Application Services

Standard operations in many law firms were established to support the individual and not the firm. As a result, redundancy is the norm and data is not in an accessible format that can be interfaced easily.

Rafte & Company's Application Services enable collaboration throughout your law firm. We can empower your firm to allow you to spend your valuable time serving clients and managing cases rather than duplicating work and juggling documents.

Collaboration is the result of integration, or linking applications to amplify their effectiveness. The rationale for integration is simple. If technology applications and your law firm’s processes don’t work together, the same data has to be entered repeatedly. With Rafte & Company’s Application Services, your firm can operate more efficiently than ever. Enter information one time and that client’s record is updated automatically. Your team can see the total picture at a glance: check the status on any matter for each client with ease; view calendars; generate immediate time and billing reports; and check account payable information – quickly and easily.

Our Application Services provide attorneys with an expanded scope of technology capabilities, including:

• Increased return on investment through reduced workflow redundancy;
• Greater collaboration within the firm;
• Easy management of large document collections;
• Universal access to firm wide contacts;
• Immediate access to information that would otherwise have taken hours to locate and organize;
• Improved continuity of information and protection of the firm's intellectual property;
• Avoid fewer missed deadlines with rapid retrieval of a firm-wide docket;
• Secure access to records both on-site and off-site through limited points of entry;
• Easy archiving of in-progress and final documents to an offsite location to aid disaster recovery; and
• Complete control of the entire document process.

Typically, integrating the use of firm-wide docketing systems, standardized form generation and extensive relationship cross-referencing changes the way many firms work. Rafte & Company, acting in concert with a commitment from top management, can help that cultural shift occur with minimal disruption.

Firm Management applications that can work as an integrated suite of tools include the following:

• Document Management – In many law firms, documents are scattered in file cabinets, on personal and network hard drives, in e-mail text or attachments, at offsite locations or on removable media. Rafte & Company can assess your law firm's technology needs and then design, implement and manage an appropriate and collaborative document management solution customized for your unique situation. A fully integrated document management system can enable your law firm to establish a sound archival policy, implement role-based security and generate a detailed document audit trail, while also allowing attorneys to use these capabilities from anywhere. Additionally, a document management system can empower your law firm to track and control exactly what happens to a document when it starts circulating.
  
  
• Case Management – Rafte & Company can help your firm establish documented standards, policies and procedures for the collection of administrative information allowing multiple parties to enter and edit information. Our team can set up a case management system to interface seamlessly with all your major existing software: accounting, time and billing, document management and e-mail. The impact can be enormous. One-time entry and multiple points of interface and accessibility result in minimization of errors and improved overall performance of your firm.
  
  
• Docket Management – A firm wide docketing system helps you avoid missed deadlines by alerting you to create and file documents in a timely manner. Rafte & Company can design, implement and manage a dynamic docket management system that integrates with your firm's e-mail and case management systems to autimatically calculate the critical due dates and post these deadlines as well as reminders for the same, on firm wide calendars. This results in a true firm wide legal docketing system, ensuring that if a key date changes, the system adjusts all corresponding deadlines accordingly.