A1-Law
Special Newsletter Jan 11, 2001
This newsletter has been written to help you make a smooth transition
from DOS WCFMS to A1-Law.
CAAA Convention
First, as you know the CAAA convention will be in Palm Springs/Rancho
Mirage next week Thurs Jan 18 - Sun Jan 21. I hope to see you there. I
will be in the exhibit room at booth number 38.
This Newsletter
If you do not plan on switching from DOS WCFMS, save or ignore this
newsletter. If you have already switched and are comfortable in A1-Law,
ignore this newsletter. If you are looking to switch or experiencing
problems, this newsletter is for you.....
Important Notice
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Unsubscribe or Remove Me.
A1-Law for Windows has been released and already shipped along with WCFMS
DOS version 2.9 and the 2.8 bug fix. If you like, you can install A1-Law
for windows while still using your DOS program (if you want to
"play" with it until you are formally ready to switch over).
How To Upgrade to A1-Law from DOS
Some law offices may not have noticed the extremely important information
in the previous paragraph which was also written in the last newsletter.
Once again: If you like, you can install A1-Law for windows while still
using your DOS program (if you want to "play" with it until you
are formally ready to switch over).
This is so very important to understand. A1-Law, although a lot more
powerful the DOS program, is a major upgrade. It's the
largest upgrade since the first release of our DOS WCFMS program in 1986.
For some offices, "jumping in the deep end in the swimming pool"
works great. For others who may want to take a more gentle approach to
converting, they may want to think about installing A1-Law and running the
conversion program, but still use the DOS program for their day to day
work. In this way, they can "play" with the program with their
DOS information in it until they are more comfortable and ready to
formally make the transition. Planning is crucial.
Since you can install A1-Law and play with it, there really should be no
hurry to switch. A1-Law really works. Relax, take it easy. Why stress your
office? I have found that larger offices tend to do better in converting
than smaller offices. This may be because they are more likely to have at
least one "technical" person on staff to help them with all
their windows related issues as well as computer hardware planning,
backups and necessary upgrades.
If you are not sure your hardware is up to date and will support A1-Law,
check with your computer consultant. As long as you have plenty of hard
disk space, the DOS WCFMS program will not be affected at all. You can
continue to use it while in this test / learning phase. Try installing it
and playing with it for a while. "Get your feet wet with it."
But, just like learning to swim, most don't jump in the deep end. A1-Law
is powerful and comprehensive; the manual is over 500 pages.
How to Learn A1-Law
First, I have supplied a Demo CD in the upgrade package. If your computer
has speakers and a sound card, you can put the Demo CD in and watch a 14
minute "movie" on the computer about A1-Law and some of its
features.
Next, read the first 2 pages in the enclosed pamphlet. They will direct
you to two Microsoft Word doc files that can be loaded in either Word or
Word Perfect. This will teach you how to create user accounts and
passwords for login access.
Next, check with your computer consultant and make sure you have enough
hard disk space to install A1-Law. You don't want to install it and run
out of disk space so that you can't enter REAL information into your
current WCFMS DOS program. You may find you need to upgrade your hard disk
space and/or your computers and network.
Next, run the WCFMS Upgrade program to convert the information into A1-Law
for learning, testing and playing (while still using the DOS program for
your business).
Next, access the Help files in A1-Law by pressing the F1 key to learn more
about it. Click on Help, Getting Started. Click on Help, Frequently Asked
Questions, Case Management Questions, How Do I Enter in a New Case.
You may decide to look through the 520 page manual supplied on CD in the
Adobe Acrobat format. Page one in the pamphlet talks about the manual.
More likely though, you will probably want to access the help files but
some like a manual.
The most important thing to remember is "don't convert until you are
ready." There are other things to consider....A1-Law transfers about
98% of the information in the DOS WCFMS program. Here's what's not
transferred. You may need to plan accordingly:
1. WCFMS DOS has an Email system. If you are not using it. Don't worry
about this one.
2. Forms - The Application for Adjudication is converted...all of the are.
The other forms that can
be saved with Shift-F3 before printing are not. Plan accordingly.
3. Form Letters - They are transferred over but the codes must be changed.
Plan Accordingly. It's possible to design your form letters while in the
test/play phase.
Making the Formal Change
Okay, so you have played with it for a while and you have run the
conversion program and tested real information in A1-Law and have added
test clients as well. Your staff understands how to pull clients, access
case activity, extended notes and court forms. You understand how the
tasks work. You have played around in the calendar and have printed the
calendar. You know the difference between the master calendar and a
calendar for a specific case. You have created some sample form letters
that automatically merge information from the client card. Maybe you have
converted all your form letters from WCFMS and changed the codes so that
now they all work in A1-Law. You understand the rolodex and how to attach
parties to a case. You understand the first party, the primary, is the
client. You understand that you add all the parties and then you proceed
to the Extended Application for Adjudication. You know how to copy an
Application to a second one and then just change the date of injury, parts
of body and manner of occurrence. You know that you can press the F1 key
at any window for context sensitive help on that window. You have an
A1-Law system administrator who knows how to add users and set up security
rights in the Configure Staff Defaults section of the program.
A1-Law functions well in the test / learning phase on your network and
your computer consultant gives your hardware a "clean bill of
health."
Perhaps you feel your staff is ready.......what's next?
Converting Over
From the above, perhaps you can see just what a major change this is. I
have reassured everyone that I still plan to support and continue the DOS
updates as well as windows. However, I have also stated that windows is
more powerful and you can do more with it and there is clearly a huge
demand for a good windows program for workers' compensation.
Next, if you have designed form letters in the test / learning phase, you
don't want to lose those letters when you convert the DOS information
AGAIN for the second time. You need to convert it again because suppose
you have been testing A1-Law for two weeks; you need to convert the
information again or you will lose two weeks of information in the DOS LAW
program. Also, you will have addition test information and possibly
information deleted out of the windows program while in the test phase.
The idea is to play with the information in A1-Law while in this test
phase. This includes adding information, editing information and deleting
information to see how the program works.
Here are the steps for the formal conversion from the test phase:
If you have form letters, you don't want to lose those. So your
computer consultant needs to backup the A1LAW\A1RTF folder into a
completely different area of the hard drive. This folder contains all of
the form letters you have created. We don't want the DOS letters to
overwrite the A1-Law form letters you have worked on. We also need to
backup two files. They are A1LAW\DATA\LETTERS.DBF and A1LAW\DATA\LETTERS.DBK
These files (without the path name) are LETTERS.DBF and LETTERS.DBK in the
A1LAW\DATA
The above is critical because some offices may decide to convert all of
the form letters before actually making the formal transition. Some
offices may decide that it's okay to convert the form letters after
converting if they either don't use form letters in the DOS program or
simply don't have that many. You won't be able to print form letters in
A1-Law until you learn how to create your letterhead, learn the merge
codes and understand how A1-Law processes form letters. The form letter
capabilities and modules in A1-Law have been completely redesigned and are
far more powerful than the WCFMS DOS system.
Once you have decided how you will plan your form letter conversion, the
next step is to DELETE the current folder off the network and REINSTALL
the A1LAW shared folders. This will DESTROY everything you have
done in A1-Law (not the DOS program. So, once again, if you have created
form letters, be sure you have backed up the A1LAW\A1RTF folder as well as
the LETTERS.DBF and LETTERS.CDX files in the A1LAW\DATA folder.
You want to remove the A1LAW folder off the server. This may take several
minutes depending on the speed of your server. There could be thousands of
folders inside of A1LAW, so be patient. If you have dragged the
information into your recycle bin, be sure it's cleaned off the server so
that the disk space is recovered. The best way to be sure the disk space
has been recovered is to have your consultant check the free space on the
server BEFORE removing A1-Law and then again after. There should be an
absolutely minimum of 100 megabytes recovered and there could be several
hundred megabytes of additional space.
Once this has been removed, the next step is to reinstall the shared files
by running the SETUPNET program again. You will not need to run SETUPWRK
again since that's on the workstations and the workstations know where to
look for A1LAW on the network.
Next, you want to reinstall your form letters BACK into the A1RTF folder
as well as the LETTERS.DBF and LETTERS.CDX in the SHARED folder. You may
also decide to backup the STAFF.* files in the A1LAW\DATA folder before
removing it so that you don't have to recreate all of the staff accounts.
However, you will need to reenter the basic information in the system
folder I.e.: firm name, firm address).
Moving Forward
You may find it necessary to take a general class in windows and windows
programming if you have never used windows before and want to use A1-Law.
This may help. Learn to use the HELP system. This can't be emphasized
enough. By simply clicking the F1 key at any screen, you can learn more
about that window. For example, if you are in Email and you want to learn
more about it, just press the F1 key. If you are in the rolodex and want
to learn more, press the F1 key. If you like, you can then click the Print
button in help to print out the topic.
Hopefully, this newsletter will help make your transition easier and allow
you to practice law in a more efficient and effective manner. Remember, if
your computer consultant gives your hardware a "green light,"
you can install A1-Law and just play around with it until your staff is
ready to convert. I can assure you that I have several offices who are
becoming more and more proficient with A1-Law and the feedback has been
very positive.
Feel free to Email me anytime if you have questions.
I hope to see you in Palm Springs next week.