Sonny Wilson Lawyers

Sonny Wilson, a sole practitioner based in Liverpool, Sydney, is making phenomenal progress using his new LEAP system. Said Sonny: "I had always wanted to start my own firm and earlier this year I took the step. I quickly realised that I needed a good management system and with LEAP I got that and a lot more.

Sole practitioners are time and resource poor. Our clients are not wealthy and we need to operate very efficiently to be profitable.

LEAP allows me to do so. I quickly discovered that LEAP is much more than just a practice management system, it provides an invaluable knowledge base for me and in particular it allows me to produce compliant documents of the highest quality quickly and an important consideration for a small firm with a middle class client base. I use LEAP to manage all my matters now, including Conveyancing, Family Law, and even my Criminal matters.

I firmly believe in the old adage that you must crawl before you can walk, and with LEAP, I know I will incrementally get greater benefits, however, even at this stage, I cannot imaging practicing without it. Implementation was easy; training time minimised, and the ongoing support from Colin (Panagakis - NSW Sales and Marketing Manager) and his team has been excellent. I made the right choice!"

LS Davis and Associates

Situated in the centre of the Sydney CBD, Leon Davis is perhaps at the vanguard of solo practitioners who have invested in the tools to compete effectively and efficiently against larger competitors.

According to Leon; “Like many solo practitioners I am short of time and do not have the typical backup human resources of larger firms. When I decided that it was time to leave the multi-partners environment and set up on my own, I knew that I needed software solutions that would enable me to operate very efficiently and also be a source of useful information and knowledge.

LEAP has more than delivered on every score. They were the first software provider to understand the importance of the Internet and the way in which email, faxing and scanning has been incorporated into the LEAP Electronic File has had a profound impact on how I work and the profitability of my practice.

If you are a practitioner who wants to minimise paperwork and work with electronic tools, then LEAP is probably the best solution for you. I do all my time recording and billing through LEAP without unnecessary delays and without any costly reworking of billing information.

Recent innovations such as the Online Research and Online Notifications are a real boon to small practitioners. Research can be costly and by getting information quickly in this way I can provide better client service and minimise my practice risks at the same time. Combined with the rich resources of LEAP Precedents which are kept up to date by LEAP, I have an enormous amount of valuable information available at my fingertips.

I have also found LEAP support to be exceptional and as importantly, affordable by a small firm like mine.

I am simply not prepared to pay support to a software provider that gives us no service in return. With LEAP we know we are getting a much higher level of service for a significantly lower cost, real value for money."

Leon is happy to talk to you about his experiences and the benefits he gets from using LEAP.

LS Davis and Associates uses LEAP Accounting, LEAP Documents and LEAP Disbursement Management.

Regional Firm

Our Lawyers Mittagong

Enjoy your work, save time, and make more money...

Situated in the beautiful Southern Highlands in the little village of Mittagong is a small dynamic law firm, Our Lawyers Mittagong.

And what is so special about them? Well, Our Lawyers Mittagong is the blue print for what the firm's principle, Mr Guy Dawson, hopes to be a chain of Our Lawyers firms throughout New South Wales.

And all of them using LEAP as their central matter, precedent and procedural management system.

Said Guy Dawson, a solicitor of thirty four years standing "Never has law been so enjoyable and trouble free and the delivery of quality legal services so achievable." The LEAP system has enabled the team at Our Lawyers Mittagong to really concentrate on the focus of their business - providing quality legal services to its clients.

Our Lawyers Mittagong has only been in operation since January this year and has already established a strong client base sufficient to keep four staff members happily busy. The firm provides various legal services including conveyancing, estates, family law and business law, local government,

and Land and Environment Court matters.

One of the philosophies of the firm has been to put systems into place that allow the staff time to concentrate on client service. LEAP Documents, Accounting, Searching and Precedents streamlines the everyday running of matters to enable them to do this.

Our Lawyers uses a combination of precedents provided by LEAP, the Law Society and its own precedents to ensure it has available the most comprehensive and up to date set of precedents for its clients. The firm has created many of its own precedents as the need arises.

Mr Dawson rates one of the greatest features of LEAP as being this ability for users to create their own precedents and to modify the LEAP precedents to suit their individual needs.

LEAP's document and matter managementcapabilities means that all staff have access to all of the relevant details of a matter such as addresses, telephone numbers, when we last wrote to them and much more with one click of their mouse..

As Financial Controller, Danni Larney puts it, "LEAP provides instant answers". LEAP has a strong reputation as a system that is user friendly even for those with little or no computer experience.

"LEAP has probably the best computer support available," said Our Lawyers Mittagong senior legal assistant, Mr Steve Bennett. "The LEAP consultants are one phone call away, they are instantly available, easily answer all of your questions, they are wonderfully encouraging, and most importantly they are open to suggestions." Complete integration between the various components of LEAP enhances the convenience and simplicity of the system.

"It is simply so easy to use," said senior legal assistant, Marija Higley, Our Lawyers Mittagong. "For example, we order a search online with LEAP, this then automatically creates a disbursement slip for LEAP Accounting , and in LEAP Documents we have the search results recorded electronically. No need to enter the same information in half a dozen spots."

"We are able to provide quality legal services at competitive prices due to LEAP software and Best Practice principles, " said Mr Dawson.

If you think the time has come for your firm to be running as smoothly and productively as Our Lawyers Mittagong, then contact LEAP to arrange an obligation-free demonstration in your office.

"I can honestly say it will be the best time you will ever spend," said Mr Dawson. "Don't waste another working day worrying about the details - allow your firm to focus on practising law."

Richard Steele and Co

- It's time to really make your practice grow...

Richard Steele and his family moved from Bowral to Bathurst in 1989 for a change of lifestyle. He sold very successful practices in Bowral and Mittagong which he had spent 17 years building up and was looking forward to an early retirement to spend more time with his family.

However, all too soon Richard began to find that the pull of the law and in particular conveyancing was too strong. At the suggestion of a local Real Estate Agent, he decided to develop a high quality specialised conveyancing practice.

Initially occupying a small two room office, it wasn't long before Richard had expanded enough to purchase a cottage and turn it into an office. He then had two full time support staff working for him and gained a reputation in Bathurst for providing property related legal services of the highest standard.

Still the volume of work coming into the office was increasing so Richard turned to LEAP Legal Software for assistance. In 1996 he purchased and had installed one of the first LEAP Documents systems to improve staff productivity and to also enable him to provide a more efficient and cost effective service to clients and agents.

Today Richard Steele & Co is considered by many to be the pre-eminent conveyancing practice in Bathurst. The number of staff in the firm has increased to nine - three Solicitors and two Licensed Conveyancers, including his wife, Lee, and they now rely on an eight user LEAP Documents system to manage their files.

There is no doubt that without LEAP Documents the number of staff required to handle current work volumes would be even greater. LEAP allows Richard to effectively oversee all work passing through the office. He is able to see the current status and the correspondence that has been generated on any matter in the firm at the click of a button.

Richard uses the reporting capabilities provided by LEAP Documents to view the firm's overall performance both past and future and to provide a weekly matter update service to real estate agents and subdivision clients that other firms can only dream of. Lee arranges up to twenty wills per week, using a combination of LEAP precedents, and the firm's own precedents.

Being a conveyancing specialist Richard has developed many of his own precedents, all of which have been incorporated into LEAP Documents to take full advantage of the merging facility that this provides.

So what does the future hold for this rapidly expanding firm? Construction is almost complete on extensions to the office that will provide capacity for two more staff members as well as rooms for client meetings and settlements. As Bathurst continues to grow, so does Richard Steele & Co in their endeavour to provide the best services to the people of Bathurst.