When the four partners of Garrett
DeFrenza Stiepel LLP (an 8 person firm specializing in real estate,
tax and corporate law) decided to leave a large firm in February
2002 to start their own firm, they knew they wanted technology that
gave them the same capabilities they had grown accustomed to at
the large firm. They wanted an advanced billing system, quality
case/practice management and document management software. They
also wanted this software to be fully integrated and have it work
with other applications. In addition, it needed to be fairly easy
to install and use since they did not plan to have an in-house technology
person on the staff. One of the partners, Don Hickman, was assigned
the responsibility of selecting the technology they needed to get
up and running. And, they wanted to get it done in less than 30
days!
Mr. Hickman was referred to Baker+Cadence
Solutions, LLC to discuss the conversion of their documents to their
new document management system, WORLDOX. In his early discussions
with Bill Baker and Michael Crouch of Baker+Cadence, he learned
that WORLDOX integrated with Software Technology, Inc.’s
PracticeMaster Practice Management Software, which
in turn was fully integrated with Software Technology, Inc.’s
billing system, Tabs3. Since Tabs3
was already on his list of billing systems to review, he decided
to review the entire set of systems from Software Technology, Inc.
that Baker+Cadence was recommending. Within two weeks of first talking
to Baker+Cadence and accepting the recommendation of Tabs3,
PracticeMaster, WORLDOX and DeltaView, the firm
was operational.
The other attorneys and the support staff
learned that being in a small firm did not mean they would have
to give up the capabilities they enjoyed at the larger firm. In
fact they had more! They had more control over their documents and
case information with PracticeMaster and WORLDOX.
In addition, they could record their own time entries and know immediately
where each billing person stood each day regarding time recorded
within Tabs3 or PracticeMaster.
When they produced their first month’s bills, they were completed
and mailed by the fourth day of the next month and they included
all the detail their clients were used to and required. They found
the integration between Software Technology, Inc.’s Tabs3,
Accounts Payable, General Ledger,
and Trust Accounting, so easy that one person was
able to do all the billing and accounting. "We never could
have accomplished this much in such a short period of time with
the software at our old firm, particularly in our first month of
operation" says Tamara Wandelt, the firm’s administrative
executive assistant.
Mr. Hickman said "we are very satisfied
with the integration between the Software Technology, Inc. software and other products
such as WORLDOX, Word, DeltaView and Outlook. We now have more control
over our applications and enjoy the benefit of having the integration
to make it all work smoothly. Even though we had good applications
at our old firm, they could not integrate as effectively, were not
as user friendly and required more staff to operate. We have that
integration now and enjoy the ease of use and control it gives us
over our information. We can do what we need, when we need to do
it."
Since 1979, solo, small and medium sized
law firms have depended on Software Technology, Inc. software to handle their financial
and case/practice management needs. Software Technology, Inc. currently has over 275,000
user licenses between Tabs3 and PracticeMaster combined on Software Technology, Inc.’s
annual maintenance program in firms across the U.S.
Garrett DeFrenza Stiepel LLP
600 Anton Blvd., 18th Floor
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
dhickman@gdslaw.net
Software Technology, Inc.
1-402-423-1440
1-800-487-7111 ext. 376
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Tabs3
Billing
Software