2011 Practice Management Annual Conference
Time Matters/PCLaw Link In-depth Review
Mark McCray, LexisNexis
September 23, 2011
Agenda
Introduction
Concepts
Technical Discussion
Troubleshooting
Upcoming Enhancements
Questions
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Introduction
Mark McCray
Consulting Software Engineer
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Introduction
Mark McCray
Consulting Software Engineer
• Lead Developer/Architect/????? For Time Matters and Billing
Matters
• Started in April of 1999
• Recent projects include
− Mobility
− Exchange Synchronization Rewrite
− Upcoming PCLaw enhancements
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Concepts
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Concepts
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Concepts
The primary goal of the PCLaw link is to end the
duplication of entries inherent in using separate Billing
and Calendar/ Matter Management.
• TM and PCLaw are designed to operate as two systems
− Time Matters Sends and Gets information to PCLaw
− PCLaw tells Time Matters if something has changed
• Time Matters is the primary Contact (Client) and Matter System
− You must decide which system controls matter/contact numbering
− We recommend you use PCLaw for numbering
• PCLaw is the primary Billing system
− Initial Time and Expense information is sent from TM
− Billing (Rates, Discounts, A/R, A/P) is handled by PCLaw
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Concepts
What is linked?
Time Matters
PCLaw
Matter

Matter
Contact

Client
Billing Item (Time)

Time
Billing Item (Expense)

Expense
Billing Item (Matter Payable)

Accounts Payable
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Concepts
Basic Setup Process
1. Setup the Link
a) Turn it on! (Both user and program level)
b) Connect to the set of PCLaw books
c) Set Options
d) Match Codes
e) Setup Matching Templates
2. Run a first time synchronization
3. Cleanup the startup data if needed
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Concepts
Required Contact Mapping
PCLaw
Time Matters
First Name
First Name
Last Name
Last Name
Client Number
Area 5, Field 1
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Concepts
Required Matter Mapping
PCLaw
Time Matters
Responsible Lawyer
Staff or Selected
Type of Law
Class Code or Selected
Date Opened
Selected (Not kept in TM)
Default Rate
Selected (Not kept in TM)
Client Number
Area 5, Field 1 of the Contact in
Regarding Line
Matter Number
Area 5, Field 1
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Concepts
Time Entry Mapping
PCLaw
Time Matters
Date
Billing Date
Matter
Matched Matter [ext_con]
Lawyer
Matched Lawyer [ext_staff]
Task Code
Matched Task [ext_ccode]
Hours
Hours [bil_dur]
Rate
Price [price] (unless def checked)
Amount
Amount [gross]
Description
Description [desc] and/or Memo [memo]
Activity Code
Activity Code [reference]
Use Defaults
Checkbox [ext_default]
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Concepts
Expense Entry Mapping
PCLaw
Time Matters
Date
Billing Date
Matter
Matched Matter [ext_con]
Lawyer
Matched Lawyer [ext_staff]
Explanation Code
Matched Code [ext_ccode]
Quantity
Hours [bil_dur]
Rate
Price [price] (unless def checked)
Amount
Amount [gross]
Description
Description [desc] and/or Memo [memo]
Vendor
Vendor [reference]
Use Defaults
Checkbox [ext_default]
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Technical Discussion
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Basic Architecture
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PCLaw Link Major Services
• PLSVCLnk.exe
• PLSVCLog.exe
• PLDocLnk.exe
• PLSvcTM.exe
Link Server; essentially the PCLaw link
Logging Server
Log maintenance and debug tracing
enabler
Time Matters interface to PLSVCLnk
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High Level Sync Flow
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Other Tables
PCMATTER
• Used to quickly determine if a PCLaw Client/Matter
is linked to a PCLaw Record. This file should never be
modified outside of Time Matters. If this file gets
corrupted, rebuilding the link will attempt to
reconstruct it.
PLCACHE
• This table is used to cache values from PCLaw and
reduce the number of times they must be retrieved
from PCLaw
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Troubleshooting
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Troubleshooting
PCLaw changes not going to Time Matters
• PCLaw must know where the location of the TM Program
Directory
• This is currently obtained by reading the TMW.INI file for the
necessary information
• But wait! These settings are really in the registry!
• TM9 introduced INI Redirection. A windows feature that would
redirect any writes to TMW.INI to the following registry entry:
HKLM\Software\LexisNexis\Time Matters 9
• PCLaw still relies on this key
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Troubleshooting
Registry Keys - Today
• HKLM\Software\LexisNexis\Time Matters 9\BackOffice
− LastActive
• Enterprise or Professional. Should now be only “E”
− ProgDir_E
• Time Matters Program Directory containing TMWE.EXE
− TM10Linked
• Should be “YES” if PCLaw should send information to Time Matters
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Troubleshooting
Registry Keys – PCLaw SP2
• We are creating a common registry key for PCLaw and future
applications to use
• HKCU\Software\LexisNexis\PMCommon\TimeMatters\LastRun
− Will be updated each time TM is run, if values have changed
− Use caution when running multiple versions of TM (not
recommended)
• Values will be
− ProgDir:
Location of Time Matters Program Directory
− Version:
Last version of Time Matters run
− PCLawLink: “Y” or “N” value to indicate if PCLaw link is enabled
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Troubleshooting
Time Matters changes not going into PCLaw
PLDOCLINK – Located in the PCLaw Program directory.
Enables low level logging of transactions
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PCLaw Link Debug Log
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Questions?
Mark.McCray@lexisnexis.com
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Upcoming Enhancements
Chief, I think we need the “cone of silence”
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Upcoming Enhancements
The following enhancements are in the design stage, so your
input is valuable. Please remember our usual caveats:
• These are targeted enhancements, not promises
• We are not announcing an availability date
• Since we have not made the changes, the actual result may be
different than what we show today
• Please do not tweet/blog about these until we have
announced firm details
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Upcoming Enhancements
The #1 requested PCLaw Link Enhancement?
Area 5 will no longer be required!
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PCLaw New Client and Matter
Wireframes
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Upcoming Enhancements
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Upcoming Enhancements
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Upcoming Enhancements
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Upcoming Enhancements
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Upcoming Enhancements
•Redesigned Setup Screens
•New Field Matching Wizard
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Questions?
Mark.McCray@lexisnexis.com
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