January 22, 2024

legal ops manage requests manage matters law firms software elm

As we enter the new year, it’s time to look back at the transformative journey our software products underwent in the second half of 2023. This period was pivotal, focusing on enhancing user experience and streamlining processes. We wanted to take a moment to review the milestones achieved and the value they’ve added to our customers’ daily legal operations.

Q3 Release: Elevating Efficiency and Insight

Manage Billing for Law Departments: Transforming Billing Management

New ‘My Matters’ Feature

A key improvement in the invoice portal was the introduction of the ‘My Matters’ tab. This feature is specifically designed for law firms, enabling them to access and review all matters they are associated with easily. By providing a separate dashboard section dedicated to displaying crucial details of these matters, we’ve significantly enhanced the ease and efficiency of matter management.

Enhanced Reporting Access

The Q3 release also saw improved access to standard spend reports for users with elevated permissions. This feature provides easy access to comprehensive financial data, enabling deeper insights and more informed decision-making.

Streamlined Communication with New Notifications

New notifications were also added to alert law firms about invoice rejections. Email notifications will be automatically sent to invoice creators upon rejection, significantly speeding up the response process. This enhancement was crucial for ensuring timely management and payment of invoices.

Synchronised Billing Start Date

We also introduced a feature that synchronises the billing start date for invoices with the same billing period. This addition streamlines the invoice review process, making it more organised and efficient.

Manage Requests: Enhancements in Intake Management

Comprehensive Email Thread Visibility

A significant Q3 update to Manage Requests was the ability for requestors and internal members (such as Admins, Managers, and team members) to view the entire past email thread of any forwarded email request in the requestor comments chat, offering a complete historical context for each request.

Configurable Default Region for Requests

We also introduced the ability for customers to configure a default region for email-based requests. This feature ensures that whenever a user with a requestor role creates a request via email, the pre-set region is automatically selected, streamlining the request creation process.

Priority Field in Email Notifications

To improve the clarity and effectiveness of our communication workflow for requests, we also enhanced our request creation email template with a ‘Priority’ field. This was designed to provide managers and requestors with immediate visibility into the urgency of new requests, enabling a more informed and prioritised response from the moment of inception.

Manage Dashboards: Reporting Enhancements

Updated Standard Reports for Manage Requests

The Manage Dashboards module was updated in Q3 with additional standard reports, offering users new insights and data analysis capabilities. These reports are designed to provide a deeper understanding of the Manage Requests data.

Self-Serve Dashboard Reporting

Another significant enhancement was the introduction of self-service dashboard reporting for Legal Billing Review (LBR) customers. This feature empowers users to generate and analyse reports independently, enhancing their ability to make data-driven decisions.

Platform: User Management and Global Settings

Global Settings: UI Enhancement

In the Q3 release, we also began enhancing the UI for Global Settings, focusing on User Management. We aim to make the management of platform users and global settings more intuitive and efficient.

Q4 Release: Streamlining Legal Workflows

Manage Billing: Improving Invoice Management and Appeals

Appeals Enhancements

A key update in our Q4 release allows law firms to create and review appeal invoices more efficiently. By comparing appeal and actual line items side-by-side, the process of reviewing and adjusting appeal invoices has been greatly simplified. Additionally, the visibility of appeal deadlines and due dates has been enhanced, ensuring law firms can adhere to timelines and avoid the rejection of appeal invoices. The system now allows firms to view these deadlines based on the timelines specified in their billing guidelines. Furthermore, settings have been introduced to define the number of days for submitting appeals and managing late submissions, alongside a daily digest notification feature to track approved invoices.

Manage Matters: Additional Configuration Options

Configurable statuses

The Manage Requests module had a notable update in Q4 2023 with the ability to self-configure request statuses tailored to specific request types. This reflects our understanding that customers often have varied process flows for different request types, and now, the system allows for more accurate and specific status tracking. In addition, self-service capabilities have been enhanced, internal members now have access to updated metrics and graphs on the Manage Requests home page, and standard reports have been updated to reflect these new capabilities.

Manage Contracts 2.0 – Post Execution

Obligation Notification Reminders

Following the Q4 release, the Manage Contracts module features obligation notification reminders set for 30, 60, and 90 days. This enhancement is designed to help users stay on top of their contractual obligations, ensuring timely compliance and management.

Manage Billing for Law Firms

Prebill Funds Information

A new feature in the billing module also displays available funds information on prebills, offering law firms a more transparent financial overview before finalising their billing processes.

Manage Dashboards

Enhanced Dashboard Functionality

As part of the Q4 release, the Manage Requests standard dashboards have been tailored to better accommodate configurable request status changes. This enhancement allows the dashboards to work seamlessly with configurable request statuses at both the request type and tenant levels.

As we conclude this retrospective look at our software enhancements in the second half of 2023, it’s clear that our journey is one of continuous improvement and innovation. Each update and feature introduced is a step towards making our software more intuitive, efficient, and aligned with our users’ evolving needs. We remain committed to this path of innovation, ensuring that our software helps drive success and satisfaction for our users.