‘20% of all lawyers admit the relationship with their family members is suffering from their workload.’.

This press release reports the results of a comparative study of the University of Leuven and Gent 6 or 7 years ago, showing that the legal profession:

  • is becoming more feminine
  • continues to grow
  • more and more associates in larger offices

We work harder, especially men – an average of 40 to 50 hours a week -, especially during weekends and holidays. We conveniently assume that this mainly considers firms that do not yet work with CICERO LawPack. With CICERO LawPack their productivity would undoubtedly be higher and the workload much lower. If someone still needs to work on weekends or holidays, it is a pure luxury to work at home or anywhere mobile, without having to go to the office.

The introduction of VAT will have a greater impact for your office than you might expect. To make everything run smoothly CICERO LawPack has created an extensive range of video tutorials to guide you through the steps. The first and the second step in this process, which you should definitely perform before January 1st, are available on support.cicerosoftware.net .

With clear examples we show you how to adjust your office management step by step and at your own pace. You can also consult and print the text version of the video tutorials and other documents.

VAT for Belgian lawyers was introduced already a month ago. We have strengthened our helpdesk with extra people, but sometimes you had to wait a little longer than you are used to. We apologize for that.

Tutorials have been viewed more than 5000 times

Fortunately there are now more than 50 video tutorials online, of which about 20 concern different steps and aspects of VAT. These short but powerful how-to films have been viewed by over 5000 users in the last three months. You can watch these wherever and whenever you want, using our extranet or the Cicero v10 menu.

SEPA

As from the first of August SEPA is mandatory throughout Europe, but we are ready for it now. The latest tutorials show you how to create a payment file by Cicero v10.

Then tackle your office processes with a CICERO Certified Consultant. These implementation partners have a lot of experience in employing the necessary processes, and have been trained especially by us to optimise the activities within law firms by using CICERO LawPack.

Through interviews and workshops they help you take your office workflow to the next level. If desired, they can also assist you in the development of these processes.

This not only saves you time and costs. A good office workflow also creates a good working atmosphere.

A list of our implementation partners with their contact details can be found on our web site.

On 8 June, under a radiant spring sun, more than 500 participants took part in the annual Advocate Run (“Advocatenrun”). This year, the event started at the Colonial Palace (“Koloniënpaleis”) in Tervuren with the 5 and 12 km, the Kids Run, Theme Walks, as well as many other activities.

As usual, CICERO was one of the sponsors of the event. But, more than that, a large delegation of CICERO staff also took part, and finished with excellent results. Congratulations to all who took part! We hope to see you (again) next year!

Watch a short video on the event here, on advocatennet.be

Technology determines the efficiency of a law firm, as well as its relationship with its clients. That was the main conclusion of an investigation by the ING Economic Bureau.

  • 3 out of 4 law firms had invested money in new technologies within the last 3 years.
  • In 86% of these firms, the decision to invest had met with resistance.

The turnover of your firm is under pressure:

  • An ever increasing number of parties, including insurance and accounting companies, are offering legal services.
  • The legal departments of companies are doing more by themselves.
  • Customers are more reluctant to spend money because of the crisis.

Technology is mainly used in administration, and less in substantive work processes

  • 76% use software to keep track of billable hours, to analyse work, and for billing
  • Less than 70% use software to help run their firm
  • Only 53% use software that works with templates to create documents
  • Less than one in three works digitally or uses mobile devices
  • Apps for customers are only scarcely available.

To invest or not, that’s the question
One in four offices fear that the investments are either too big, or will struggle to create a return on investment. Yet, on the other hand, one fifth of the firms have insufficient knowledge of technology and do not realise, e.g., that cloud solutions are cheaper.

Technology strengthens the relationship between law firm and client

  • Law firms can use technology to offer new services that take advantage of their expertise, and thus distinguish themselves from the competition.
  • Law firms can offer more value added services and thus present themselves as strategic partners.
  • Clients want to use technology to better monitor their lawyers’ performance, but more importantly, to be able to work together more efficiently.

From version V10.1.52 onward the Accounting application (previously “accounting V9″) has been added to CICERO LawPack.

The application offers the same extended functionality you already know from V9, and has been enhanced with new features. Several parts have been further optimised.

The complete workflow, e.g., with regard to purchase invoices is now supported, from uploading and linking, to the actual processing.

As with any new version, V10.1.52 has a number of bug fixes. It also includes further improvements to several other existing V10 applications.

In order to allow you to quickly familiarise yourself with all the new features, we have provided some additional video tutorials. (At present only in Dutch). You can view them via ‘video tutorials’ or from the ‘Tutorials ‘ option in the V10 menu.

If you want a complete overview of all changes in this version, click on ‘ Changelog’ in the V10 menu.