For over 35 years Tom Kirkendall has been involved with complex business litigation matters and corporate reorganizations under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Residing in the Houston, Texas area, Tom has built a thriving practice while becoming heavily involved with the Houston area legal community.
Running a solo law firm means you wear all of the hats, including IT support. For Tom the need for a time and billing system that was both easy to use and backed by world-class support were must-haves. And thanks to his research TimeSolv turned out to be just what he was looking for.
This is how he does it with TimeSolv.
The transition from a labor-intensive billing process to TimeSolv was delightful.”
The Situation
It’s no secret there is a large number of attorneys who use legacy software. And, for good reason… change is hard and staying in the same routine is comfortable.
The anxiety and stress that can come from just thinking about a shift in technology can be overwhelming. A series of questions start running through your mind.
- First, what’s the right solution for my practice?
- How much downtime will I have?
- Will this switch impact my clients or ability to serve them?
- What if I make the wrong choice?
All valid and reasonable reasons to feel paralyzed and not want to move. However, today’s story is about an attorney who made the leap… and loved it!
Tom Kirkendall, is a solo attorney with a boutique business litigation practice in Houston, Texas and had been using Timeslips for the past 17 years.
Tom cited the difficulty and effort it takes to get time recorded, and bills out consistently. He would review every statement that went out and remembered how his least favorite task was corralling attorneys trying to get their time in.
After leaving big law life for a regular schedule and more time with his family, Tom purchased Timeslips. And has been using it for nearly all of the seventeen years he’s been a solo. It wasn’t until a few months ago that Tom faced a choice.
Renew his license to Timeslips… or use this as an opportunity to make a change.
A very common situation for so many attorneys facing renewals and upgrade deadlines. So, Tom began
his search.
Lawyers are made to be accountable for every dollar of their clients funds held in trust accounts. TimeSolv helps you easily manage this money in separate ledgers under each specific matter. This helps ensure that client money does not get mixed up with the firm’s assets.
TimeSolv’s Trust Request feature means you can even share requests online for funds, allowing your clients to make deposits into their trust accounts immediately using credit cards. This process speeds up your cash flow significantly.
The Solution
What was Tom’s thought process while selecting a new system?
“I’m a à la carte kinda guy.”
Tom explained, noting that he wasn’t looking for an end to end case management system. He just wanted something to handle the time and billing portion of his practice, and to do it well. Further sharing; “I stuck with Timeslips for so long because it manages an area that is the life-blood of a law firm.”
When Tom found TimeSolv, a few things motivated him to move forward with the investment and transition.
Education: “One of the reasons I chose TimeSolv was the daily and weekly lessons on how to use the application.”
Support: “My dedicated account manager was always there for me, before, during and after the sale.” Migration: “My transition to TimeSolv was absolutely flawless!”
The Conversion Process
When things get hectic, simple matters.
Tom shared the wow-moment when all of his data was migrated in just one day!
After hesitating to move for so long, having a win like that can make a law firm client stick with a solution for life. Tom was prepared to run the two systems side-by-side for a couple of months until they could move all of their client’s billables over to TimeSolv.
To his great surprise, the TimeSolv team converted the data and completed set up in one day. In his words; “The transition from a labor-intensive billing process to TimeSolv was delightful.”
For law firms, transitioning to new technology is a scary, costly and nerve-wracking process.
I wish I had made the switch years ago. Complacency with an inferior product often delays progress.“
Conclusion
Kirkendal succinctly summarized the impact of his move to TimeSolv.
“I held off switching to TimeSolv for a long time because I was familiar and comfortable with Timeslips, although I was not enthralled with it.
When I finally made the move, in less than a week, I was pleased to be set up and fully ready to use TimeSolv with 17 years of Timeslips data converted into the program. Customer service is excellent and the program is easy to use.“
