Release 24.11 November

Write time for other timekeepers

When creating a time entry, it is possible to add other timekeepers for this time entry as well. A new option 'Add timekeeper(s)' is visible. Selecting this option opens a field where you can choose other timekeepers, allowing you to submit a time entry on their behalf as well:

When you have added other timekeepers to your time entry, the time entry you created will also be created for those other timekeepers. A notification will confirm that the time entry has been successfully saved:

The added timekeepers will also receive a notification about this event and will have the option to edit the time entry created for them:

Please note that you can only write time for other timekeepers when creating a new time entry. Once the time entry is saved, you cannot change or add additional timekeepers. Additionally, any changes made to your time entry after saving will not affect the time entries created for the other timekeepers.

Writing time for other timekeepers is made available to all users that had the permission 'add_my_logline' by adding a new permission 'add_multi_user_logline' to the same group. If you want to restrict timekeepers from writing time for others, please contact Legalsense support for assistance. 

For more information on writing and/or editing time, please visit our knowledge base article Writing and editing time.

Rate factor

A new field 'Rate factor' is added to the activity type within 'Settings' - 'Lists' - 'Activities'. This field allows you to specify a factor that will be applied to the rate of the time entry. For example, if you handle an emergency outside office hours, you can create an activity called ‘Emergency Outside Office Hours’ and set a rate factor of 2.0. All time entries associated with this activity will have their rate doubled (the selected rate multiplied by 2). Conversely, if you enter a rate factor of 0.5, the value of the time entry will be reduced by 50%.

The factor field does not include a period selection, meaning any changes to the factor on the activity type will affect all time entries that have not yet been Billed (‘Work in Progress’). If you change the factor value for an activity, all related time entries will be recalculated using the updated factor. The recalculation occurs during the nightly job, when you resave the time entry, or when you create a new draft invoice. However, editing or resaving an already created draft invoice will not trigger recalculation of the time entries included in that invoice.

For more information on using activities, please visit our knowledge base article Activities.

Dutch insolvency matters: Recofa rate

The new "Recofa" rate of Dutch insolvency matters for 2025 is set to € 267,05. This new rate is added to Legalsense and will be applied automatically for time entries in 2025 when the 'Recofa' pricing is set on a matter. 

Matter, Clients, and Contacts

To prevent adding duplicate contacts, Legalsense improved the suggestion functionality. Based on the input you give, Legalsense can suggest already existing contacts that will notify you on similarities with already existing contacts. This happens based on the following criteria and case insensitive:

• If you fill in the 'First name' and 'Last name' fields, all contacts with the same first name and last name will be recommended.
• If you fill in the 'First name', 'Prefix', and 'Last name' fields, all contacts with exactly the same first name, prefix, and last name will be recommended. 
• If you fill in the 'Organization' field, all contacts with exactly the same Organization name will be recommended. 

Invoices

• When using the billing workflow, users in the ‘Financial Admin’ permission group can access and manage a task overview. This overview displays all tasks in the billing workflow, regardless of the assigned responsible user, and allows them to modify these tasks.

  To provide more flexibility, a new permission, ‘view_task_overview’, has been introduced. This permission allows users to view the task overview without being part of the ‘Financial Admin’ group and without granting them the ability to modify tasks that are not assigned to them.

• A ‘Finalize’ button has been added to the task overview, enabling users in the Financial Admin group to finalize approved draft invoices in bulk. This button is visible only to users who can manage the Task Overview page and have the ‘finalize_invoice’ permission.

  If one or more draft invoices fail to finalize, an error message will appear, while the remaining draft invoices will still be successfully finalized.

• The main billing reference has been added to the invoices Excel export. This reference is determined by either the main matter of a billing group or, if no billing group is present, by the first matter listed on the invoice. 

• We have added the ‘client name’ field as a code that can be used in invoice text templates (header, footer, email subject or message). To include the client name in your invoice text, simply add {{ client_name }} to your template.

  For more information about customizing invoice texts and using codes, please refer to our knowledge base article Invoice texts. 

• When creating a credit invoice, the field previously labeled ‘Credit remarks’ has been renamed to ‘Credit comments’. This change also applies to the API, where the field credit_remarks is now credit_comments. 
• If you are using submatters/product, you have the ability to create submatter kinds and/or product kinds via 'Settings' - 'Lists' - 'Submatter/product kinds'.

  When the LEDES export feature is enabled in your environment, a field for the LEDES task code is added to the submatter kind form. If a LEDES task code is assigned to a submatter kind, it will override the task code set on the activity and will be used as the LINE_ITEM_TASK_CODE in LEDES exports.

  This enhancement simplifies managing complex LEDES task codes and activity codes. The submatter kind now determines the UTBMS task code (LEDES task code), while the activity determines the LEDES activity code. This ensures the correct corresponding UTBMS codes are used for your LEDES exports when working with submatters.

   

Users

Only users with the permit 'manage_client' could view the client rates set on a client. The ability to see client rates is now also possible with the permit 'view_client_financials'. Which means users with the permit 'view_cllient_financials' and/or 'manage_client' can see the client rates. 

Integration: Lyanthe

Lyanthe is a software solution designed to automate the processing of purchase invoices. By leveraging advanced technologies like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Lyanthe digitizes and streamlines invoice workflows, significantly reducing manual effort.

Legalsense has introduced an integration with Lyanthe for customers using Twinfield, similar to its existing integration with Basecone. This enhancement streamlines the processing of purchase invoices.

APIv3

• The Invoice endpoint now supports file downloads, allowing users to retrieve both PDF invoices and UBL invoices in XML format. 
• The Client endpoint allows to search for client name (case insensitive) via the query params filter option. 
• The field 'credit_remarks' is renamed to 'credit_comments' within the Invoice endpoint.