Author: rgAdmin

Everybody loves free stuff, especially when it’s useful. Lawyers are often busy and don’t typically have the time to spend trawling through the web. Looking for useful resources could end up taking up more time than it’s worth. The following list of learning tools for lawyers and law firms is particularly useful because they come at no cost.

 

MyShingle

It’s hard to believe that this website launched in 2002. Even more incredibly, it’s still going. It was the world’s first law website dedicated to sole practitioners and small law firms. In nearly two decades of activity, the site has acquired a large database of freely available ebooks, training packages, and short courses, even free business card designs and audio tutorials. The user will need to sign up for the website upon which they are provided with a password. This will enable you to access all the free resources on the site.

Visit MyShingle’s website.

 

Ten Minute Mentor

Initially developed for newly qualified law graduate members of the Texas State Bar, it’s now freely available to anyone in the US. It’s a series of 10-minute videos, currently numbering over 100, covering the most common topics in the world of law. If you want a brief update on changes to law on issues such as environment, immigration or anything else, this is always a great place to start. Either view online or download audio files as MP3s, or for podcasts. The page breaks down by subject.

Visit the Ten Minute Mentor’s website.

 

Study.com

One of the country’s best employment resources – covering training and education, pay, job demand and much more. However, little known to many researchers is that Study has free legal training on its site. Their content is thorough, but the courses are not accredited. It’s ideally suited for those already qualified and practicing looking to change their area of expertise or who has been out of the loop for a while and needing information to practice in one particular area. Study.com helps practicing lawyers keep up to date.

Visit Study.com’s website.

 

Alison.com

Alison offers a number of free online virtual classes helping you understand the legal profession. You can either take them as single modules to brush up your pro skills or build them up to a professional diploma in Business and Legal Studies. Their legal courses are the most comprehensive from contract and copyright law, employment law, and legal procedures. The diploma has an assessment process for those looking to expand their knowledge in a recognized course.

Visit Alison.com’s website.

 

Does your firm want to get started with Record Grabber? Make your account in just minutes – make my RG account.

As a provider of medical record retrieval services, you get much more from Record Grabber. Over the years, we have developed our services to provide a complete solution to your security, storage and retrieval needs. One of the greatest advantages of using Record Grabber is the use of a dedicated Account Manager. When you interact with us, you won’t end up communicating with a different person each time; we understand how that can create frustration and slow down your case. For the healthcare medical record industry, speed and accuracy are of the essence, but so is attention to the client’s needs.

Your Account Manager is Human

This not something that most businesses or customers can rely on these days. The advances of AI have been great for work processing, but nothing can ever replace having a human being to handle your record retrieval requests. Your dedicated Account Manager is a human who will know all your history and be able to chase up issues and answer questions personally. You will also have the same dedicated Account Manager, so you don’t need to continue explaining your problems to new people. When you ask to speak to that certain person, you get them every time.

We know You and Your Requests

At Record Grabber, you’re not just another number. You won’t get passed through a system, randomly assigned to one of our operatives each time you make contact, even moments apart. We’ve already stated that you get a dedicated Account Manager. But more than that, they treat your unique requests with respect and due consideration you require as an individual. No two clients of Record Grabber are the same and we don’t use a one-size-fits-all approach to how me manage our services or operate them for clients.

Chat in Portal for Quick Response

Other services that provide a dedicated Account Manager don’t always make it easy. The telephone is one option but if they’re not available, it can take some time to get a response back. Similarly, we understand the real feel of your emails going ignored. Instead of the telephone and email system, we have a chat portal through which you can speak to your dedicated Account Manager. He or she will be on hand to answer your chat request response at the first available opportunity. Please be advised though that Record Grabber’s operating hours are 8am-5pm Eastern Time.

 

Getting started with Record Grabber is quick and easy! We make your record retrieval simple. You can be making requests in just 2 minutes. Get started here.

We are so excited to announce our latest integration with PracticePanther. The new partnership provides an even more streamlined process for record retrieval and case management. More importantly, the integration is immensely valuable to PracticePanther and Record Grabber customers in allowing users to transfer clients and manage billing matters.

So what’s the deal?

Clients are now able to easily connect their PracticePanther account with their Record Grabber account. The integration allows users to transfer clients, manage billing matters. Because of this, managing cases and keeping track of record retrieval has never been easier!

 

Transfer Clients
Keep your contacts organized in PracticePanther and transfer them to Record Grabber with the click of a button. This allows for the elimination of double data entry and errors from manual data entry make!

Manage Billing
Billing matters can be generated automatically in your PracticePanther account from records received in Record Grabber. This provides ease in organizing and consolidating payments. You can generate invoices, send them to your clients, and have them paid on – all from PracticePanther.

 

What’s in it for you?

You can set up PracticePanther to fit your needs and how you work but streamline the process at the same time. Manage contacts, matters, case documents, intake forms, billable hours, invoicing, payments, calendars, and emails all from your PracticePanther account. As a result, you will save countless hours by keeping your cases organized.

 

About PracticePanther

PracticePanther is the highest rated law practice management software used by tens of thousands of lawyers in over 170 countries. Automate your firm, so you can get more done in less time, and take on more cases. Because of this, you’ll spend less time managing your firm, and more time making money. Try it free, no credit card needed! 

Current Record Grabber customers get 10% off their first year when they sign up for PracticePanther.
Promo Code: RGPP2018

Get started with PracticePanther today.

 

About Record Grabber

From record retrieval to chronologies and summaries, Record Grabber has you covered on all your medical record needs. Using your free Record Grabber account, you can make requests, check status updates, retrieve records, and more! Leave the phone calls and hassle to us.

Current PracticePanther customers get their first 5 requests free when they sign up with Record Grabber.
Promo Code: RGPP5

Get started with Record Grabber today.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/25/2019

Contact: Carrie Elliott at Record Grabber
Phone: 877.800.1142 ext 715
Email: carrie@recgrab.com

PracticePanther and Record Grabber Announce Strategic Integration Partnership to Enhance Case Management

 

Indianapolis, IN: Record Grabber and PracticePanther have announced a strategic integration partnership to provide an even more streamlined process for record retrieval and case management. The integration is immensely valuable to PracticePanther and Record Grabber customers in allowing users to transfer clients and manage billing matters.

No time is wasted with the transfer of data and documents between the PracticePanther and Record Grabber systems. With the click of a button, clients in PracticePanther can be transferred into the Record Grabber portal. Once records are retrieved and uploaded billing matters are pushed directly to the PracticePanther system.

“The Record Grabber and PracticePanther integration is the most streamlined Record Grabber integration to date – saving customers hours of time each week. The amount of data and documents that can be pushed back and forth in the system is unmatched by any other case management and record retrieval integration.” said Trent Van Emon, Owner of Record Grabber.

“The PracticePanther team could not be more thrilled about this integration with Record Grabber. Too often, the crucial records that can make or break a case are neglected by practice management software,” says PracticePanther CMO David Bitton. “This partnership will bridge this unacceptable gap, allowing us to provide a direct channel for record retrieval for attorneys through their practice management software.”

 

About PracticePanther

PracticePanther is a leading provider of cloud-based law practice management and billing software for law firms, serving customers in over 170 countries. The company provides a mobile and web-based application to help lawyers automate and streamline their workflows by handling time and expense tracking, invoicing, document management, payment processing, and trust accounting among other functionality and third-party integrations from a single application. PracticePanther offers top in class customer service via webinars, tutorials, videos, chat, email, and phone. See more at practicepanther.com.

 

About Record Grabber

Record Grabber was founded in 2013 with the goal of being the fastest and most reliable source of retrieving medical records. From record retrieval to chronologies and summaries, our services allow lawyers and insurance companies to spend more time on their business. Record Grabber is dedicated to maintaining the fastest turnaround time and providing the best service for our customers. For more information, visit our website at recordgrabber.com, follow us on Twitter @recordgrabber, or follow us on LinkedIn at Record Grabber.

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If you would like more information about this topic please call Carrie Elliott at 877.800.1142 ext 715 or email at carrie@recgrab.com.

Part 2: Day-to-Day Administration

In the first part of this series, we looked at organizational tools to help lawyers connect. Organization is an important way to improve workflow and ensure tasks are as streamlined as possible across a team. However, administration is just as important. Things like security, file storage and access, and invoicing are vital to the everyday running of your law service. If you’re still using older and slower methods, there are ways of making the administrative tasks of your business far easier and more secure. Consider some of the following web tools.

 

Dropbox

One of, if not the, best file storage solutions. The great thing about Dropbox is that its application is seamless. It looks just like any other folder on your computer but with the added benefit that its content is uploaded to the Cloud. This means immediate synchronization to any device that has Dropbox and connected to that account. It runs in the background, performing regular updates of files so you don’t need to worry about in-house server problems. Cloud is a secure solution to storing all your files. Dropbox has multiple package types with the personal account free to use and a capacity of 2GB. Paid subscription functions include mobile off-line and smart sync. This latter tool is useful in that when you open a file on a device, it automatically moves to the cloud, so the changes will be made on the stored version.

Check out Dropbox here.

 

HelloSign

Do you send a lot of electronic forms digitally requiring signatures? When it comes to legal documentation for personal injury attorneys like you, there is an intrinsic need to acquire signatures for everything. PDFs are the most common portable document format. Quick and easy to read and a small file size which makes it ideal in most situations. However, they are impossible to edit without dedicated software. With HelloSign, you don’t need specialist software. The package allows users to edit PDFs and other similar difficult-to-edit files. But that’s not all it does. Signatures can be requested from up to 20 users at once which is then disseminated to all users. With a range of templates and the ability to design and brand official documentation, this is a great template for your formal paperwork.

Check out HelloSign here.

 

LastPass

Most security problems that any business faces concern the use of easy-to-guess passwords. Shockingly, the most common passwords that employees use include password01 and 123456. The other side of the argument is that users are asked to remember a variety of passwords across multiple devices and can’t remember them all. That’s why you need a password manager. With LastPass, users need to remember just one password. It can be downloaded as a browser extension. Once logged in, users can add and remove services and sites, alter the access passwords for those sites, and lock out potential hackers. It’s one of the most secure ways of protecting your data with strong encryption, the ability to add two-step authentication (a password accompanied by a second step such as a retinal scan or fingerprint, or a swipe card), and local only encryption.

Check out LastPass here.

 

QuickBooks

All small businesses need accounts, but accounting is not a cheap option. You can’t afford to make cutbacks in the wrong area, or you’ll break the law. For small law firms, software packages are potentially expensive on top of hiring an accountant. However, QuickBooks is a cheaper solution tailored directly at small and medium enterprises. It helps you keep track of all your daily transactions such as expenses and income, billing, and general accounts. In its most recent release, it is targeted at freelancers, benefiting law professionals who work as a one-person business. You may directly connect to any of your business accounts including credit cards for instant updating of records through a Cloud based support service. When using the same QuickBooks account for both personal and business, it’s easy to keep these separate.

Check out QuickBooks here.

 

Did you miss Part 1: Organization?

Part 1: Organization

The modern world of law is a complex place. Cases are longer and more complicated than ever before. To succeed and to stay ahead of competitors, the personal injury attorney and other law professionals need technology. That includes hardware, but it also includes some great software, some available at the click of a button and at no cost. The following short list comprises some of the best examples of high quality organizational and communication tools.

 

Evernote

Evernote is one of the big names of cloud-based organization. It’s also one of the oldest, having been around for 12 years. Evernote can be considered one of the first organizational tools to use the Cloud, so Evernote is an expert in knowing exactly what the modern user requires. Its main functions and features include:

• Take photos, notes, and voice clips on smart devices at remote locations and immediately sync them to all devices including desktops and laptops at static office locations.
• Share notes taken at consultations and transcriptions with other users.
• File attachments from devices, also shared to all users at once.
• The web clipper feature allows the saving of media (text, video, images, and even whole web pages) into Evernote for digestion later.
• Enables real-time project collaboration to authorized users by sharing by name and limiting access to only those who require it.
• OCR (optical character reader) which will recognize text from a document and convert it to an editable file.

Paid features include email forwarding and business card scanning. Check out Evernote here.

 

Slack

Simply one of the best communications and collaboration tools available today, Slack has a great free version that will do for most users and a paid version with some great features. Either way, it makes internal communications easy between individuals in a group. Unlike other communication tools, you can limit your visibility to only those who have the direct link to access it. Although there are public forums, it’s more about enabling direct communication with your authorized Slack users, either as individuals or within groups of users.

• Divide channels by teams and other groups, into projects or by client – this last feature is especially useful for teams working on different cases and where data protection is “need to know”.
• It’s easy to remove members from a Slack group and easy for members to remove themselves, unlike email chains and some other group messengers.
• Separate threads of conversation to keep issues on topic while allowing side discussions to take place.

Check out slack here.

 

Zoom

Zoom is, quite frankly, the best online conferencing tool presently available. The chances are, if you use this communication method, you’re using something other than Zoom. Maybe it works perfectly well, but Zoom has several advantages over other, similar tools. These are some of the many reasons it’s been voted the best video collaboration tool:

• Hold meetings for the purpose of online work collaboration, training, and conferencing which is great for getting in touch with the office while heading into or just coming out of a court case or while a deal is being struck.
• Another great feature is webinars, something that many other communications tools lack. As a professional in injury law cases, you may not need this, but it’s useful as a teaching resource.
• Zoom Rooms are a great feature incorporating elements of the virtual office. It utilizes HD video and audio, wireless connective sharing of files, and using integrations from common platforms such as Cisco.

Other features include digital signage, scheduling, and touch screen capability for a truly 21st century video conferencing experience. Like most of the other tools here, Zoom has both a free and a paid version. Check out zoom here.

 

Freedcamp

Online collaboration and task tracking have never been so easy with Freedcamp. It’s a web-based project management tool for single users and groups of collaborators. There is a time tracker, work assignment options, calendar scheduling, and many more. Here are some of its unique features:

• Task management including the ability to divide into subtasks.
• Assigning tasks to different people within the collaboration tool.
• Each task has a comment function for regular updates.
• Completed tasks can be removed easily, crossed out, re-assigned, and moved down the priority list.
• Invoice management and the ability to share files with users.

The basic package is free, and it will be enough for most user types who are not heavy media users. Upgrades are available for greater Cloud space. Check out Freedcamp here.

 

Come back to the blog for Part 2: Day-to-Day Administration!

Part 2: Word of Mouth and Professional Networking

In the last post, we pointed out the necessity for businesses in any industry to have an online presence. However, this online presence should never be at the expense of marketing your law firm offline world or in the “real world”. The business of law is inextricably linked to the real world and that’s why you should also have a great marketing strategy to engage with people as individuals and as groups.

 

Apply for Ratings

Before you spend any money on marketing, check out the ways of improving the esteem of your business. Examples include quality markets such as achieving a 10.0 mark for Avvo (the online rating system) and other industry standards. These marks and awards suggest to potential clients that you are reliable, knowledgeable and professional. They will speak for themselves with very little effort required on your part as customers look for such marks of quality in making their decision to choose a law provider. This can go on marketing material, on your website, and promoted throughout your premises as a statement that this is a quality legal establishment. Such marks are great for branding because they are simple and memorable, and clients will tend to remember them.

 

Ask Clients for Web Reviews

There is no better marketing method than word of mouth, and few better for inbound marketing than genuine reviews, whether on the web or in trade publications. A glossy website, social media outreach, and a great content strategy could be wasted effort if potential new clients are unable to evaluate the quality of your services. Clients may find reviews on the various search engines, but also through professional service websites. Combined, they inform clients about the level of service and achievements, specialties, and firm culture. Just as any retail customer, reviews are often the first thing clients look for when vetting a law firm to represent them.

 

Referrals

There is no better form of spreading the word than clients recommending your services to other potential clients. This is true for any business and one of the best ways to grow your business: reputation and the eagerness of others to spread it for you. People listen to their trusted contacts – whether it’s friends or family, colleagues, or contacts in other businesses. They will not always remember to suggest such a service to their contacts. That being why it’s so important for you to serve gentle reminders to your current clients. Questionnaires on “how we did”, or contract packs with documentation such as business card or a flyer asking that they recommend your firm to others if they feel they have had a generally good experience.

 

Improve Your Community Reputation

The first way of improving your community reputation include some of the most tried and tested methods for all industries. This includes joining trade associations and attending networking events. These aren’t just about increasing your visibility for clients within those networks (although they certainly help). It’s also about reaching out to colleagues and competitors to build a bond and meaning within the industry. This may not directly lead to clients, but increases the likelihood of referrals from contacts whose specialty differs from yours. If you’re visible, the chance of this type of referral is much higher.

Engagement with the public community is also a growing expectation, especially from millennials now entering the workplace. They expect businesses to act with integrity and ethically where possible. Typically, this means being seen caring about the local community, activities and events, and helping with funding or physical help. Sponsoring community events is a great way to raise your profile. As well as networking, it’s an easy form of advertising, but some clients like action as well as words. Having an ethical policy is a good idea and some clients will be drawn to you because of it.

 

Did you miss How to Effectively Market Your Law Firm Part 1? Read it here now!

Part 1: Digital Marketing

Businesses in any industry must market their services and expertise. That has always been true but in the modern world of the internet, it’s more important than ever. A digital marketing strategy helps any business keep up with the current environment. No law degree in the world prepares lawyers for how to market effectively. This is how to market your law firm – remain relevant and effectively reach out to potential clients, regardless of the specialty of law in which a business operates.

 

Have a Website and Keep it Relevant

It should go without saying that all businesses require a website. The internet is the first place that new clients look, both corporate and individual, to find a law firm. Having a website is good for local SEO and search engines list locations based on public data. However, it’s just as relevant to keep a website up to date. A new theme or design may be required every few years based on modern trends. In the last ten years, website design concept has evolved to include mobile connectivity – the ability to adapt to the device on which the user is presently browsing the web. Other more recent trends include UI (User Interface) which concerns the ease of navigation and UX (User eXperience) which looks at the overall experience of using a website. Poor or outdated website design reflects negatively on businesses that fail to keep up to date with trends.

 

Use Authoritative Content

The term “content is king” has always been true of social media marketing. In 2019, major changes to the algorithms of the major search engines means law and other businesses can no longer afford to see content creation and curation as a frivolous expense or an optional extra. Content may be videos, business blog articles, newsletters, opinions written by professionals on regulatory change and anything else that viewers may wish to consume.

There are multiple benefits to having a content strategy:

• It’s good for SEO (search engine optimization) visibility on search engines
• The business can position itself as a “thought leader” (an expert in the field and a valuable resource)
• When content is shareable, it becomes part of a marketing campaign where social media users will share articles of interest to friends and colleagues

It’s no longer optional, or a frivolous and unnecessary expenditure for many businesses, but a vital part of a marketing strategy, to produce regular authoritative content. Clients will expect to see your thoughts and analyses.

 

Become a Social Media Master

For maximum exposure, a law firm needs to reach out to potential clients on as many platforms as possible. The term “social media” is perhaps a little outdated as the major sites: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and even Instagram are ways in which a law firm may connect with clients and potential clients. Content strategy becomes easier to share when they are posted to various social media platforms. Plus, mobile devices such as smartphones are rapidly overtaking the laptop and the desktop computer as web research implements. It’s easier to carry a smartphone and therefore facilitates communication and web research than carrying a larger device. The more shares that a piece of content has, and the greater the social media presence, the easier it will be for potential clients to find your law firm.

 

Digital Ad Campaigns

Having a good website and keeping track of social media is useful for inbound marketing (providing content for people to find and approach you). But your law firm will need to be far more active in reaching out to new clients. That’s why you will need local SEO driven ad campaigns to reach out to new clients. Passive advertising will only get you so far. Target ads to specific keywords and to your local area – either the city or the nearest counties within the state. There are many ways you can do this: through listed advertisements on search engines, buying advertising space on social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn, through ad clicks on affiliate websites, and advertorial type content on paid blogs.

 

Come back to the blog for How to Market Your Law Firm Part 2!

A medical chronology and summary is immensely helpful in understanding a person’s medical history and treatment from start to finish. More than that, there are clear benefits to your client. Above all, good quality and succinct medical chronologies and summaries are proven to deliver faster resolution and higher success rates.

What’s the importance?

Time-saving.

Legal teams don’t have to sort through potentially hundreds of pages of medical records, sometimes spanning over years or decades. Insurance claims and cases going through the court system can take months or years! Anything that can speed up this process and deliver clear evidence is helpful.

Clarity based on facts only approach.

The elimination of personal opinion – even professional opinion – helps bring clarity to a claim or case. As a result, these documents list only the facts which reduce the grey areas over which lawyers may argue in interpreting minor details.

Wide audience.

Designed to be easy to read, they can be understood by people in a wide range of services and sectors including insurance and legal, many of whom will not have the background in medical treatment and procedures. Therefor when information is simplified, it is difficult for anyone to confuse or misinterpret the details.

Full disclosure.

This type of document focuses on medical details, treatments, medications, dates, and so on. This means it will provide a full list of treatment and surgery in a concise and detailed yet shortened report highlighting not just the key issues, but all relevant issues. With full disclosure, it is possible to make a fully informed decision for whatever issue is presently being investigated.

Multi-use.

They’re useful to a wide variety and range of professionals. It provides full details of a medical history for medical professionals and a list of all treatments that the patient has received when it comes to an insurance claim. For lawyers involved in speaking for the client, it provides a full list of everything necessary in the patient’s care.

Quick and easy settlement.

Without a medical summary, insurance or court settlements will take more time and incur more cost to everyone. So it would mean sorting through many lengthy medical records looking for relevant information. A Medical Chronology and Summary are no more than 5-6 pages and list everything that interested parties will need to know.

Learn about Record Grabber’s medical chronology and summary pricing here – RG pricing.

A medical insurance claim can often be a long and complex process. It’s important that all stakeholders have all the vital information to hand at every necessary stage. Similarly, when a case goes to the courts, they too need as much information as possible to ensure quick and decisive resolution.

The problem is that medical cases can be long, complex, and full of medical jargon that insurers, lawyers, and juries cannot understand and do not have the time to sort through. It’s important to have all relevant information in hand – quickly and in as brief and unambiguous a form as possible. In short, that’s why medical chronologies and summaries are so important to a claims process.

Medical Chronology

A Medical Chronology in this industry is simply a list of a patient’s medical history relevant to a case. They’re designed as a list of events
of a patient’s medical history placed in chronological order. They are designed to be: concise, containing only the facts (without opinion or bias), and offer insight into the case. Unlike medical and legal documents, they are designed for easy reading for a wide audience who may not be familiar with medical jargon and shorthand. Most importantly, they are customizable to suit the needs of a case.

Medical Summary

A Medical Summary includes the chronology and a comprehensive summary of each event that takes place. This includes information like medication that the patient is taking or has taken (including dosages), their medical conditions, and treatments. It also contains details on contact with all medical professionals, their relevant diagnoses, and tests like blood, urine, and cholesterol. Current treatment plans being received, major surgeries, and any devices (for example a pacemaker) are also included in a Summary.

How can we help?

Record Grabber’s medical chronology and summary service is invaluable in getting your cases closed faster. Different levels of detail allow for you to pick what fits with your specific case and budget! Learn more about our different levels here – medical chronology and summary guide.