LawToolBox Import

Import Road Map

Here is a basic road map of the steps involved.

• Consultant gets the data export from LawToolBox.
• Consultant checks for duplicate matters between LawToolBox and either Centerbase or another firm management system that they are importing from
• Consultant imports the State, ToolSetID, and LawToolBox Project Number into matters in Centerbase
• Consultant determines if activities need to be imported from LawToolBox
• If activities are going to be imported, the Consultant will pre-process the spreadsheet from LawToolBox and import them into Centerbase.
• Consultant uses the matter spreadsheet from LawToolBox to create a new spreadsheet listing the matters and the scheduled users.  They then send this spreadsheet to Centerbase.
• Once the matters and activities have been imported, Centerbase will use the provided Scheduled Users spreadsheet to set scheduled users on both Matters and Deadlines.

Getting Data from LawToolBox

Email  support@lawtoolbox.com to learn more about the possibility of migrating cases and calendaring entries managed in other LawToolBox platforms into LawToolBox for Centerbase.  They will schedule a phone call to discuss the project, pricing and timelines.  

Updating the Matters

 The two fields related to rules-based scheduling that you want to set on matters in Centerbase are "LawToolBox State Code" and "LawToolBox ToolSetID".  This will set the state and tool set/jurisdiction to use when creating new deadlines going forward.  In the spreadsheet it will be called RuleSet ID and will be mapped to the Centerbase LawToolBox ToolSetID field. If the spreadsheet provided by LawToolBox only has the RuleSet Name, let them know and they can provide you with a spreadsheet that has the ID of the RuleSet.  In order for the Centerbase implementation team to be able to properly set scheduled users on matters, it is also best to import the LawToolBox Project Number to the matter as well.  This will give a unique number for Centerbase to use when matching scheduled users with matters in Centerbase.

If the firm is only using LawToolBox, you can simply import the matters directly into Centerbase and you are good to go.  However, most firms will have another firm management software that has their master list of matters that you will need to match with the matters from LawToolBox.  Typically this is done with the Matter # field.  Be careful with this.  This is entered manually in LawToolBox and could have errors.  There can be multiple matters in LawToolBox with the same matter number and there is no guarantee that their other firm management software has unique matter numbers either. 

If you have already imported matters into Centerbase you can use the Duplicate Checking tool in the Windows Administrative Tool to see if all the matter numbers are unique.  With the LawToolBox data, you can use excel to determine the same.  If you find duplicates in either system, work with the firm to determine whether any matter numbers need to be changed in either data set and if any duplicates need to be removed.

Once you have determined the appropriate unique key to use for importing to matters and have dealt with any incorrect data or duplicates, you can import the State Code, ToolSetID, and LTB Project Number into the matters.

Importing Activities

LawToolBox can provide a list of all of the deadlines that can be imported as activities to the calendar in Centerbase.

First you should decide if you need to do this.  If you have already imported activities from another system (like Outlook) it may already have all of these deadlines on it.  In this case, importing the LawToolBox list would just create duplicates.  However, if these deadlines were kept separate from their other Outlook calendars, importing them is a good option.

There is some pre-processing you must do to the LawToolBox spreadsheet before importing it into Centerbase:

• Merge the start/end date columns with the start/end time columns.  Centerbase requires data be imported with the date and time in a single column, not split into two.  So instead of having one column with 1/1/2019 and another column with 2:00 PM, you should use Excel to merge these into a single column that says 1/1/2019 2:00 PM
• Convert activities with Time specified to Central Timezone.  Centerbase currently assumes all activities being imported are in the Central Timezone.  If this is not the case and you want them to show properly when viewed on the calendar, you must add or subtract hours to make them show properly.  For instance, if an activity was on 3/1/2019 at 2:00 PM for the Eastern Timezone, you would subtract 1 hour from that so it is showing the Central Timezone time (3/1/2019 1:00 PM).  This will ensure the activities are imported correctly and show properly no matter what timezone they are viewed from.  You SHOULD NOT do this on any activities where the ALL DAY EVENT column is marked as true.  These are "timeless" activities and if you adjust the time on this it might cause it to show on the wrong date.

When importing the deadlines, there are several fields you will want to make sure to import:

• Activity Subject
• Start date/time
• End date/time
• All Day Event
• Description
• Location
• Deadline ID
• Deadline Number
• Matter Lookup (using the unique key you determined during your matter import)

Creating a Scheduled Users Spreadsheet

In order to set the list of scheduled users on both matters and deadlines, you will need to provide Centerbase with a processed spreadsheet listing the scheduled users for each matter.  To do this, you will use the Matters spreadsheet provided by LawToolBox.  In addition to basic Matter details, it has a column called User's Email.  This is a comma-delimited list of e-mail addresses for the scheduled users on this matter.  In order for Centerbase to be able to process this, you must transform this spreadsheet by converting the e-mail addresses into the usernames that are in Centerbase and provide one user per row.  So, for example, let's say the spreadsheet looked like this:

We've got two matters, one with a single assigned user and another with three assigned users.  First we need to determine what users in Centerbase are related to each e-mail address.  We do our research and we get this user list:

• John Smith - jsmith@myfirm.com
• Peggy Sue - psue@myfirm.com
• Bobby Joe - bjoe@myfirm.com

Now we have what we need to convert the spreadsheet.  We are going to convert the e-mail addresses to Centerbase user names and we are going to make sure there is only one user per row.  After doing this, here is what we want the spreadsheet to look like so we can send it to Centerbase.

Centerbase Post-Processing

Once the matters and activities have been imported, you can send your adjusted Scheduled Users spreadsheet to Centerbase.  Centerbase will use the spreadsheet to first set the Assigned Users on all matters for purposes of deadlines.  Then, they will find all of the activities you imported and use the spreadsheet and the Matter Lookup on the activity to set those same users as scheduled with all of the activities.

Data Validation and Completion

Now all the data from LawToolBox has been imported.  The firm should be able to go to the matters in Centerbase and already have a State, ToolSet and Assigned Users set.  When they create new deadlines, it will use those settings and schedule the proper users.  Have them validate some matters and make sure it is showing the users, state, and toolset that they expect.

They should also now see their deadlines on their calendar with the proper users scheduled.  Have them verify that the deadlines are showing on the right date and time when viewed from their time zone.

Limitations

One thing to keep in mind about this import is the activities that are in Centerbase are not tied to a particular trigger date or deadline in Centerbase.  So if there is already a deadline for a particular trigger and the firm adds a new trigger to that matter it will create new deadlines in addition to the ones that you imported.  It will be up to them to remove these duplicates.