Version 4.05 (Saturn) Release Notes

To view which version of MerusCase you are on, navigate to your Tools & Settings and choose "About MerusCase" from the bottom of the list. If you firm is on MerusCase version 4.05, expect to see the following updates throughout the week. We have a staggered roll out schedule towards MerusCase version 4.0 put in place to ensure a smooth transition for all firms, so if your firm is not on this version yet, expect to see these updates within the next coming weeks! 

If you're interested in reading about our full set of updates for version 4.05, feel free to read the release notes below:

Activities

• Linked activities that have been deleted or unlinked will no longer appear in related cases
• Improved behavior for creating and viewing activities that are linked to related cases

Billing Contacts

• Better control over which rates and settings get overwritten when changing a Billing Contact's rates and settings, or changing a case's assigned Billing Contact

 Calendar & Events

• Event view is properly updated when saving a recurring event
• Show Past Events and Show Future Events Only widgets are now shown even when there are no events to show

 Case Files 

• Generate Caption from Party List widget creates a proper caption
• Form Receipt # link in Immigration cases is now a link to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website
• Party ordering is fixed 
• Applicant people type can now be assigned to multiple parties on single case
• Secondary Applicant is no longer used as part of the case file's name
• If you want your Secondary Applicant parties to be used as part of the case file's name, change the people type to Applicant

 Case Ledgers

• Better handling of entries with fractional pennies
• Improved behavior when editing existing entries
• Ability to view a case ledger in Firefox

 Contacts

• Avatar controls have been turned back on

 Documents

• Default priority for notification message when linking documents to a case is now Normal instead of Low

 Forms

• Improved behavior when merging forms
• QME Replacement Reason is now a dropdown selector

 Injuries

• No Statute Set widget no longer shown after a statute has been set

 Messages

• Improved performance when composing a message with inline images or that is part of long conversation/thread
• Conversation contents are available through the ellipsis widget
• Do not send notifications preference now available
• Case name is no longer retained after removing the case association from a forwarded message

 Party Groups

• Better behavior when changing group names and colors

 Reports

• A/R: Payments Received now shows total, and honors firm preference for case file number to display

 Tasks

• Related tasks are no longer modified when the Change all Related Tasks checkbox is unchecked
• No longer showing warning about related tasks when marking a task complete

 Workflows

• Workflows now have a Description
• Workflows list can now be searched and sorted

 Miscellaneous

• General improvements to system performance
• Color pickers no longer display as a swatch of a single color
• Better behavior of the Sweet Caroline theme
• Improved display of date picker widgets

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Everything You Need to Know About "Right Panel"

With the Version 4.0 release officially underway for our existing clients, we want to take a moment to introduce you to one of our favorite features: the all-new right panel!

Merus now features a right panel view for wide-screen monitors, which activates any time you are viewing or editing a line item within a table, such as Activities or Messages. This new way of viewing data makes it easy for you to view, compare, or edit data without needing to click back and forth between different screens in Merus. (If you remember, right panel view has been activated within the Messages feature for the past few years, so it's a concept you're familiar with!)

The best part about the right panel? It helps with mobile responsiveness, so using MerusCase from your smart phone or tablet's browser feels identical to the experience that an app would give you—no unnecessary scrolling or pinching in order to see all the data on the screen.

Finally, once you're done with the information displayed in the right panel, all you have to do is click the X button in order to close it out!

P.S. Missed Tuesday's MerusCase 4.0 Sneak Peek? Click here to check out all of our brand new themes!

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MerusCase 4.0 Sneak Peek: Themes

We're so excited to show off the newest additions to the MerusCase family of themes, coming to your firm in Version 4.0! Though we're highlighting 10 of our favorites in the infographic below, we've designed a whopping twenty themes in total. Our new themes not only offer a change in color palette, but in font and overall look-and-feel as well. When you log in to 4.0 and take a look, you'll notice that we've even put together a few easy-to-read themes that are great for folks who enjoy larger fonts and a higher contrast.

Without further ado, we're stoked to introduce our 10 favorite themes available in Version 4.0:

In order to switch your personal theme in MerusCase 4.0, all you have to do is:

• Click on Tools and Settings in the upper-right-hand corner (it's the little icon that looks like a gear)
• From here, all of the theme options should pop up in the main panel of the screen
• All you have to do is click on a theme you like and it'll automatically apply the theme to your account!

So easy, well,  we're pretty sure the office pet could do it.

P.S. Anyone have a guess as to what these themes are named after? Leave your thoughts in the comments below! ;-)

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What's New in MerusCase 4.0?

As you may have heard, the MerusCase team is extremely excited to roll out our Version 4.0 release over the next few months!

We have an incredible amount of updates and improvements, some of which will be obvious to you in terms of the platform's look-and-feel, and some of which are under the hood and will be harder to notice right out of the box. Nonetheless, get excited! Here's what you can expect to see in MerusCase once you get your hands on our 4.0 update:

• A total overhaul of the user interface, making for a cleaner, more modern MerusCase experience
• Brand new custom themes, completely reimagined with new colors, fonts, and options
• Mobile enhancements, including simplified billing entry via mobile phone
• The ability to add multiple Activity Tags at the time of activity creation
• Drag and drop calendar appointments and repeating events
• Enhanced tasks, including a new completion summary once a task has been marked as complete
• The ability to set multiple statutes per case, incident, and injury, as well as the option to mark statues as "Satisfied"
• A powerful contact search engine, scalable to millions of contacts with no performance degradation
• Added search fields, such as Social Security Number
• The ability to filter for unattached documents and search by time frame, activity, or case
• Case-level improvements, including an a new Agenda in Case Details, allowing you to view upcoming tasks and events
• Custom billing cycles as well as billing rules by client and the ability to set rates at the client level
• API enhancements, such as the ability to import bulk costs to Merus (i.e. Equitrac imports)
• ...and so much more!

We'll be sure to publish a more exhaustive list of release notes once all of the improvements have been finalized. Questions? Please contact support@meruscase.com.

3 Simple Tips to Reduce Stress

Do you have a lot on your plate? Feeling stressed? Overwhelmed with balancing your work and personal life? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Many lawyers have a tendency to work long hours, sleep less than other professionals their age, and constantly jump from task to task without taking a break.

It’s no surprise that working like this day-in and day-out can get overwhelming and tiring, causing productivity to come to a grinding halt over time. We’ve all heard the tired saying, “work smarter, not harder,” but it’s tired because it’s true. It’s important to take time to yourself, give yourself a chance to breathe, and relieve some of your everyday stress through efficient time management strategies.

If you’ve been feeling like you’re on the brink of a breakdown, check out these 3 helpful tips for managing stress and accomplishing more each day:

Plan out your work day and tasks the evening before.

For most of us, the morning hours are some of the most productive hours of the day, so you should make an effort to use this time wisely. (And if they’re not your most productive, you should make an effort to find out which hours are your best working hours.)

After you’ve finished work for the day, write down a checklist of the most important tasks that need to be finished for the next day. This checklist will help you start off your day on the right foot: you’ll be more focused on what needs to get done, rather than dilly-dallying on social media, or wasting time scrolling through unimportant emails in the morning. If it’s helpful, you might even try coming up with a system to prioritize tasks from quickest to most time consuming in order to check off small tasks first, getting your day moving quickly.

Crossing off the easy items first on your list can boost morale and set a motivated tone for the rest of your day; however, don’t be tempted to use your most productive hours on menial tasks… The longer you put off your biggest, most intensive to-do items for the day, the less likely they are to get done as you begin to experience decision fatigue (and your coffee wears off) as the day goes on.

Pro Tip: In MerusCase, there’s a built in “Tasks” feature, which allows you to make a list of everything that needs to be done, and is organized by importance/urgency and associated with corresponding cases. In my opinion, the satisfaction of checking off those tasks is enough to make you want to get your work done!

Do not multitask. Just don’t.

Research has shown time and time again that multitasking significantly reduces productivity. All multitasking does is lead to a seriously painful positive feedback loop in which being less productive means getting less work done and getting less work done means added stress, which none of us want.

Instead, stay focused with what you’re working on and refrain from distractions such as checking social media, your email, your phone, or any other notifications that might pop up. In fact, it’s always best to just go ahead and turn off all of these notifications when you’re really trying to get work done. If this is difficult for you, you should give time blocking a try.

We’ve talked about it at length in a previous blog post, but this theory of time management allots specific blocks of time for each project you’re working on and allows you to build in a couple of minutes for “distraction time” in between tasks. (If you’re interested in learning more about how time blocking my help you focus, check out the “pomodoro technique” for an interesting way to schedule your tasks.)

Take lots (and lots) of breaks.

One major key to staying zen is to give your brain a break! Without breaks, it becomes difficult to keep up creativity, stay focused, and ultimately tasks will take longer to complete. That said, don’t jump from one task straight into the next one. Instead, every couple of hours, make an effort to stand-up and walk around for a few minutes, work out half-way through your day, or try doing some guided meditation (it’s not for everyone, but there is no harm in giving it a shot!).

Ultimately, however you decide to “break,” it’s essential focus on giving your brain and body some buffer time to recharge so that you can achieve maximum productivity.

Have any other stress-relief, time management, or productivity tips? We’re all ears!

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7 Tips to Help Your Law Firm Conquer HIPAA-Compliance

With the rules and regulations of HIPAA policies constantly in flux, it’s difficult to be sure that your law firm is in compliance with the latest guidelines. In fact, many firms have been using the same methods of compliance for years and years, continuing to do so because no major issues have been encountered. Little do they know that many of these methods are outdated and were not necessarily secure in the first place.

Have you investigated if your current legal practice management system is compliant? Is your current system still actively supported by your operating system? Do you have an active support team updating and maintaining HIPAA compliance? Do you know what any of this means? Well, if you’re interested in keeping your firm protected and free of a potential breach of HIPAA policies, here are 7 tips to make sure your law firm is secure and protected:

Encryption

Install an end-to-end encryption service for your email, which will require authentication from both the sender and recipient.

Although this concept may sound like a foreign language, this ensures that the information being sent via email is done so in a controlled and secure way, all the way through the end user’s receipt of the message. Without this encryption service, there is no guarantee that information being sent from one inbox will safely reach the recipient without being breached during transmission.

HIPAA regulations regarding email are often broken, as the process of email is so core to law firm business. MerusCase offers built-in message and attachment encryption, called User+ messaging. User+ messaging will prompt receivers to create a MerusCase account and/or sign into MerusCase before reading their email messages. This feature allows us to keep your email messages from leaving our servers, maintaining their security.

Install encryption software on all data storage devices, too.

Though physical security (like locked cabinets and security codes) is important, your law firm cannot rely solely on the physical in order to protect the information being stored on your computers and devices. For example, what if the computers are stolen? Or perhaps someone from outside the firm gains access to the computer’s data? You're better safe than sorry.

Remember: any storage medium that touches HIPAA-protected information needs to be secured, meaning that it’s important to encrypt your backups and flash drives as well. One easy solution for encrypting backups is to use cloud storage, which is generally HIPAA-compliant depending on the service. For example, if you store your data in a system like MerusCase, you won’t have to worry about data encryption of HIPAA-compliance issues, as Merus takes care of that for you behind the scenes, safely backing up your data on a daily basis.

People, Processes, and Passwords

HIPAA compliance doesn’t stop at technology: make sure your employees are in the know.

It’s important to ensure that all employees are up to date with proper HIPAA training and that your firm’s processes are compliant, in terms of how PHI data is handled at each step of the litigation process. A great place to start is with establishing protocols to ensure that employees are accountable for their actions. For example, make sure that strong password enforcement is maintained on all critical systems, use cable locks for equipment, and implement a two-factor authentication process to provide an extra layer of security on top of any passwords; this could involve authorization though a second device, a security question, or even a physical authorization such as a fingerprint.

Choosing a secure legal practice management system is a vital part of your HIPAA strategy.

A legal practice management system will help securely manage all aspects of your firm, including everything from billing to client profiles to keeping track of incoming email, upcoming deadlines and so much more. The one caveat is that, in order for a legal practice management system to be in compliance with HIPAA regulations, the system must offer an active support team and must be actively working to keep the software up-to-date with legal requirements, so choose wisely!

Establish a Good Security System

Invest in quality anti-malware and anti-virus software; under no circumstances should you settle for the free software!

These free options are generally not fully legal for businesses to use and they ultimately do not have the best protection against viruses. Viruses can cause a lot of damage. They are known to crash whole systems, allow hackers to steal information, and they are not always easy to remove. So effectively prepare yourself, you wouldn’t want any of that to happen!

Try to avoid the default firewall security systems because they simply don't provide enough security.

Instead, opt for a commercial security firewall with advanced firewall capabilities and VLAN tagging. What does all that mean? Essentially, VLAN tagging will provide added security to each file and an advanced firewall will give you the option to create specific security configurations based on your firm’s needs. You may also be interested in some of the options that small business-oriented boxes can provide, so be sure to do your research before making a decision!

Employ a managed network switch that can handle VLANs.

Though this option may be slightly more expensive, the switch segments your network and reduces the amount of data collisions that occur when multiple computers are simultaneously transmitting data.

With these simple changes, you will be well on your way to maintaining HIPAA-compliance! Although it may take some dedicated time, it’s important to keep up-to-date with current HIPAA best practices, which you can do by checking out the HIPAA Security Tool Kit or the United States Department of Health, HIPPA page.

Do you have any tips or best practices to share in terms of how you keep your law firm compliant? Let us know in the comments below!

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Exclusive Early Access to MerusCase 4.0 [Limited Quantity]

The MerusCase team is excited to announce some exciting changes and updates, including MerusCase Version 4.0, MerusPay, and our updated brand identity!

For the past 9 months, our engineering and marketing teams have been hard at work to develop an enhanced feature set and product design that places Merus at the forefront of innovation when it comes to legal practice management technology. Within the next few weeks, we're going to be showcasing these changes on our blog and we invite you to stick around as we roll them out.

This week only, we'll be selecting a handful of current clients to receive early access, so now's your chance to be one of the first to try out the MerusCase 4.0 Beta version and get a working sneak peak into what’s coming next.

We only have a limited amount of Beta spots available, so if you’re interested, here's what you have to do to gain exclusive access:

1. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
2. Share one of our blog entries via one of your firm's favorite social media network.
3. Email us at pr@meruscase.com to let us know you've done so!

Yep, that simple. We look forward to hearing from you and can't wait to show you around MerusCase Version 4.0!

P.S. Click subscribe below and be the first to know when these announcements go live.

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How to Become a Better-Spoken Lawyer

I bet you remember a time when you were blown away by a fantastic presentation. You marveled at the speaker’s persuasive eloquence, seamless transitions, and arresting charisma, wondering how she was able to captivate you so effortlessly. You can probably also recall one of your law school classmates fumbling with his note cards, mumbling his way through a dry and uninspired discourse – or, even worse, directly reading blocks of text off his PowerPoint slides! As much as these presenters are polar opposites, both make glaringly clear how public speaking skills can make or break your credibility.

In the legal world, top-notch public speaking skills are imperative, regardless of whether you speak in court or not. If you’ve ever pitched for new business or presented to a partner, you know how essential it is to be able to carry your point concisely and engagingly. Here is the Everlaw business team’s advice for brushing up your presentation skills:

• Make sure you speak to your audience’s motivations and knowledge base rather than trying to tout your own.
  
• Don’t pander to your audience. Authenticity matters.
  
• It’s easy to get caught listening to yourself talk; it’s always better to be concise. End a point early rather than talking for too long.

AJ Shankar
CEO

• Project your voice! Nothing is less compelling than a presentation the audience can’t hear. Learn to up your volume by using your diaphragm, rather than straining your throat. If you need help, try some theatrical voice exercises and warmups.
• Be aware of nervous tics, such as hand-wringing, nail-glancing, or pen-spinning (my personal bane). Use your hands to augment your presentation with gestures, not detract from it with distracting movements.

Alex Liu
Marketing Coordinator

• Practice, practice, practice! It may be a cliché, but practice is key to feeling comfortable when giving a presentation. If you aren’t a natural performer – and not many of us are – standing in front of a mirror and going through the motions at least a few times is essential. Even better, practice in front of a patient friend or loved one. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.

Ian Sink
Account Director

•  Distill the content into 3 key points (no less, no more), then reveal those points at the outset so your audience has a roadmap by which to follow you.
  
• Try to forgo visuals entirely. If you must have slides, make sure they’re based on images or videos, with little to no text.
  
• Make eye contact with lots of people in your audience, not just the front row.

John Kerry-Tyerman 

VP of Business Development

• Make it a conversation. Engaging your audience with appropriate humor or directed questions will increase their interest, and promote information retention. Map out points in your presentation where you can involve your audience, and be sure to prepare context-specific questions that go beyond the generic “any questions?”.
  
• Don’t be too rehearsed. While rehearsing is a good way to gain confidence in your delivery, over-rehearsing can have the opposite effects: you’ll be more easily thrown off if a deviation from plan occurs, and you won’t have the flexibility to respond to your audience.

Mondee Lu
User Advocate

It’s clear that effective public speaking is not solely hinged upon “speaking.” Just as important are self-awareness, nonverbal language, interaction with the audience, and previous preparation. In fact, presenting is as much about knowing people as it is about knowing how to speak. While this may seem like a lot to remember, time and practice should eventually make these skills second nature when you step in front of an office, partner, or jury. Try these tips at your next big pitch or presentation; we’d love to hear how they work out for you!

How to Take Your Law Firm Paperless [Free Webinar]

Interested in taking your law firm paperless but not sure where to start? Join us for our FREE webinar on December 9th, 2015 at 11AM PST to learn how!

Contrary to popular belief, going paperless is not about getting rid of every single solitary piece of paper in your office; instead, it’s about drastically cutting down on the use and storage of physical paper in order to make your law firm a happier, less stressful, more organized, and cost-efficient place to work. Our team at MerusCase is filled with experts who can help you make the transition to a paperless workflow in 10 simple steps and we're excited to share our knowledge with you during this webinar!

If you're ready to give your law firm a new lease on life, register for this free 45-minute webinar, hosted by our Marketing Coordinator, Marissa Vessels.

In this webinar, we'll cover:

• What it means to "Go Paperless"
• Benefits of a Paperless Office
• Common Misconceptions About the Paperless Office
• Steps to a Paperless Office

Click the button below to save your seat before the webinar fills up!

Register Now

Note: This post features MerusCase Version 3.9 or earlier. As such, this post may no longer be accurate. For the most current and up-to-date information about the latest version of MerusCase, please visit our documentation at docs.meruscase.com.

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17 Time-Saving Keyboard Shortcuts

Did you know that, in MerusCase, you can use many of the same keyboard shortcuts that work for your browser? Whether you want to open a new tab or bookmark a page, these keyboard shortcuts will save you endless time as you zip through MerusCase with lightning speed.

Click here to download this handy guide and don't forget to subscribe to our blog for more great updates!

P.S. Windows users will find that these shortcuts should work across every browser; however, Mac users should note that 'Control' will often be replaced with 'Command'.

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How to Search & Filter Like a Pro in MerusCase

Shane, our COO, gave a rockstar webinar last week, sharing tons of tricks that you can use to filter through your MerusCase data with ease!

If you want to learn the 7 key phrases and characters that will help you narrow down your overwhelming search results, you can download the recorded webinar or check out Shane's slides below:

Psst -- Don't forget to subscribe to our blog and be the first to know about exclusive content, webinars, and more!

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Note: This post features MerusCase Version 3.9 or earlier. As such, this post may no longer be accurate. For the most current and up-to-date information about the latest version of MerusCase, please visit our documentation at docs.meruscase.com.

6 Benefits of a Paperless Office [White Paper]

Are you interested in saving time? What about money? Increasing security and accessibility? If so, it's probably time to take your law firm paperless. Today we're sharing a small part of our How to Go Paperless Digital White Paper and talking through the six major benefits of a paperless law firm:

Save money.

The biggest payoff for going paperless is the exorbitant amount of money you save on fees that are related to running a paperless office. One example of this can be seen in physical document storage. Having too much paper may not be so obvious for newer law firms, but our older law firm friends know exactly how this scenario plays out!

Years upon years of mail, contracts, pleadings, and more add up to endless boxes full of paper. These boxes translate to thousands of dollars spent on external storage fees, hiring file clerks, transportation in and out of the office, shredding costs, time spent decluttering, as well as basic ink and toner costs. Even if your files never leave the office, they still take up tons of valuable office space that could be used for more revenue-generating and morale-boosting purposes, such as more space to work, the ability to have a client waiting room or a conference room, and so much more.

(If you’re still not convinced of the costs your paper-filled office is accruing, check out our blog post called, 4 Common Misconceptions About Going Paperless, in which we itemize the costs in order to show you exactly how much of your hard-earned revenue is being funneled straight into document storage.)

Save time.

The second major benefit of a paperless office is the sheer amount of time you save by not having to physically handle mass amounts of paper. Digital document management affords you the opportunity to be more organized and more efficient by cutting down on the time you spend searching for the documents you need.

Furthermore, digital documents provide a level of searchability that physical paper simply cannot measure up to. For example, PDFs and related file typos offer Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which allows you to easily search and find data with lighting speed. In tandem with OCR, tools like batch scanning, which are a major component of cloud-based case management systems, make it easy for you to transform piles of paper into an organized digital filing system in minutes. As they say, time is money, which means that your time savings translate to even more monetary savings!

Increase accessibility.

We all know the horror of being out of the office and realizing that we need an important document, ASAP. Gone are the days in which you have to rely on calling a coworker to send a copy of the file over to you. Instead, digital document management systems (DMS) provide a superior level of portability, including remote access and seamless information retrieval.

Have more than one office for your firm? Have employees who work from home? Going paperless means that anyone in your office can update or access your digital files from anywhere at any time. This means no more waiting in line at the Post Office, no more hoping that the FedEx overnight actually arrives on time, and no more wasted days waiting for an urgent file to arrive.

Improve security.

It’s easy for us to be intimidated by something we don’t fully understand. The cloud? Data encryption? Data integrity? Sometimes, it’s just more than we can truly wrap our heads around. With new technology comes a slew of new concepts to understand and security to consider. Luckily, many legal case management system companies understand these needs and have made them a priority.

Today’s digital document storage solutions provide features such as data encryption, HIPAA-compliance, tons of storage, and even daily backups. For this reason, you’ll never have to experience lost or damaged files: digital copies remain in the systems where they are safely and indefinitely saved and can be viewed or reprinted at any time.

Transparency.

Specifically in the case of using a legal case management system, going paperless increases your office’s ability to collaborate across various projects. When paper is immediately filed into an online system, it affords firms the opportunity to check in on the progress of cases and increases the overall accountability and allow for the monitoring of workflows so that everyone can collaborate easily and meet deadlines far more quickly.

Sustainability.

The sustainable benefits of digital document storage are essentially limitless, but we’re going to touch on the two largest direct benefits for law firms. First of all, digital document storage is economically efficient in the sense that you can add more storage space whenever you need it, without having to overhaul your entire infrastructure. In some cases, there is a cost attached to this expansion, but for many legal case management services, you pay a fixed price for unlimited storage costs (as is the case with MerusCase). It’s also far more simple to purge or reorganize your system when it’s digital, considering that you can easily drag-and-drop or mass delete documents with the click of a button. This digital reorganization process is much faster than digging through thousands of hardcopy files and trying to figure out where they go on the fly.

Additionally, you don’t have to worry about retraining a new employee on the intricacies of your physical filing system. With the searchable features afforded by digital storage, even newcomers can jump right in and find what they need in a few keystrokes. Finally, going paperless is just a lot better for the environment. By digitizing your documents, your firm can rest easy knowing that you’ve done your part in paving the way for a sustainable future.

Interested in moving your law firm towards a paperless workflow? Fill out the form below to download our How to Go Paperless Digital White Paper!

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New Case Type: Immigration

With the launch of MerusCase Version 3.9, we're excited to announce the new Immigration case type! Check out the new features, below:

Client Details

The new Immigration case type now allows you to track additional information in the Client Details tab, such as Nationality, 'A'-Number, and Interpreter information.

Employment History

The new Employment History section of the Immigration tab provides an overview of the client's previous employers, reflecting what is saved on the Employment History tab of the contact card in your firm's Rolodex. This section will display information such as the name of previous employers, their reason for leaving the company, their title, as well as the start and end dates of their employment.

Previous Addresses

The Previous Addresses section of the Immigration tab now highlights the clients' previous addresses, sorted reverse chronologically by the move out date associated with each address.

For more information on the new Immigration features, feel free to check out our Knowledge Base articles!

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Note: This post features MerusCase Version 3.9 or earlier. As such, this post may no longer be accurate. For the most current and up-to-date information about the latest version of MerusCase, please visit our documentation at docs.meruscase.com.

This blog post was written by Michelle Zhang, member of the marketing team at MerusCase.

Version 3.94 Isonoe Release

Activities

• Spurious  no longer added to activity descriptions when a trailing space is present

Case Files

• Archive created by Document Archive is no longer reported as corrupt/invalid by the built-in Windows extractor

Documents & Forms

• Post-upload preference now obeyed more consistently

Invoices

• Case caption is now presented on the PDF invoice as it is entered in Case Details; line breaks are no longer removed

The bulk of the work for this release revolved around infrastructure changes and updates in preparation for the upcoming 4.0 release.

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Note: This post features MerusCase Version 3.9 or earlier. As such, this post may no longer be accurate. For the most current and up-to-date information about the latest version of MerusCase, please visit our documentation at docs.meruscase.com.

How to Go Paperless [Free White Paper]

Everyone dreams of it: a pristine workspace where everything is organized and devoid of clutter. Chances are, however, your law office is drowning in a sea of files and forms. If you're just starting out, this may not seem like something that needs your attention but, trust us, those papers add up quickly!

Imagine how much paper your office receives on a weekly basis. Now, imagine how much you’ll have accumulated in just a single year. Assuming that you’re intending to stay in business longer than a year, you can probably imagine how much paper you’ll have floating around after 10 or even 20 years! How are you going to organize it? How will you find it again later when you want to reference it? Most importantly, how much will all of that cost?

The overwhelmingly obvious answer to your clutter-filled office woes is to go paperless. Essentially, “going paperless” means that you’re creating a work space in which the use of paper is almost completely eliminated. Typically, this is done by transferring all of your physical paperwork to a digital alternative and by developing new processes to handle incoming paper. Contrary to popular belief, going paperless is not about getting rid of every single solitary piece of paper in your office; instead, it’s about drastically cutting down on the use and storage of physical paper in order to make your law firm a happier, less stressful, more organized, and cost-efficient place to work.

If you’re still working from an office inundated with paper, it may seem nearly impossible to get your firm up and running on a paperless workflow; however, with a little effort and preparation, you could have your paperless office operating smoothly in no time! If you want to save your law firm time and money, utilizing digital tools to automate your workflow is just the tip of the iceberg. Read through our free How to Go Paperless White Paper to see how going paperless can give your law firm an entirely new lease on life.

Practicing law is hard.
Going paperless doesn't have to be.

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Version 3.93 (Kalyke) Release

Contacts

• Contacts without a People Type set are now displayed in Browse Contacts
• More intelligent about populating a contact's Website when provided with an email address

Case Files

• Better handling when creating a Document Archive
• Previous archives are no longer included, significantly reducing the size of the archive and the time it takes to generate
• Documents are now placed in a folder based on their primary Activity Tag
• Document names now obey any changes made in Activities

Case Ledgers

• Better handling of Alternate Billing Code when editing historical ledger entries

Documents & Forms

• More consistent handling of contact and company addresses when merging

Injuries

• Carrier Billing Identifier and Carrier Billing Description fields are now disabled/locked for all user levels except Power User with Accounting and Administrator

Messages

• Better formatting of messages that are forwarded or replied to

Receivables

• Remaining Credit is again displayed properly after applying a refund

Uploads

• Now able to upload .csv (Comma Separated Values) files

Miscellaneous

• Privacy blur when tabs/windows are idle for more than 30 minutes

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Version 3.91 Release Notes

Activities

• Completed Forms (activities with 'Form Completed' and 'Document' tags) can be forwarded again
• Printing the Activities table properly includes the full description
• Improved handling of diacritical marks in activity descriptions

Contacts

• Properly displays primary phone number in contact list
• Better handling of website links
• Contacts synchronized to a mobile device now include all phone numbers
• Email addresses determined to be invalid due to a bounced message can no longer be clicked to start a new message

Case Files

• More consistent handling of data retrieved using the ADJ import
• Immigration
• Forms now display correct label
• Deleting a form from Activities now resets the completed status of the form and is displayed properly on the Case Details view
• Can now add Case Packets after case creation
• Forms in a packet are now ordered with optional forms after required forms

Case Ledgers

• BCS export format includes Branch Office Location again
• Export formats (TimeSlips, BCS, etc.) are now delivered to the user's Inbox even if the user is synchronizing a folder other than 'Inbox'
• Use of Select All Visible and Select Entire List links now produce invoices based on the set sort order
• New Export format option for Juris

Documents & Forms

• Address, phone, fax, and email fields for Attorney Responsible merge properly again
• Extended address block fields merge properly again
• Improved behavior when merging documents in a case with no injuries
• More consistent display of relevant forms after changing Jurisdiction in User Preferences

Messages

• Tab order adjusted for better flow from message header info (recipients, subject, etc) to message body
• Improved behavior when printing a message's full body, particularly when the message is in the middle of a conversation
• Better handling of messages bounced because of invalid email addresses
• Email addresses determined to be invalid due to a bounced message are no longer available for selection when composing a message

Preferences

• User
• Jurisdiction is now a multi-select option

Reports

• AR: Receivables (per Payor) now allows selection of Companies and Payors that are not in the rolodex

Tasks

• Assigning a task to a case after the task has been created now updates the Task list immediately (no refresh required)

Miscellaneous

• Administrative users are now notified if their firm expiration date is approaching (or has passed)
• Other changes for a better, faster MerusCase experience

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Note: This post features MerusCase Version 3.9 or earlier. As such, this post may no longer be accurate. For the most current and up-to-date information about the latest version of MerusCase, please visit our documentation at docs.meruscase.com.

Version 3.9 Carme [Release Notes]

Starting tonight, you may notice changes in your MerusCase experience as the new features of Version 3.9 are put into effect. This release will be staggered, meaning that some firms will have access to the new features prior to the global release, which is scheduled for next week.

You can check out our more in-depth blog posts and knowledge base articles about each feature, here:

• Employment History Tab
• Multiple Addresses (Current & Past)
• Click-to-Call Phone Numbers & Social Media Integration

If you're interested in the full list of features, feel free to read through our release notes, below:

Contacts

• No longer limited to a single address
• Addresses can be designated as Mailing or Physical
• An address can be designated as Primary
• Residency/occupation dates associated with each address
• No longer limited to five phone numbers (three voice, two fax)
• One voice number and one fax number can be designated as Primary
• No longer limited to two email addresses
• An email address can be designated as Primary
• Added ability to save aliases
• New fields
• Address
• Move-In Date
• Move-Out Date
• Country 
• Alien Registration Number
• Country of Birth
• City of Birth
• Nationality
• Facebook Profile
• LinkedIn Profile
• Twitter
• Employment History
• Company Name
• Company Address
• Position/Title
• Start Date
• End Date

Case Files

• New Immigration case type
• New file 'drop target' in the left navigation area when viewing a case allows uploading of documents using drag-and-drop
• Bill To contact's name and address now shown in Case Details and the case preview hover
• Name and address are italicized in the preview hover
• Cases created using the ADJ/EAMS Lookup now have proper start and end dates for associated injuries

Case Ledgers

• Billing Quick Codes are now properly limited to 5 characters
• More consistent behavior when a description has been entered, and a predefined description is selected
• General Staff users can no longer edit entries made by other users
• Export menu items now work on Firefox
• Improved compatibility of Tabs3 export format

Messages

• Print Full Body option now includes all CCs on the printed output
• Notification messages, i.e. Document Uploaded are now properly delivered if the folder being synchronized is something other than Inbox
• Resending no longer strips the message's attachments

Preferences

• Firm
• New Invoice format that displays Date, Case, Description, Qty, Rate, and Amount

Miscellaneous

• Removed Recent Contacts from left panel navigation area
• Other improvements for a faster, better experience when using MerusCase.

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Note: This post features MerusCase Version 3.9 or earlier. As such, this post may no longer be accurate. For the most current and up-to-date information about the latest version of MerusCase, please visit our documentation at docs.meruscase.com.

Version 3.8 Megaclite Release Notes

Activities

• Individual activities created by linking a message conversation no longer have the same description as the message used to link to the case 
• Related messages use the From and Subject format for the activity description 

Case Files

• When visiting Case Details, notifications are now presented if staff assigned are no longer active users 

Case Ledgers

• Ledger amount properly updates when changing the hours value again 
• Hours value no longer changes to '10' in certain circumstances 
• Billing Quick Codes are now displayed in ledger descriptions when appropriate 
• Tabs3 export no longer truncates ledger descriptions that contain double quotes 

Contacts/Companies

• Hover Preview no longer showing a case multiple times when more than one employee is attached to the case 
• Hover Preview no longer showing a case multiple times when the company is attached to a case multiple times, i.e. as Carrier and Adjuster 

Events

• Number pad 0 key now works in Warnings and Follow-ups section 

Invoices

• Expense values exported as positive values when exporting in LEDES format 

Preferences

• Firm 
• Added preference for minimum billing time increment. 
• .1 (6 minutes) - default 
• .25 (15 minutes) 

Reports

• Cases List with Injury Detail - now completes properly regardless of amount of data presented 
• Reports that include ledger descriptions will now display billing Quick Codes when appropriate 

Messages

• More consistent behavior when moving between pages of messages 
• Better retention of read and deleted statuses 
• More consistently displaying case links after linking messages to cases 
• Display of BCC recipients when replying to a message is now restricted to the original sender of the message 
• Better display of draft message indicator in message lists 

Other improvements for a faster, better experience when using MerusCase.

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Vote for MerusCase!

Today at MerusCase, we have some exciting news to share with you: our friends over at MeetAdvisors have just noted us as 1 of the 10 companies brightening their day!

The most exciting part: the company with the most votes by Friday, January 9th, has the opportunity to be individually featured on MeetAdvisors. That said, if you'd like to vote for MerusCase as your favorite company, just navigate over to the article and click the thumbs up icon to vote. So simple!

The MeetAdvisors' list highlights 10 companies who are revolutionizing the way things are done in their respective industries and Merus is honored to be mentioned among such incredible game changers.

start the #NewYear off right, check out these 10 companies! http://t.co/B7cR7y7mQp @VenturePact @Kinnek @meruscase @findyr @ItemizeCorp
— MeetAdvisors (@MeetAdvisors) January 6, 2015

Thanks for the spotlight, MeetAdvisors!