These release notes cover over 1,000 updates and new features added to the SmartAdvocate software between September 2018 and May 2019.

Important Notes

As of July 9^th 2019, Microsoft no longer supports Microsoft SQL 2008 R2.  Accordingly, SmartAdvocate no longer supports firms using Microsoft SQL 2008 R2.  Furthermore, some SmartAdvocate features that utilize more current Microsoft SQL code will not work on Microsoft SQL 2008 R2.  If you are currently using Microsoft SQL 2008 R2, we strongly suggest you update your servers to at least Microsoft SQL 2012 and preferably Microsoft SQL 2019. All clients using the SmartAdvocate Cloud version are already operating on the most current version of Microsoft SQL.
This release of SmartAdvocate, like so many of our past releases, introduces hundreds of changes (this one actually has over 1,000) that will make your practice more productive and efficient.

Highlights

• AssureSign integration is now available. Documents can be generated and sent to client for e-signature directly from SmartAdvocate documents page.

• Introduced ability to assign multiple adjusters to an insurance carrier on the Plaintiff Insurance, Defendant Insurance, and All Insurance pages.

• Added new page – All Insurance. This page has the same functionality as Plaintiff and Defendant Insurance pages, but shows and allows the editing, adding, and deleting of insurance companies for both plaintiffs and defendants.

• Added administrative ability to change user preferences and prevent users from changing their preferences.

• Incomplete note recovery mechanism was implemented.

• Introduced support for Sliding Scale Fee Structures.

• Created Template Editor Plugin for Excel.

• Added ability to change colors of Case Summary flags and/or show them as icons.

• Created SmartAdvocate Document Handler component that can automatically download document when you need to edit them. This component will make life of SmartAdvocate Cloud users easier eliminating the need for manual download/upload of documents. It can also be used by remote users who are not using VPN or by whole law firms who want to eliminate the need to share CMS\Case Documents folder.

• Added 3 new permission levels ("Read Add", "Read Add EditMy" and "Read Add EditMyNew") to allow finer control on users' ability to edit existing records.

• Added ability to view My SmartAdvocate screen of other users (permission based).

• Added support for folder creation during mass document download.

• Multiple last names contact search using pipe | character separation.

• New Case Wizard with support for conditional and required questions.

• Case Export/Import functionality.

• CSV bulk case import.

• CSV bulk contact import.

• Added Unassigned Documents page (under Tools) that shows all documents that were not successfully processed by Barcode Scanning service (usually due to unreadable or missing barcode).

• Case Copy function.

• Case Merge function.

Integrations

New Integrations

• AssureSign – Electronic Signature Solution. Create your eSignature documents using SmartAdvocate Template Editor. Send documents for signature via email or text directly from SA. Get signed documents automatically uploaded to SA. https://www.assuresign.com/

• CallRail – Tracking and analytics for phone calls and web forms. Automatically assign referral sources based on the dialed phone number. https://www.callrail.com/

• Cotiviti (Verscend) - Medical Records Retrieval Service. Request medical records directly from SA and get the received records automatically sent to SA. https://www.cotiviti.com/

• Legal Monkeys - Medical Records Retrieval Service. Request medical records directly from SA and get the received records automatically sent to SA. http://legalmonkeys.com/

• Legalex - Litigation Support Service. Legalex handles all types of service of process assignments, no matter how voluminous, difficult, or complex. Submit documents to Legalex directly from SA. Get documents and costs automatically uploaded to SA. https://www.legalexllc.com/

• MASSIVE - the nation's leading independent provider of healthcare Lien Resolution and Medical Cost Projection Services, including Medicare Set-Asides. http://www.gomassive.com/

• NexaComm – Phone System/PBX. Click-to-Dial, screen-pop, automatic voice mail attachment to cases. Automatically assign referral sources based on the dialed phone number. https://www.nexacomm.com/

• RingCentral – Phone System/PBX. Click-to-Dial, screen-pop, texting integration. https://www.ringcentral.com/

• Telemetrics - Powerful Enterprise Call Analytics. Automatically assign referral sources based on the dialed phone number. https://telmetrics.com/

• Uplink – The Business Texting Solution. Reach customers or prospects directly from your phone's native text messaging app. Texts and calls are automatically logged in SA. https://www.belunar.com/uplink/smartadvocate

Note that most of the available integrations have a $1,000 installation and configuration fee as well as 3^rd party fees associated with them.

Previously Available Integrations

• ApexChat – Website Chat Service. Get new cases created from ApexChat leads automatically. https://www.apexchat.com/

• Deitz Court Reporting – Court reporting services. Receive deposition transcripts directly in SmartAdvocate. http://deitzcourtreporting.com/

• Diamond Reporting & Legal Video – Court reporting services. Receive deposition transcripts directly in SmartAdvocate. http://www.diamondreporting.com/

• eLaw – eDocket, eCalendaring, Calendar e-watching and e-copying Service. Get court appointments directly to your SA (and Outlook) calendar. http://www.e-law.com/

• Intake Conversion Experts - Experts in Legal Intake and Lead Conversion. Get new SmartAdvocate cases created from ICE leads automatically. http://intakeconversion.com

• Legal Intake Professionals – Legal Answering Service & More. Get new cases created from LIP leads automatically. http://www.legalintake.com/

• MessageMedia – Texting Service. Send and receive text messages directly in SmartAdvocate. http://www.messagemedia.com/

• National Record Retrieval – Medical Records Retrieval Service. Request medical records directly from SA and get the received records automatically sent to SA. https://www.nationalrr.com/

• Ngage – Website Chat Service. Get new cases created from Ngage leads automatically. http://www.ngagelive.com/

• Persist – Automated Lead Communications Service. Follow-up on your leads using automatic calling, IVR, voicemails, email and text. Fully integrated with SmartAdvocate's contacts, cases and statuses. http://forpersist.com/

• PM Legal/inSync – Litigation Support Service. Handle trial prep, process service, investigations, surveillance and statements. Processes summons & complaints, affidavits of service, index numbers and more. Get documents and bills directly to you and automatically uploaded to SA. Get index number directly into SA. http://www.pmlegal.com/

• QuickBooks – Accounting Software. Two-way synchronization for case disbursements (expenses).

• Ring Central – Phone System. Click-to-dial and screen-pop supported with Ring Central client software running on workstation. Texting is also supported. Send and receive text messages directly in SmartAdvocate.

• XeeBee - Medical Records Retrieval Service. Request medical records directly from SA and get the received records automatically sent to SA. https://xebee.com/

New/Updated Pages

Admin

1. Automated Procedure Management

2. Added more Advanced Roles to Send Email and Sent Text Message Actions.

   Open

   

3. Added printing option for Generate Document action.

   Open

   

4. Added ability to trigger actions upon trigger item completion (task completed, appointment marked completed, case left the specific status).

5. Added ability to specify Weekdays days as action delay. Added ability to skip Federal and State holidays.

6. Added new Scope options

   1. Case Status(es)

   2. Case Staff

   3. Case Staff Role(s)

7. Added new actions

   1. Remove Staff

   2. Remove Case Status

8. Case Menu Configurator

9. Added Ability to rename page Group (General, Plaintiff, Defendant, etc.).

10. Document Templates

11. Added Template Group Column.

12. Added Show/Hide columns option.

13. Notifications Setup

14. Comments will be added to body of the invite for SOLs and Critical Deadlines (

15. Picklist Maintenance

16. Added following items

    1. Account Types

    2. Activity Categories

    3. Activity Page Links

    4. Appointment Status

    5. Arbitration Mediation Types 

    6. Bank Accounts

    7. Case Summary Flags

    8. Check Status

    9. Contact Sub-Category

    10. Delivery Methods

    11. Document Category Filters

    12. Document Folders

    13. Expert Sub-Specialities

    14. Fee Structures (Sliding Scale)

    15. Interest List

    16. Interest Rates

    17. Medical Visit Results

    18. Merge Codes (Table Parameters)

    19. Method of Service

    20. Races

    21. Religions

    22. Time Tracking Statuses

    23. Witness Types

17. Added filter to simplify finding the specific picklist item

18. UDF Editor – Added support for conditional and required UDFs.

19. Users

20. Added administrative ability to change user preferences.

21. Added field to indicate User's Office.

22. User Permission Groups

Added 3 new permission levels to allow finer control on users' ability to edit existing records. "Read Write" permission level was renamed to "Read Add Edit".

1.  

   1. "Read Add" – Users can add new records, but can't edit any existing records.

   2. "Read Add EditMy" - Users can edit records they created.

   3. "Read Add EditMyNew" - Users can edit records they created, but only for a limited period of time. This time can be set in Admin -> System Parameters.

2. Workplans – Workplan Assignment

   1. Added ability to assign workplans based on case sub-types.

Contact Card

1. Added "None" checkbox to SSN field.

2. Added ability to clear avatar as well as ability to select avatar from case documents.

3. Split Related Cases and Related Contacts into separate tabs.

4. Split Notes and Documents into separate tabs.

5. Added warning when the same phone number is entered a second time.

6. Added Contact Name to the browser tab name to help identify Contact Card tabs in the browser.

7. Added Comments column to Address grid.

8. Added warning when contact's name is significantly edited. By default the warning will be displayed if 3 or more changes are done to the contact name. The feature and its sensitivity can be configured in the System Parameters.

Contact Search

1. Multiple last names contact search using pipe | character separation.The example below will find all contacts with last name Robinson and first name Ellen, all contacts with last name Smith and first names that start with E and all contacts with the last name Selizhuk.

Dashboards

1. Intake Performance – Added office filter.

2. Medical Records Requests (external) was renamed to Medical Records Requests Follow-Up.

3. Medical Records Requests (internal) was renamed to Medical Records Requests To Go Out.

4. Settlement/Fee Production – Settlement Type filter changed to multi-select.

5. Tasks

6. Added ability to mass update due date.

7. Added Created Date column.

8. Added Case Status filter (All/Open/Closed).

Defendant

1. Summary

2. Added Non-party contacts grid

3. Attorney

4. Added ability to associate Paralegals.

5. Added "Removed" checkbox.

1. Insurance

2. Added support for multiple adjusters.

Plaintiff

1. Insurance

2. Added a "Payments Made" column to the insurance grid which shows total payments made by the respective insurance company.

3. Added support for multiple adjusters

4. Added a "Payments Made" column to the insurance grid which shows total payments made by the respective insurance company

5. Adverse Exams

6. When Doctor is marked as expert the system will automatically create expert record.

7. Attorney

8. Added "Removed" checkbox.

9. Added ability to associate Paralegals.

10. Injuries

11. Improved support for ICD codes. Formatted and unformatted ICD codes are now supported. Entered ICD codes are now stored and can be merged into documents.

12. Medical Providers

13. Added Copy Payment to Lien option.

1. Added "Lien" column. This column will show a checkmark if the Medical Provider appears on the Lien Tracking screen.

2. Added "Bills Finalized" and "Don't Pay at Settlement" checkboxes.

3. Added "Hospital Chart/File #" and "Account #" columns in the medical provider grid.

4. Added "Invoice" (Invoice status) column for Medical Requests grid.

5. Added right-click option to add a note associated with particular medical provider.

1. Added "Send Email" check-box for medical records requests. The send email option, when checked, will send an email to the staff designated as 'Assigned To' notifying that staff member that the medical records request was assigned to him/her or was updated as appropriate.

1. Assigned To dropdown will show list of staff members designated as Medical Records Clerk on top of the list. The medical Records Clerk designation is set in System Parameter > Settings > Firm Role for Medical Records Department and also on the respective staff members profile in Admin > Users > Firm Role.

2. Added "Save & Send to Retrieval Service" button to Medical Records Request dialog which allows users to send the request without having to save it first.

Document Generation

1. Added options to select Folder, Document Category/Subcategory when generating a document.

General

1. Critical Comments

2. Added ability to deactivate multiple critical comments.

3. Added ability to deactivate critical comments directly from Critical Comment pop-up.

4. Critical Deadlines

5. Max Days to Serve S&C after Filing and Max Days to Filing S&C after Serve can now be configured per state in the State Picklist under Picklist Maintenance.

6. Added ability to add Tolling/Extension to Plaintiff SOLs (similar to the one that already existed for Defendant SOLs).

7. Disbursements

8. Added section to indicate if the case disbursements have been financed. !worddava2234f9128d2fdd0084bea48e9626b66.png|height=149,width=505!If the case disbursements are marked as financed the interest will be calculated automatically on the Negotiation/Settlement screen.

9. Added "Total with Interest" row in the Summary table.

10. Documents

11. Added support for folder creation during mass document download.

12. Added ability to copy Excel documents as PDF.

13. Default document folders can be configured under Admin -> Picklist Maintenance -> Document Folders.

14. Incident

15. After incident date is updated SOL changed dialog now allows editing of the SOL comments.

1. Negotiation/Settlement

2. Interest on Disbursements (Expenses) can now be calculated using table of interest rates instead of one fixed rate.

The rates and effective dates can be set in the Admin -> Picklist Maintenance -> Interest Rates:

1. Medical providers marked as "Don't pay at settlement" will be ignored during settlement calculation and check generation.

2. Checks generated for Liens will use Lien Recovery Agent if present.

3. Added new columns to Settlements grid.

4. Summary

5. Added ability to change colors of case flags and/or show them as icons. The settings can be changed under Admin -> Picklist Maintenance -> Case Summary Flags.

6. Added flag to indicate that plaintiff's primary language is not English.

7. Show case sub-out information on the Case Summary.

8. Show up to 3 referral sources.

9. Show Law Firm type on the Plaintiffs and Defendants grids.

10. Litigation

11. Expert – Added "From" field to the Expert edit dialog.

12. Discovery – Added Respondents column.

My SmartAdvocate

1. Added ability to view My SmartAdvocate screen of other users. This ability is controlled by permissions and only users with "Full Access" permission to My SmartAdvocate screen will be able to use this functionality.

Office Calendar

1. Added new export option – "XLS (Visible columns only)"

2. Added ability to adjust appointment status colors. Admin –>Picklist Maintenance->Appointment Status.

Other

1. All Insurance

2. Added new page. This page has the same functionality as Plaintiff and Defendant Insurance pages, but shows and allows the user to edit, add, or delete insurance companies for both plaintiffs and defendants.

3. Outstanding Items

4. New page was added. It lists items from the case that are outstanding. For example:

   1. Medical records requested, but not received.

   2. Discovery Items that do not have Complied/Held date

   3. Opposition outstanding for Motions

   4. School verification outstanding (School Verif. Requested Date is present, but School Verif. Received Date is empty).

5. Surrogate – Letter of Administration

6. Added Comments field and ability to associate documents.

Project Details

1. Added Firm Status filter.

2. Added option to Delete an item (permissions based).

Tools

1. Mass Emailing

2. Added Primary Language column.

3. Plaintiff name will be displayed as hyperlink to make it easier to adjust plaintiff contact card information.

4. Mass Mailing

5. Added Primary Plaintiff and Primary Language columns (hidden by default).

6. Plaintiff name will be displayed as hyperlink to make it easier to adjust plaintiff contact card information.

7. Added CSV export option.

8. Mass Texting

9. Added Primary Language column.

10. Unassigned Documents

11. New page added. This page shows all documents that were not successfully processed by Barcode Scanning service (usually due to unreadable or missing barcode).

User Preferences

1. Added new "Notify me when" options:

   1. Text messages are sent from my cases

   2. Notes are added to my cases

   3. Appointments are added to my cases

2. Added new "Default paging size for large grids" options

This option affects default paging size of Notes and Documents page. Setting it to smaller value will make pages load faster. The system default can be set in Admin -> System Parameters.

Document Merging Improvements and New Merge Codes Added

1. Added support for Question Table UDF in dynamic UDF merge codes.

2. Table merge codes now can be configured to include or exclude headers and totals. There is also a new parameter that controls if the table with no rows should still be merged. Those settings can be changed via Admin -> Picklist maintenance -> Merge Codes (Table Parameters)

1. Dynamic merge codes DEF-ADDRESS-BLOCK and COURT-ADDRESS-BLOCK were added. With those codes you will be able to select address on the type.

2. Added new dynamic merge code for PDF UDF fields.

Merge Codes

New/Updated Reports

1. Calendar Report Advanced – Added "Location", "Day Of Week" and "To Day of Week" columns.

2. Case Notes Report – Added defendant name to the report.

3. Case Statistics Report – Added information about cases placed on Trial Calendar.

4. Case Status Change Report – Added "From Status" and "To Status" columns.

5. Case Time Tracking Report – Added totals. Added new columns.

6. Case Values – Added "Case Type" and "Case Sub type" columns.

7. Case Values – Added column selection option.

8. Case Values – Added totals for Value Range columns and Minimum Settlement Value column.

9. Case Values – Added Staff Role filter.

10. Client Birthday Report – Added Date Range dropdown.

11. Disbursement Report – Added new filters: Open Date From, Open Date To, Case Type, Check # Contains.

12. Fees Outstanding – Added Summary in the beginning of the report that shows totals by Attorney and total for the firm.

13. Insurance Company Report – Added Comments column.

14. Last Modified Note Report – Added Staff and Days filters:

15. Medical Bill vs Policy Limit – new report added.

16. Medical Provider Referral Report – new report added. This report allows tracking referrals from medical providers (entered as Other Referral on Retainer/Referral page) and to medical providers (entered on the Medical Provider screen).

17. Medical Records Request Report – Added support for comma separated case number. Now you can put multiple case numbers in the Case Number field.

18. Medical Records Request Summary Report – Added parameters to specify different request statuses.

19. Medical Records Retrieval Performance Report – new report added. This report shows time it took to get each medical record.

20. Missing Barcoded Documents – new report added. This report lists documents that have barcode generated, but document hasn't been scanned.

21. Problem Cases Report – Added column selector.

22. QuickBooks Disbursements – Added Plaintiff column.

23. Settlement Report – Added new columns.

24. SOL Report – Added "SOLs for Removed Defendants" and "Case Status" Parameters.

25. SOL Report – Added Referring Attorney column.

26. Time Tracking Report – Added total duration in hours and minutes.

27. UDF Report – Added support for Questions Tables.

SmartAdvocate Mobile Apps

1. Added support for Time Tracking. (Android – already exists in iOS.)

   1. Time Tracking screen

   2. Ability to add and edit time tracking entries

2. Added support for tasks. (iOS/Android)

   1. Tasks Screen

   2. Ability to add and edit tasks

3. Added columns to contact search: creation date/update. (iOS)

4. Filters have been added to the Notes Table. (iOS)

5. Added support for Calendar Filters .(iOS)

Other General Changes

1. All pages that have an option to associate a case document with the record will have an option to upload (and associate) document directly from the edit dialog.

2. Incomplete note recovery mechanism was implemented. Now if you're your browser crashes (or computer loses power) while you are in the middle of adding a new note you will not lose your work. Simply open the same case again and press add new note button to recover your note.

3. Added support for PDF mass generation.

4. Copy Insurance dialog now support copying insurance into a different case.

5. Added ability to limit cases statuses so they are available to only certain case groups.SmartAdvocate already had ability to set case groups to only allow certain statuses. The Case Groups picklist already had a Limit Statuses column and a Statuses column; and the Case Statuses picklist will have a Limit Groups column and a Groups column. The Statuses column in Case Groups and the Groups column in Case Statuses are reciprocal; i.e. a status will be in a particular group's Statuses column if and only if the group is in the status's Groups column (this is already the case). Any status with Yes in the Limit Groups column will only be available for selection in the case groups that are in the Groups column; any group with Yes in the Limit Status column will only allow the case statuses that are in the Statuses column to be selected.Contact card comments are now displayed on the brief contact info pop-up.

6. Brief contact info pop-up now has an option to add a note associated with the contact.

7. Task completion notification emails will not contain name of the staff member who completed the task.

8. Added Excel Plugin and ability to created Excel Templates using regular merge codes used to create Word Document Templates. Excel templates are created the same way as word document templates. The Excel Plugin in now included as one of the plugins that must be installed and should be included in the Plugins Directory.

9. New Case Critical Alert added "Plaintiff Missing" – the alert is triggered by "Plaintiff Missing" checkbox on the Plaintiff Summary screen.

10. Document renaming functionality improvements:

    1. Removed requirement for counter or original file name to be present

    2. Uniqueness of the file name will be ensured by adding counter at the end if the conflict exists

    3. Added new option "Document Date YMD"

    4. Date formats will use hyphens will instead of underscores

    5. Added [Client Name] option

11. Added support for Sliding Scale Fee Structures. New fee structures can be configured under Admin -> Picklist Maintenance -> Fee Structures (Sliding Scale). Below is an example of a sliding scale fee structure:

    1. 30% from first $250,000

    2. 25% from the next $250,000

    3. 20% from the next $500,000

    4. 15% from the next $250,000

    5. 10% from any amount above $1,250,000

1. Login page now can accept tenant name parameter. This allows you to create shortcuts to SmartAdvocate login screen that do not require entering '@tenantname' after your user name.For example: https://app.smartadvocate.com/SA/login.aspx?tenantname=CoolLawFirm

2. New options were added to the Case Right-Click Menu.

3. Funding Request button was added to the case toolbar.

4. Created SmartAdvocate Document Handler component that can automatically download document when you need to open or edit them. This component will make life of SmartAdvocate Cloud users easier eliminating the need for manual download/upload of documents. It can also be used by remote users who are not using VPN or by whole law firms who want to eliminate the need to share CMS\Case Documents folder.Users can select to use SmartAdvocate Document Handler in their preferences:

5. Copy Note and Copy Document dialogs were updated. Now you can quickly select one of the related cases, one of the recent cases, or search all cases by case name or case number.

6. In the Outlook plugin the case name is now a hyperlink, so the user can click it and easily open the case.

7. Favorite Cases tab was added to Outlook plugin.

8. Open Case checkbox was added to Outlook plugin. When checked Case Documents page will be opened automatically after email/document is attached to the case.

9. Folder selection option was added to Outlook plugin.

10. Outlook plugin Attach to SmartAdvocate dialog will be automatically resized on screens with lower resolution.

11. Top Search – Added option to search user definable fields.

12. Emails in Outlook that have been attached to a Case in SmartAdvocate using the SmartAdvocate Outlook Plugin will be marked with "Attached to SA" category as well as a checkbox in the custom "SA" column.