In ContactsLaw, a workgroup refers to a specific area of law (or area of business) practised by the firm. Workgroups serve two main purposes: - As a classifier and categorisation mechanism for files.
- As a template to describe the semantics and behaviour of a file.
Classification
At the top level, The Practice is divided into a number of departments. Each department may, in turn, have several workgroups. A workgroup typically describes a specific area of law (e.g. Probate or Traffic Law), or a 'product' (an umbrella term for the services and documents delivered during the lifespan of the matter).
Most reports in ContactsLaw can be broken down by department or workgroup.
Semantics and behaviour
- Billing
Each workgroup controls the default billing scale, interest terms and bill format for files opened within it. You can also control whether bills are registered or sent by default. For workgroups containing admin files, options can be set to suppress journals/fixed charges or charge time at zero value.
- Roles, date types & fields
Each workgroup owns (or shares) a set of roles and date types. These are used to identify clients and other parties and to store key dates on the file (which can then be referenced in workflows, documents, etc). Additional user-definable fields can also be defined (see workgroup field).
- Matter descriptions
Allows you to specify an expression that determines how matter descriptions are constructed on files created in the workgroup.
- Document types & templates
Workgroups own/share document types and document templates, providing members with a tailored selection of documents and a sensible list of types for the purpose of document cataloguing.
- Permissions
Each workgroup can dictate a specific set of permissions for its files, enforcing privacy/sensitivity and supporting the division of labour within The Practice.
- Reporting
Most practice-level reports are available at the workgroup level, to provide a more focused and meaningful set of statistics and to facilitate separate management. Additionally, there are a number of reports available exclusively at the workgroup level.
- Process modelling
A workgroup can define one or more process models, which describe the life cycle of a matter in that workgroup. The life cycle is represented as a series of milestones, each of which defines certain entry conditions and creates one or more work items (tasks or activities).
Recommended configuration
A typical department should contain at least one workgroup for client files and another for admin files (providing the department has a non-trivial administrative overhead). This ensures that all matters concerning the department can be managed from anywhere that the department is accessible. You can also create a separate department for practice-wide administration; financial matters, payroll, office manuals, etc. |