Release 20.08 - August 2020 – Legalsense

The Legalsense update of August 2020 has version number 20.08 and contains the following changes:

Clients / Matters

When data is (automatically) inherited from, for example, the client or a system setting, this is made explicit in the field and the value that is inherited is displayed (if known). This refers to, for example, the fields for 'office expenses percentage', 'language', 'currency' and 'discount'.
The available address templates (the structure of an address label) has been extended with a variant for Denmark. N.B.: address templates can be changed / added for your installation on request, please contact Legalsense support.
In the AML matter overview it is now possible to filter (using 'Advanced search') on "AML required (Yes, No, Not evaluated)".
A client's own contribution amount in legal aid matters can now be entered including VAT. The amount will be recalculated on the invoice to the amount excluding VAT and VAT will be charged. Please contact Legalsense support to activate this for your environment.

Invoices

The last comment that was added to an invoice task in the invoice workflow can now be viewed through the task overview. This way, the last comment added to an invoice task in the invoice workflow can be viewed easier.
When creating invoices, the prefilled "Ending with" date can be overwritten by the current date using the button "today".
In the invoice texts and e-mail templates it is now possible to include the debtor name with a new mergefield {{ debtor_name }}. The merge field {{ invoice_date_long_date }} is also added to display the date of the invoice like 15 August 2020.

Custom fields

Custom Fields can be configured in Legalsense for contacts, clients, matters and invoices. These custom fields are extended with the following options:

When configuring a custom field, a widget 'Checkbox' has been added. When exporting/displaying this field is translated to a 'Yes' or 'No' value.
A default value can be set for a custom field. For each new object (e.g. a new matter) the default value will be filled in on the matter creation form. Note that the default value is not applied to existing objects. For example, if a custom field with a default value is added for a client, that default value will not automatically be assigned to all existing clients.
A custom field can be set as 'read-only' field. This means that the field will no longer be available for input / adjustments but is only used to display / export the existing values. This can for example be used to store an old matter number (for imported matters) which should not be changed and that is also not applicable for new matters.

Reporting

The Hours report now also shows the hours of users who have written time outside normal working days, for example when they have worked on weekends. If a timekeeper has not written time on a non-working day, these days will not be shown in the report.
A new grouping choice has been added to the fee-based (time entries-based) reports in the report builder: the age category of the time entries (0-30 days, 30-60 days, 60-90 days and Older than 90 days). In combination with filters for Work In Progress (WIP), this allows the WIP to be grouped into categories.
In the reports you can display financial values in another currency. The financial values will be calculated based on the current exchange rate. Please note that there may be rounding differences when converting amounts to another currency. The amounts in another currency are only indicative.
A user can configure in his/her own account settings whether the reports (from the report builder) should be displayed in a different currency by default. These settings can be found by clicking on Account at the top right.
In the reports, certain choices for filters and groupings are hidden when you do not use the corresponding function. For example, if you don't use Practice Groups in Legalsense, the choices related to Practice Groups will no longer be shown in the report builder.
The value of the "Expected hourly rate" was not properly calculated in matters with a different currency. This calculation has now been adjusted. The default hourly rate of a Timekeeper is always in the default (reporting) currency regardless of the currency on the matter. The value of "Expected hourly rate" is calculated on the basis of "hours" x "default rate of the timekeeper (on the date of the time entry)". All work in progress (time entries) and all billed time entries from 01-01-2020 onwards have been recalculated to the correct value by Legalsense.

Integration Financial accounting

We made it easier for a user (administrator) to configure the integration with Exact Online themselves.
The invoice generated in Legalsense as a PDF will be sent as a file to Exact Online, so it can now also be viewed in Exact Online.
When Legalsense receives a payment based on a final journal entry from Twinfield, the journal, the payment date and the original description of the journal entry from Twinfield will be shown in Legalsense.

Integration NetDocuments

For firms using the integration between Legalsense and NetDocuments the following changes are relevant:

When using NetDocuments in combination with Legalsense, the matters in NetDocuments were closed when the matter was archived in Legalsense. When a matter in NetDocuments is closed, no more files can be added to it. In the configuration of the integration with NetDocuments, you can now set the number of days before the matter is closed in NetDocuments after archiving the matter in Legalsense. For example, if you enter 60 here, a matter archived in Legalsense today will have a "closed date" of today + 60 days in NetDocuments. In that case, the matter will remain open in NetDocuments for another 60 days.
It is possible to not create matters of a specific matter type in NetDocuments, e.g. internal matters. Please contact Legalsense support to activate this for your environment.
It is possible to create a 'Client matter' in NetDocuments for each client created in Legalsense. Such a matter can be used to store client-specific documents (that do not belong to a regular matter for the client). Please contact Legalsense support to set this up for your environment.

Android app

Around the same time of the 20.08 Legalsense update, we are also releasing a new version of the Android app in the Play store.

The Android app has been extended with offline support. This now allows you to write time without an active internet connection. As soon as the app is connected to the internet again, all changes will be synchronized.
The function “Timers” has been added to the Android app. In the app you can activate a timer (clock) and save this time in your Legalsense environment when you have finished your work.
The Android app has also been extended with limited reporting on your time entries (similar to the reporting in the iOS (iPhone) app).

Miscellaneous

If the welcome email of a newly created user could not be delivered, the email address will be blocked. This happens, for example, if the welcome email was already sent from Legalsense while the email address is not yet active. Because the address remains blocked in Legalsense, even if the email address was activated later on, new welcome emails did not arrive either. It is now possible to reactivate a blocked e-mail address of a user.

API

The field 'client' has been added to the Invoice endpoint (API v2).
The field 'billing_instructions' has been added to the Client and Matter endpoint (API v1, API v2).
The fields 'payment_status' and 'paid_amount' have been added to the Invoice endpoint (API v2).
The field ‘currency’ has been added to the Matter endpoint (API v2).