The Mass Mailing tool allows you to quickly generate documents from a single template for plaintiffs in multiple cases, to facilitate a mass mailing. This tool cannot actually perform the mailing for you; you will need to print the generated documents and mail them yourself. However, the tool can also be used to make printing address labels or envelopes more efficient and convenient, which will also expedite the physical mailing process.

The Structure of This Page

Case Number entry. Used to enter the cases in which the documents will be generated.
Case contacts selection. Used to select the plaintiffs for whom the documents will be generated and, if appropriate, to exclude those plaintiffs who are on the Prevent Mailing list or are deceased, incompetent, or an infant.
Template selector. Used to select, analyze, and generate the template for the selected plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs table. Lists the plaintiffs for whom the document will be generated.

Using This Tool

To use the Mass Mailing tool to generate multiple documents:

Type in the Case Number entry field the list of cases that have plaintiffs to whom you wish to send the email and click the Show Results button. Case numbers must be separated by either a comma or a semicolon or be on different lines.
- If you have reached this page by using the Mass Update feature in Case Browse, the list will already be entered in the field for you.
By default, the document will be generated for the primary plaintiffs in the selected cases. If you wish to change this behavior, click a different Radio button in the case contacts selection area. You can generate the document for the primary contacts, the primary plaintiffs and the primary contacts (this will not send duplicate emails to plaintiffs marked as both), or to every plaintiff in the selected cases. You can also choose to exclude plaintiffs with the Prevent Mailing field selected in their Contact Card, or with Deceased, Incompetent, or Infant selected in the Sub Category field in their Contact Card, by selecting the appropriate checkbox in the case contacts selection area. (If there is a plaintiff that is an organization, that plaintiff will be excluded unless both checkboxes are deselected.)
Select the template you wish to generate. You can narrow down the selection of templates by first selecting a template group from the Select Template Group field, or you can skip that step, in which case you will be selecting the template from the entire list of document templates. In either case, select the appropriate template from the Select Template field.
If you wish to make sure the template will fully generate for all plaintiffs, click the Analyze button in the template selector area. This will bring up a panel containing a list of merge codes that cannot be converted by the Mass Mailing tool into the intended information; any such codes will remain as-is in the generated documents. The panel will also list, for each individual case, merge codes that will be converted into nothing, generally because that data is absent in the SmartAdvocate system. (This is not necessarily an error or a problem; merge codes that draw from, for example, the third line of an address will commonly be converted into nothing, because few addresses have three lines.) Note that if merge codes that would normally require a choice by the user are included in the selected template, their replacements in the generated documents may be unpredictable. The panel does not note this potential issue, so keep it in mind when selecting and generating a template and, if you use such a document, be certain to check each document to insure the information was entered into the documents properly.
If you are satisfied with the selection of plaintiffs and the content of the document, generate the documents by clicking the Generate button. You will have the option to open or download a single document containing each of the generated documents in sequence; regardless of whether you choose to do so, the individual generated documents will be available in the Documents page of their respective cases.

Creating Address Labels

The Mass Mailing tool can be used as part of the process of generating a set of address labels for all of your clients (or a subset of your clients, based on the case type or case status or some other criteria). This process also involves the Case Browse feature and Microsoft Word. To generate the address labels:

Search in Case Browse for the cases whose clients you want to create labels for. See the Search Criteria page for setting the search criteria to find your desired group of cases.
On the Case Browse Search Results page, click the checkbox in the heading of the Checkbox selector column at the left of the table of results. This will select the checkbox in that column for every row in the table. Uncheck any rows that you do not wish to include.
Click the Mass Update button to the upper left of the table, which will open a list of options. Click Generate Document to open the Mass Mailing tool with the case numbers of every checked case in the search results automatically added to the Case Number entry field.
As with the usual use of this tool, change the selections in the case contacts selection fields if you want plaintiffs other than the primary plaintiffs to be included in the list, or if you want to include plaintiffs with the Prevent Mailing attribute, with a Sub Category other than Adult, and/or organization plaintiffs.
When you are satisfied with the list of plaintiffs in the table, click the Excel icon to export the table to an Excel spreadsheet. Remember the name and location of the exported file.
Open Microsoft Word and select the Mailings tab. Click the Start Mail Merge button, which will open a list of options, and then click the Step By Step Mail Merge Wizard option. This will open a panel in Word for the Mail Merge Wizard.
In the Wizard, select Labels and then click the Next button at the bottom of the Wizard.
In the Wizard, select Change document layout and then click the Label options text. This will open a menu in Word allowing you to select the label type.
Find and select the brand and type of your labels (most likely Avery US Letter) in the Label vendors dropdown, then find and select the product number of the labels in the Product number field. Click OK in the menu, then click the Next button at the bottom of the Wizard.
- The numbers are listed alphabetically instead of numerically, so, for example, 11101 will be listed before 5490. Do not be concerned if, at first, it looks like your product number will not be in the list; it most likely will be.
In the Wizard, click Next: Select recipients, select Use an existing list and then click the Browse button. Find and select the Excel file you exported earlier, then click Open. If a menu opens asking you to Select Table, select Sheet$ (which will probably already be selected) and then click OK. This will open another menu with a list of your selected clients; click OK to close that menu, and then click the Next button at the bottom of the Wizard.
Click Next: Arrange your labels, then click the Address block text in the Wizard. This will bring up a menu with options for formatting the name and address that will appear on the label. Most likely, you can simply click OK in this menu to accept the default, but if you prefer a different format, you may select a different option from the list of recipient name formats, and then click OK. Click the Update all labels button in the Wizard to ensure that every label contains the selected address format, and then click the Next button at the bottom of the Wizard.
You will see the first page of your labels. Although there is only one page in the document, Word has created the full list of labels; this first page is just a preview. Click the Next button at the bottom of the Wizard to move to the last step.
You may either print the labels directly from the Wizard without saving them, or open the full set of labels as a separate Word document, allowing you to save the file, and then print the labels from that document. If you do not wish to save the labels, click the Print button, make sure that All is selected, then click OK. If you wish to save the labels first, click the Edit individual labels button, make sure that All is selected, then click OK. A new document will be opened with all of your labels. You may now save this document, and print it, as with any other Word document.