Poor File Management is Criminal
Crime firms have had a tough time of it over the last seven years. The numerous changes by the LSC to the way case files are run, through to the major changes in billing procedures, have left many firms running fast just to stand still.
Poor file management can have disastrous effects within a law firm. Unless checks are made of billed and unbilled classes, firms may be unaware of bills that they are yet to submit, resulting in money losses. It is therefore essential that Crime firms have an easy way to monitor classes and files within their case management system to ensure that all billable work is claimed.
The extent of this problem was recently highlighted by DPS Trainer, Jeremy Berks, “In the last few months I have visited many crime firms whose billing is not what they expected. When I have shown them the CDS billing menu within DPS Crime, they have found billing reports that they were unaware of. Sometimes the amount of money outstanding can be thousands of pounds.”
The CDS Billing menu contains 2 reports allowing firms to monitor both closed and unclosed classes on their case files.
These reports allow filtering by class or date ranges. DPS have discovered that firms who were advised to run reports during training have found classes and files with unbilled costs amounting to many thousands of pounds. In most cases, the unbilled work easily outweighs the cost of the training day!
One Office Crime CDS system contracting operates according to the latest criminal Publicly Funded & Franchising criteria. The system is designed for the Criminal Practitioner who wants to be free of the time consuming aspects of the criminal franchising procedure, yet needs the control provided by it. It is a unique and powerful system which can literally save hours of valuable fee earning time and facilitates accurate and efficient billing.
The system automatically costs all letters and documents produced as each action taken on the file is recorded in the background with no user intervention. Users are automatically prompted for each time element when doing any work on the case. So for example, entering an appearance will prompt responses on travelling and waiting. All this costing information is carried forward to produce CDS6, CDS7, Crown Court bills, LGFS bills or indeed private bills using a billing guide.
For all your criminal accounts, the One Office Crime CDS system includes Auto Completion of all CDS Forms (CDS1-CDS18), Auto Completion of CDS 6, Court Duty Standby Time Costing, Section 51 Case Billing, Crown Court Billing (Standard & Non Standard) LGFS, Representation Class Diagnostics, as standard.
For more information on One Office Crime CDS please visit DPS Software
The Author works for DPS Software, a company that provides and develops bespoke business management solutions to the legal market. Case Management applications from DPS include modules from Crime and other areas of law. Today, 800 clients across the country use DPS’ legal software solutions, firmly establishing them as one of the UK’s leading providers of case management software.
Visit www.dpssoftware.co.uk for more information on Legal Accouts Software and Case Management for – Conveyancing, Crime, Matrimonial, General, Personal Injury, Probate and Wills. DPS also offer a range of other services including, Digital Dictation and Hosting and Outsourced Services.
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