TurboLaw Time and Billing 1.19 Released
August 13, 2010
The latest version of TurboLaw Time and Billing, Version 1.19, contains some new features that were implemented based on suggestions and feedback we received from you!
The most anticipated new feature is the ability to add a client’s “account balance” to a bill. Previously, to show a client’s overall balance (including any retainers paid and anything billed against that retainer), you had to print a statement. Now, however, you can add some of the information previously only found on statements to your bills instead – saving you both time and effort.
To help illustrate this new feature, this version of TurboLaw Time and Billing also includes new bill templates designed to take advantage of the new information that can now be added to a bill.
Other new features and improvements in this version include:
- A new “Refresh” button in the main window so you can easily re-load the list of bills/clients/staff if something has changed. (You can still refresh any list in the program by simply pressing the F5 key on your keyboard.)
- Significantly improved performance when you have a very large number of clients/work items/expenses/etc. listed in the program all at once.
- Fixed a small problem that was causing a preview of your selected template not to appear in the “Settings” window.
As always, your TurboLaw Time and Billing will check for updates automatically and notify you when a new update is available. Just watch for the pop-up balloon, or for this message at the bottom of your screen:
Remember – we really do listen your feedback (as this new version demonstrates), so please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any thoughts or comments about the program.
We hope you enjoy this latest version of TurboLaw Time and Billing!
TurboLaw Time and Billing 1.18 Released
June 18, 2010
Summertime has finally arrived, and most people’s thoughts turn to barbecues, beaches, and vacations. But here at TurboLaw, our only thoughts are bringing you new and improved products to help you spend less time working and more time enjoying the summer weather!
Towards that end, we’ve once again released an update to TurboLaw Time and Billing, Version 1.18!
This new version includes updates to our template editor, some minor improvements to our “dashboard” home page view, and improvements to our license activation system which will ensure that you can always access your data, no matter what.
As always, your TurboLaw Time and Billing will check for updates automatically and notify you when a new update is available. Just watch for the pop-up balloon, or for this message at the bottom of your screen:
Remember – we welcome your feedback as well, so don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any thoughts or comments about the program.
We hope you enjoy both this latest version of TurboLaw Time and Billing, and this wonderful summer weather!
TurboLaw 2.74 Released
May 26, 2010
We are very pleased to announce that the latest version of our TurboLaw Automated Document Software, version 2.74, is now available to all of our customers. This new version includes a number of requested improvements, as well as new features that we’ve added to help make it even easier to enter case information and create and manage documents with TurboLaw.
Here is a list of the new features and changes introduced in TurboLaw Version 2.74:
- Added a “Refresh” button to the list of Saved Documents for a case, so you can easily refresh the list if you’ve changed the files outside of TurboLaw (see picture below):
The new "Refresh" buton
- When showing “Inactive” cases, the inactive cases are visually distinguished from “Active” cases by a lighter gray color (see picture below):
The new distinctive "inactive" case colors
- The “Search Documents” window and the “Create Documents for a Case” window now remember what size they were, and open with that same size the next time you open it.
- Improved handling of Internet connection problems in the TurboLaw Update Utility.
We also added some changes that affect specific areas of law:
- For MA/Divorce, NH/Domestic Relations, and RI/Family Law, you can now select “no state” for an address (e.g., place of marriage) if the address was outside the U.S. (see picture below):
Easier to add non-U.S. addresses
- For MA/Divorce, NH/Domestic Relations, and RI/Family Law, when entering children, the program automatically defaults to the last name of the “father” (that is, whichever party is “male”). You can, of course, still override this by simply typing in a different name, if the default last name is incorrect.
TurboLaw users should receive a notification of this new update from your TurboLaw program shortly after you open it (if you have Automatic Updates turned on). If you don’t have Automatic Updates turned on, you can click the Update menu in TurboLaw and choose Check for Updates instead.
As always, we continue to update TurboLaw based on feedback we hear from our customers – so if you have an idea or suggestion for TurboLaw, we’d love to hear from you!
TurboLaw Time and Billing 1.17 Released
April 15, 2010
We are very excited to announce the release of TurboLaw Time and Billing Version 1.17. As always, we are committed to bringing you the easiest to use billing software possible, and this new version is no exception.
This new version brings with it an improved template editor, which makes editing your bill and statement templates even easier.
Above: the new template editor (click for larger version)
Also new in this version is the addition of a “matter” column when viewing a bill, so that you can see whether the items you have entered on your bill are associated with a matter, and if so, which one.
Above: the “edit bill” window showing the new “matter” column (click for larger version)
Another big new feature for this version is the ability to import and export templates. This feature makes it even easier to share your custom bill and statement templates with other users of the program in your office, so that anyone can print our bills and statements using your “official” template.
In addition to importing and exporting, you can also now rename your templates right from the “Choose Template” window, as well as delete templates you don’t want anymore.
Above: you can now import, export, rename, and delete templates (click for larger version)
As an added bonus, we also added the “terms” field to the list of available fields that you can place in your bill templates. This means that you can now add the “terms” field to your bill template, which will show up in printed bills with the “terms” for that particular client, so that your clients know what their terms are and when the bill is due.
We’d also like to take this opportunity to remind you that TurboLaw Time and Billing is compatible with Windows 7, both 32-bit and 64-bit editions. (Click here to see other Windows versions which TurboLaw Time and Billing is compatible with.)
As always, your TurboLaw Time and Billing will check for updates automatically and notify you when a new update is available. Just watch for the pop-up balloon, or for this message at the bottom of your screen:
This message lets you know a new update is available.
Remember – we welcome your feedback as well, so don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any thoughts or comments about the program.
We hope you enjoy this latest version of TurboLaw Time and Billing!
TurboLaw 2.73 Released
January 14, 2010
We are happy to announce that TurboLaw 2.73, the latest version of our popular automated document assembly software, is now available. If you have TurboLaw, the next time you open it, you should see a notice about the updated version appear in the bottom-right corner of your screen (it may take a short while to appear, depending on your Internet speed).
This new version features a number of changes designed to make it even easier for you to get your work done:
- The TurboLaw Migration Wizard is now bundled with TurboLaw itself, to help make it even easier to move your TurboLaw data from one computer to another (as when you get a new computer or switch computers)
- The registration window has been revised to allow you to try to register online again, instead of only allowing you to click it once
- Text on the registration window has been re-worded to make it more clear
- The Update Utility has been improved to better handle random Internet connection problems that some people encounter (especially when using wireless Internet)
As always, we continue to update TurboLaw based on feedback we hear from our customers – so if you have an idea or suggestion for TurboLaw, we’d love to hear from you!
TurboLaw 2.72 Released
September 14, 2009
As always, we are happy to announce the release of the latest version of TurboLaw – Version 2.72. This new version introduces some new features as well as some improvements that will make TurboLaw even easier to use. Here’s a list of all the new features and changes, as well as a brief explanation:
- Easier Registration - the registration process has been streamlined by replacing the multiple registration option buttons with a single button which simply says “Click here to register.” Since every copy of TurboLaw must be registered, and you must also re-register when you get a new computer, we try to make this process as simple and streamlined as possible.
- Recent Update History - the TurboLaw Update Utility will now keep a record of all the updates (new or changed documents) it has downloaded, so that you can see what has been updated previously, rather than just in the current session. This is useful if you want to see if, for example, your TurboLaw downloaded a new version of a form that came out last week.
- Safer “Alternate Case Folder” Option - previously, it was possible to select folders using the “Alternate Case Folder” option that would cause problems for TurboLaw – for example, the infamous 4160 error. Now, TurboLaw will warn you when you attempt to use a folder that might cause trouble later on.
- Update Timeouts - a small number of users of TurboLaw were reporting that the Update Utility was occasionally (and randomly) “timing out” when trying to download updates, even though their Internet connection was fine. This new version of TurboLaw includes enhancements to prevent this problem from happening.
Although this is a (relatively) minor update, we do encourage all TurboLaw users to download and 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.
This window will appear on your screen when a new TurboLaw Update is available.
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!
Free TurboLaw Wallpapers
July 14, 2009
Everyone likes to have a pretty picture on their desktop (often called “wallpaper”) – and here at TurboLaw we’re no exception. So one of our more artistically-gifted staff members put together a few nice TurboLaw-themed desktop backgrounds, and we’re posting them here for free for anyone who wants to show their support for TurboLaw on their computer.
Just click on any of the small thumbnail-sized images above to see the full-sized image. (Right-click the full-sized image and choose “Save as” to save the image to your computer.)
Feel free to save these images to your computer and set them as your computer’s background image, or share them with friends who also love TurboLaw!
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.
The new guardianship forms are named differently from the old forms. The new forms all start with “MPC.”
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.
Where are my documents?
May 21, 2009
One of the questions we sometimes get asked in regards to TurboLaw Document Software is “where are my documents actually saved?”
The short answer to this question is “wherever you want them to be saved,” but that’s not necessarily helpful, especially if you’re not paying attention to where you save your documents and are just accepting the default save location. So we’ll go into it in a little bit more detail here.
First though, a little bit of terminology: It’s important to remember that TurboLaw is not really “document management” software – it doesn’t save your documents in some special “repository” that you can only access through TurboLaw itself. In fact, any documents you create with TurboLaw are just saved on your computer as normal Word or Excel files.
It’s a little bit inaccurate to speak of your documents being “in” TurboLaw – they aren’t really “in” TurboLaw, they’re “in” your computer, and you just happen to be looking at them “through” TurboLaw. You can also look at your documents “through” any other program you wish – such as Windows Explorer or Microsoft Word or Excel.
With that out of the way, we can talk about where your documents are actually saved when you create them with TurboLaw. There are 2 different scenarios to consider, depending on what you are doing.
Creating a Blank/Empty Document
Creating a blank/empty document is the simplest and fastest way to bring up a form in TurboLaw – although of course you pay for that speed with the time it takes you to fill out the rest of the form by hand, since a blank/empty form is, by definition, empty – that is, no case or client information is inserted for you automatically.
Whenever you create a blank/empty form, TurboLaw saves it into a “temporary” folder on your computer. (After all, since there’s no case involved here, TurboLaw has no idea where you might want to save the document, so a temporary folder is the best it can do.)
After you’ve created and opened a blank/empty form, you can choose the Save As menu in Word or Excel to save the file anywhere on your computer that you’d like. If you would like to just print the document and be done with it (and never use it again), you don’t need to save it at all – just fill it out, print it, and close it.
If you don’t save your blank/empty form somewhere else, then when you are done with it, TurboLaw will delete it from the temporary folder. After all, that’s why it’s called a “temporary” folder. But as long as you remember to save your files where you want, you don’t have to worry – just don’t save them in the temporary folder!
As a safety precaution, TurboLaw reminds you that your blank/empty document is saved initially in a temporary folder every time you open a blank/empty form (unless you have specifically checked the box to not be shown the reminders).
Creating a Document for a Case
When you create a document for a case, the documents you create are saved into the folder for that case.
If you don’t tell TurboLaw otherwise, it will automatically create a folder for your case and manage it for you. The folders that TurboLaw creates are still saved on your computer, but they are named with the internal “ID number” of the case, so that TurboLaw can find them quickly.
The default location where TurboLaw creates these automatic folders may vary depending on the version of Windows (or the version of TurboLaw) on your computer, but you can see what it will be by clicking the View menu in TurboLaw and choosing TurboLaw Status, then looking for the Cases Path. This is the “root” folder where TurboLaw will create additional folders for each case you create (unless you tell it otherwise). If you are using TurboLaw on a network, this folder will be on your network as well – otherwise, it will be on your computer’s local hard drive.
If you choose to use the Alternate Case Folder option when creating a case, you can tell TurboLaw to save the documents for that case in any folder you want. Once you have done this, TurboLaw will save any documents for that case in the folder you picked.
If you ever want to see where the documents for a particular case are saved, just click the Open this Folder button to see the folder for that case open up in Windows Explorer.
Once the folder is open in Windows Explorer, you can look at the Windows Explorer address bar to see the exact location of that folder.
In the picture above, you can see that this case is saved in one of TurboLaw’s managed folders – that’s the reason why it ends with that really long number. The files are still on your computer, even though TurboLaw is controlling where they are saved – and you can do anything with those files that you want. After all, it’s your computer, and they are your files!
TurboLaw always strives to keep things as simple as possible, letting you get down to the business of creating the documents you need. However, knowing a little bit about where TurboLaw saves your documents – and the power it gives you to control where those documents are saved – can help you be more “in control” of your document workflow, and help you stay on top of your work.
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!
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