Intellectual Property Firm Turns to Tabs3 to Enhance Workflows and Streamline Invoice Processing

When McHale & Slavin began to experience rapid growth, the law firm partners determined the time had arrived to centralize the management of all legal documents. The partners also wanted to standardize letters and forms that were used regularly.

“Previously, each of our attorneys and paralegals utilized their own Access database to store client and docket information,” explains Liza Hernandez, Accounting Manager for McHale & Slavin. “We wanted to centralize all the data so everyone could have easy access to the most up-to-date information. This would allow us to share information and utilize common forms so everyone could work more efficiently.”

Another key challenge for McHale & Slavin was tracking critical dates and tying those dates to client files so documents would always be filed on time. The process to secure patents and trademarks relies heavily on meeting multiple deadlines, and some large clients have hundreds of pending trademarks and patents in play at the same time. One missed step can lead to a significant delay in securing critical protection for intellectual property—and perhaps result in a client losing out on a patent or trademark to a competitor.

In looking for a better way to manage huge amounts of data and submission deadlines, the firm also wanted to integrate its practice management with billing. This would streamline the invoice process and eliminate the need to rekey client information.

“We also knew that making the change to new systems would require training and customization according to how we handle document workflows,” Hernandez adds. “Our lawyers, paralegals, and support staff were used to managing their calendars and producing documents in their own way for such a long time—we knew it might be challenging to get them to change.”

With the help of the PracticeMaster document assembly feature, McHale & Slavin sends out regular correspondence to clients to remind them of all the critical deadline dates pertaining to patents and trademarks. Often times correspondence is directed to someone other than the contact found on the billing invoice, and PracticeMaster allows contacts of various types to be associated with a matter. The document assembly process ensures all necessary changes are made to each form so that the document is correctly addressed, refers to the correct case, and contains the correct deadline dates—which are automatically generated through the PracticeMaster calendar.

“This is an important benefit because it’s easy to miss something that should be changed in a template,” Hernandez says. “PracticeMaster stops at each field that requires user input and automatically pulls other information already stored in the system. This saves time and increases our efficiency. The tight integration between the two solutions also eliminates errors and duplicate entries.”

The calendar feature in PracticeMaster, which can integrate with Microsoft® Outlook®, was a fairly easy transition since the firm was already using Outlook for their email software. Now that McHale & Slavin is synchronizing/integrating PracticeMaster with Outlook, everyone’s time, including time off, is centrally documented.

“The Tabs3 team and Edie Zimmerman are always there for us when we need technical support,” says Hernandez. “When one of our largest clients required task-based billing, Edie showed us how to set it up in Tabs3. Those invoices are now generated, exported and uploaded to the proper website in just a few moments.”

Hernandez and Zimmerman also solved an ongoing problem that occurred when clients were requested to send funds for upcoming costs required for application filing in the U.S. and foreign countries via phone or correspondence. When this happened, the McHale & Slavin accounting team would spend too much time trying to figure out what and who the money was for, and had to ask the paralegals and attorneys if they were expecting client funds.

“This was chaotic and time-consuming,” Hernandez explains. “After customizing an area in PracticeMaster that the paralegals now fill out, a request for funds record is created ahead of time, referencing the matter ID number, the amount, and the reason for the funds. So, when a check is received and we do not currently have an invoice to apply it to, we can quickly view the Request for Funds page and determine who requested the money, what matter the funds are for, and then email the requesting attorney or paralegal to let them know the funds have been received.”

Tabs3 Billing is particularly helpful on large client accounts where invoices are sometimes 40 pages long with hundreds of matters being billed. When such bills are paid, the McHale & Slavin staff can easily apply the entire payment to multiple matters instead of having to post individual amounts to each matter separately. Tabs3 saves time by automating this process.

“Properly entered data also helps us generate accurate reports that assist us in managing the business side of the firm,” Hernandez says. “And with all the dockets and critical submission dates now stored in PracticeMaster, our attorneys and paralegals can easily see what’s going on in their dockets. PracticeMaster and Tabs3 help all of us work more efficiently and ensure we don’t miss any patent and trademark deadlines.”