Central Desktop

Central Desktop is THE killer app of web 2.0. If you're a test-driver like me, you absolutely must head to their site, sign up for a free trial and give it a spin. (Were I a solo or small firm, I would absolutely use this technology. Unfortunately, I'm in a bigger firm; the type of firm that adopts new technology slowly, if at all, and usually not at all. Have you ever heard of GroupWise? 'nuff said. But you've got enough problems of your own, you don't need to hear about mine.)

What's so special about CD? I truly believe that it could form the basis for a real legal transaction engine. Stay tuned for a future post about what I think that means. Here are a few of its primary features: project management (Milestones with associated To-Do lists), team collaboration (including its own built-in word processing and spreadsheet capabilities, similar to Google Docs), a robust calendar system (including iCal feeds), robust communications (including RSS, plus webinar video conferencing at an additional charge), even database functionality. Oh, and did I mention wiki's? It does everything, and does it with the most attractive web 2.0 interface I've ever used. There is one limitation of which I'm not too fond: a 100 active-project maximum, which might limit its utility for bigger firms. But for the great majority of practicing attorneys, this software-as-a-service offering might be exactly what you've been looking for.

My search for a really integrated Calendar and To-Do list is what led me to look into Project Management Software to begin with. Most software applications treat Calendar events and To-Do's as two different things, but I contend that they're just two views of the same data. (For more on this, see my related Post: "To-Do's vs. Calendars.") The other thing that led me to collaboration suites was email noise. The Calendar in Central Desktop would be reason enough to subscribe to the service. It allows one to keep track of all Projects in a typical Calendar view, including both Milestones, To-Do's and Calendar events on the same calendar. But there are dozens of additional reasons to consider it for your law firm.

Let's apply Central Desktop's skill set to a small firm, composed of partner, junior associate, paralegal & secretary. They handle strictly residential real estate, and have fewer than 100 matters at any given time. In addition to the firm's client, there is always opposing counsel and opposing clients, one or more real estate brokers, home inspectors, lenders or mortgage brokers, title insurance personnel and perhaps a surveyor. All of these people have a need to speak with one or more of the other parties throughout the course of the transaction.

Using Central Desktop, the firm creates a Project for each new engagement. Each of the players for the Project could be invited to collaborate in the workspace, at various levels of security. Each Project is divided into Milestones, or major events. The Milestones might be (1) Client Engagement, (2) Contract Negotiation, (3) Due Diligence and (4) Closing. To-Do's would be associated with each Milestone. For example, under Client Engagement the To-Do list might include (a) conflict clearance, (b) assigning a matter number, (c) assigning an employee to the file, and (d) sending the initial engagement letter. (You can set up templates and clone them for similar Projects.) Many To-Do's are easily handled within Central Desktop: create a database of clients for checking conflicts and keeping track of matter numbers; automatically delegate file set-up to the secretary; keep a draft of the engagement letter in the built-in word processor.

Consider Milestone #2, Contract Negotiation: keep drafts with version control in the application. There's no need for a separate word processor. Give your client permissions to collaborate on contract drafts, if that's appropriate. Give opposing counsel read-only privileges if you want (I haven't thought through all of the ramifications of this, so I don't advise it. But it's possible with this program.) Once the contract is drafted, create new To-Do lists for contingencies such as Attorney Approval, Inspection, & Financing. Invite the client's mortgage broker and real estate broker to the site so that everyone has their eye on these deadlines. The title agent could up-load the commitment right to the application for everyone to review. There's no need to keep track of multiple email strings: everyone can communicate directly in the application.

As a client extranet, (I believe) your site can be privately branded. Clients can not only collaborate on documents, but also populate databases, propose meeting dates, and subscribe to their Project Calendars in any other calendar that supports iCal. You control the rights that in-house and outside parties have to edit information on the site. Maybe turnover is a problem for you. Well, use the Central Desktop wiki as a knowledge management tool for all things related to residential real estate. Your new secretary or junior associate can get up to speed in no time. All that's required is a high speed connection, ANY computer platform (mac, windows or linux), and the low-low price of $99 to $249 per month, depending on features. (For those of you who wanted to switch to mac but were reluctant to do so for lack of a good case management system, consider this!)

Central Desktop is not as specialized as Legal Case Management Software, but it easily performs many of the same functions. I spoke to someone at Central Desktop about the possibility of merging database information into the built-in word processor to automatically generate letters, pleadings, etc., in a fashion similar to Hot Docs, and was advised that such a feature would be considered for a future release. There are many other competitors to Central Desktop, but I tried many if not most of them, and this was my favorite application by far. I strongly encourage you to consider it for your law office. There are some possible negatives: I didn't spend much time considering the question of how to get my data OUT of Central Desktop if I ever wanted to change applications. Although I believe their service to be secure, I'm no expert in data integrity or security when it comes to web applications. I believe that they allow users to archive Projects, but it would be really slick if you could aggregate all of the content from a given Project and archive it into one PDF. That way, if any question ever arose about a prior representation, then getting at the data would be simple. There may be other possible negatives that I haven't considered. I'm recommending ONLY that you check it out, and if you're intrigued, to ask all of these questions and any others that might occur to you.

(NOTE: The author is not affiliated with Central Desktop in any way. I used their free test-drive service for many months, but my employer was unwilling to pay for my subscription, and I was unwilling to foot the bill myself. As such, I am not a current user of this product.)