User Manual Aderant Total Office Case

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User Manual

Aderant Total Office Case

Version 9.1 SP1

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2 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) Aderant Holdings, Inc., makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents of this document publication and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.

The contents of this manual are believed to be current and accurate as of its date of publication. Changes to this manual between reprintings and other important information about the software product are made or published in release notes, and you are urged to obtain the current release notes for the software product.

We welcome user comments and reserve the right to revise this publication and/or make improvements or changes to the products or programs described in this publication at any time, without notice.

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3 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012)

Preface

Audience: This manual is designed for authorized users operating Aderant Total Office. The following pages

assume that the reader has knowledge of legal and financial terms, with familiarity of a firm’s basic processes. While a glossary is provided, the manual does not include legal basics. If needed, please see your nearest supervisor.

Software Requirements: Aderant Total Office, Crystal Reports and Microsoft Outlook are required for the

chapters in this manual; they must be installed for users to perform the operations explained in this book.

Features: The Aderant Total Office User Manual includes walkthrough and help features split up into three

parts: System Basics, Desktop Operations and Case Operations. System Basics includes introductory functions in the system, helping with navigation through the system in areas such as windows, menus and toolbars. The second part, Desktop Operations, involves functionality unique to the user and is not associated with a case. It helps you to understand user-specific operations such as appointment and to-do handing, personal card file index, user time, user documents and more. The third part, Case Operations, is a compilation of walkthroughs for the basic case information screens built into Case. In other words, it helps you manage your cases. Part Three includes case information screens that handle areas such as case general information, case parties, associated matters, conflict of interest, demands and offers, case documents, summary, settlement and more. Part Three also shows you how to make custom case information screens so you can add (or change) them for your firm’s needs.

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Quick Reference Glossary

Case Perspective: Case perspective focus is on all matters that relate to a case. Case Information Screen: Screens within a case that hold case related information. Card File: Address Book.

Aderant Total Office Admin: Staff Member who configures and maintains database.

Desktop: On the Desktop, the focus is on the user. Users access their (as well as others’) to do items, access

card file entries for their workgroup(s), view and access all documents created with the merge feature of Total Office, access, view and create Time Sheets, access User Comments and the User’s Journal.

DMS: Document Management System / Document case info screen with each case. Integration: Applications that link between each other.

Lawtype: Lawtypes are not specific types or causes of action like Automobile accidents or Medical

Malpractice, but are rather frameworks designed to fit a series of similar types of causes of actions or to manage a specific type of practice. Thus, Personal Injury would encompass a wide variety of Torts which cause injury to the person and/or property. If a firm does a major portion of its work in one area that might ordinarily be categorized broadly under Personal Injury, for instance if there is a specialty group within the firm which only handles Medical and Nursing Home Malpractice, then it may be advisable to create a distinct lawtype for those actions apart from the general Personal Injury area.

Merge Document: Documents created from with Aderant Total Office using a pre-defined template.

Party: In Aderant Total Office, the word “parties” means more than just plaintiffs and defendants—it means

anyone who has been associated with a case. This may include doctors, judges, insurance companies and many other entities.

Pick Lists: Throughout Aderant Total Office, there are pick lists with a drop-down of items to complete a

field. In some pick lists, only one value can be chosen and in other pick lists, multiple items can be selected. And yet, other pick lists are a simple “yes” or ”no” response. A pick list may change dependent on lawtype. The order of the items in a pick list is in alphabetical order according to specific lawtype, System-wide and Card File parameters.

To-Do Packages vs. To-Do Items: To-Do Packages are a set of pre-defined tasks. Packages automatically

trigger to assigned staff members when a certain type of case is opened or can be manually added to a case at any time and triggered to assigned staff members during the life of a case. Packages are created by users who have been given the appropriate security privileges to do so. Packages may be associated with a case manually, or they may be attached to a form so that the package will spring into action each time that form is used on a case. To-Do items are single “tasks” that can be created by the user for the user or for a group of users.

User Group: Used to manage groups of users to facilitate security management and communication. Workgroup: A collection of users within a region which will consist of several offices.

Members within workgroups will have access to all cases assigned to their workgroup. Users can be members of more than one workgroup. A user can be a member of one office only. Note: Offices are associated to users. Workgroups are associated to users.

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Part 1: System Basics

Chapter 1: Navigating in Aderant Total Office

Sections in this chapter can help to familiarize you with the basic menus and screen layouts of Aderant Total Office. Navigation in Aderant Total Office is similar to navigation in Microsoft applications you currently use, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, et cetera, so that the learning curve is not incredibly steep.

Login Screen

When you open Aderant Total Office and the login screen appears, enter your username and password in the corresponding fields, and then click the arrow button or hit “Enter” on your keyboard to proceed. For walkthrough purposes, most screenshots will display “ADMIN” as the user.

System Menus and Toolbars

Immediately after you log in, you are presented with menus and toolbars at the top of the screen. In figure 1.2 and the paragraphs below it, these menus and toolbars are identified and explained. Field #3 is the active screen toolbar that changes as you open various windows in Aderant Total Office. More detail below.

Field Field Description

1. Menus If you click on any of the headings here, a drop down menu will appear, providing you with a variety of options related to each heading. The below

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10 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) sub-sections provide generic descriptions of each menu, while later sections provide more thorough explanations of menu items.

File: In this menu, you can open an existing case, open a new case, close a

case, select active screen options (when applicable), print or setup a printer, view recently opened cases (if any), and exit the software.

Desktop: A list view of the system’s desktop options, including

appointments, to-dos, phone messages, user and master card files, time sheet, documents, journal and user comments. This menu also includes emailing options.

Tools: Depending on your administrative rights, this menu may provide

merge document creation, document scanning / imaging, the Case calculators, to-package creation, employee sign-ins, a stopwatch, the option to change your password, and mass document assembly.

Administration: Depending on your administrative rights, this menu may

display a system setup menu, reports, maintenance and connected users.

Financial: See the Profiles Financial manual for information about this

menu.

Window: This menu provides viewing layouts for the system, including

vertical, horizontal, layer and cascade. It also lets you arrange your icons, set positions for available toolbars, panel options, and if you have more than one active screen (e.g., Desktop) open, this menu enables you to switch between those screens.

2. System-wide Toolbar On this toolbar, select an icon to access its functions.

Note: If the icon is grey it is either not used or not available due to your security profile.

Open an existing case: Opens the case search window. Open a new case: Begins the process of opening a new case. Appointments: Opens the Desktop’s Appointment screen. To-do Items: Opens the Desktop’s To-Do screen.

Message Box: Opens the Desktop’s Phone Messages screen. Card File: Opens the Desktop’s Card File screen.

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Time Sheet: Opens the Desktop’s Time Sheet screen. Documents: Opens the Desktop’s Documents screen. Journal: Opens the Desktop’s Journal screen.

User Comments: Opens the Desktop’s User Comments screen. Microsoft Outlook: Opens Outlook* (if integrated).

New Email: Begins the New email process in Outlook*. New Message: Begins the New Phone Message process. Windows Calculator: Opens the Windows calculator. Present Value Calculator: Opens the PV calculator module. To Do Package: Opens the To-Do Packages window. New Time Slip: Begins the process of creating new time slip. New Merged Document: Starts the Merge Document process. Check Request: Opens the Check Request window. Document Imaging: Opens Document Imaging.

Employee Sign-in Sheet: Opens the Employee Sign-in window. Stopwatch: Opens the system stopwatch.

Matter Checkout Procedure: Begins Checking out a Matter. SQL Reporting Services: Opens SQL Reporting Services. Help Index: Opens the Help Index Window.

Exit Profiles Case: Exits the program.

3. Active Screen Toolbar This toolbar and the displayed icons differ based on which screen you are using. In Total Office, hold the mouse pointer in position over an icon in this toolbar to see its description in a pop-up text box. Individual active screen options are defined in each chapter.

4. Title Bar Title bars such as this one display the headings of each window, which informs the user where he is in the system.

Minimizing, Maximizing and Other Window Layout Options

Some windows in Total Office can be maximized, minimized and restored. Please note the following screen shots from left to right, seeing the result of each clicked button.

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Minimizing a Window sends it to the bottom-left area of the screen (below):

Restoring a Minimized Window brings the window back to its original size:

Maximizing a Window makes the window fill the whole screen:

Restoring a Maximized Window reduces the window to its original size:

Closing a Window removes it from view:

As you can see, the above window options are simple and familiar to commonly-used applications such as Microsoft Word, Outlook, Internet browsers, etc.

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Part 2: Desktop Operations

Chapter 2: Appointments

With Microsoft Outlook integration, a user can manage his appointments in both Aderant Total Office and Microsoft Outlook—managing the same appointments, same calendar, but in different views. This section discusses the calendar view. If you want to know how to manage your appointments in the Outlook view, or want to know how to first integrate your Outlook appointments with Aderant Total Office, please see the Outlook Integration chapter of this manual.

Appointments Screen

Click “Appointments” in the “Desktop” system menu. Click the calendar icon on the system toolbar. The Appointments Screen is the view of a user’s appointments on their Outlook Calendar. Remember that it is not a separate calendar, but the same calendar as the one on outlook.

Figure 2.1 displays the Appointments screen of the desktop. If at any time you accidentally navigate to another desktop screen (e.g., “To-Do,” “Phone Messages,” etc.), just click the “Appointments” icon on the left side bar of the desktop—highlighted in figure 2.1—and you will return here. See the below table for this screen’s features and options.

Field Field Description

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14 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) 2. Appointment Layout Selector Appointments can be listed in one of six layouts: Daily Summary,

Daily Detail, Weekly Summary, Week at a Glance, Month at a Glance or Daily Activities. Each layout has a unique style reflecting its title. If you wish to change the layout, click the drop-down arrow and click a layout name.

3. Multi-User Appointment Option

Enables the system to consolidate multi-user appointments into a single appointment item, versus having them listed for each user individually.

4. Date Selector Clicking an arrow button changes the date you are viewing appointments for, according to the adjacent calendar (field #5), so that for instance if the up arrow is clicked while the date is May 18th, the date will change to May 11th, and if the right arrow is pressed while the date is the 18th, the date will change to May 19th, and so on. The “Jump” button enables you to specify the date in a pop-up window.

5. Month Selector In this two-month calendar module, you can identify the date currently being viewed (appointments listed below the module) by noting the small box around a date number. You can click a specific date on the calendar by clicking on it, or navigate to a different month by clicking the left or right arrows on either side of the module.

Note: Grey boxes around dates indicate that at least one appointment has been set for that date

6. Right-Click Menu The right-click menu (only available in Daily Summary layout, Daily Detail layout, Daily Activities layout and Multi-User Daily layout) provides the following appointment options:

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New Item: Opens the New Appointment / Appointment

Maintenance window where you can create an

appointment. (See the “Creating Appointments” section for a walkthrough of this process.)

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Save Changes: Saves any recent changes you have made

to the Appointments window.

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View Item Details: Opens the New Appointment /

Appointment Maintenance window where you can view or edit the details of an appointment. (See the “Creating

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15 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) Appointments” section for a walkthrough of appointment creation and maintenance.)

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Properties: Viewing preferences that are user defined.

View appointments associated to open cases only.

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Delete Item: When an appointment is selected, clicking

this option removes that appointment from the Appointments Screen.

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Print: Opens the Print Appointments window which

provides various options for printing out appointments. (See “Printing Appointments” section below for details.)

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Multiline On: Enables a layout option where user

comments are on a separate line than the entries.

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Change User: Opens the Select User(s) window which

enables you to select which user’s or user group’s appointments you want to have listed on your calendar. (See “Viewing Multiple User/Group Appointments” section for a window walkthrough.)

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Search: Opens the Appointments Search window (see

“Searching for Appointments” section below for details).

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Complete To-Do: Not applicable to the Appointments

Screen.

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Select Attendee Copy: Opens the Add / Edit Appointment

window where you can view an attendee’s appointment rather than your own.

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Move Appointment: Enables you to move the selected

appointment to another date. See the Creating Appointments section for more information on this feature.

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Appointments Screen Active Toolbar

Many options below are similar or identical to options in the right-click menu of the Appointments screen. For option descriptions, see the “Appointments Screen” section of this chapter.

This toolbar is the lowest row of icons near the top of the application window, and appears when you are in the Appointments screen of the desktop.

New Item

Save

Print

Delete

Complete Appointment: Not applicable to appointments.

Detailed Information

Open Specific Attendees’ Appointments

Preferences: Not applicable to appointments.

Change User

Search for Appointment

Move Appointment

Multiline

Exit

Creating Appointments

This section is a window walkthrough of the Appointment Creation window. See the directions below if you need help accessing the window.

Click “Appointments” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click in the appointments list. Click “New Item” in the right-click menu.

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17 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) figur e 2. 2 1. General Appointment Options

In this field, you can save recent changes to an appointment, close the appointment, set the appointment’s recurrence (how often it repeats), raise or lower the appointment’s importance, or exit the editor.

2. Matter In this field, you can associate the appointment to a case by using the case search window.

3. For Click the magnifying glass icon to select the person(s) attending this

appointment. In the “Select Attendees” window (not shown), select a user on the left and click the right arrow button to set the selected user as an

appointment attendee. Or click the double right arrow button to make all users attendees. You can also double-click a user group at the bottom-right of the screen to set all the employees in that user group as appointment attendees.

4. Subject Set the title/name for the appointment.

5. Location Enter the name of the location where the appointment is taking place. 6. Start and End Times In the drop-down menus here, select the start and end dates, as well as the

start and end times for the appointment.

7. All Day Event If the selected appointment is an all-day event, turn on this check box. 8. Location If your appointment’s location exists in the drop-down menu here, select it.

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If it doesn’t, your information in field #5 describes the location instead. 9. Type If the select appointment’s type exists in the drop-down menu, select it here. 10. Status Select the status (e.g., “Canceled,” “Rescheduled,” etc.) of the appointment. 11. Reminder If you want there to be a reminder for this appointment before it is due, turn

on the check box and select the amount of time you want the reminder to go off prior to the appointment.

12.Show Time As In this field, select the status you want others to see if they view your calendar at the time of your appointment

13. Comments Enter any comments about the appointment in this field. 14. Scheduled and Private

Options

If this appointment is scheduled, turn on the “Scheduled” check box. If the appointment is private, turn on the “Private” check box.

Save your changes when you are finished editing your appointment. When you click “Save and Close,” you will see your appointment in the Appointments window (figure 2.1).

Printing Appointments

Click “Appointments” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click in the appointments list. Click “Print…” in the right-click menu.

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19 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) 1. Date In the left drop-down menu, select the earliest date you want the system to pull

appointments from. In the right drop-down menu, select the latest date you want the system to pull appointments from.

2. For Click the magnifying glass icon and select whose appointments you want to print.

In the window that opens, you can select a single user or multiple users as shown below (selected users will be highlighted), or a single user group or multiple user groups (turn on the checkbox beside the name to select)—or any combination of these, for the printout.

If you want to quickly add all users, click the “Mark All” button at the bottom of the same window.

3. Sort Select the sort method for your printout: by user or by time.

4. Options to Include Turn on any of these checkboxes to enable other options for your print-out:

Canceled/Rescheduled Appointments: Include these types of appointments

in your print-out.

Appointment Description: Include the appointments’ descriptions in the

print-out.

Appointment Notes: Include the appointments’ notes in the print-out.

Attendees: Include the names of the attendees in the print-out.

Page Break on User: Each user has his own page on the print-out.

Once you have completed all abovementioned fields, click the “Preview” button to see what the printout will look like, or click “Print” to print. Click “Print Setup” to select a printer or options for your printout. Click “Cancel” to abandon the printout process.

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Viewing Multiple User/Group Appointments

If you want to see more than just your own appointments, the following section can show you how to add more users (or all users in a group) to your Appointments window.

Click “Appointments” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click in the appointments list. Click “Print…” in the right-click menu.

Note: When you add other users’ appointments to your list, the Appointments screen’s title bar includes their username(s) along with yours in the heading.

1. User(s) You can select a single user (shown in figure 2.3) or multiple users by clicking on the multiple user names in the same list. Selected users will be shown as

highlighted. If you want to quickly select all users, click the “Mark All” button at the bottom of the same window. In the same way, you can quickly deselect all users by clicking the “Clear All” button.

2. User Group(s) You can also select a single user group or multiple user groups. Click the checkbox beside the name to select it.

When you have selected all users and/or user groups you want for your Appointments window, click “OK” and you will return to the Appointments window, with your changes applied.

Searching for Appointments

If you need to find an appointment, and you know the generic date range, or keywords, or the appointment type, or its status, or even just the user whom it concerns, the Appointment Search window can look for that

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appointment based on the information you provide.

Click “Appointments” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click in the appointments list. Click “Search” in the right-click menu.

1. Date Range In these drop-down menus, select a beginning and end date

for the system to search from.

2. Scheduled In this drop-down menu, you can narrow your search by selecting between scheduled only appointments, unscheduled only appointments, or both scheduled and unscheduled appointments.

3. Search Text and Text Options Enter your search keywords in this field, and turn on the “Descriptions” check box if your keywords are part of the description, and/or turn on the “Comments” check box if your keywords are part of the appointment’s comments. 4. Appointment Type, Location, Status Select “<< All >>” for each of these search criteria

categories if you want the most results, or select a specific appointment type, location and status to narrow the search results.

5. User Involved with Appointment If field #6 is not filled in, this field (#5) is required. Click the magnifying glass icon to open the User Search window and select the user tied to this appointment.

6. Matter (Case) Involved with Appointment If field #5 is not filled in, this field (#6) is required. Click the magnifying glass icon to open the Case Search window and select the case tied to this appointment.

7. Results The search results will populate in this field, after you have entered your criteria (fields #1-6), and you have clicked the “Search” button on the bottom of the window (figure 2.4).

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8. Show Detail Toggle this option on or off to see (or not see) details of a selected appointment.

Associating Appointments with a Case

If an appointment should be associated to a case, you can do so either in Aderant Total Office or in Outlook. See the Outlook section for associating cases in Outlook. Below is the Aderant Total Office method.

Click “Appointments” in the “Desktop” system menu. Double-click an appointment in the appointments list.

1. Matter (Case) Enter the case number in the text box on the left-hand side. You can also use the Case Search window by clicking on the magnifying glass icon. Once you have determined the case to associate with the appointment, click “Save and Close” at the top of the window, and the case and the appointment will be associated.

Note: For a thorough walkthrough of the Case Search window, see the “Searching for Cases” chapter in Part 3 of this manual.

Once associated, the appointment can be viewed (1) on the user’s desktop

appointment screen, and (2) if Outlook integration is utilized, on the user’s Outlook calendar. For more information on viewing associated appointments, go to the case screens section of this manual.

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Chapter 3 (Section 1): To-Do Items

In Aderant Total Office, to-do items are handled similar to appointments, but they have one distinct and important difference: Appointments are designed to show up on a certain day at a certain time, and after that date the appointment is no longer visible. However, if a To-Do item is not handled on the day it first comes up, it is designed to reappear and remind the user that the task still needs attention until it is marked completed. This first section of this chapter involves to-do items, explaining how users can assign tasks to themselves and to other users, print to-do items, complete to-do items, view others’ to-do items, and more. To-do items remain on users’ “To-Do” screen until completed, and can be assigned to users whether associated to a case or not. Unlike appointments, to-do items do not integrate with Microsoft Outlook, today.

To-Do Screen

Navigate to the Desktop to-do screen to cooperate with this section’s explanations below.

Click “To-Do Items” in the “Desktop” system menu. Click the check-mark icon on the system toolbar.

1. Date This field displays today’s date. 2. To-do Layout

Selector

To-Dos can be viewed in one of four layouts: Daily Summary, Daily Detail, Weekly Summary, or Daily Activities. Each layout has a unique style reflecting its title. If you wish to change the layout, click the drop-down arrow and click a layout name.

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To-24 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) Selector Do screen. In this drop-down menu, you can select between showing all priority

levels, highest-level, or any lesser-level priority to-dos. 4. To-do Multi-line

Option

Enables the system to consolidate multi-user to-do items into a single item, versus having them listed for each user individually.

5. Date Selector Clicking an arrow button changes the date you are viewing to-do items for, according to the adjacent screen (field #6), so that for instance if the up arrow is clicked while the date is May 18th, the date will change to May 11th, and if the right arrow is pressed while the date is the 18th, the date will change to May 19th, and so on.

The “Jump” button enables you to specify the date in a pop-up window. 6. Month Selector In this two-month calendar module, you can identify the date currently being

viewed (to-do items listed below the module) by noting the small box around a date number. You can click a specific date on the calendar by clicking on it, or navigate to a different month by clicking the left or right arrows on either side of the module.

Note: Grey boxes around dates indicate that at least one appointment/to-do has been set for that date.

7. Right-Click Menu The right-click menu (only available in Daily Summary layout, Daily Detail layout and Daily Activities layout provides the following to-do item options:



New Item: Opens the New To-Do Item window where you can create a to-do item. (See the

“Creating To-Do Items” section for a walkthrough of this process.)



Save Changes: Saves any recent changes you have made to the main To-Do screen.



View Item Details: Opens the Add/Edit To-Do window where you can view or edit the

details of an appointment. (See “Creating To-Do Items” for a walkthrough of appointment creation and maintenance.)



Delete Item: This option removes a selected to-do item from the list.



Print: Opens the Print To-Dos window which provides various options for printing out

appointments. (See “Printing To-Do Items” below for details.)



Multiline On: Makes comments display on a separate line than the entries.



Change User: Opens the Select User(s) window which enables you to select which users or

user group’s to-do items you want to have listed on your calendar. (See “Viewing Multiple User/Group To-Do Items” for a window walkthrough.)

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Search: Opens the To-Do Item Search window (see “Searching for To-Do Items” section

below for details).



Complete To-Do: Click this option to complete the selected To-Do, which will mark it as

completed in the To-Do screen and within the case.



Close: Closes the To-Do Items screen.

To-Do Active Screen Toolbar

Many options below are similar or identical to options in the right-click menu of the To-Do screen. For option descriptions, see the “To-Do Screen” section of this chapter.

This toolbar is the lowest row of icons near the top of the application window, and appears when you are in the To-Do screen of the desktop.

New Item Save Print Delete Complete To-Do Detailed Information

Open Specific Attendees’ Appointments: Not applicable to To-Dos

Preferences: Not applicable to To-Dos

Change User

Search for To-Do

Move To-Do Item

Multiline

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Creating To-Do Items

This section is a window walkthrough of the Appointment Creation window. Use the navigator below if you need help accessing the window.

Click “To-Do Items” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click in the to-do item list. Click “New Item” in the right-click menu.

From the Desktop, the Case Search window is first thing to appear after you click “New Item.” If you want to associate the to-do item to a case, please see “Associating To-Do Items with a Case” section of this chapter. Otherwise, close the Case Search window and proceed to the New To-Do Item window (figure 3.2).

1. Matter In this field, you can associate the to-do item to a case by using the Case Search window. In this example (figure 3.2), a case has already been assigned to the to-do item.

3. For Click the magnifying glass icon to select the person(s) responsible for the selected to-do item. In the “Select Users” window that opens, click to select the user(s) you wish to make responsible for the to-do item.

4. Type In this drop-down menu, select the type of item this is. 5. Task Set the title/name for the to-do item.

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27 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) 6. Priority In this drop-down menu, select the priority you want this to-do item to have.

Note: to-do items can be sorted by priority.

7. Notes Enter any comments about the nature of the to-do item.

8. Status In this drop-down menu, select from a number of status option—which option most accurately reflects the current status of your to-do item.

9. Complete Use the up or down arrows in this field to indicate about what percent your to-do item is completed.

10. Notes Enter any notes about the selected item in this text field. 11. Complete If you wish to delete the to do item, click this button.

12. Complete If you wish to mark the item as complete, click this button. A prompt will appear asking you if you want to complete the item. If you do not have permissions to delete the item, the option will not be available.

13. Package If you wish to open the to do package this item is part of, click this button. If the item is not part of a to do package, this option will not be available.

Completing To-Do Items

This section is a quick guide to completing a to-do item. Use the navigator below if you need help accessing the To-Do screen on the Desktop.

Click “To-Do Items” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click the to-do item you want to complete. Click “Complete To-Do” in the right-click menu. You can also access this option from within the to-do screen.

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28 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) figur e 3. 3 figur e 3. 4

When the prompt asks you if you would like to complete the to-do item, click “Yes,” and the item will be marked completed.

Printing To-Do Items

Click “To Do Items” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click anywhere in the to-do item list. Click “Print…” in the right-click menu.

1. Based On Select the sort method for your printout: by reminder date or by deadline date.

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29 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) 2. Start and Through Dates In these two drop-down menus, select the start and end dates in which you

want to-do items to be printed.

3. For Click the magnifying glass icon and select whose to-do items you want to print.

In the window that opens, you can select a single user or multiple users as shown below (selected users will be highlighted), or a single user group or multiple user groups (turn on the checkbox beside the name to select)—or any combination of these, for the printout.

If you want to quickly add all users, click the “Mark All” button at the bottom of the same window.

4. Options to Include This field contains many additional options to include in the to-do item printout.

Pending or Complete To-Dos: Select which type of to-do items you want

to include in the printout—pending or complete.

To-Do Notes: Include the to-do items’ notes in the printout.

Work Progress Notes: Include the notes on to-do item progress in the

printout.

Page Break on User: Separates pages by user.

Add Separator Line: Include a line between to-do items, to help

distinguish the items more easily.

5. Sort By Style: If you want to sort the to-do items by style, mark this check box. Reminder or Deadline Date: For sorting purposes, select an attribute to

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Reverse Date Order: For sorting purposes, check this box if you want the

items to be sorted by a reverse date order.

Viewing Multiple User/Group To-Do Items

If you want to see more than just your own to-do items, the following section can show you how to add more users (or all users in a group) to your To-Do Items window.

Click “To-Do Items” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click anywhere in the to-do item list. Click “Print…” in the right-click menu.

Note: When you add other users’ to-do items to your list, the To-Do Item screen’s title bar includes their username(s) along with yours in the heading.

1. User(s) You can select a single user (shown in figure 3.5) or multiple users by clicking on the multiple user names in the same list, while pressing the Ctrl key. Selected users will be shown as highlighted.

If you want to quickly select all users, click the “Mark All” button at the bottom of the same window. In the same way, you can quickly deselect all users by clicking the “Clear All” button.

2. User Group(s) You can also select a single user group or multiple user groups. Click the checkbox beside the name to select it.

When you have selected all users and/or user groups you want for your To-Do Items window, click “OK” and you will return to the To-Do Items window, with your changes applied.

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Searching for To-Do Items

If you need to find a to-do item, and you know the generic date range, or keywords, or the to-do item type, or its status, or even just the user whom it concerns, the To-Do Search window can look for that item based on the information you provide.

Click “To-Do Items” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click anywhere in the to-do item list. Click “Search” in the right-click menu.

1. Date Range In these drop-down menus, select a beginning and end date for the system to search from.

2. Reminder/Deadline/Completed Indicate how you want the search to sort the to-do items: by reminder date, by deadline or by the “completed” status.

3. Search Text and Text Options Enter your search keywords in this field, and activate the “Task” check box if your keywords are part of the to-do item’s task name, and/or activate the “Notes” check box if your keywords are part of the to-do item’s notes.

4. Type To filter your search, indicate the type of to-do item(s) you are looking for by selecting an option in this drop-down menu.

5. Priority Indicate which level priority of a to-do item you are searching for by selecting the appropriate option in this drop-down menu.

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6. User or Matter (Case) Involved with To-Do Item

Click the magnifying glass icon to open the Case Search window and select the case or user tied to this to-do item.

7. Status Indicate which status of to-do item you are searching for: pending or completed.

8. Results The search results will populate in this field, after you have entered your criteria (fields #1-7), and you have clicked the “Search” button on the bottom of the window (figure 3.6).

Associating To-Do Items with a Case

There are at least two methods you can use to associate a to-do item with a case: (1) with the Case Search window when creating a new to-do item, or (2) with the Case Search window when editing a to-do item. Both methods involve the Case Search window, displayed below (figure 3.9). Note the navigator below to know how to initiate either method.

Click “New Item” in the right-click menu of the To-Do window list. Double-click a to-do item. Click the magnifying glass icon in the editing window.

1. Search Category For this section’s purposes, click the “Matter” tab so that you can search by the case category.

2. Case Number Enter the number of the case you want to associate the to-do item with. 3. Search Button Click to search.

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Note: For a more thorough window walkthrough of the Case Search window, see the “Searching for Cases” chapter in Part 3 of this manual. Once you have selected the case in the Case Search window, your to-do item will be associated to the case.

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34 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) 3. 8 figur e 3. 9

Chapter 3 (Section 2): To-Do Packages

This final section of the chapter involves assigning do packages. This chapter does not include in-depth to-do package editing or a walkthrough about to-to-do package creation, as these are administrative processes. For to-do package editing and creation, refer to the Administrator’s manual, or see your administrative supervisor.

Assigning a To-Do Package to a User/Users

To-do items can be assigned in groups called To-Do Packages. To-Do Packages are created by your administrators and usually also assigned by them (based on staff roles assigned to cases), but can also be assigned by authorized users. Follow instructions below to assign a To-Do Package to yourself or other users. Note: This section does not cover To-Do Package creation. For a detailed walkthrough of To-Do Package creation, see the Administrator’s manual.

Click the “To-Do” icon on the system bar. If the Case Search window opens, close (“Cancel”) it for now.

In the “Select a To-Do Package” window (figure 3.8 above), choose a To-Do Package, and click “OK.” Doing so will open the To-Do Package window, where you can select a target date and users involved in this To-Do Package. The target date is the date on which you want the package to begin calculations.

In the To-Do Package’s main screen (figure 3.9 above), you will see the list of details for the selected package. What’s important to do here is to set your target date and select which user you want to assign the package to.

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35 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) 1. Target Date Set the Target Date field that will trigger the reminder and deadline dates for each of

the items in the package.

2. Matter If you would like to associate this to-do package with a case, click the magnifying glass button and use the search window to find your case. Note: if selecting a package from within a case, skip this step.

3. User(s) If you selected the “Users” option when creating your To-Do Package, you can assign this package to the appropriate user in this field by clicking the magnifying glass button and selecting a user in the pop-up window.

Once the users and target date are set, click “OK.” The package is now assigned! It will show up on the To-Do items screen for the users you assigned the package to.

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36 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) figur e 4. 1

Chapter 4: Inbox

This screen has two names: “Phone Messages” (case-specific) and “Inbox” (desktop-specific). In this section, we will refer to the screen as the Inbox screen. The Inbox screen consists of mail, phone and bulletin board messages.

Note: This section discusses Aderant Total Office internal messaging, not Microsoft Outlook email or notes. If you are using the Outlook integration, see the “Emailing Contacts” section in Chapter 5 of this manual for assistance with your Outlook messages.

Inbox Screen

The below figures and tables provide a basic overview of the Inbox screen operations. Click “Inbox” in the “Desktop” system menu. Click the brown drawer icon on the system toolbar.

1. Viewing options Turn on the check boxes besides the types of messages you want to see in the results field (#3): Phone messages, Bulletins, neither or both?

2. Message Folder Selection

The Inbox module has four folders: Inbox, Sent Items, Suspended Messages, and Trash Can. Select a folder in this drop-down menu to open it and

view/edit the messages within that folder. (See field #5 below for more information on how to send messages from folder to folder.)

3. Message List This field will display the messages you choose to view. (See field #1 and #2 to set viewing options.)

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37 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) #3, including which case it belongs to (if applicable) and the message itself. 5. Right-Click Menu The following items can be found in the Inbox screen’s right-click menu.

New Item: Opens the New Message window. (See “Creating New

Messages” section below).

Save Changes: Applies and saves any recent changes you may have made

to the Inbox window.

Delete Item: Removes a selected item from the message list.

Undelete Item: This option allows you to undo an item deletion from the

trash can folder by sending it back into the inbox.

Print: Opens the Print Messages window where you can select from a date

range, message type and other options, to print out the messages you want. See “Printing Messages” section below for more information on this feature.

Complete Message: Select a message and then click this option to remove

the message from the inbox. It will save the message to the case.

Change User: Opens the Select User window where you can view others’

messages. See “Viewing Multiple Group/User Messages” section below for more information.

Reply to Message: When a message is selected, clicking this option opens a

reply window where you can respond to the selected message. See “Replying to Messages” section below for more information.

Reply to All: Opens the Reply window where you can respond to all

recipients of the selected message. See the “Replying to Messages” section for more information about this feature.

Forward: Opens the Forward window, where you can send a copy of the

selected message to other users.

Resend: Opens the Resend message window where you can send another

copy of the selected message to the same recipient or another recipient. Only available in “Sent” folder.

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38 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) a message you chose not to finish (suspended). Only available in the “Suspended” folder.

Attachments: Opens the Desktop’s To-Do screen.

Message Header: Opens the Desktop’s To-Do screen.

The button on the top-right of the screen is a refresh button. Clicking it will update the screen with any recent changes that may have occurred in the system.

Inbox Screen Active Toolbar

Many options below are similar or identical to options in the right-click menu of the Inbox screen. For option descriptions, see the “Inbox Screen” section of this chapter. This toolbar is the lowest row of icons near the top of the application window, and appears when you are in the Inbox screen of the desktop.

New Item Save Print Delete Undelete Complete Message Reply Reply to All Forward Resend Edit Suspended Change User Attachments Message Header

Preferences (Not in right-click menu): Opens the Inbox Preference window.

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Creating New Messages

This section is a window walkthrough of the Message Creation window. Use the navigator below if you need help accessing the window.

Click “Inbox” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click in the message list. Click “New Item” in the right-click menu.

The first window to appear after you click “New Item” is an option window which prompts you to either associate this message with a case or to skip the step for now. If you would like to associate the message with a case, click “Search for Matter” and find a case to associate it with from the case search window. (See the “Associating a Message to a Case” section in this chapter for more details on this process.) Otherwise, click “Skip Posting.”

The second window to appear is the User Selection window, where you can choose which person(s) you want to send the message to. Click a name and/or a user group to select your users and then click “OK,” and the Message Creation window will appear.

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1. Message Type Select “Phone” to send the message as a notification that someone had called for the selected user(s). Select “Bulletin” if you want to send out a message to all users in the firm.

2. Case Association to Message If you want to associate this message with a case, click the magnifying glass icon, choose “Select Matter” in the pop-up window that follows, and select the desired case in the Case Search window. For more information about this process, see the “Searching for Cases” section in Part 3 of this manual.

3. To Click the magnifying glass icon to select/change the users you are sending this message to. The User Selection window (figure 4.3) will appear. See figure 4.3 and the explanation below it for instructions on selecting a user/users.

4. Who Called In this field, enter the name of the person that called for the selected user(s).

5. Phone Enter the caller’s phone number here.

6. Company Enter the caller’s company in this field.

7. Message Tags Turn on any of these check boxes to flag the message with these tags.

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When you are finished entering your message, click the “Send” button at the bottom of the window to send your message. Or if you want to complete your message another time but save your progress, click the “Suspend” button and the message will be moved to the “Suspended Messages” folder of the inbox.

Replying/Replying All/Forwarding Messages

Whether you are sending a reply, a reply to all or forwarding a message, the message window is the same— except for a few small differences. The following section will display those differences.

Click “Inbox” in the “Desktop” system menu. Select a message from the inbox message list.

Replying

If you clicked “Reply to Message” in the right-click menu (figure 4.5), the Reply window will have a pre-filled “To:” field. It will have the name of the user you are replying to.

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You can add other users to reply to by clicking the magnifying glass icon (highlighted in figure 4.6) and selecting the appropriate users in the User Select window, or you can leave it as is. Complete the message as regularly.

Replying to All

If you clicked “Reply to All” in the right-click menu (figure 4.5), and if there were multiple recipients in the message you are replying to, the Reply window will have the “To:” field pre-filled with all the recipients of the message you are replying to.

Complete the message as regularly.

Forwarding a Message

If you clicked “Forward this Message” in the right-click menu (figure 4.5), the Forwarding window will have the “To:” field as empty.

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Select the user(s) you want to forward the message by clicking on the magnifying glass icon and

selecting the appropriate users in the User Select window. Complete the message as regularly.

Editing a Suspended Message

Click “Inbox” in the “Desktop” system menu. Select “Suspended Messages” folder. Right-click a suspended message.

After opening the Edit Message window, you will find that message is exactly as you left it when you previously suspended it. Complete the message as you would regularly.

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44 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) figur e 4. 10 figur e 4. 11 Resending a Message

Click “Inbox” in the “Desktop” system menu. Select “Suspended Messages” folder. Right-click a message and click “Edit…” After opening the Edit Message window, you will find that message is exactly as you left it when you previously sent it. Complete the message as you would regularly.

Printing Messages

Click “Inbox” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click anywhere in the message list. Click “Print…” in the right-click menu.

1. Dates Select “All dates” if you want the print-out to include messages from all dates, or select “Date range” if you want to specify start and

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45 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) end dates for your print-out.

2. Reverse Date Order Mark if you are printing multiple entries and you want them to be listed by date, in the reverse chronological order (earliest date first), turn on this check box.

3. Start and End Dates (if enabled) If you selected “Date Range” in field #1, use these two drop-down menus to select your start and end dates for the print-out.

4. Message Text Turn on this check box if you want to include message text in the print out. If you do not turn on this check box, only the titles of the messages will be printed out.

5. Current or Specific Message Types

If you selected multiple entries in the inbox (hold CTRL + click multiple items), and then you bring up the Print window, you can use the “Currently Selected Items” option here to print only those selected messages. Otherwise, select “Specific Message Types” and from select the below options.

6. Phone and/or Bulletin Board Messages

If you selected “Specific Message Types” in Field #5, these options are available. Here you can select either “Phone Messages” or “Bulletin Board Items” or both for your print-out.

7. Location If you selected “Specific Message Types” in Field #5, these options are available. Here you can select a message folder to print from: “Inbox,” “Sent Messages,” or “Suspended Messages.”

Receiving Messages

Whenever a message arrives in your Inbox, the Message Notification window will pop up and display basic information about that message. Note: this only happens if the user has Aderant Total Office open. If the user does not have the program open, the next time it is opened, the messages will be visible. You can click “OK” to dismiss the message, or can quickly reply by clicking the “Acknowledge” button at the bottom-right of the window (figure 4.12).

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46 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) figur e 4. 12 figur e 4. 13 figur e 4. 14

If you clicked “Acknowledge” in the message notification window (figure 4.12), a reply window will appear (figure 4.13), where you can write a quick response to the message you just received. Fill out your response in the “Info” field (figure 4.13), and click OK to finish the response.

Note: responses are not saved to acknowledged messages unless the message itself has been saved.

Viewing Multiple Group/User Messages

Click “Inbox” in the “Desktop” system menu. Right-click in the message list. Click “Change…” in right-click the menu.

In the User Selection window, click a user other than yourself (or a group), and then click “OK” to view that user’s messages. Note: Security measures may limit your options to see others’ messages, depending on your level of security clearance.When you click OK, you will be returned to the Inbox of the user you selected in the User Selection window.

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Chapter 5: Card File

The Card File screen serves to store contacts (persons and other entities) in the system. In order for a person and/or entity to be added as a party to a case, they must first be added to the card file. This section provides assistance on searching for card files, as well as a walkthrough of the card file creation process and card file editing.

Card File Screen

The below figures and tables provide a basic overview of the Card File screen’s operations. Click “Master” Card File in the “Desktop” system menu. Click the ID card icon on the system toolbar. (Opens “Master Card File.”)

1. Search Field Enter your search terms in this field. As the window states, you can use terms such as a user’s last name, a company name or a social security number. 2. Search Options See the “Searching for Card Files” section of this chapter for details. 3. Search Results and

Viewing Options

See the “Searching for Card Files” section of this chapter for details.

4. Right-Click Menu The following items can be found in the Card File screen’s right-click menu.

New Item: Opens the New/Edit Card File window where you can create a card

file. (See the “Creating Card Files” section for a walkthrough of this process.)

Save: Click to save any recent changes made to the card file entry.

Print: Opens the Print Card File window which provides various options for

printing out card files. (See “Printing Card Files” section below for details.)

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New Mail Message: If card files are selected, and email addresses are included

on the card, this button opens a quick message window where you can email the selected card files (contacts). See the “Emailing Contacts” section of this chapter for a window walkthrough of this process.

Card File Merge: Opens the Merge Form Selection screen. See the “Merging

Card Files” section of this chapter for more information on this process. Need more information**

Export to Excel: Exports all card files to a Microsoft Excel file. See the

“Exporting Files to Excel” section of this chapter for information on this process. Need more information**

Exit Card File: Closes the Card File screen.

Card File Active Toolbar

The icons and tables below are for reference. They are identical to options in the right-click menu of the Card File screen. For button descriptions, see the “Card File Screen” section of this chapter. This toolbar is the lowest row of icons near the top of the application window, and appears when you are in the Card File screen of the desktop. New Item Save Print Delete Send Email

Merge Card Files

Export to Excel

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Searching for Existing Card Files

Click either “Master” or “Personal” Card File in the “Desktop” system menu. Click the ID card icon on the system toolbar. (Opens “Master Card File.”)

1. Search Field Enter your search terms in this field. As the window states, you can use terms such as a user’s last name, a company name or a social security number.

2. Search or Locate Window Click “Search” to use the system’s standard search method, or “Locate” to open a special window that finds card files based on particular attributes of a card file, such as the contact’s birth date. 3. Master or Personal Card File Select “Master” to cause the system to draw card files from the master

list, or select “Personal” to limit the search results to your personalized list of contacts.

4. Results This field contains results of your search.

5. Categories This field enables you to filter your search results based on card file category. Card file categories are selected when card files are created. For more information on card file category selection, see the “Creating Card Files” section of this chapter.

6. Result Viewing Options The following options affect the views of your search results.

Remove Duplicates: This checkbox enables you to show or hide

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Open/Closed/Both: These options enable you to select which types of

cases you want to view from your search results.

Use Categories: Corresponds with field #5—adds or removes the

Categories field when you turn the checkbox on or off. 7. Cases Associated with Card

Files

All cases in this list are directly associated with the selected search result (card file) in field #4. You can open a case belonging to the card file by double clicking it, or by selecting a case and then clicking the “Go to Matter” button. More information on the case window can be found in Part 3 of this manual.

When you have a list of search results, you can right-click an item (card file) in the list and use the options described in the “Card File Screen” section of this chapter.

Creating Card Files

This section can assist users wanting to create card files. Use the navigator and screenshot walkthrough below to begin the Creation process.

Note: You can create a card file either in the personal list or the master list. Card files made in the master list are visible to all users. Those made in the personal list are seen only by the user that created them.

Click either “Master” Card File in the “Desktop” system menu. Click the “Add New Entry” button in the Card File window.

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When the Category Selection window appears, click the category for your new card file and then click “OK.” Note: When adding an entry to the card file, the user must choose a category for the entry. Categories instruct the system to select the required fields on each card file.

Details Tab

1.Basic Information Fill out the basic information fields, remembering that demographic fields labeled in red are required. Note: these fields will differ based on the category of the card file and a firm’s preference.

2. Client Number Click the “New #” button and the system will generate a new client number based on the latest client number in your Card File. Or if you have a specific client number you wish to enter, enter it manually in the field. This option may be performed by an administrator or accounting user. Please refer to your firm’s best practices

When you have finished entering information in this tab, remember to click the “Save/Close” button at the top-left of the screen (figure 5.4) so that your information is not lost.

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52 Total Office Case User Manual for version 9.1 SP1 (October 2012) figur e 5. 5 figur e 5. 6 Other Tab

1. Secondary Address Fields Fill out these basic information fields.

When you are done completing the fields, remember to click the “Save/Close” button at the top-left of the screen (figure 5.5) so that your information is not lost.

Editing Card Files

Click “Appointments” in the “Desktop” system menu. Double-click the card file you want to edit.

1. Card File Options Save/Close: Saves and closes the file.

Pick List: In some instances, pick lists are added to card file layouts to assist

in filtering and assembling lists. By clicking on the pick list tab, users can add pick list items to the card for filter and searching assistance.

User Manual Aderant Total Office Case

User Manual

Aderant Total Office Case

Version 9.1 SP1

Table of Contents

Preface

Quick Reference Glossary

Part 1: System Basics

Chapter 1: Navigating in Aderant Total Office

Part 2: Desktop Operations

Chapter 2: Appointments

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Chapter 3 (Section 1): To-Do Items

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Chapter 3 (Section 2): To-Do Packages

Chapter 4: Inbox

Select the user(s) you want to forward the message by clicking on the magnifying glass icon and

selecting the appropriate users in the User Select window. Complete the message as regularly.

Chapter 5: Card File