NEW Critical Dates added to Calendar & Tasks in NSW general conveyancing matter types

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The LEAP Content Team have added the following NEW critical dates to Calendar & Tasks in NSW general conveyancing matter types (i.e. all sale, purchase and transfer matter types) in Desktop:

Building Inspection Due Date Pest Inspection Due Date Swimming Pool Inspection Date
Finance Due Date Stamp Duty Due Date Deposit Bond Expiry Date
Land Tax Clearance Cert Due Date FRCGW Clearance Cert Due Date Priority Notice Expiry Date
Special Condition Due Date Subject to Sale Exchange Date Subject to Sale Completion Date
Option Exercise Date

While some critical dates may not generally relate to standard NSW conveyancing practices, they have been included at the request and benefit of our border clients.

Due to the complexity of separating the Completion/Settlement Date, there will be a further release for this in the near future.

To greatly assist your workflow, your can create “Recurring Task” templates or “Due Date Tasks” based on the critical dates entered within your matter (which integrate with Outlook).  Tasks you can set from these Dates include, for example, Order Searches, Submit Requisitions on Title, Submit Transfer, Submit Settlement Figures, Book Settlement etc.

See LEAP Communities to create Recurring Task templates across your conveyancing matters so that these are created once and used on multiple matters.

See LEAP Communities to also create Due Date Tasks.  Within the Task created, you can also:

  • Assign a Task to other staff
  • Add/record Time/Fee Entry
  • Create and email Status Reports to staff
  • Set a Follow Up
  • Set Recurrence
  • Assign to another Matter
  • Mark Complete

Tasks created will appear in the Tasks List of the matter and will be crossed/grayed out when you mark them as Complete (to assist when you don’t have the physical file with you):

LEAP Tasks example

You will also receive ‘Task Due Notifications’ in your matter lists.  These notifications are hyperlinks, therefore you can click on them and you will be taken directly to the Task itself in the matter:

For more articles regarding Calendar & Tasks see LEAP Communities.

NOTE: If you would like the new critical dates to appear in your “existing” matters, you will need to change the matter type to a different matter type, save, and then change back again to the correct matter type to “refresh” the critical date scheme.

Provide feedback on the new critical dates here.

Trust Account Bank Reconciliations

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I have noticed several law firms are not reviewing the monthly bank reconciliations that are produced the law firm’s practice management system.

It is extremely important that the legal practitioner of the law firm review and sign off the monthly bank reconciliations of the trust account.

When reviewing the bank reconciliation, you should be checking the items that appear in the adjustment area of your reconciliation.  These adjustments generally will occur at the end of the month when your accounts staff find transactions on your bank statement that are not entered into your practice management system.  I recommend that they items should not be older than one month.

The other important area to review are the unpresented cheques.  A cheque that is older the 15 months is classified as a stale cheque and should be cancelled at the bank and in your practice management system.

If you are using LEAP you can reverse the cheques as follows:

  1. Open the matter containing the trust cheque
  2. Navigate to the Trust Funds tab
  3. Double click on the trust cheque to be reversed
  4. Click on the Reverse Icon
  5. Supply a reason for the reversal in the reason field and click Save & Close

If you need assistance or training on LEAP please contact Caroline Kessler at Legal Practice Management Consultants via email caroline@lpmc.net.au or visit our web site at www.lpmc.net.au.

 

 

 

Computerised Legal Practice Management System – Uniform Law requirements with regards to a Register of Files Open

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 I have recently visited a number of law firm throughout NSW and have noticed that they currently do not operate a trust account.  As they do not operate a fund account the practitioners are not preparing the necessary report to meet the requirements of the Uniform General Rules and Uniform Law.

If the law firm has a computerised practice management system, they are required under the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 and the Legal Profession Uniform Law (Part 4.6 section 93) to produce a register of files opened.  Most computerised system approved by the Law Society of NSW have this report available, but you need to end an end of month processing to produce this report.

The Register of Files Opened must contain the following information:

  • The full name and address of the person
  • The date of receipt of the instructions
  • A short description of the services which the law practice has agreed to provide (description of the matter)
  • An identifier (matter number)

For users of the LEAP product, you would be required to run an end of month processing via the trust account (please note – If you do not have a trust account you still need to produce this report)

  • Select Reports from the main LEAP screen
  • Select Open report window
  • Select Trust Account Reports
  • Select Trust End of Month
  • Select Trust General
  • Run the end of month.

If you have any questions or require assistance or training on LEAP  please contact Caroline Kessler from Legal Practice Management Consultants via email – Caroline@lpmc.net.au or visit www.lpmc.net.au.

Tips on how to add a Christmas message to your LEAP templates

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As Christmas is only 5 week away; you may wish to add a Christmas message to your clients’ correspondence.  Below are the steps to add your xmas message in LEAP to all your correspondence.

Add a Christmas message to a document

Before you start modifying your templates, I would suggest that have your firm’s Christmas message ready already typed up in a word document.

  1. Open a matter.
  2. Make sure you’re on the Details & Correspondence tab.
  3. Click More Types on the toolbar to open the Create Document window.
  4. Right-click the Letter entry in the Select Document Type panel and choose Edit. The letter will open in edit mode in Microsoft Word.
  5. Add your Christmas message to the letter.
  6. When you’re finished, click Save & Close on the LEAP ribbon.
  7. Continue editing other document types that you wish to use, e.g., fax, file note. The changes will apply to all precedents that use these document types.

Remove a Christmas message from a document

  1. Open a matter.
  2. Make sure you’re on the Details & Correspondence tab.
  3. Click More Types on the toolbar to open the Create Document window.
  4. Right-click the Letter entry in the Select Document Type panel and choose History of Changes. The History of changes for Letter window opens.
  5. Select the document version that was being used before the Christmas message was added.
  6. Click Set as Current on the toolbar. The previous version of the letter will be used as the current version of the document type.
  7. Repeat for all other document types to which a Christmas message was added.

If you require further information on added a Christmas message to your LEAP templates or other assistance with regards to LEAP please email info@lpmc.net.au.

Importance of Following-up your outstanding debtors

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Importance of Following-up your outstanding debtors

Almost every business has to chase debtors – it’s crucial for healthy cash flow. However, time spent chasing debtors is time you can’t spend on your core work. That’s why it’s important to have a debtor’s follow up plan that makes the best use of your time. Below are some reports that are provided in LEAP to assist you with chasing your debtors:

1 – Aged Debtors Report

  1. From the main screen in LEAP
  2. Select  Reports from the main menu
  3. Select  Open New Reports Window
  4. Select the Office Tab
  5. Select Aged Debtors
  6. Select how you would like the report to be grouped :-  Staff Responsible, Staff Acting, Matter Type or Client
  7. Select View report

2 – Statement of accounts

  1. From the main screen in LEAP
  2. Select  Reports from the main menu
  3. Select  Open New Reports Window
  4. Select the Office Tab
  5. Select Statement of Account – Summary
  6. Select View report
  1. Scheduling LEAP Reports

The Aged Debtors report can be scheduled to run automatically and emailed to selected people once a week.

  1. From the main screen in LEAP
  2. Select  Reports from the main menu
  3. Select  Open New Reports Window

LEAP Reports will open in a window/tab of your default browser.

  1. Click  on the far right-hand side of the blue bar.
  2. Click  and enter a Name (File As) for the report.
  3. Select the appropriate options for your report, e.g., report format and staff type.
  4. Enter and/or select who will be receiving the report by email and add a description that will be included in the email when the attached report is generated and sent.
  5. When you’re finished, click Save.

If you require any further information or training on LEAP please email caroline@lpmc.net.au also follow the Legal Practice Management Linkedin page for other tips on using LEAP.