter ID (case number)
2. 2. You can also locate files through Contacts.   This version of Quick Find lets you locate a contact by Full Name, Last Name, DOB or SSN.

  

Assigning a Responsible Professional

1. 1. Assignments are made on the General tab in the matter
2. 2. Use the Add icon located in the assignment box to add a staff person on the  case 
   1. a. Start by adding their initials.  Use the “…” to get a full listing of staff initials
   2. b. Add their role.  Use the “…” to get a full listing of staff roles
   3. 3. To delete, highlight the staff person and click on the delete icon (its looks like an X)

Adding Notes  (aka Events)

1. 1. 1. Go to the Events tab in the matter
   2. 2. Click the Add Note icon (it looks like a pad of paper with a pen on top)
   3. 3. Insert the Type.  Use the “…” to get a list of types.  For general case note, use Miscellaneous
   4. 4. In the note field, enter your note.   
   5. a. TIP:   The first line of your note text will appear on the Events chronology.  So think of using use the first line as title for the note. 
   6. b. You also need to make sure your PL preferences are set to allow your notes to appear in Events.  To do this go to Matters, click on the pulldown menu entitled “Tools,” and select “Preferences.”  From there, locate and click the checkbox next to “Show notes in Events tree”.
   7. 5. Save by clicking Ok (the green checkbox in the Toolbar).

Generating Emails

1. 1. 1. Go to the Events tab in the matter
   2. 2. Click the Add Note icon (it looks like a pad of paper with a pen on top)
   3. 3. For the Type, enter email
   4. 4. In the noted field, enter the text of your email.
   5. 5. After you finish your text, click on the Email icon (it looks like a piece of mail)
   6. 6. Select your recipients.
   7. 7. Click the Ok icon (the green checkbox).   
   8. 8. An email in outlook containing your text should appear along with a reference to the client name and matter ID.  You can also edit as necessary from here.  
   9. 9. Send email

Saving email and scanned documents to the file

1. 1. 1. Open Events and then minimize the window so that it covers about ½ your screen
   2. 2. Open Outlook and then minimize the window so that it covers about ½ your screen.
   3. 3. Align the two screens (Events and Outlook so that each covers half the screen)
   4. 4. Highlight the email (with or without attachment) and drag it to any open space on the Events field
   5. 5. Once the email is added to events, you can edit the title by highlighting the event and then typing over the text in the adjacent note field.

Creating Tasks/Docketing

1. 1. 1. Go to the Events tab
   2. 2. Click on the Add Docket icon (it’s the icon with 17 in it – looks like a calendar)
   3. 3. Select the Type from the pick list by clicking “…”
   4. 4. You can also set the date for when it is to occur by inserting a date in the To field
   5. 5. You can also assign the task to another staff person by adding a professional.
   6. 6. You can set reminders by filling out the information on the Reminder tab

Generating letters and other template documents

1. 1. 1. Go to the Events tab
   2. 2. Click on the Add Document icon  (it’s the notepad without the pen)
   3. 3. Select the Type by clicking on the “…”    Use Search For to narrow the choices.   (type VLS to get list of all template letters that begin this way)
   4. 4. Select template letter.
   5. 5. A dialog box then will open on the right where you can select addressee.  If the addressee is not list, you can use the Add icon to add someone.
   6. 6. Generate the letter by clicking the Create Document icon (its looks like a page with a turned down corner)
   7. 7. The letter will then open as a Word document that you can also edit.

Updating addresses and phone numbers

1. 1. 1. Open the client’s Contact file (from the matter, click on the Icon that looks like a head/shoulders next to their address
   2. 2. Updating Address 
   3. a. If its just a correction, you can simply type over the address in the note field
   4. b. To add a new address (or alternative),  click the Add icon and you will be given a new Address field.   Make sure to mark the address as mailing or home so that letters can be generated accurately.
   5. 3. Updating Phone
   6. a. If its just a correction, you can simply type over the number that is in the related field
   7. b. You can also add a new number by using the Add icon
   8. c. Make sure to mark the type of number.  You can also mark a number out of service as old as well.

Correcting misspelled client names

1. 1. 1. You need to correct the name first on the Contact file.  Open the client’s Contact file (from the matter, click on the Icon that looks like a head/shoulders next to their address.
   2. 2. In the Full Name field, go ahead and correct the spelling
   3. 3. Hit refresh and save
   4. 4. Close the contact file
   5. 5. Check to see that the spelling in the matter full name was refreshed.
   6. 6. Next go to the client sort, and correct the spelling there.   Note that
   7. a. Correcting the Contact file will not update the Client Sort.  You need to do this separately
   8. b. Client Sort is the only field where the Last Name precedes the First Name with a coma.