One Program-One Practice
Saga Practice Manager ™ brings all the elements of your practice under one roof, and makes them work in sync. One program – one practice.
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Get better organized, make everyone more efficient, eliminate duplication, increase client satisfaction, move a matter from start to finish in half the time and get peace of mind.
Desktop Views allows a staff member to view her calendar, task list and ticklers and, optionally, the same items of another person, at the same time, for a day, week or two weeks at a time, and to view and access a list of all matters and items that she has worked on during the selected period.
Calendar
Saga Practice Manager’s ™ office-wide calendar tracks every activity, even those unrelated to your cases/matters. Conferences, hearings, depositions, trial dates, pleadings, letters, discovery schedules, appointments, tasks, phone calls and more are all tracked. An activity can be manually scheduled, or automatically scheduled by the system, using Rule Based Scheduling and Workflow Plans. Calendar activities related to a case/matter can also be viewed and edited from within the matter. This gives you a very quick way to ascertain the status of a case.
Each calendar item can be set to trigger reminders and alarms in advance. A reminder can appear days, weeks, or months in advance and appears on your calendar under ‘ticklers’. The Calendar view is divided visually into critical deadlines, ticklers, tasks and appointments.
Calendar views are customizable so anyone in the firm can view their own calendar, another’s or everyone’s, depending on their access rights. You may see a calendar for a day, week, or month, or any date range you choose. The calendar filters allow you to narrow the display of activities by category. Say you want to see depositions for the next two weeks. Or just discovery items in the coming month. The system allows you to define and create your own filters and queries, save them, and use them over and over again. Filters, queries, and calendar views can be user-specific to the creator or shared by everyone in the firm.
Reschedule an appointment with one click. The system moves the rescheduled activity to its new date and creates an audit trail. If a deposition is repeatedly adjourned by your adversary, the audit trail provides the basis for a motion to compel the EBT.
Supervising your staffA unique feature of Saga Practice Manager ™ is the ability to view all calendar activity records you have assigned. This way, you can easily find out what’s been completed, and identify anyone not doing their job.
Rule Based Scheduling
Saga Practice Manager ™ features the most powerful rule based scheduling features available. Using this feature, you can have the system automatically schedule a series of linked activities. For example: you enter a deposition date into the calendar. This date will automatically trigger a slew of activities which will be executed and automatically entered into the calendar. The system automatically schedules the following items to take place before the deposition date: Ordering a court reporter; notifying the client of the deposition date and time; confirming the deposition with all parties; assigning an attorney to take the depositions; and preparing for deposition.
Any scheduled task can be tied in to an action, such as sending email, writing a letter, making a phone call, etc. Those actions will automatically be executed on their due date, pending your approval. In our deposition scenario, the system will automatically generate a letter to the client advising him of the deposition date, will email the attorney assigned to take the deposition, and will place all the other activities on the calendar. All this is achieved by entering one date into the calendar. Rule based scheduling allows you to tailor the system to the way you practice, and to multiple jurisdictions and practice areas. Using rule based scheduling, you can create workflow plans which will automatically roll-up the next items to be done on a matter. An unlimited number of workflow plans can be created for all types of matters, and be used over and over again. You can create a workflow plan for a litigation matter in a particular jurisdiction, a real estate matter, a contract matter, a matrimonial matter, etc. Saga Practice Manager already includes a variety of workflow plans for different type of cases and matters, from the personal injury case to real estate closings.
An example of workflow use occurs when you open a new matter. Say it is a negligence case in which you represent the plaintiff. You’d use a workflow plan, which could be called, "Plaintiff Negligence Matter, New". This workflow plan could include the following items: Calculate statute of limitations and notice of claim filing deadline (if applicable), send instruction letter to client, prepare authorizations, request medicals, lost wages, and police report, assign an investigator to the case, etc. In a real estate matter, you would use a Real Estate Closing Plan, and so on.
If, on the other hand, it is a litigation matter in which you represent the defendant, your workflow plan will be different. The system will automatically schedule a list of items that you routinely need to do at this stage. Do a conflict check, assign an attorney, schedule the client interview, write to the insurance carrier, prepare and serve an answer, send out interrogatories, etc.
GroupWise, Microsoft Outlook & Palm Pilot IntegrationIf you use Microsoft Outlook, or GroupWise in your office, Saga Practice Manager ™ makes them an integral part of your case management. Schedule an activity in Saga Practice Manager ™ and it automatically appears on your calendar in Microsoft Outlook/GroupWise. Then, synchronize it with your palm pilot or Windows CE hand-held organizer.
Address Book
Saga Practice Manager ™ centralizes the address & phone book of your entire firm. Throw away your rolodex -- Saga’s address book is all you need. It allows you to create unlimited categories for classifying people & companies in your address book. You can easily look for expert witnesses by specialty, and while you have the expert on screen, find out in which of your cases he/she appeared in the past. You can record unlimited addresses and phone numbers per person: home, office, mailing, vacation – every address you need is at your fingertips. Track all phone numbers: cellular, pager, home, office, as many as you need.
Powerful Search
Searching for a particular person in your address book is a breeze. Powerful searches allow you to find and sort a record by any field in the address book.
Automatic Dialer
Just click on the phone number and the system will do the dialing for you. Click on an email address and send email. Click on a world wide web address, and the system takes you there.
You can attach an address record to as many mailing lists as you wish: Christmas, Hanukah, birthday etc.
Unlimited Notes
Unlimited space to type notes. Jot down an adjuster’s birthday or the teams he likes. Summarize an expert’s c.v. a judge’s rules, or anything else you might find important.
Demographic & marketing information
An additional tab includes information such as date of birth, hobbies, nationality, language, and social security number. These will help gather information for marketing purposes.
Custom tabs & fields
Create unlimited custom tabs and fields for a person. Create a tab for additional information or prospective information. Use that information later on in reports. Custom fields & tabs are dependent on the entity’s class. In this way, your custom fields & tabs for an expert witness will be different from those for a judge.
All items related to a personWhether you are looking at an address book record, or anywhere in the system, one click on a name will take you to all the items related to that person: Find all cases/matters you have ever had with him/her, all documents sent or received, all calendar records, all notes, all email. Before you telephone someone you can see a complete history of your relationship. Before you call an adjuster or opposing counsel or anyone else, get an overview and take care of more than one issue in one phone call.
Case ManagementOne time data entry
Since Saga Practice Manager ™ is a fully relational database-- an entity entered directly into the address book, or through a matter, is entered only once. Whenever you use this entity its address and phone information will be there. With one click the system creates a relationship between the record in the address book and the matter, and all the information becomes available from within the matter. This powerful feature has another benefit: If an address changes, say an insurance company, change it once in the address book, and the change will be reflected in any matter involving this insurer.
Conflict Searches
Conflict searches are instantaneous. Before you take a new matter, type in the name of the prospective party, and you will see a list of all matters in which this party has appeared in the past, and what their role was. It’s Saga Practice Manager ™ relational database which allows this thorough and reliable search.
Email and Message Center
Get rid of those hand written phone slips. All phone messages are immediately sent via your local area network to their addressee. Phone messages and email related to a particular matter are tracked on the matter too. If you are using Microsoft Outlook or GroupWise, as you probably know by now, Saga Practice Manager ™ integrates with these programs. Tried to call someone back and got a busy signal, or the person you were calling was not available? Click, and Saga Practice
Manager ™ automatically creates a callback reminder.
Full Text Search
Saga Full Text Search, powered by dtSearch®, provides users with a powerful full text search tool that enables them to search for any piece of indexed information across several file formats from the Saga Practice Manager Document Listing. With a few simple clicks, users can locate every instance of a word, group of words, similar words, or numeric string.
File formats supported by Saga Full Text Search include:
¨ Word processor
¨ Database
¨ Spreadsheet
¨ ZIP
¨ HTML
¨ XML.
Flexible Case/Matter information Screens Saga Practice Manager ™ stores all relevant information on a case in the matter file. But how do you handle various practice areas with one system? A negligence case requires types of information different from a real estate closing, or a matrimonial. Not to worry, Saga Practice Manager ™ has customized screens for various practice areas. And even more exciting, you can create your own customized screens, and decide what fields to put in them, and how to label them. Those screens are case/matter type specific, so when you open up a real estate matter, the screens available to you will be different from those in a negligence case.
For example, some of the screens available in a negligence litigation matter are:
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A real estate sale will not include many of the screens above such as plaintiff’s claim, injuries and specials, nor will it include a court. The players on the matter will change to buyer, seller, mortgagee, etc. A real estate matter will include additional screens for property information, plus any customized screens you create.
Tracking case/matter activity and status
Everything that has happened on a matter is viewed on one screen. Check the status of a matter in seconds: Critical deadlines, what was done or is still outstanding, notes & phone calls, documents received and sent, case milestones and progression, settlement negotiations, and more. Activities can be sorted in various ways: chronologically, by activity type, activity status, etc. When your clients ask about the status of their case, you are one click away from giving them an answer. No more "let me find your file, can I call you back later?" and "who has that file?" that normally follows. Think about a paperless desk, where all the relevant information about a case is at your fingertips. Those piles of files on your desk and on the floor are a thing of the past.
Find activities related to parties
Any activity may be related to one or more parties on a matter. The relationship is automatically assigned by the system, using its own rules, which you may modify. This comes in handy in mapping out the status of filings & discovery. With a click of the mouse you can see what you served and what’s outstanding.
Document Management
In the practice of law we push a lot of paper. Finding your way quickly in the paper trail is crucial to your success, and a great time saver. Saga Practice Manager ™ puts all the documents at your fingertips. You can review the profiles of all incoming/outgoing documents on a matter very quickly. Want to review a letter you sent to opposing counsel 3 month ago? One click and it is on screen. Review the reply? Another click. Search for all discovery documents? Use a quick filter and the list pops up immediately on screen.
Using a scanner, you can also scan all incoming documents and seamlessly drop them into the matter. Scan expert opinions, pleadings, letters, police reports, pictures, diagrams, anything you find material to the case. How sweet it is not to have wade through a 10 inch high file to find a one page letter.
Customized Document listing views
What information would you like the list of documents to show you? It is totally up to you. Do you want the document date to be the first column on the list, or maybe the document class. Your viewing options, like all other listings in practice manager, are totally customizable.
Document Assembly
Saga Practice Manager features a powerful document assembly program. The program automatically assembles any legal document you desire, from a simple letter to motions and pleadings. It intelligently reads the relevant data from your case/matter and uses it to assemble those documents. No more cut & paste and fill-in the blanks. The idea is that information related to a matter is entered only once, into the matter file. The system then uses that information over and over again to assemble all your documents.
Event Driven Document Assembly
Events such as scheduling a deposition, or serving a complaint or answer (for defense work) trigger automatic assembly of a host of documents. Schedule a deposition and the system automatically sends out all notices in one step. Request meds and the system automatically schedules follow-ups. Open a new case/matter, and it’s one step for the system to create your retainer, a letter to the client, request meds and other records, and any other documents you want at that stage. These document packages come with the system when you buy it, and can be customized and refined by you. You may have multiple packages to fit various case/matter types. All documents generated are automatically tracked and recorded by the system, and due dates for responses are automatically entered into your calendar. All in one step, and without forgetting anything. Give your Dictaphone a rest. You will need it a lot less.
Specifically Designed for the Practice of Law
Unlike other programs, Saga Practice Manager™ document assembly is designed specifically for attorneys, and as such has some very important features. For example, your pleadings will automatically incorporate a service list with all the parties and/or their counsel’s names and addresses. Likewise, the cc: in your letters allows you to select who get copies on the fly, from a pop-up list, or have the system select them for you. Special merge codes create tables of special damages, expenses & billings. Not only that, but the system will automatically outline all new work done on a file for status letters to your client.
Custom Screens & Fields
If your practice covers multiple areas of law, you may need practice-specific fields & screens. Saga has already created custom specific screens for various matter/case types. In addition, you may create new screens and populate them with custom fields using Saga’s Screen Designer, or modify Saga’s custom screens. Those fields can be anything: dates, text, names, yes/no checkboxes, notes, etc. Your new customized screen will appear only when needed. Customized screens for an asbestos case will not appear on an auto case. The information entered in those new screens can now be merged into any document in document assembly.
Form Library
Saga Practice Manager comes with a library of 900 forms you can use in document assembly. They range from simple letters to complex pleadings and discovery documents. All those forms are designed in your word processor, MS Word or WordPerfect, and you can easily modify them to fit your needs. You can also add your own forms to the system. Open a form on screen and use a pop-up list to drop in fields you want merged into the document. You now have your own form ready to be used in document assembly. A library of those forms is available for various states and practice areas. Click here to view Saga's Form Library.
Settlement Negotiations
The negotiation file presents all you need to know about the matter before and while negotiating. The negotiation log contains all prior communication with opposing parties, your demand, their offer, amount of settlement as well as notes, special damages, injuries (on a personal injury case), expert’s reports, medical & other records, insurance coverage, etc.
Reports
Saga Practice Manager ™ features over 80 different reports commonly used by attorneys. Some reports are practice area specific, others, like calendar printouts are applicable to all areas of law. Get a printout of the office-wide calendar in various formats, a case summary, identify cases on which no progress has been made, see case distribution among your staff, get financial information, settlement, billing, office expenses. Print a list of all the cases you have with any one insurer, and lots more. Using Saga’s built-in report writer, you can create your own custom reports in addition to those provided by Saga.
Speedy Case/Matter intake wizard
You may wonder how long it takes to enter the basic data in a matter. We thought about that too – our goal is to save time, not to create more work. Saga Practice Manager ™ has a very unique feature called a Case Intake Wizard. This sophisticated yet intuitive tool makes data entry a breeze. Tables and automatic functions fill out many parts of the intake process automatically.
Expense Tracking
Your office expenses are tracked in each matter. If you have multiple clients on a matter, you can easily allocate your office expenses among them.
Contingency Fee Accounting
In contingent cases, Saga Practice Manager™ automatically tracks all the details necessary. Fee formulae, referral fees, award amounts, office expenses, liens, PIP payments, advances etc. Get the full financial picture for every case.
Security
Your practice includes a lot of confidential data. You may not want every member of your staff to have access to all data. Use the program’s 60 security rights to determine who will be allowed to view and do what. Some users are allowed to see only certain screens, others are not allowed to access certain matters, others may not be allowed to modify any data, etc.
Marketing
Your current client base is the best place to start targeting your marketing efforts. Use the demographic and other data stored for each of your clients to plan your marketing campaigns.
Mailing Lists
Every person in your address book can be attached to one or more mailing lists. Send announcements to your clients, newsletters, holiday and birthday cards. Keep in touch with the people who can bring you more business.
Enhance your Image
Saga Practice Manager™ will make your entire office more efficient. This will impress everyone, from your clients to opposing counsel. You will gain their respect by just doing what you do, better. Your clients’ appreciation will bring you more referrals. The respect of your adversaries will put you in a higher league.
Customization
Saga Practice Manager™ gives you the power to customize many of its functions and screens to fit your needs.
Listings
Customize all your lists. Decide which fields are part of the list, how they are sorted and searched. All your matter lists, documents, calendar, time slips, notes and groupware are under your control.
Field labels
Field labels on screens can be changed by you.
Create New Screens and fields
You can create your own screens using the screen designer, and put any fields you want on those screens. These screens are integrated into the program as seamlessly as native screens. Screens are practice area dependent.
Templates
Create your own templates to speed up data entry on the calendar, in notes, in the document manager, in time slips & email.
Case plans
Teach the system how you practice and it will automate it for you. Case plans automatically create calendar entries, generate documents, send email, and create time slips based on your own rules.
User Preferences
Make the system function the way you want. Set your preferences—open calendar on system entry, set filters for different listings, insert your hourly rate into your time slip, and many other settings. Each User control over certain elements of the interface for PM, such as the color of rows in the listings, which improve its appearance and make it easier to understand and use.
Integration
Today’s typical law office may use various software packages for a variety of tasks. From word processors to accounting and calendars, integration between Saga and these software packages is the key to your success. Saga allows you to capitalize on your investment, and it automatically integrates with a variety of market standard software applications. Saga ties all these applications into one office suite.
Microsoft Word and WordPerfect
Saga Practice Manager™ document assembly seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Word 95, Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2003, WordPerfect 7, WordPerfect 8, WordPerfect 2000 (9), Wordperfect 11, 12 and 13.
QuickBooks
Write a check in QuickBooks, pertaining to an expense on a case, such as filling fees, and see that check automatically appear in Saga Practice Manager as an expense. You can also do it vice versa. Add an expense in Saga Practice Manager, and have it automatically print out a check in QuickBooks.
Time & Billing
Time sheets and billing records can be exported to many accounting & billing programs
Visioneer Paperport Scanners
The leading scanner application Paperport integrates with Saga and allows you to drag and drop scanned documents from the scanner tray into a particular matter.
Outlook, Palm-Pilot & PDA
Microsoft Excel
Pricing
Product Description Number of Users Price Saga Practice Manager 1 $3,000.00 Saga Practice Manager 2 $3,900.00 Saga Practice Manager 3 $4,800.00 Saga Practice Manager 4 $5,700.00 Saga Practice Manager 5 $6,600.00 Saga Practice Manager 6 $7,500.00 Saga Practice Manager 7-500 Add $600.00 per user Click Here for System Requirements
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Copyright © 2006
Last modified:
November 10, 2006
