No, not real fires. Just virtual office fires.The proverbial ca-ca hit the proverbial fan at my workplace. Thus, my absence from the blogosphere as of late.
The managing partner quit and took about half of the clerks with him.
We have a boatload of upcoming court dates and nobody knows where key files are located.
None of the remaining office clerks have been cross-trained and every one of them refuses to do certain tasks (post-judgment execution, appeals processing, docket preparation, etc.).
I'm juggling cases in Sessions, Circuit, and Chancery, plus dealing with client issues.
In other words, we're all having a grand ol' time here at Shangri-La.
Yeah. Shangri-LOL is more like it.
If there was ever a legal Hell, this has got to be pretty dang close to it.
Calgon, take me awaaaaaaaaaaaaaay (before the men in the Great White Coats beat you to it)!
Sounds like reasonable grounds for postponement/continuance to me.
ReplyDeleteAre you guys not using any sort of centralized case management software?
Yes, I'm schmoozing all I can to get resets!
ReplyDeleteCentralized case management software? How about paper files and an Outlook calendar? I asked about getting something better a few years ago. But now they're listening!
*choke* *gasp* Paper files and Outlook?! Good lord woman! Do you have stone chairs and work by candlelight too? (j/k)
ReplyDeleteWell, bless your heart! (hmm...just doesn't work for men.)
A little red birdie tells me that Time Matters is the way to go. In all likelihood it will integrate with your firm's current billing system.
Lots of firms haven't seen the light with technology and case management yet - and that means that if you're halfway tech savvy, you can have a serious advantage over opposing counsel.
I'll put it this way - when I was fighting the bad fight representing clients who were "allegedly" stealing satellite TV, DIRECTV had 10-15 attorney hours for every one I put in.
I was able to not just stay afloat, but to give them hell and it was all because I knew how to use technology to level the playing field. I had to be 10 times as organized and efficient as they were with their paper files and Outlook calendars - and the software I had wasn't even close to what Time Matters can do.
There are probably cheaper options out there, but Time Matters is among the top of the line options and has the easiest learning curve - it's designed to look and function in a way that's familiar to people who use Outlook.
Good luck!