Article ID: 10928 

PCLaw Version 11 Service Pack 2 Release Notes

This article describes new and enhanced features in PCLaw® Version 11 SP2, and provides a list of corrected issues.

Refer to the What's New page for detailed information about version 11.

Verify that the following conditions exist before you download PCLaw Version 11:

  • A full backup of the PCLaw data files and documents exist
  • Close all open applications on your computer

Added Features and Enhancements

The following are a list of features and enhancements:

Feature/Enhancement:
Description:

Advanced Security
Options

  • Administrators can set up options related to password expiration, number of failed logins before locking the user, and password change requirements.

E-billing

  • This release provides support for the LEDES (Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard) 2.0 format. LEDES is the format used by many law firm clients for electronic billing.

Fijitsu Scan Snap Desktop
Scanner Software

  • Integration with Fujitsu ScanSnap desktop scanner software allows documents to be scanned directly into PCLaw Document Manager.

Import of Holidays

  • You can now import multiple country-specific and religious holiday files.

PCLaw Mobility

  • This unique cloud-based computing service lets you securely view and modify PCLaw information from any supported mobile device with web access.

QuickBooks Link Utility

  • Import PCLaw data into QuickBooks (Feature only available for Non Canadian customers).



Corrected Issues

PCLaw Version 11 SP2 corrects the following issues:

Functional Area:
Description:

Accounting

  • The PCLaw application no longer closes when a General Ledger account is demoted using the Demote button (Options > Lists > G/L Accounts > Demote Item).

Banking

  • When you run a Bank Reconciliation and select the Skip Zero Balance Checks option, only checks with a balance greater than zero display.
  • Only a single Bank Reconciliation Marked Items window can be opened when you run reconciliation activities.
  • Checks written to a vendor allow the ability to apply the vendor's middle initial, the middle initial appears on A/P and 1099 forms.
  • When you reprint a reconciliation report for an altered bank entry (i.e., G/L allocation, explanation), all reconciled entries are accurate and display properly.
  • Receipts and checks are printed when you do a Bank-to-Bank transfer.
  • If multiple bank accounts are accessible, the system properly gives the user access to the account identified as the default account as a first alternative.
  • Selecting the option Prompt Before Posting Bills in System Settings prompts the user before a bill is posted.
  • When you select the Assigned To drop-down list, it shows properly.
  • All options selected in the Trust Transfers area of the Options tab on the Bill Selections screen function properly (e.g., when you select All Trust Transfers on One Check, all Trust Transfers print on one check).
  • Adding a new matter to a BillFlow produces a summary report when you select the Produce Summary Report option on the Options tabs.
  • Choosing to cancel out of the Billing information screen while processing a BillFlow with the Prompt For Changes to Billed Amounts option selected, does not designate the bill as REQ.
  • Creating a matter that has time and fees included as a part of the BillFlow with the Select Charges option selected, display all billable charges (i.e., time and fee entries) on the Charge Selection screen correctly.
  • A held Trust receipt no longer continues to appear in the TBals summary section of a matter after you remove the held receipt.

BillFlow Manager

  • Selecting the Maximum Fee option on the Matter Manager's Billing tab provide users with a warning message that the maximum fee threshold is being exceeded. The bill is produced up to the "Max Fees" amount and applies any negative fee adjustment for the difference to the bill.
  • All matters added to the BillFlow Manager now appear correctly.

Billing

  • When splitting matters for the purpose of performing a mass billing, the disbursement of a matter that is not a part of the spilt will not be applied to the split matter and does not cause the Accounts Receivable to be higher than the disbursement value of the first matter.
  • If a bill has been paid in full after receiving a payment, a trust transfer has been performed before or after the bill, and no new charges have been made since that time with the option Include if Payments Since Last Invoice selected, then when the matter is billed by itself, an all zeros bill is produced. If the matter is billed as a mass bill, the matter will be skipped unless new charges have been added, or the previous balance and the previous payment will be displayed as zero on the new bill.
  • When you create a bill with Automatically Create Disbursements at Billing enabled; the Matter Manager is set to Automatically Transfer From Trust at Billing and there is both a General Retainer as well as a Trust Retainer, if the amount of the General Retainer is enough to pay off the amount of the automatically-created disbursement, the Retainer and Trust amounts are properly applied to the associated Matter.
  • Choosing to bill By Client to show one invoice for four or more Matters with the New Invoice For Each Client and Automatically Create Disbursements at Billing for a Percentage of Fees options selected, prompt users before displaying the billing information, and does not display the Unrecorded Disbursements window.
  • When a user selects the billing option Prompt before posting bills, applies a retainer, and clicks No at the prompt to post the bill, no debit is appyied to the default retainer account because the billing is cancelled.
  • When a user selects the Billing option 'Prompt before posting bills', applies a retainer, and when the system prompts to post the bill and No is clicked, no debits will be made to the default retainer account since the billing would have been cancelled.
  • Fee changes made during a bill release is saved correctly and does not use the original fee amount for billing purposes.li>
  • The Explanation code is displayed in the Charge Selection window the same as it was for the Time entry.
  • Post-dated Quick Bill amounts with unbilled time entries added display the same on the Billing Fees Journal and on the Client Ledger.
  • When you create a Trust-to-General Transfer bill, if the beginning of the transfer's explanation is changed, when you recreate the bill, the transfer amount is corrected, reduced, and reflected in the Balance Now Due field.
  • When you check mark the Print General Receipts and Print Trust Checks options, the Trust Transfer Information window does not display the Print option.
  • Invoices containing special fees are recreated, disbursement GST amounts are accurate and reflect the original bill amount.
  • When you select the Automatically Create Disbursement at Billing option and the One Time Amount option, an amount, and the G/L Account information has been entered on the Billing tab of the Matter Manager, if a bill is not posted or is cancelled and the matter is then billed again, an automatic disbursement is created for the initial and any subsequent bills.
  • If a bill is created or recreated with the output slated for email or PDF, a second email window with a blank PDF attachment does not open, or if Output to PDF is enabled, only one PDF file is created.
  • The correct balance and payments received for a specific invoice is always reflects correctly if a mass billing is run in with the Include if Payments Since Last Invoice option is selected for the billing.
  • During prebilling, changes to a charge are correctly displayed.
  • When mass billing a matter with an A/P check/cheque where the matter has been billed multiple times, all allocations now display as expected in the Client Ledger.
  • After undoing a split bill, creating a new bill with the same invoice number, and then undoing that bill, the process now completes in a timely manner.
  • Electronic bills are now created as expected for all split matters.
  • Matter allocations are now correctly displayed for multi-matter AP disbursements using the mass billing function.
  • When you enable Separate hard and soft costs, the Billing (Fees) Journal now correctly displays the split of hard and soft costs in the allocation area.
  • Fee adjustments made on the Billing Information screen for a Request Bill now cause the Net Bill amount to update when you tab through the Fees fields.
  • When you disable Sales Tax and enable GST enabled in System Settings, Quick Bill no longer charges sales tax when a P code is in the allocation area of a general check.
  • Writing off a fee or disbursement in the charge selection screen does not produce a File in Use message.
  • (Alberta) Using special fees entered through expense recovery along with automatic disbursements does not record a negative entry on the client ledger.

Calendar

  • If you make changes/modifications to a ToDo record that has a Matter Description, the Matter Description continues to display after you save and reopen the record.
  • Viewing appointments using the Week tab properly displays the appointment time along with the description/reason for the appointment.
  • When you double-click on a date other than the current date to create an appointment under the Week Calendar View, the program enters the new date in the "Due Date" field instead of the current date.
  • Fee changes made during a bill release is saved correctly and does not use the original fee amount for billing purposes.
  • The Explanation code is displayed in the Charge Selection window the same as it was for the Time entry.
  • Post-dated Quick Bill amounts with unbilled time entries added display the same on the Billing Fees Journal and on the Client Ledger.
  • When you create a Trust-to-General Transfer bill, if the beginning of the transfer's explanation is changed, when you recreate the bill, the transfer amount is corrected, reduced, and reflected in the Balance Now Due field.
  • When you check mark the Print General Receipts and Print Trust Checks options, the Trust Transfer Information window does not display the Print option.
  • Invoices containing special fees are recreated, disbursement GST amounts are accurate and reflect the original bill amount.
  • When you select the Automatically Create Disbursement at Billing option and the One Time Amount option, an amount, and the G/L Account information has been entered on the Billing tab of the Matter Manager, if a bill is not posted or is cancelled and the matter is then billed again, an automatic disbursement is created for the initial and any subsequent bills.
  • If a bill is created or recreated with the output slated for email or PDF, a second email window with a blank PDF attachment does not open, or if Output to PDF is enabled, only one PDF file is created.
  • The correct balance and payments received for a specific invoice is always reflects correctly if a mass billing is run in with the Include if Payments Since Last Invoice option is selected for the billing.
  • The Show Alert option now works as expected when adding a new appointment.
  • You can add a linked date item with over 300 characters in its action to an appointment.

Contact Manager

  • The Contact Manager functions properly and is not based on the user's level of access.li>
  • If the Display As field for a client is changed from either the Client or Matter Manager, the Display As field in the Contact Manager for that client is also changed.
  • Large numbers of contacts (over 100) can now be individually selected for export from the Contact Manager without causing the export to fail..

Conversion

  • Explanation codes (i.e., mark up and quantity rates) are correctly converted after running a conversion.

Custom Tabs

  • Explanation codes (i.e., mark up and quantity rates) are correctly converted after running a conversion.
  • The handling of radio button groups on Custom Tabs has been improved.

Database

  • Attempting to create a Matter using a duplicated Matter number and then changing it to reflect a unique Matter number, creates the Address information record for the client.

Data Entry

  • The Explanation (description) field for checks has been increased to accept additional characters and will print properly even if seventy of more characters are entered.
  • For Windows XP users, the cursor display in the Allocation explanation field on the Expense Recovery screen if the DPI is set to Large.
  • If the Allow Charges to be Held option has been disabled on the Data Entry screen under System Settings and time entries are made from the Quick Timer and the Time Sheet, both entries are shown on the bill once created.
  • When you post a payment to multiple Matters that result in an overpayment, in addition to the message stating an overpayment, an Overpayment Allocation screen is also displayed.
  • Time entry postings that are delayed are be incrementally increased by the value set in the Round Time Entries to __ Hs field on the Data Entry form under System Settings.
  • After making changes to a Trust bank account and clicking the Tab key, instead of next moving to the Matter field, it proceeds in the following order: Check number -> General Account -> Receipt number -> To field.
  • If a user makes time entries using the Time Sheet, right clicks in the Explanation Code field, followed by tabbing to the Explanation field, and then minimizes the Time Sheet, data continues to display in both the Explanation Code and the Explanation fields.
  • Amounts in the Total field are retained after selecting a Matter for Trust Administration fees.
  • Data entered into the To fields is displayed correctly if the default font is changed on the Other tab of the Workstation Settings screen.
  • Australian installations no longer permit the deletion or removal of trust transactions. Such transactions now can only be reversed.
  • Individually selected allocations on a general check can now be transferred reliably from one matter to another.
  • Changes to the amount in the AP register are saved as expected.

Data Import

  • The Data Import module functions properly when executed.

Database

  • The excessive amount of time that it takes for the PCLaw application to load and for users to log in is now correct, and is not dependent upon the number of simultaneous users attempting to access the application.

Electronic Billing

  • The excessive amount of time that it takes for the PCLaw application to load and for users to log in is now correct, and is not dependent upon the number of simultaneous users attempting to access the application.

Installation

  • The error message stating that the "PLCore32.dll file was not found" is no longer generated if Microsoft Office applications are not closed prior to running the PCLaw upgrade program. If setup is stopped after it has been started while performing an update, when it is restarted, the existing set of books is found, and only one instance of the data is displayed on the PCLaw login screen.

Link with Time Matters/PCLaw API

  • The message "Error Adding Matter to PCLaw" no longer displays when you send a matter to PCLaw from Time Matters.
  • When Time Matters and PCLaw are linked and you create a matter in Time Matters using specific special characters in the matter number, the Error adding Matter to PCLaw message appears.
  •  The Next Matter Number for clients shown in the PCLaw link and in the PCLaw software are now always consistent.

Matter List

  • All Matters are listed and displayed on the Matter List when accessed (File > Matter List.

Matter Manager

  • When you add a Custom tab to the Matter Manager with a Contact field on it, and the label is printed, the contact information prints as expected.
  • Users are able to save changes made to different records and move between tabs (i.e., Main, Billing, Notes, etc.) in the Matter Manager.
  • Fee entries are promptly removed when you select the Remove option on the Correct-Fee Entry screen.
  • Clicking the New button on the Ledger screen of the Matter Manager opens a new Note window.
  • After modifying Time entries in the Ledger tab of the Matter Manager and clicking the Refresh button, the Ledger tab is refreshed and all entries are present/displayed.
  • Changes to one matter viewed in Matter Manager no longer affect the Transaction Change ID on other matters viewed in the same browsing session.
  • The lawyer nickname now appears on the report when printing notes from the Matter Manager.
  • Reports printed from the All tab in the Matter Manager now show the entry date for time, fees, and documents rather than the current date.

Miscellaneous

  • When a user links the Time Matters and PCLaw applications and creates a Matter in Time Matters using a period (.) in the Matter number, the error message "Error adding Matter to PCLaw" is no longer generated.
  • A maximum of twelve (12) characters is displayed for the Matter number on all Matter Summary screens.
  • When you export large reports/data to Excel, the corresponding .xml file is not corrupted and opens correctly.
  • The About PCLaw Help screen displays only the active number of timekeepers with a Partner category in the firm/partnership.
  • Creating a bill/pre-bill and selecting a client with multiple Matters from the Select Matters screen, display that client's list of Matters. At that time, any Matter selected in that client's list of Matters is displayed at the top of the list.
  • Increased field length from 12 to 20 characters on Lawyers and Rates window.

Opening PCLaw

  • When the One Matter per page on Client Trust List option is selected (Options > System Settings > Data Entry), the trust information for each matter is displayed on a separate page.

Printing

  • When the One Matter per page on Client Trust List option is selected (Options > System Settings > Data Entry), the trust information for each matter is displayed on a separate page.

QuickStep

  • When the Quickstep option (Options > Quickstep) is deselected, it does not display in the PCLaw application. If a user closes out of the application and re-enters it, the Quickstep remains disabled.

Reports

  • The time it takes to run the Invoice Journal Report when using filters associated with the Matters tab is reduced.
  • The Vendor name and nickname fields properly displays on the Payment Listing Report when it is requested (Reports > Accounts Payable > Payment Listing --- view the report).

Research

  • The respective document page opens in Internet Explorer and the application error message "LexisNexis is not able to process your request at this time. Please try again later" is not displayed when you save the Research URL to PCLaw and copy it back out to Internet Explorer while you are logged into the New Zealand (NZ) Research platform.

Template Editor

  • If a user creates a bill, performs a trust to general transfer and then runs a pre-bill, the Previous Balance field will display the correct value on any subsequent pre-bill/bill.

Timers

  • The Timer restarts after being stopped and/or started multiple times in succession.

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