STAY connected
© Copyright 2022 Vista Consulting Team. All Rights Reserved.
Your case management program is the central nervous system of your firm. Implemented well, it automates workflow, houses critical client and case data, keeps your team organized, and generates reports used to make key business decisions. As technology grows and develops and as the needs of your firm change, you may consider making the switch from your current program to another.
Before you jump to another program, be sure you’ve truly outgrown the program you have. Ask yourself these questions:
Be sure to approach the project with eyes wide open and acknowledge that a new program may or may not be the right solution for your needs. Sometimes, the fix is as simple as committing to make the program you already have work more effectively and efficiently for your law firm.
If you’ve decided that moving to another program is the right choice for you, step one is doing your due diligence in selecting a new program. There are excellent choices in the market, and each system has its bells and whistles. Determine what features and functions are critical for your firm. Involve your team in this step! Your boots on the ground workers who navigate the program daily and intimately know the workflow are a valuable resource. Consider setting up a team of key team members to vet and select a program. Involve team members from multiple departments who will have varying needs and wishlist items.
The vetting process should involve demos from multiple vendors. Your key team should develop a list of questions for each demo so a proper comparison can be made. Be sure to ask what the price per month includes and clarify additional charges for things like integrations, conversion work, build out, and reports. Ask for a timeline, as it can vary depending on the complexity of your data, the program from which you are converting, the volume of conversions on deck, and other factors. Whatever that timeline is, add 3 months or more to it!
There is a reason this is called a “process” and not an “event.” You’ve likely amassed enormous amounts of data, and depending on your firm’s processes and procedures, that data may not be “clean.” You may have duplicate providers or clients in your system. You may be housing data in fields not intended for that kind of data (putting dates in a name field for example.) You may have developed workarounds that make the data confusing. When converting to a new system, you’ll see these data issues become painfully obvious.
You’ll work with your new case management software provider to map your old data into the new system. This step is critical and involves input and involvement from your team. You’ll need to identify your workflow, consider your current data, and make critical decisions on how to build out your new system. Again, involve your team in this step. This helps you to not only build the right system for you but to gain buy-in from team members throughout the process. As with any change initiative, you may encounter skepticism, fear, and frustration from your team. Acknowledge those feelings and help them to see the ultimate vision: a system that will help the firm better serve its clients by allowing your team to work with intention, feel empowered, and be efficient and effective.
Done well, a conversion process involves a few “passes” or reviews of the converted data in the new system. These passes are non-live mini-conversions that help ensure the data is mapping over correctly. It’s critical that your team be involved in checking the data during those passes, as you’ll likely need to sign off on it. A good case management provider will allow as many passes as necessary to ensure your data lands in the right spot and your program functions as intended.
Bear with the process, and know that your “go live” date will come. You can prepare for that date by communicating often with your team, ensuring you’ve invested in training for all team members (both users and administrators), and championing the change in your firm. Set the expectation early that case management software usage is non-negotiable. A good rule to introduce to your team is: if it’s not in the program, it didn’t happen.
No conversion is 100% perfect. You’ll encounter bumps in the road, data that does not match up as cleanly as you’d like, resistant team members, integrations that require back and forth support, and fatigue from the process. It’s all normal, and you will come out of that dip and realize the fruits of your efforts!
Vista has helped countless firms navigate this arduous process. We can help you identify needs, think through decisions on workflow, and work with your team as you implement a system. Find out what Vista can do for you.
© Copyright 2022 Vista Consulting Team. All Rights Reserved.
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
Accept settingsHide notification onlySettingsWe may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.
Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.
We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.
We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Google reCaptcha Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.
Privacy PolicyTim co-founded Vista Consulting in 2009, along with his partner Chad Dudley. Vista’s aim was to help plaintiff law firms reach their full potential. In December 2017, Tim acquired Chad’s interest in Vista. Tim and Chad remain very close friends to this day! Tim has decades of CPA experience with local, regional, and national CPA firms. However, it is through Tim’s prior consulting practice that he found his passion. He has worked with many business owners, assisting them with defining and attaining success in their business and personal lives. Developing a management philosophy with business owners along with the associated systems and processes that assist in delivering outstanding management to Vista’s client teams is Tim’s forté.
Dr. Heather Carroll holds a Doctor of Business Administration in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She specializes in areas such as job satisfaction, motivation, burnout, and organizational commitment, particularly as these workplace factors apply to the legal industry.
During her nearly 20 years of legal experience, she has held many roles from Case Manager, to Litigation Paralegal, to HR Manager, to Firm Operations Administrator. The majority of Dr. Carroll’s legal experience has been in the area of personal injury. However, she began her legal career at a labor union by assisting in the negotiations of a new collective bargaining agreement between a major US airline and their pilot group. It was through that experience that her interest in team and operational matters, within a legal setting, took root. Many years, and a doctorate, later helping legal teams thrive through increased operational efficiency is her passion.
Dr. Carroll resides outside the Seattle/ Tacoma area of Washington currently. She is a military spouse and a mom of three.
Ryan joined the Vista team in 2014 as a Programmer. He has more than fifteen years of experience working in various finance and accounting roles with a strong background in IT and management information systems. Ryan codes in Visual Basic and is an expert with all Microsoft products. He works closely with Vista’s Operations Consultants to build out custom dashboards for our clients. These dashboards become integral in our clients’ success. Ryan is skilled at assessing and understanding our clients’ requirements and translating those into clear and concise reporting tools that allow our clients to improve firm operations.
Mary Ellen Murrah joined the Vista Team in 2019. Prior to joining Vista, Mary Ellen spent more than 16 years managing and marketing a national, legal case management software company. That position introduced her to thousands of personal injury law firms across the country. She was a familiar face at annual legal events and a frequent voice on topics ranging from legal marketing to data integrity. Over the years, she’s forged meaningful relationships with legal vendors, which has provided keen insight on almost every corner of the legal industry. She is skilled in identifying law firm business improvement opportunities and brings her extensive operations, team management, and industry knowledge to the Vista team. Mary Ellen has a true passion for tackling projects with common sense management. Her eye for detail, human resources experience, and deep operations skills are an asset to help law firms grow their businesses and help attorneys foster and maintain efficient, profitable practices.
Pam joined the Vista Team in 2020 as an Operations Consultant. She began her career more than twenty years ago at a personal injury law firm where she served as Law Firm Administrator for close to a decade. In that role, she became intimately familiar with the nuances of personal injury firms and developed a keen eye for improvement and success. She then took her passion for data management and effective processes to a national, legal case management software company. There, she worked with hundreds of law firms across the country to help them implement a new system that allowed them to collect and analyze their data and institute seamless workflows. She then transitioned to the role of Training Director for a large personal injury firm where she served as project manager for a massive data conversion and software platform shift. Ultimately, she yearned to get back to her roots, traveling the country, meeting thousands of attorneys and team members, and helping them transform their business.
Stephanie joined the Vista Team in 2009 as an Operations Consultant. She brings her knowledge and experience in management and operational excellence to our team. Prior to joining Vista, Stephanie spent twelve years working for insurance claims departments and five years as a Chief Operations Officer of a multi-office, northeast, personal injury firm. She is admitted to practice law in Connecticut, New York, and Tennessee. Stephanie utilizes her experience to assist Vista clients in implementing tried and true solutions in law firm operations. She is an innovative thinker who can apply solutions to clients’ specific circumstances. Stephanie has a knack for assisting COO’s and Office Managers in challenging situations. She has polished coaching techniques and is skilled at helping her clients work through the decision-making process. She is extremely thorough, exhibits strong communication skills, and partners with key client personnel in delivering systems and accountability that drives results.
Terri joined the Vista Team in 2018 as an Operations Consultant. After joining a large, multistate law firm in 2004 as a front desk receptionist, Terri quickly realized that her passion for serving others was best utilized in the personal injury firm setting. She developed a love for the legal field. Terri’s passion and desire to understand all aspects of a personal injury case resulted in several promotions to Senior Legal Assistant. In 2015, Terri was selected to join a brand new personal injury firm as Senior Legal Assistant and Office Manager. In this new role, Terri was able to utilize her dedication to the profession and years of experience to help this firm quickly become one of the premier small firms in her hometown. Terri looks forward to helping personal injury firms meet their growth goals.
Amanda Hankins joined Vista Consulting Team in 2017, bringing more than two decades of intimate experience working in personal injury law firms. Amanda’s career at a large, multistate law firm took her from Receptionist to Legal Assistant to Intake Supervisor to Medical Treatment Coordinator. This experience in working in every department of a personal injury firm serves her clients exceptionally well. She’s been there, she knows the struggles, and she knows how to drive progress. She also has experience working with one of the largest medical funding companies as a Business Development Manager. She has a true passion for customer service and loves working with law firms to teach them all avenues of keeping client satisfaction as a top priority.
8:00 am | Breakfast |
9:00 am | Welcome & Introductions Tim McKey | Vista Consulting & McKey Business Group Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
10:00 am | 3 R’s – Relationships, Referrals, and Reviews Darcy Neighbors | CIM Marketing Partners Julie Ostrovsky | Nevada Justice Association |
11:00 am | Stretch Break |
11:15 am | Systems, Metrics, and Alignment Mike Morse & John Nachazel Mike Morse Law Firm and Authors of the book “Fireproof” |
12:30 pm | Lunch |
2:00 pm | Organizational Commitment and Burnout within a Law Firm Setting Heather Carroll The Eichholz Law Firm | Savannah, Georgia |
3:00 pm | Stretch Break |
3:15 pm | How to Take a Moneyball Approach to Running Your Law Firm Larry Buckfire & James Schmehl Buckfire & Buckfire | Southfield, Michigan |
4:15 pm | Extra Sensory Dave Dee – Mentalist Speaker, Author and Mentalist | Milton, Georgia |
5:00 pm | Conclude Day 1 |
6:00 – 8:00 pm | Cocktail Party The Joule Hotel | 1530 Main Street Dallas, Texas 75201 |
8:00 am | Breakfast |
9:00 am | Virtual Secrets Revealed Dave Dee – Mentalist Speaker, Author and NLP Sales Consultant | Milton, Georgia |
10:10 am | Stretch Break |
10:30 am | Everyone Deserves a Great Manager Scott Miller, Bestselling Author and Leadership Expert at FranklinCovey FranklinCovey Salt Lake City, Utah |
12:00 pm | Lunch |
1:00 pm | Local Service Ads for Legal: Buying Your Way to the Top Locally Nalini Prasad | BluShark Digital Washington, DC |
2:00 pm | Servant Leadership and the Power of Positive Reinforcement Merten Rice | Dudley DeBosier Baton Rouge, LA |
3:00 pm | FYI, Don’t Do This Tim McKey | Vista Consulting & McKey Business Group Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
3:30 pm | Conclude Day 2 |