Amicus Attorney

"Amicus Attorney is my favorite software. Period. I have used it for many years, and it's fun."

Vorteile: I actually look forward to pulling up the program (it reminds me of the best secretary/paralegal I have ever had). Everything is at hand, and connected to anything I need to do, whatever task is immediately at hand. It is flexible enough to accommodate interruptions in work, and powerful enough to take on every task I need to perform.
When I was practicing full-time, my overhead was 30% while generally in the profession 40% to 60% was considered normal. My billing hours went up dramatically, and my family time increased commensurately.
The tech support has alway been terrific. I had been practicing for several years before the personal computer was introduced, and I am not a computer wiz. When I needed tech support they were always on time and always fast and effective in sorting whatever I needed.
The online tutorials are also terrific - clear and easy to follow; allowed me to use advanced features initially beyond my ability.
This is a great program backed by a solid company with real integrity. I is always a pleasure to do business with them.

Nachteile: Paying for it, of course. Worth the money, though in increased billing hours and increased time with my family.
Several years ago there was an separate accounting add-on, which I used and did not like at all. I am not sophisticated in accounting principles or software. Tech support was good, but I ended up doing it the old fashioned way (hired someone).

"A great program getting better"

Kommentare: Amicus has assisted me organize my practice for over 25 years. The integration with the Billing program, Quickbooks and the APX credit card payment acceptance program is a convenient timesaver, very much appreciated.

Vorteile: The program's visual layout, divided into files and calendar, is easy to understand, easy to use and easy to teach new users to use. The program allows people, events, and documents to be easily associated with files and integrates with Outlook so that emails with their attachment can be retained, tracked and reviewed.

Nachteile: The program's file tab includes an events tab which focus solely on the attorney and staff actions and events. No way exists to track the primary events in a litigation or transactional matter without being inundated with every timeslip and calender event on the case. As a result, the diamonds get lost in the overwhelming minutia and the events tab rarely gets used.
Additionally, my firm's primary focus, even before tracking any time or events, is the client and the events that are contained in their story. THE PROGRAM HAS NO MEANS TO SEGREGATE AND TRACK EVENTS IMPORTANT TO THE CLIENT'S CASE FACTS WITHOUT GETTING EVERY TIMESLIP AND EVENT ASSOCIATED WITH THE CASE. Again the diamonds get lost in the overwhelming minutia and the events tab rarely gets used.
It would seem that the program could have user designated tabs to track client, not attorney, case facts, court appearances, depositions, and key events to close the transaction or case without having to sift through endless timeslips and events.
Documents can be tracked by case type however to change the selection of document types, the documents associated with that particular case type must be modified. From a users point of view it would be more beneficial if document types could be designated from a modifiable pull down menu. For example, documents filed with the court could be identified as pleadings but as the case progress the documents could be identified with motion 1, motion 2 and motion 3 by the user.

"Amicus Attorney "

Kommentare: We ended up switch because we found our company was not using everything offered by Amicus and the frustrations of the staff with it transferring information into QuickBooks.

Vorteile: Opening files in Amicus Attorney and keeping notes in a center location was a great feature to keep the files organized.

Nachteile: Amicus Attorney often found trouble transferring information to QuickBooks whether it was due to updates with Amicus or with QuickBooks. I also found the support often took days to return calls to help with an issue or sometime would not call back.

"I have been using Amicus Attorney since 1996. I love/hate it. "

Vorteile: Amicus integrates your calendar, contacts, email, phone calls and matters and reminds you to create docket entries for all appointments, emails, calls, documents, etc. The beauty and economic benefit of the software is that it helps you to capture your time and to keep you organized. Over the years, Amicus has added things like Amicus mobile (which allows you to access features from your mobile device or any web browser) and a client portal (which allows you to permit clients to access certain information).
I have always considered the most important element of the software to be the communications module. If you turn on email integration and make notes of all of your calls using the software, you can quickly review what has been happening in a case by turning to the communications module. You won't forget to docket your time for all those communications.

Nachteile: While many other features have been added, the developers have not made material improvements to the communications module since email integration was added in about 2001. Obvious improvements have been needed since then. For instance, you cannot access scanned or faxed letters from the communications module. These can be added and viewed in the documents module and in a chronology module (added in about 2015), but neither option is not ideal. Flipping through communications should be as easy as flipping the pages of a paper file, but it's not. It is the organizational equivalent of having one file folder with your emails and phone calls, and another file folder with your faxes and letters. You have to flip from one folder to the other to view each. Also, you should be able to filter communications. For instance, you should be able to display only client communications, or only counsel communications, but you can't (even though there is a field for role on file for each contact attached to a file). The chronology module will put everything including all communications and documents (including letters and faxes) in chronological order, but you can't filter the chronology to show only communications (it will also show every document, docket, calendar appointment, etc.).
I have looked at alternative practice management software several times over the years and haven't seen one that I am adequately attracted to want to make what would be a painful change.

"Amicus Attorney Software"

Vorteile: The ability to integrate your emails, calendar, reminders, and case load all in one is what sets amicus apart. Whenever I have had a problem the support team has acted promptly and efficiently. Very courteously as well.

Nachteile: Many of the features take to much time to set up. As a small firm, we do not have a separate IT department and simply cannot deploy amicus to its full potential. Also, I have seen staff become overwhelmed with the software. Training can be tedious.