Swift, Seamless Onboarding to MyCase With Zero Downtime

The Mission

We help provide justice, both for parents who have had their kids taken away from the government and for kids who are charged as adults, some of which are looking at life in prison as a result of a homicide. Our job is to be that protector from the government and making sure that justice is served and that the Constitution is upheld. And so that is our mission: to provide high-quality representation for marginalized kids, families, and individuals who find themselves in the judicial system.

A Partnership with MyCase

My partner and I began talks to merge our firms back in December of 2020. For her, the only dealbreaker was moving forward without a practice management solution in place. Prior to the merge, she had used an archaic cloud-based solution whereas I hadn’t used a practice management system at all.

When we started shopping around, I crossed paths with an attorney who I was once co-counsel with on a serious case, who uses MyCase. It was there that we decided to check it out, and the rest is history.

Tell us about your onboarding experience with MyCase

I was very satisfied with the MyCase onboarding process and that we were able to meet our deadline. Even with extensive and complicated data migration, we were able to get onboarded and trained by our goal date.

The onboarding process was broken up into three sessions, which was immensely helpful. The first session helped us get acquainted with the software and identify our action items as well as which features our staff should prioritize learning first. The second session was reserved for an office-wide training and Q&A. Everyone was able to ask questions as our Onboarding Manager, gave us a tailored walkthrough of the software. The final session was reserved for just myself, my partner, and our office manager so that we could do a deep dive and ask very in-depth questions about billing and invoicing, among other processes unique to our firm.

Beyond our scheduled sessions, our Onboarding Manager would reach out to us often to see if we had questions. And whenever I had a question, I would get a timely and thorough response.

What unique processes were you able to transfer into MyCase during the onboarding process?

Because we do so many state contracts, our billing process is different than that of your average law firm. Rather than simply generating and sending out our invoices, we have to go through an additional data entry process in which my office manager enters invoices into a separate state system. To that end, being able to have those conversations about our particular needs is why we had the most success with MyCase onboarding. The MyCase onboarding team was very mindful of covering all our bases collectively and ensuring my team had everything in place to get started.

How was your experience with getting started in MyCase?

It was really easy to get familiar with MyCase; it’s super user-friendly. You can just dive right in and start exploring it comfortably. And the MyCase Training videos are super helpful if you run into any issues. When I or my staff refer to them, we’re normally able to get all of our questions answered without needing to ask anyone for help, even though it’s readily available.

How does MyCase help you meet rapidly evolving client expectations?

Our client needs have changed a lot since COVID-19 started. MyCase has given us the ability to be more effective at communicating with our clients, because we have the ability to connect with those who otherwise have limited access to a computer or a phone.

I am very, very delighted to see our clients’ engagement rise with MyCase. We represent a lot of clients who check their case status in the middle of the night to help ease their mind and feel more connected. It’s helped not only them but also my staff keep better track of the communications between us and our clients. That, to me, is a win and not something I initially expected when we transitioned.

Can you name a specific feature that has helped you boost client engagement?

What I really liked about MyCase that few case management systems have is the Two-way Text Messaging. Many of the clients that we work with and represent have Wi-Fi-only phones, are homeless, or have no access to e-mail. And though we talk to our clients on the phone as much we can, much of our communication is via text messaging; that’s what our clients feel comfortable with and is often all they have access to. For that reason, Two-way Text Messaging is amazing for us and crucial for our practice. We’ve seen definitively more client engagement as a result. I’ve had more clients participating in family meetings and court hearings because everything is virtual.

Name another feature that has been immediately helpful for your team?

We have a couple of new lawyers at our firm, and teaching them how to capture time can be really challenging. But with the Smart Time Finder in MyCase they’re able to go back and find time that they’ve missed. One of my attorneys consistently billed 9 or 10 hours a day, and now she’s up to 11 to 12 hours a day. That’s huge! She’s truly able to capture all of her time.

We had also previously been capturing our time on an Excel spreadsheet for my firm. I would go in and calculate daily hours before adding them up on a different spreadsheet. Smart Time Finder saved me so much administrative time, because I can go in and quickly pull everyone’s billable hours.

Any additional remarks regarding the switch to MyCase?

We are just super happy with the transition to MyCase. To be truthful, I was reluctant to invest in a case management system at the time of our merger. But right from the get-go, we’ve been able to capture more time, and MyCase has absolutely paid for itself. Even my partner, who came from using another case management system, loves it. We would not go back from using MyCase; it’s been really remarkable.