Release 21.07 - July 2021

The Legalsense update of July 2021 has version number 21.07 and has the following changes:

Rates: fallback templates

When you had set up a price template (list of rates) and applied this to a client or matter, it was not possible to deviate (partially) from the rates on the price template. For example, if you wanted to bill a client in USD and had created a price template with your default USD rates for this purpose, you could not enter a deviating rate for a specific timekeeper or function for this client. In that case, you had to select a ‘Rate per user’ or ‘Rate per function’ pricing scheme for the client or matter and enter the correct USD rates for all timekeepers or all functions. Even though there might have been only one rate that differed from the rates on the pricing scheme USD rates.

In this update of Legalsense, a new 'Fallback template' field has been added. This allows you to choose a price template to fall back on to determine the rates for the client, matter, or other price template. If you have a price template or are setting rates for a client or matter and leave the value for a timekeeper or function empty, the fallback template will be used to determine the rate for that timekeeper or function. See the article Price templates for more information.

New design 'Settings' pages

Legalsense is in the process of transitioning to a new ‘look and feel’. We are staying close to the current design and are implementing the changes gradually. The 'Settings' section has been updated in this version. We will continue updating other parts of the software in the coming period.

Contacts / Clients / Matters

• When the ‘Engagement letter’ feature is active in your environment, you can attach an engagement letter to the matter and store its status. In this update, the same option has been added at client level, so you can keep track of an engagement letter and status for a client. On the matter page and on the AML matter page the engagement letter and status of the client are also shown.
• In the field 'Is AML required?' when creating or editing a matter, the choices 'Yes' or 'No' can be enforced. When this option is activated in your environment, the choice 'Unknown' is no longer available. Please contact Legalsense support if you wish to make use of this option.
• For a client - as was already possible for matters - a (default) invoice template can be set. When you set a deviating invoice template for a client, this invoice template will be used for all matters unless there is a deviating invoice template at matter level.

Invoices

• When editing an invoice, you can add one or more other matters for the client to the existing draft invoice using the 'Add matter' button. After selecting a matter, Legalsense will check whether there are time entries, disbursements, etc. to be billed. The draft invoice will only be updated with hours and disbursements within the period used when creating the draft invoice.

Reporting

• In the report builder, a 'Limit results' field has been added to limit the result to a specific number. The limitation is applied to the first grouping of your report. With this field, you can, for example, create a 'Top 10 clients' report by using a grouping of 'client' as the first grouping and setting a limitation of '10'.
• In the report builder, a choice for 'Timekeeper employee number' has been added to the grouping fields.
• In the report builder, a column choice has been added for 'Zero rate' (hours).
  Note: This new column was already made available in Legalsense 21.05 in July 2021.

Language of your Legalsense environment

• It is possible for a user to set a preferred language. This allows users to work in Legalsense in the language that they specifically prefer. Users can change the preferred language themselves by clicking on the username in the upper right corner and adjusting the 'Preferences'.
• Note: Legalsense is currently only available in Dutch and English languages.
• On the pages where the user is not logged in - for example on the login page - the language can be set manually with the language switcher on the right-hand top. On these pages we do not know which language the user has set as the preferred language because the user is not known yet.

Miscellaneous

• When writing time, the choice of 'Non-billable' has been renamed to 'Written off'. This choice was sometimes confusing as 'Non-billable' is also used in Legalsense for time entries on 'Non-billable matters' (or clients): non-billable (internal) time. Written off time is still abbreviated with the 'W' of 'Written off'. Non-billable (internal) time is still abbreviated by 'NB' for 'Non-Billable'.
• Emails sent from Legalsense to users, also known as 'system emails', were sent from info@legalsense.nl. This has been changed to no-reply@legalsense.nl.
• When setting up 'Custom fields' for contacts, clients, matters and invoices it is possible to specify a help text. This text is shown as an explanation below the field (when editing). In this way more clarification can be given to the user who fills in the custom field.
• To send invoices by e-mail it is necessary to create a DKIM record. On the settings page where this DKIM record is displayed, a 'Copy' button has been added to make it easier to copy the text of the DKIM record.

Integration with financial accounting software

• The expiration date of invoices is now explicitly sent along with the invoice to Fortnox. This prevents Fortnox from calculating the expiration date itself, which could cause differences with Legalsense.
• Exchange rates set in Legalsense are now also synchronized with Fortnox.

Integration with Company.info

• We offer an integration with Company.info, a Dutch provider of company data. With this integration, it is possible to retrieve data in Legalsense from the Company.info database for Dutch companies.

API

• The Matters endpoint in APIv2 also returns - when configured in the environment - 'custom fields’.
• The Matters endpoint in APIv2 has been extended with the fields `recofa_cap`, `recofa_inventory`, `magistrate` and `insolvency_number`.