Frequently Asked Questions
What Is SmartAdvocate?
SmartAdvocate is an incredibly powerful, entirely Web-based, and fully integrated case management system used by a wide range of litigation firms. SmartAdvocate is continually updated to make sure that all of our customers can endure the challenges of today’s fast-paced, highly competitive, and tech-demanding world. With our help, law firms can increase their overall profitability and efficiency.
Can SmartAdvocate Tie In With Email Like Microsoft Outlook?
Yes. One great feature of SmartAdvocate is that emails can be sent both from SmartAdvocate and from Outlook, so you can use whichever interface you prefer. When attorneys send email using Outlook, all of their emails can automatically attach to the appropriate case files within SmartAdvocate. And when a paralegal gets an email with attachments, they can save them directly to the Documents page through the Outlook plugin. SmartAdvocate makes it easy to keep all of your communications organized in one place!
Does it Also Work With Calendars Like Microsoft Outlook?
Yes. SmartAdvocate’s Outlook plugin allows for statutes of limitations, critical deadlines, and appointments to be integrated into any of the staff’s Outlook calendars. Staff calendars can display events for a single case, individual or event, use preformatted calendar reports, and see items like adjourned and canceled appointments. We also have a client birthday report: Many firms requested this feature to allow attorneys to reach out to clients with a personal touch.
One particularly powerful feature of SmartAdvocate’s Outlook integration is the “Who Is Where Tomorrow” feature. This tool can look at everyone’s calendars and send an automated email to your inbox every morning outlining where each employee is scheduled to be that day.
Can You Tell Me About the Automated Workflows and Procedures in the Software?
One of SmartAdvocate’s best features is the ability to automate a law firm’s processes. Our exclusive WorkPlans and automated procedures ensure that each stage of every case can be handled in an appropriate and consistent way.
The best way to describe SmartAdvocate’s WorkPlans is that it’s a checklist that can automate routine processes. WorkPlans allow you to have everything in one place so that you can see all of the items needed to complete a project: Teams will no longer need to spend time figuring out what needs to be done, who needs to do it, and what is the next task.
The automated procedures allow law firms to create repeating tasks, send automatic text messages and emails to clients, create multiple reminders or automatically generate documents. Any of these actions can be triggered automatically when events change within a case. For example, when a law firm sends out a retainer to a client for their signature, automatic emails and text messages can be sent as reminders until their e-signature is received. Then, once the case status is changed within SmartAdvocate, the next tasks are assigned to everyone on the team. This type of automation helps to save time, freeing up top talent for things like essential research and investigation, and it also eliminates opportunities for risks and errors.
How Can This Help With Case Tracking?
WorkPlans and automated procedures along with SmartAdvocate’s built-in reports and dashboards allow a firm to easily track each step of a case’s progression. Our software can show what has been accomplished and what still needs to be done, and it can also keep track of a lot of important details that might be needed for a case. For instance, it can tell you the last time that a client was contacted and keep tabs on a client’s diagnoses and severity of injuries.
Another valuable tool that can help with case tracking is the SmartAdvocate app, which allows you to have access to all of your cases on the go. Whether an attorney is in court or out of the office, if they need to access documents or check the status of a case, they can get the information they need in seconds.
And SmartAdvocate doesn’t just help law firms keep track of cases: It helps their clients, too. In the client portal, you can give your clients access so that they can see information about their case, important documents, calendar entries, and notes. This frees your firm’s staff from needing to answer phone calls from clients who have questions about the status of their case: The clients can go into the portal and see the answers for themselves.
Does SmartAdvocate Have Document Management Functions?
Yes: SmartAdvocate’s document management capabilities are among its most robust features.
Users can easily create document templates from their current Word, Excel or PDF forms. Once these templates are created, SmartAdvocate can begin to automatically insert information from cases into those documents using more than 2,500 standard and custom merge codes. Templates can also be copied from case to case as needed.
You can also organize documents using custom folders and search for documents using categories and subcategories, senders and recipients, dates, descriptions, and comments. Documents can be sent out for review or approval and even automatically sent to collect e-signatures. All of the documents can also be exported from a case to build a case package.
One of the best document management functions in the SmartAdvocate case management system is barcoding: Create barcodes and add them into your documents before scanning and each document will be automatically placed into the appropriate case file.
Can SmartAdvocate Integrate With Other Programs?
Yes! We currently offer more than 100 different integrations, with more being added all the time based on our clients’ feedback. We work with numerous software and service providers to deliver seamless integration with different types of software, like accounting, intake, chat, texting, e-signature, phone, court docket and reporting, medical record retrieval, and lean negotiations utilities.
SmartAdvocate can also custom-create integrations: If a firm comes to us looking to add our software to systems that they already have in place, we meet with them to see how we can integrate SmartAdvocate with their system, too.
How Much Will SmartAdvocate Legal Management Software Cost Me?
The cost of SmartAdvocate will vary depending on whether you choose the Cloud or Server version. Contact us at 1-877-GET-SMART and we would be glad to help you figure out which is best for your law firm and give you a quote.
Is the Information Entered Into SmartAdvocate Private and Confidential?
Yes: All of the information within SmartAdvocate is private and confidential and can only be accessed by employees within the firm. Our cloud-based option has bank-caliber data security and is constantly monitored by our IT professionals. We also use the HTTPS protocol so that all data is encrypted in transit. SmartAdvocate can also be used with two-factor authentication for added security.
Do You Offer a Demo?
Yes! We would be glad to give you a demonstration so you can see for yourself how our case management system can help your firm to run more efficiently and effectively. It’s one thing to hear about features and functionalities like WorkPlans or integrations and another to actually see the complete package in action. You’ll soon realize how much SmartAdvocate can help your firm to unlock its full potential. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation, no-risk demonstration of our case management solution.