USING THE DOCUMENT LOG EFFECTIVELY
The Document Log can be a very powerful tool to manage and keep track of documents generated and related to a specific matter in LegalSuite.
This area of the program has recently been enhanced and improved and this document will illustrate some of these changes that have been made and how to easily import documents into the Document Log.
What is the Document Log?
The Document Log is a log of all correspondence on a matter which has been generated through LegalSuite. It contains a record of all documents that have been assembled, emails and SMS’s that have been sent and now, all incoming correspondence can easily be added to the Document Log.
Adding documents allows all users to view incoming correspondence without having to physically retrieve the file.
The Setup
Previously, all documents were saved in a folder called Merged which was located off the LSW folder. Now all documents are saved in individual sub-folders off the Merged folder which has eliminated the problem of the Merged directory becoming full. When merging a document, LegalSuite automatically creates a sub-folder which is named by the File Reference and all merged documents are saved in these sub-folders.
The correct path of merged documents on each employee should be as follows:-
Fig 1: The Employee Settings – Document Assembly
The %root% setting effectively means that any user can access the document across the network, even though the Lsuite folder may be mapped as the L drive on one user’s PC and the K drive on another user’s PC.
Scanned documents can be saved to one central folder and then, using the “drag and drop” feature, assigned to the correct matter.
The scanned documents should be saved on a network drive, in one specific folder. In this example, you can see that a folder called Scanned has been created off the Merged folder (which all users have access to) on a network drive. This is a setting which is recorded on the “Scanning” tab under Setup, Employees, when you double-click on the employee’s name:-
Fig 2: The Employee Settings
Adding a Scanned Document to the Document Log
Go to the Document Log for the matter that you are adding the scanned document to.
Fig 3: The Document Log window
Click on the 
icon – this will open the Scanned folder:-
Fig 4: The Scanned folder
Highlight the document you want to add to the Document Log. Select the document by clicking on it and drag it onto LegalSuite which is minimized at the bottom of your screen. LegalSuite will maximize and the Document Log will be open. A plus (+) sign (Fig 5) will appear next to your mouse pointer:-
Fig 5: Mouse pointer with plus sign
- drop the document into the Document Log window by releasing your mouse button:-
Fig 6: Importing a document
The “Importing a Document” window will appear, prompting you to enter a description for the document you are adding, the number of pages, the category and the direction of the document (i.e. incoming, outgoing or not applicable).
The document is then added to the Document Log and can be viewed at any time (Fig 6):-
Fig 7: The added document
Documents with the following File Extensions can be added and viewed from the Document Log:-
.doc (Word document)
.xls (Excel document)
.rtf (Rich Text Format)
.bmp (Bitmap)
.jpg (Jpeg)
.pdf (Adobe Acrobat document)
.xml
.txt (Text document)
A More Effective Way of Importing Emails into the Document Log
In the Document Log there is an icon which
can be used to import emails - 
If you have numerous emails in your inbox and you use this icon, this can result in a long wait while the folders are opened.
A more effective way to import emails into the Document Log is to use the Drag and Drop feature.
Go into the Document Log for the particular matter you are adding the Email to.
Fig 8: The Document Log
Click on the icon to explore the folder where the matter’s documents
are stored. You will automatically be taken to the Scanned
folder. Go to the Merged folder and then double-click on the relevant
file’s sub-folder
Fig 9: Matter sub-folder in Merged Folder
Leave this folder open and maximize your Microsoft Outlook
Fig 10: Microsoft Outlook
Drag the message from your Microsoft Outlook folder and drop it into the matter’s sub-folder:-
The email message now appears as a .msg file in the sub-folder.
In LegalSuite, ensure that you are in the Document Log for the relevant matter.
Click on the .msg file and drag it over LegalSuite which is minimized at the bottom of your screen. LegalSuite will maximize – drop the .msg file into the Document Log. The following window will appear:-
Fig 11: Importing an Email into the Document Log
You will notice that the Category is automatically Email.
Click on OK:-
The email has now been added to the Document Log.
Note: You can delete the email from your Microsoft Outlook and the message will still be available to view through the Document Log. This is because a copy of the message was placed into the relevant sub-folder in the Merged folder.