USING EVENTS IN LEGALSUITE: A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE

 

 

Introduction

 

One of the most significant advancements in the LegalSuite program has been the introduction of an “event driven” model to manage files. In a nutshell, events specify how the program reacts to certain situations that may occur. These “situations” (i.e. events) can be almost anything – a particular Document being printed, a Stage being reached, a Debtor paying at the front desk, an

electronic from a Bank, a Matter being deleted. . . . etc etc.

 

An event (when it occurs), triggers one or more Tasks, i.e. things that the program must do. Some of the Tasks the program can perform are:

 

·       Creating Reminders,

·       Inserting File Notes,

·       Sending Notifications (emails SMS or Instant Messages)

·       Creating and /or emailing messages

·       Sending electronic messages back to the Banks

·       Updating the database (using SQL scripts)

 

This document will explain how to use Events by means of a simple example. We will set up an Event that will send the Client an SMS message advising them that a new matter has been inserted for them and advising them of the File Reference and will also notify the Partner of the firm accordingly.

 

Creating an Event

To insert a new Event, click on the  button and the following window will open:-

 

Fig 1: Events

 

Events can be grouped together for quick reference.  These Groups can be edited by double-clicking on them and changing the description.  Alternatively you can add your own Event Groups by right-clicking on the Groups of Events column and clicking on insert.

 

For this example, we are going to add an Event to the General Group.

 

Click once on General under Groups of Events so that Event Group is highlighted.

 

On the right-hand side of the screen, right-click and click on Insert:-

 

Fig 2: Inserting an Event

 

The Event will be Added window will open:-

 

Fig 3: Event will be Added

 

Description

A description of the Event you are adding.  In this example it is “New Matter inserted for Brad’s Auto Shop” as we are going to notify this particular client when new matters are inserted for them

 

Code

A unique code assigned to the Event you are inserting

 

Group

This defaults to the Event Group that is currently highlighted, i.e. General, but this can be changed if you realise that you are allocating the Event to the incorrect Group

 

System Event

The trigger that causes the Event to take place.  In this case, we want the client to be notified when a new matter is inserted, so the System Event is going to be Matter Inserted

 

Options

Only run this event once?

If ticked, the Event will only be run once for a particular matter.  In this example, this option should be ticked

 

Ask the user beforehand?

Events normally occur in the background – if this option is ticked, then a message will appear asking the user whether they would like the Event to be triggered.  For this example, this option is going to remain unticked

 

Condition

The Event will only occur if the conditions specified here are true.  With specific reference to this example, if this is left blank then whenever any new matter is inserted, the Client on that matter will be sent an SMS advising them that a new matter was inserted.  We only want to notify a specific client when a new matter is inserted.  The client being used in this example is Brad’s Auto Shop and their code is BRA1.  The condition that will ensure that the Event is only triggered when matters with this code are inserted is:-

 

PAR:MatterPrefix = ‘BRA1’

 

Where BRA1 represents the client code (this would be changed to reflect the code of the specific client who you are setting up the Event to notify.

 

 

 

The Event will be added screen now looks like this:

 

Fig 4: Event will be Added screen showing condition

 

Now that the actual Event has been created, you need to tell the program what tasks you would like it to perform when this Event occurs.

 

In the “Perform the following Tasks” window, right-click and choose “Insert”:

 

Fig 5: Adding a Task to an Event

 

The Adding a Task window will open:-

 

Fig 6: Adding a Task

 

The following Tasks can be performed when the Event is triggered:

 

·       Insert a File Note

·       Create a Reminder

·       Debit a Fee Note

·       Send a Notification (SMS, Email or Instant Message)

·       Assemble a Document

·       Email a Document

·       Send a LAW Message

·       Run a SQL Script

 

For this example, we are going to send an SMS message to the Client and an Instant Message to the firm’s Partner when a new matter is inserted, so we are going to choose Notification.  Select this option and click on OK and the Notification window will open:-

 

Fig 7: Notifications

 

Choose the Group of Messages on the left-hand side of the screen – we are going to choose General.  On the right-hand side of the screen, right-click and click on Insert to insert a new message:-

 

Fig 8: Inserting a new Notification

 

The Notification will be Added window opens:-

 

Fig 9: Notification will be added

 

Description

A description of the notification

Code

A unique code assigned to the notification

 

 

Method

How the notification is going to be sent

SMS

An SMS message will be sent (you must be registered and setup to send SMS messages through LegalSuite in order to use this feature)

Email

An Email message will be sent (your employee must be setup to send Email messages through LegalSuite – full Microsoft Outlook is required)

Phone

A reminder will be inserted

Instant Message

An instant message will be sent (this can only be sent internally to LegalSuite users within your firm, i.e. an Instant Message cannot be sent to anybody outside of your firm

 

 

Wording

The wording that the recipient of the notification will receive, i.e. the contents of the SMS, Email, Reminder, etc.  You can have English and Afrikaans wording and the appropriate wording will be sent depending on the language of the recipient (see below)

Notify these people

The recipients of the notification (see below)

 

Fig 10: Notification will be added (information filled in)

 

 

WORDING

 

The Description is automatically copied into the Message field, but this information, as it is, will not provide the client with much information about the new matter that has just been inserted for them.  It makes more sense to send a message along the lines of :-

 

“Thank you for instructing us in the matter of …… Please quote our File Reference ……. in future correspondence relating to this matter.”

 

Taking this one step further, you want the program to automatically fill in the Matter Description and the File Reference when sending the notification to the client – this is where fields and variables are used.

 

Our wording is therefore going to be:-

 

“Thank you for instructing us in the matter of [[(MAT:Description)]]. Please quote our File Reference [[(MAT:FileRef)]] in future correspondence relating to this matter.”

 

NOTIFY THESE PEOPLE

 

Double-click on the entry that is currently in this window and the following will appear:-

 

Fig 11: Notification will be Changed

 

This is where you choose who you want to send the Notification to.  There are various options to choose from:-

 

·       Employee – a specific employee in your firm

·       Employee Type – all employees of a specific type, e.g. Partner, Senior Secretary, Bookkeeper and so on (an employee is assigned a Type under Setup | Employees – double-click on the employee’s name and the Type is specified on the General tab)

·       Employee Role – an employee who plays a specific role in a matter

·       Party Role – a party who plays a specific role on a matter, e.g. Client, Defendant, Buyer, etc.

 

In this example, we are sending a Notification to the Client when a new matter is inserted for them, so we are going to choose Party Role and then Client from the drop-down list.  If you are sending a Notification to more than one person when this Event takes place, for example, an SMS to the Client and an Instant Message to the Partner in the firm who deals with this client’s matters, you can override the method for the particular person to whom you are sending the message to. 

 

In other words:-

 

The Notification being sent to the Client will look like this:-

 

Fig 12: SMS Notification to Client Setup

 

And the notification being sent to the Partner will look like this:-

 

Fig 13: Instant Message Notification to Employee Type Setup

 

As you will now notice from the Notification window, an Event can notify as many or as few people as necessary and the method for each notification can differ:-

 

Fig 14: Notifications

 

Once the Notifications have been setup, click on OK :-

 

Fig 15: Event

 

If, at this stage, you would like further Tasks to be performed when this Event takes place, simply Insert in the Tasks window above.

 

What happens when the Event is Triggered?

 

The System Event, i.e. when the Event will be triggered, is Matter Inserted, so the Event will take place when a new matter is inserted.  A condition was placed on the Event – PAR:MatterPrefix = ‘BRA1’ – which will ensure that the Event is only triggered when a new matter for a client with a client code of BRA1 is inserted.

 

Unless you have setup the Event to “Ask the user beforehand”, the Event will take place in the background and will not affect the user inserting the matter in any way.

 

When the user has clicked on OK to insert the new matter, the Event will be triggered, as this is when the record is actually added to the program.

 

Two things will happen:-

 

1.  An SMS will be sent the Client;

 

Fig 16: SMS Message sent to Client

 

2.  An Instant Message will be sent to the Partner in the firm.

 

 

Fig 17: Instant Message sent to Partner

 

 

Commonly used Conditions

 

 

MAT:ClaimAmount>100000

Matters where the Claim Amount is greater than R100 000.00

PAR:MatterPrefix = ‘BRA1’

Matters for a specific client.  For example matters whose client code is BRA1

MAT:MatterTypeID = 5

Matters belonging to a specific Matter Type (to find out the RecordID of the Matter Type, go to Setup | Matter Types and double-click on that specific one – the RecordID is the number in brackets after the description

MAT:EmployeeID = 23

Matters belonging to a specific Employee (to find out the RecordID of the Employee, go to Setup | Employees and double-click on the employee’s name – the RecordID is the number in brackets after the employee’s name

MAT:DocGenID = 5

Matters with a specific Document Set (to find out the RecordID of the Document Set, go to Setup | Document Sets and double-click on the relevant one – the RecordID is the number in brackets after the name of the Document Set)

 

Conclusion

 

Events can be used as a way of automating tasks and ensuring that the relevant people are kept informed.