The client maintenance program is used to add or modify information held about clients. Clients in LegalOffice consist of one or more Identities. An Identity can be an individual, a company, a trust, or a partnership.
When adding a client you first add an Identity and information about the Identity. This will include personal, identification and contact information for the Identity.
The second step is to add information and system settings for the client entity. This will help deliver personalised services to the client. This includes things like how to address the client in precedent communications, how to deliver debtor statements, whether to charge debtor interest, the format of any bills rendered, client specific charge rates and much more.
Before you create a new client and identity, you should check they do not already exist in your system.
Open the Workspace MyClients tab.
Right click on the filter title bar and select New.
The Identity selection screen will now display. For individuals, enter the surname name of the Identity in the surname field. For non-person Identities, enter the full entity name in the surname field e.g. Spark NZ Limited. You can use the % symbol when searching and this may help locate non individual names e.g. typing %Spark% would return any Identity with Spark in the name.
Press the tab key to display a list of similar named identities who are already loaded in your database. If the Identity is an individual you can add their first name in the forename field to help refine your search.
If the Identity exists you can cancel this process and instead look up, and if applicable use the existing identity client record.
If the Identity does not exist, click the New Identity button to create a new Identity as a named member of the new client. The Identity Maintenance program will display and is where you enter information for an Identity.
On the Details tab, use the drop down list to select the appropriate name type for the Identity. Tab through the fields and fill out the form with the required information.
The following fields are available on this screen for the different name types (types of identities);
When you have finished entering information on the Details tab, click on the Contact / ID tab to enter address, telephone, e-mail and identification information.
You can add an unlimited number of Contact / ID records. To add a record simply right click in the appropriate grid area e.g. Address, Phone etc. and select New from the options menu.
You can share an address, phone or e-mail record between identities. To share a record, firstly add a New type of record e.g. Work Phone, then right click and select the option Share. A lookup screen will display where you can search for and select the record using the identity name.
When adding Verification records, you can associate a DMS document e.g. an APLY record, a scanned copy of the passport or certificate of incorporation. To associate a DMS document to the Verification record, click the Select option from the menu displayed when you right click on the DMS Doc ID field. Choose the relevant document from the list displayed. If you want to open a Verification document, use the right click menu item View.
When you have finished adding verification information for the identity, tick the Verify Complete box to indicate all required verification information has been loaded.
Click the OK button the save your changes and return to the client maintenance program.
To add further named Identities, right click on the Identity header bar and select Add another name. To modify existing named identities, right click on the Identity and select Edit Identity.
To delete a named Identity, right click on the Identity and select Remove Identity from Client. If the Identity has no other relationships in LegalOffice, you will be prompted on whether you wish to remove the Identity record completely.
For Clients who consist of multiple named Identities, one must be marked as being the Main Identity. The system will set the first Identity added to the Client as being the Main Identity. The Main Identities information will be used for default Client information like Address, Phone, e-mail and bank account information.
To change which Identity is set as being the Main Identity, right click on the Identity and select Make this the Main Identity.
When you have finished adding Identities, continue and use the client maintenance program to add further information about your client. This will include things like the author responsible, a salutation, how you would like debtor reminders to be delivered, and much more.
The following fields are available on the client maintenance screen;
When you have finished entering any additional client information, click the Save button to save your work.
There are additional functions available in client maintenance. These can be initiated using the mouse right click button. Right click anywhere on the coloured part of the client maintenance screen to display the menu options.
Matters
Select this option to open the matter maintenance program and add or edit matters for this client record.
Persons of Interest
Use this function to add details of people who are of interest to this client e.g. spouse, partner, children, accountant or any other type of connection..
Select the Person of Interest option to open the POI maintenance program
Use the mouse right click button to display the program menu, select Add another PIO Record
Enter a label describing the type of relation you want to record. You can use the drop down menu and select from a list of types or manually enter any type of relationship you wish.
The Identity maintenance screen will now display, use this program to add details of the Person of Interest.
Related
Use this function to associate clients so that you can see any relationships your clients have. You can have an unlimited number of relationships between clients.
Select the Related option to open the Related Clients maintenance program
Enter the client number directly into the Client Field or double click on the Client fields to search for the client
Use the drop down menu to add a description of the relationship
Tab to load the record and then click the Ok button the save and close the program.
Notes
Select Notes to add a client note. This is free text field of unlimited length. You can also tick the important box which will mark the client as having important notes that require reading.
Click Ok to save and close the program.
Risk Assessment
Select this option if you want to edit or view the client risk assessment form. For further information please see the Client AML Guide.
Client Due Diligence
Select this option if you want to edit or view the client due diligence program. For further information please see the Client AML Guide.
Send an Internal Message
Select this option to send a message to another LegalOffice user. For further information please see the Messenger Guide.
When you have finished entering any additional client information, click the Save button to save your work.