In examining many regulation office circumstance management software deals, we’re continuously surprised at the number of over-priced offers that have “immediately results in a circumstance quantity” higher on the record of attributes as if it really is a hard matter to do, or even spectacular as a deal feature. As well, most of these deals only build a 6-digit variety and start out at 000001 then go to 000002 and so on and will not permit you to customize.
We recommend that case quantities must be codes that convey to you significantly far more than a very simple number does, but at the exact same time, must have a easy format so you can effortlessly build them and read through them on the fly.
Let’s appear at a simple still enlightening situation number:
20100310-FL-CC-JS-009
Let’s crack this down a bit:
- 20100310 is the day. Use the descending date format because it truly is less difficult to look up situations with a time-frame reference. Descending dates are organized commencing with the year, then month, then day, so in the instance higher than, the situation was started on March 10th, 2010.
- Subsequent, is a two-letter code of your choice that signifies what style of situation this is. In our illustration over, “FL” stands for “Family members Law.” Right here are some tips: CL – Deal Law, PP – Product or service / Process, CD – Legal Protection, and so forth. You can skip this if you only observe a single style of law.
- Your Sub-Code is a second two-letter code clarifying the variety of scenario. In our Family Law case in point above, “CC” stands for Boy or girl Custody. Build a listing of relevant sub-codes and retain these stated in a “reference file” together with your situation-kind codes from # 2.
- Making use of the client’s initials as component of your case number is optional based on the sensitivity of the situation and the client’s wish for anonymity. In our case in point, we produced up the identify “Jane Smith” and made use of JS. We certainly do not advise applying the client’s identify in the situation quantity.
- If you have a client that may well deliver many cases, set the actual quantity of the case for that shopper in parenthesis. In this example, this would be our 9th scenario for Jane Smith. If this is a single circumstance with very little possibility of repeat small business from this client, you will not need to put any quantities at the finish.
Hints and Tips:
- When producing a scenario file selection, use it when naming word processor or spreadsheet documents so anything can be searched and/or referred to as up working with the situation amount. Also, produce the variety on any folders and use it on stickers that may well go on CD / DVD conditions, cassette tapes, evidence packing containers, etcetera.
- Naming your computer information also would make it quick to research considering that most techniques will allow you search for part of the file name working with some kind of “wild card” these as the asterisk*. For instance, if you wished to see a listing of all Family Law scenarios in 2010, you’d enter the lookup string 2010*FL*.doc (if you were browsing for Microsoft Word ® data files). Not only that, but simply listing them by file title will quickly display them in chronological purchase by advantage of their case quantity on your own.
- Instead than purchase sophisticated and above-priced software program deals, you can conveniently use the computer software that possibly came with your laptop these kinds of as your phrase processor and spreadsheet talked about previously mentioned, and a calendar / contact software such as Microsoft Outlook ®.
Up coming, to find out extra about circumstance management for paralegals and attorneys go to: www.theattorneycasefile.com.
(Copyright 2010 – Paul Purcell. Authorization granted to share this article supplied all parts continue to be intact.)
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