Clarity Legal Software - Customer Spotlight
Renee Mancino - Attorney
1180 Wells Avenue, P.O.Box 1065
Logandale, NV 89021

Renee, what kind of practice do you have?
We are a small firm. Two attorneys three paralegals, one legal secretary/receptionist.

What size is your practice and how many employees do you have?
We currently are a small firm with 2 lawyers, 6 support staff (paralegals, secretaries, Legal Nurse Consultant).

What technical setup do you have at your office (number of machines, etc)?
Six Macs from G4 server and up. One PC running XP.

What suggestions do you have for people using technology in their practice?
Go digital or go home. Just decide to do it. If you are looking for the ultimate, complete digital system before you decide to try it you won't ever get there. Research your options for law practice management software, input hardware and go from there. Mimic your current paper file system in a digital form. Mimic what you currently do as a hard copy trial binder on your computer. Tailor your system to your own personal practice style, form, and practice area. And last but not least make sure you have a server-client based, redundant, incremental backup solution that can have at least a portion of the media removed to different off-site locations for safekeeping on a regular basis.

What bag of tricks or software do you use the most in your practice?
Circus Ponies Notebook. I find that I rely on this more and more every day. It is invaluable for me as I use it as soon as the case starts as a digital trial binder. Even if not going to trial it is a central organization point for each matter handled in my office. One trick I use in conjunction with this are two digitally based documents. A “case log” and a “checklist”. The case log and checklist can be a simple Word document or the information is integrated into the case management system if a large complex matter. The case log tracks what has been done on the matter, what was received, etc. in reverse chronological order (most recent date first). The checklist is a file for each client that includes a prospective list of filings, to do’s, due dates, and things of that nature that relate to the matter. Both are printed out whenever updated in the digital system with a copy going into the client's paper folder. Both will stay in the folder throughout the entire matter and are replaced every time they are updated.

Clarity Legal's TrialSmart - if you are doing any litigation where you will be handling depositions it is a must-have application for presenting items to a jury.

Adobe Acrobat Professional

Microsoft Office - Not happy about it but I find that it offers most of what I want and the oddities/bugs that never seem to end are just bad enough to put up with as opposed to moving to something else.

NeoOffice love it for those PC users still on Word Perfect

Online faxing/voice messaging service. I love the portability. I can fax from anywhere, just about anytime, well anytime I have Internet access!

What advantages do you have over your competition as a result of the way you employ technology in your practice?
It levels the playing field. The advantage of having everything at your fingertips for each matter you handle for a Client is such a timesaver it increases your productivity, bottom line, and permits you to get more out of every working hour. I also think being Mac-based is an advantage because there are things I can do natively on the Mac that cannot be done at all or with great difficulty on a PC. One example is creating .pdf files directly through the OS. On the PC the process tends to be application specific and in my experience it can be quirky and inconsistent. Additionally, on a Mac all of the components work well together. Apple iCal, Address Book, Mail, add in my iPhone and I am as up-to-date as I can be. I don't have to call my office during a motion hearing to calendar dates.

What trends do you see in legal technology?
More technology friendly policies as a whole. More of an impetus to gently nudge lawyers in my jurisdiction into an electronic practice. From inception of my State's adoption of the Electronic Signature Act to date great things have happened to provide the opportunity for attorneys to use technology, if they so desire. Complex litigation, construction defect, and criminal matters must be e-filed. Our District Attorney's office uses the Court's online systems almost exclusively. Soon it will be mandatory in all civil cases and family law. I love that I can file a document for $6 over our electronic file and serve system from California while on vacation, if necessary and as opposed to paying a legal service hundreds of dollars a week.

What technical challenges to do you face in your practice?
Being a Mac user it was initially a challenge when I set-up my private firm from a flexibility perspective. There just wasn't as much of a selection and choice in regards to Mac law office solutions. However, that was six years ago I now consider it an advantage and now I couldn't imagine being PC based.

What Clarity Legal Software products do you use?
The product I turn to time and again is TrialSmart. I used DepoSmart when it was first released and I still use that version, but I tend to rely more on TrialSmart.

What Clarity Legal Software product feature do you like best?
I like the product family as a whole. In my opinion on the Mac side there is nothing that comes close. But to pin it down to particular feature set it would be, Word Index, Issues, Remarks, and Designations. I annotate the living daylights out of my depositions and would be lost without them.