New Guardianship Forms for Massachusetts Probate Law
July 1, 2009
New Probate forms for Guardianships are now in effect for Massachusetts. We will be uploading them for current customers as quickly they become available.
TurboLaw is set by default to check for updates and new forms automatically every time you open the program, so if you have not changed this setting, then your TurboLaw will pick up the new forms automatically each time you open the program.
If you have automatic updates turned off (for example, if you have a dial-up connection) you can check for updates manually by clicking the Updates menu in TurboLaw and choosing Check for Updates.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s Website May Harm Your Computer
May 13, 2009
Google seems to have caught the Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s website (telegram.com) distributing “drive by” malware. “Drive by” malware means malicious or harmful software that is installed on your computer even if you don’t click on anything. Of course this is done without your consent (or notice).
Google has a “Safe Browsing” notice page that explains the details of what has been found coming from the Telegram & Gazette’s website.
If you search Google for “worcester telegram and gazette“, you will receive a warning page similar to the one shown below (the warning is circled in red):
If you use Firefox as your web browser and you try to go directly to the Telegram & Gazette’s website, you’ll see a security warning similar to this:
If you use Internet Explorer, you won’t get any warning – so if you do use Internet Explorer, you might want to avoid going directly to the Telegram & Gazette’s website and instead search for it using Google.
According to Google’s report, the malware isn’t coming directly from telegram.com, but from other sites – probably linked via ads of some sort, or perhaps via a sneaky technique known as “injection,” which allows content from other (usually “bad”) sites to be “injected” into other sites (usually very popular ones).
If you do visit the Telegram & Gazette’s website (not recommended right now), you’ll see a vague statement on the front page regarding “problems” they are experiencing right now, and how they are “working with their vendors” to resolve it.
Until this situation is resolved, we’d recommend staying away from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s website. You can check on the status of the situation by searching Google for “worcester telegram and gazette” and seeing whether the “This site may harm your computer” warning is still there.
If you absolutely must go to the website, we’d recommend using extreeme caution. If you have a Macintosh or Linux computer available, it is probably safe to visit the site from those computers – as almost all malware is written for Microsoft Windows.
UPDATE: The problem appears to have been fixed. We received a note from Mark Henderson, Online Director over at the Telegram & Gazette, who let us know about the problem and gave us this note, which was also posted on their website:
Our Web site was the target of a virus or other intruding program for limited periods of time from Monday afternoon to early Wednesday morning. When we learned of the problem, we took all appropriate steps to ensure the integrity and safety of the site. We believe that we have corrected the problem and that you can continue to use the site without concern. It is our understanding that computers with up-to-date virus protection would not have been compromised. If you believe that your computer may have been affected while connected to our site, please contact Online Director Mark Henderson at (508) 793-9266.
Google also no longer lists the site as being potentially harmful to your computer, nor does Firefox. So it seems to be safe to visit the site again. Although this incident just underscores the need to have a good anti-virus or anti-spyware program on your computer that is kept up-to-date!
TurboLaw 2.71 Released
April 28, 2009
The latest version of TurboLaw Document Software – version 2.71 – has been released. This new version is a relatively minor update (hence the minor version number change) that contains improvements to the TurboLaw Update Utility for people who connect to the Internet via unusual means or have unusual proxy server configurations.
This update also includes an improvement to the Case Interview Wizard for MA/General Litigation which allows you to change a party from “defendant” to “plaintiff”” (and vice versa), which was previously not possible.
Although this is a minor update, we do recommend that all customers install this update. If you have automatic updates turned on in TurboLaw, you will be notified about this update. If you don’t have automatic updates turned on, you will have to check for updates manually by clicking the Update menu in TurboLaw and choosing Check for Updates.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any trouble getting this latest update, or if you have any questions or comments. We welcome your feedback!
TurboLaw Time and Billing 1.14 Released
March 31, 2009
As always, we are very pleased to announce the release of TurboLaw Time and Billing Version 1.14 today! This new version brings with it a number of changes to help you get your billing done as quickly and easily as possible.
In addition to the change to the way finance charges are calculated that we’ve mentioned previously, this new update includes the following updated features:
- On statements, bills that were for a specific “matter” now have the matter’s name next to the bill number, so your clients can see which bill was for which matter.
- You can now add new time/expense items directly to a new bill.
- You can now select how you would like the program to round time that is recorded with the stopwatch – this option can be found under “General Settings.”
As always, TurboLaw Time and Billing checks for updates automatically in the background, so you don’t have to do anything special to get this update – just keep your eyes open for the pop-up notification, or for this little message:
Watch for this message to appear when a new update is available!
Just click the pop-up notice (or the message) to install the update (it only takes a few seconds to install).
As always, we welcome any feedback you may have, and we hope you enjoy this latest version of TurboLaw Time and Billing!
Change to Finance Charges in TurboLaw Time and Billing
March 18, 2009
If you assess finance charges to your clients using TurboLaw Time and Billing, there’s an important change coming up in the next update that you need to be aware of. (If you don’t assess finance charges to your clients, you don’t have to do anything.)
In the next update of TurboLaw Time and Billing (version 1.14), the finance charge field in your client’s information has been renamed from a “monthly” rate to an “annual” rate (or APR). This was done based on feedback from customers, who said they were used to talking about finance charge rates on an annual (APR) basis, rather than monthly. This will also help to reduce the confusion some people had with understanding how a “monthly” finance charge was applied.
The change that you need to be aware of is that this field has been renamed, but if you had previously entered a monthly finance charge rate for a client, the rate you had entered as a “monthly” rate now needs to be updated to be a “yearly” rate.
For example, if you had entered a 1.5% monthly rate previously, after this update you will need to go and change the number you’ve entered to 18% (1.5% monthly rate x 12 months = 18% APR).
You can find the field you need to change on the Edit Client window in TurboLaw Time and Billing.
The update with this change to the finance charge field in TurboLaw Time and Billing is due out near the end of March, 2009, and will be labeled “Version 1.14.”
As always, if you have any questions about this change, or any other aspect of TurboLaw Time and Billing, please do not hesitate to contact us!
TurboLaw 2.70 Released
March 4, 2009
We are very excited to announce a major new release of TurboLaw Document Software – Version 2.70! The most visible change is the totally new TurboLaw Update Utility, which not only gets a complete face-lift, but has in fact been re-designed completely from scratch to improve your experience while using TurboLaw.
Some of the new features of the completely new TurboLaw Update Utility are:
- Much faster than the old Update Utility – updates now happen faster so you spend less time waiting.
- Greater compatibility with software firewalls – less of a chance that your software firewall will “block” TurboLaw Update from connecting to the Internet in the first place.
- A vastly improved "manual" update mode which allows you to choose specific areas of law to be updated (or not updated – great for users who still have slower Internet connections or dial-up).
- Choices made during the "manual" update mode are saved, so you don’t have to keep un-selecting documents that you don’t want to update.
- New update notification pop-up is less intrusive.
- "Manual" updates now use the new "Aero" style wizard, to match the visual styles used in newer versions of Windows.
- Updates will require fewer reboots of your computer in the future, thanks to the new Update Utility’s method of installing the updates.
Making sure your TurboLaw documents stay up-to-date as they are revised by the courts is very important, which is why we’ve worked so hard to make sure that the experience of updating your TurboLaw software and documents is as simple, easy, and quick as possible.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any trouble getting this latest update. We hope you enjoy it!
TurboLaw Time and Billing 1.13 Released
January 27, 2009
Once again, we are proud to announce the latest new version of TurboLaw Time and Billing – Version 1.13! We’ve added a number of new features in this version to help you work faster in TurboLaw Time and Billing – saving you even more time when doing your billing.
For example, you can now type in any drop-down box (instead of using the mouse) and the program will show you those items in the drop-down that match what you’re typing. So, instead of clicking and choosing a client’s name (to use one example), you could begin typing the client’s name – and the program will automatically show you those clients’ names that match what you’ve typed. This allows you to “touch-type” your way through most windows in the program, which for some people is faster than using the mouse. (You can still use the mouse of course!)
We’ve also added some amazingly powerful new features for customizing your bill and statement templates – including something called “conditional formatting,” which allows you to change the way your bill (or statement) looks, based on what’s in the bill (or statement). So, for example, you could have the “amount” show up in red if money is owed to you, or make it show up green (or black) if the client doesn’t owe you money (for example, if they still have money left from a retainer payment). You can find all these features when you customize your templates. (You can also watch a video on customizing templates.)
Here’s the full list of what was added or improved in this version:
- Added “auto-complete” functionality in the “Enter Time” or “Enter Expense” windows – so you can find and select client, staff, and matter names more quickly
- Added the ability to add a “matter” on the fly by just typing in a name when entering a time or expense entry
- Improved support for “conditional formatting” in templates, so you can change the way the template looks based on what’s in the bill or statement (e.g., changing the color of dollar amounts based on the dollar amount itself)
- Numerous “behind the scenes” improvements for better performance and for possible new features in the future
As always, TurboLaw Time and Billing checks for updates automatically in the background, so you don’t have to do anything special to get this update – just keep your eyes open for the pop-up notification, or for this little message:
Watch for this message to appear when a new update is available!
Just click the pop-up notice (or the message) to install the update (it only takes a few seconds to install).
As always, we welcome any feedback you may have, and we hope you enjoy this latest version of TurboLaw Time and Billing!
TurboLaw Time and Billing National Press Release
January 2, 2009
We are excited to announce our first national press release for TurboLaw Time and Billing!
We are proud and excited that it has been featured in publications from near and far, from the Boston Business Journal to the International Business Times!
You can read the full release below.
New TurboLaw Time and Billing Software Simplifies Important Tasks for Legal Professionals
Running a legal practice requires you to do chores that do not involve giving opinions on the law or arguing a case. Tasks such as keeping track of the time spent for clients and making bills for them, while necessary, can be time-consuming, difficult, and distracting. TurboLaw now offers new Time and Billing Software that makes the work quick and easy.
TurboLaw Time and Billing Software is now available as a free 30-day trial download via the TurboLaw website. This software allows legal professionals to keep records of time spent with each client as well as expenses related to each case. The Time and Billing Software also has features to help any legal practice, with billing aids, performance graphs, productivity charts, and staff reports.
“Our stopwatch tool makes it easy to keep track of time spent on work for each client, including communications such as emails and phone calls. We want legal professionals to try our Time and Billing Software free trial to see just how helpful and easy it is,” Thomas A. Whitestone, CEO of TurboLaw, comments on the new software offer.
The billing features of TurboLaw Time and Billing Software offer assistance in presenting a professional image. Through the time keeping functions and billing choices, bills can be set up to reflect the exact time spent, in hours, quarter hours, or any unit of time that is set. Times can also be broken out into tasks completed, including meetings, phone calls, document preparation and research.
TurboLaw Time and Billing Software gives you the ability to create custom bills and statements. The bills can be printed or saved to PDF or other formats suitable for email. Along with opening and closing balances, statements generated by TurboLaw Time and Billing Software can add finance charges with just a click. The result is a document that looks both orderly and official.
“Your clients take you seriously when you accomplish legal work for them. Using TurboLaw Time and Billing Software encourages them to do the same at billing time,” Thomas A. Whitestone, CEO comments.
When managing a legal practice, it is sometimes the everyday tasks that demand the most of your energy. TurboLaw Time and Billing Software makes it easy to remain productive and professional.
For more information on TurboLaw Time and Billing Software visit www.turbolaw.com.
TurboLaw Time and Billing 1.12 Released
December 11, 2008
Once again, we are proud to announce the latest new version of TurboLaw Time and Billing – Version 1.12!
For this new version of TurboLaw Time and Billing, we’ve included a number of new features that were added based on feedback from our customers. So you might say that we heard your “wish list” and this is our holiday present to you.
- Major new feature: Notes and details fields now have built-in automatic spell-checking – the same sort of “red squiggly” spell-check that you’d expect.
- New way to view “Account History” similar to a register or ledger, for those people that prefer this type of view.
- Bills can now be viewed without groups so you can sort all bills together.
- Matters now display summary total, so you can see how much you’ve billed for a particular matter.
- Dashboard home screen now has summary totals, to help give you more of an “overview” of your accounts.
- Graphs can now be zoomed in & out, and can be scrolled when zoomed in, which makes it easier to see the details when there are a lot of bars in a graph.
- Improved initial start-up time, so the program starts up faster – even on slower computers.
As always, TurboLaw Time and Billing checks for updates automatically in the background, so you don’t have to do anything special to get this update – just keep your eyes open for the pop-up balloon that notifies you of the update or this little message that appears in the bottom-right corner of TurboLaw Time and Billing’s window:
This message lets you know a new update is available.
Just click the pop-up balloon (or the message) to install the update (it only takes a few seconds to install).
As always, we welcome any feedback you may have, and we hope you enjoy this latest version of TurboLaw Time and Billing!
New TurboLaw Time and Billing Video Tutorial: Advanced Template Customization
November 6, 2008
Our video production team has been working tirelessly to bring you a new video tutorial to go along with the recent release of TurboLaw Time and Billing 1.11. This new video goes hand-in-hand with one of the major new features of the new version – the new drag & drop bill and statement template designer. It’s also the first of our video tutorials to use voice narration rather than little caption-bubbles – so be sure to turn up your volume when you watch it!
So click here to watch the “Advanced Template Customization” video tutorial, and if you have any comments or feedback on the video, we’d love to hear from you!
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