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Appointment Dialog was redesigned and appointments functionality was enhanced.
Template support
Streamlined attendees selection
Ability to attach documents
Rich text appointment comments
Invite format can now be customized via template.
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Added system parameter that allows to specify staff case roles to be automatically added to new appointments.
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Added Add Attendees and Replace Attendees options to right-click menu. Can be performed on multiple appointments at the same time.
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Case Navigation Panel
Added two new system parameters that control the behavior of the case navigation panel. By default both are set to True and preserve previous system behavior. You can change them to prevent Plaintiff panel from automatically expanding when pages from General Panel are shown. You can also allow General panel to collapse when pages from other panels are shown.
The following video demonstrates the behavior with different combinations of those settings.
Case Summary
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Case Summary
The set of Case Summary Panels and Tabs can now be configured for each Case Group. Different Panels and Tabs can be shown or hidden for different Case Groups. This configuration includes 4 new Custom Panels that can display information from customized templates you can create.
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The configuration can be done under Admin → Picklist Maintenance → Case Summary Page Design.
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The templates for new panels can be configured under Admin → Email/Note/Appointment/View Templates
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The assignment of the templates to case types or groups can be done under Admin → Template Pages Configuration.
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Added ability to assign multiple staff members to a case at the same time by using the new Teams functionality.
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Teams can be defined under Admin → Picklist Maintenance
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Replaced two icons on the Tasks Panel with a standard “right-click” icon. Implemented
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standard Task menu.
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Added a drop-down for case group selection on the Edit Case dialog.
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Labels and indicators for contact sub-types (Adult, Deceased, Incompetent, Minor/Infant) can now be customized in
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Picklist Maintenance → Contact SubCategory. Also, those labels will be displayed in Red on the Case Summary and on the brief contact pop-up.
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Added ability to display full status comments on the Case Summary. This is a system-wide configuration, which can be set in Admin → System Parameters → Case Summary.
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Added ability to quickly view all
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Notes, Appointments, Tasks, and SOLs/Critical Deadlines without leaving the Case Summary page. Just click the “View
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All” link at the top right corner of the
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applicable panel.
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Added Room and Part display to Courts/Dockets Panel
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Prior Attorney information display was added.
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Added Infant, Funding, and Prior Attorney flags
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Added ability to set Settlement Value.
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Added display of the note subject in the “Last Notes” panel. This change only applies if note subject is enabled in
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System Parameters (Internal) → Notes.
Added Status Days column on the Case Status History Dialog.
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Appointments/Calendar Screen
New Appointment Dialog was redesigned and appointments functionality was enhanced.
Appointment Template support. You can now select an appointment template that can automatically pick Activity Type, select Attendees, and populate both Subject and Comments. Appointment Templates can be created under Admin → Email/Notes/Appointment/View Templates.
Streamlined Attendees selection. Staff assigned to the case can be added using check-boxes. There are also shortcuts for Case Parties, Case Contacts, Firm Staff, and a full list of contacts from SmartAdvocate.
Ability to attach documents. Documents can be selected from the case or new documents can be attached. These documents will also be attached to any appointments sent to Outlook via the Outlook Plugin.
Rich text appointment comments. You can now use the same rich text formatting capabilities that were already available for notes and emails.
Invite format can now be customized via templates. Control the way appointment information is formatted into an invite that is being sent to appointment participants by editing the [AppointmentInvite] Email Template.
Availability for selected staff can be easily checked. Pressing “Staff Availability” button on the New Appointment panel brings up scheduler screen with appointments for selected staff.
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Added setting that allows administrators to specify staff case roles to be automatically added to new appointments, under System Parameters → Calendar.
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Added option to Add Attendees and Replace Attendees to the right-click menu in the Office and Case Calendars. Can be performed on multiple appointments at the same time.
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Case Navigation Panel
Added two new settings under System Parameters → Case that control the behavior of the case navigation panel. By default, both are set to True and preserve previous system behavior. You can change them to prevent Plaintiff panel from automatically expanding when pages from the General Panel are shown. You can also allow the General panel to collapse when pages from other panels are shown.
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The following video demonstrates the behavior with different combinations of those settings.
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Case Value
Added Organization column to show employer (if any) of the provider.
Close Case Dialog
Added support for email generation
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Added ability to limit Case Close Reasons by Case Group and Case Type. It can be configured in
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Picklist Maintenance → Case Close Reasons.
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Critical Comments
Critical Comments dialog will be shown when users go directly to pages other than Case Summary.
Critical Deadlines
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A warning will be displayed if
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an SOL
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falls on the weekend or a holiday.
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You will be now able to select an individual (not only an organization like before) in the
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SOL’s “Served by” field.
Documents can now be associated with
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SOL records.
Documents
Option to email a Word Document as a PDF was added to the Documents page. It works the same way as “Copy as PDF”
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, except that after creating the PDF, it opens an email to which the new PDF document is attached.
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Added the ability to print document(s) directly from SmartAdvocate if Document Handler is used (“Download documents for editing“ option in User Preferences.)
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Added Doc ID and Global Doc ID columns. Doc ID shows a unique id of the document within the case and Global Doc ID shows a unique id of the document within SmartAdvocate.
When document preview is shown Documents page will save a separate column layouton the right portion of the screen, you can set a different column layout for the Documents page.
Added ability to specify the number of copies when a document is copied.
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Expenses (Disbursements)
The Amount field is now mandatory on the Disbursement screen.
Alert An alert was added if there is a duplicate amount for the same payee and/or Invoice Number. This feature is configured under Systems Parameter → Disbursement.
Added the ability to copy a case expense records (via the right-click menu).
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Made the display of “Total with Interest” line optional. It can be configured under System Parameters → Disbursement.
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Added ability to automatically add Expense (Costs/Disbursements) records for document e-Signatures and Text messages. The parameters can be configured on the System Parameters page.
Incident
Added warning if the Incident Date entered is in the future.
Negotiation/Settlement
Negotiation Notes are now
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rich-text with templates support and can be displayed on both the Notes page and in the Notes panel on the Case Summary page. This can be configured under System Parameters → Automatic Note.
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Changed Negotiations grid to take less space when there are no or a small number of negotiations entered. This provides more space to see the settlement(s).
Added support for recording of the settlement fee split between different attorneys in the Law Firm.
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Added ability to suggest or automatically change Case Status when settlement is entered. This feature is configured
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under System Parameters
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→ Settlement.
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Added settings to exclude medical bills in settlement calculations and to charge interest on all case expenses by default.
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Check Date field added to Settlement Checks.
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Notes
Added ability to filter Plaintiffs and/or Defendants on the “Related To” drop-down.
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Added ability to copy text messages the same way regular notes are copied.
Added Created Date column.
Auto text replacement is now available when typing notes or emails.
The configuration is done under Admin → Picklist Maintenance → Text Auto Replacement.
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Photographs
Added ability to copy photographs
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Retainer/Referral
Automatic Retainer Fee Assignment. Now SmartAdvocate can be configured to automatically pick the Retainer Fee based on Case State, Group, or Type.
If multiple rules can be applied to a particular case the rule with the higher priority will be selected. The Automatic Retainer Fee Assignments are set under Picklist Maintenance → Default Retainer Fee Settings.
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The available fee values are set under Picklist Maintenance → Default Retainer Fee Values.
Tasks
Added ability to associate documents with Tasks. Documents can be selected from the case or new documents can be attached.
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Timeline
Added tracking of Settlement modifications and deletions.
Added tracking for UDF edits.
Added full history for referrals.:
Referring Attorneys/Law Firms
Paid Advertisements
Other Referrals
Added deletion tracking of many items.:
Letter of Administration
ARB/Mediations
Bankruptcy
CalendazCalendar
Appeals
All Contacts
Time Tracking
Witnesses
Counter Claims/3P
Court Rules
Death Compromise
Depositions
Distributees/Others
Employment
Evidence
Adverse Exams
Expert
Funding
Injury
Investigations
Attorneys
Referring Attorney
Hearing
Motions
Notes
OtherReferral
Other Providers
Paid Advertising
Attorneys
Decedent Information
PlaintiffInjury
Police Reports
Prior Attorney
Prior Claims
Injuries-Prior
Referred Out Attorney
Retainer
School/Other Activities
Special Damages
Sub Out Attorney
Trial Prep
Vehicles
Verdict
WorkPlans
UDF Pages
Removed the message that UDFs were saved after the save button is pressed.
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WorkPlans
Added ability to perform
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WorkPlan decisions on any page where tasks are
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shown.