We are happy to announce the 5.1.0 release of LawLab.  This release features a number of major improvements including Interview and Active Case Management. Interview is a single-page application that lets interviewers collect and organize the maximum amount of client information in a flexible format, allowing them to conduct interviews in a way that is most comfortable for the client and the interviewer. Active Case Management is a productivity tool that automates workflows and triggers case events, ensuring that process is well-defined and utilized throughout the practice.

A feature that has been often requested has now arrived: Access Control!  This allows an Administrator to create Limited users who may only access specific Records, and may have different, fine-grained permissions applied to various Records.

Another important part of the 5.1.0 release is an overall security hardening of the LawLab application.   Password encryption, while adequate, has been significantly strengthened. Administrators now have the ability to require that a user change their password on next login, allowing initial passwords to be shared then immediately replaced by the user.  Users will also be greeted with a new login notice stating the last time and location of their session, and a warning if it appears to be significantly different from the prior session.

A number of other smaller, “behind the scenes” improvements and changes have been made to facilitate even bigger features coming soon!

Learn about LawLab 5.1.0

  • These easy-to-use online manuals will help you learn how to get the most out of your LawLab platform.
  • We cover the basics about LawLab in Getting Started: What is LawLab?
  • For the new user (or even the old-hand), this guide LawLab for New Users describes how to create a record, complete a case registration, create docket entries, add documents and other attachments, understand the dashboard, and take advantage of the power of LawLab’s Interview component. You can learn about creating calendar syncs and using Markdown syntax to format entries.
  • Administrators should review this guide to understand how to create workflows, manage users and more.

Important Changes

  • As a result of improved password security, Calendar ICS and RSS feed URLs will need to be recreated once after the user’s first login post-upgrade.  Existing URLs will no longer function
  • Administrator accounts with either default email addresses or passwords will be forced to update their email and/or password information on the next login.
  • Additional security features designed to prevent “session hijacking” attacks may be problematic for mobile users.  To disable security features which may impact mobile users, click the “Remember Me” checkbox when logging in.

Major Features / Improvements

  • Interview Application
  • Active Case Management Workflows and Triggers
  • Auto fill new Docket entries with attachments and comments
  • Unified Parties
  • Access Control
  • Security Hardening
  • Multi-User Dashboard

Minor Improvements  / Changes

  • Added ability to print Task report directly from Dashboard
  • Improved UI button consistency
  • Security Role functionality is consistent across the site
  • Gender added to party
  • Various Task report improvements, including export to CSV
  • Password reset page styling improvements
  • Include Gender in Parties report
  • Dashboard options now persist for entire login session instead of being reset each page view
  • XSLX export support has been removed
  • Docket styling improvements to indicate future/past entries
  • Case Actions may now be limited to specific Case Types
  • Remove Flash requirement for address clipboard copy support
  • Allow sorting by Attorney column in Records and Consultations view
  • Allow searching by Attorney in Consultations

Bug Fixes

  • Calendar event/task comment details now scroll with page
  • Dashboard options now persist for entire login session instead of being reset each page view
  • Prevent identically named items from being created in some dropdowns (Case Types, Case Actions, etc)
  • Fix case when Events without comments wouldn’t match when Advanced Search was ran with no query and a Case Action specified
  • Fix for error when certain Consultations are returned in Management Report
  • Non-default sort parameters are now preserved when paginating through results