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| ImmForms Plus 4.2 | |
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I have been a staunch user of LexisNexis’ Immigration Law Interactive Drafting System (formerly known as Authority by Matthew Bender) for years, but I was hoping to find a better solution. ImmForms Plus took 10 minutes to load on my brand new Toshiba Portege Tablet running Windows XP at 1.5GHz with a Centrino processor. However, when I tested the installation on an old Windows ME machine running a 700MHz processor, the installation took more than a half hour. The application would not load on my Windows 98 unit and I gave up after an hour of trying with my Windows 2000 machine. Once loaded, I was immediately impressed by the design layout. Convenient pull-down menus and large titled toolbar buttons provide instant navigation. Attorneys, clients and forms were neatly nestled into a folder list pane. By expanding the “Attorneys,” “Paralegals” or “Client” folder, a client, law firm representative or applicant easily can be designated. Inside the forms folder, three subfolders contain every form that an immigration attorney would need. When forms are completed for clients, they automatically are placed in that client’s folder. However, the form views are not immediately referenced by name. The form known as an “Application for Naturalization” only appears as form N-400 in the folder list. There also seems to be no way to find a form by conducting a query by name. I wondered if this product was even beta tested by actual immigration attorneys. The layout includes a large “work space” where forms and reports can be viewed and managed. Entering client and attorney or paralegal data was straightforward. The system, however, requires a “preparer” to be entered, even after the entry of an attorney or paralegal. When entering client data, a few unnecessary fields were designated as required. These frustrations aside, the client entry form allows for handy data input, chronological reporting and use of ticklers. Once I completed my client data entry and chose a form from the folder list, I was given the option to open the form as a blank template, fill in client information or view the form’s instructions. I opted to view the form’s instructions in Adobe Acrobat, which came out in a very small font and could not be resized. The only way to read them was to print them out. Being unable to resize text makes this feature worthless for my practice. The program comes equipped with very helpful filing tips and field-by-field pointers derived from highly respected treatises such as the “Immigration Procedures Handbook” and area-of-law thought leaders such as Austin Fragomen and Steven Bell. If the user is really in a bind, there is an automatic link to Westlaw online. This hand holding is one of the strongest features of the program. When filling out areas of a form not automatically populated, there are no available shortcuts such as pop-up calendars or pull-down lists. Also, there is no warning if an essential field is left blank. The form can be saved as a draft in progress or as a non-editable final document. My favorite save option, however, is the “Save As Portable Document Format” designation, which allows for easy e-mail attachments so the client or co-counsel can double check the accuracy of the form. The application has flexible and comprehensive reporting functionality. At the push of a button, you can generate preformatted reports that let you locate clients from a certain country or by immigration status. You can customize chronological reports based on the date files were opened, or organize them by dependents, asylum filings and employers. Form updates are available online to users with active maintenance agreements. Import, export, backup and restore functionality worked flawlessly. Pricing of ImmForms Plus is a bit unorthodox: It sells for $69 per month for the first user and $18 per month for additional users. Other programs sell for half the price but require pricey maintenance payments. When you do the math, ImmForms is a bit steep but isn’t unreasonable. If you buy the program with the Fragomen & Bell Handbooks, ImmForms Plus costs $112.50 per month for the first user and $31.50 per month ($378 per year) for each additional user. Unless you expect to take advantage of the online research quite frequently, this might make ImmForms Plus beyond your budget. ImmForms Plus shows a lot of potential. It’s functional and produces professional looking, crisp forms. The built-in reporting, filing and procedural advice is excellent. When coupled with the direct access to Westlaw’s online resources, very few questions of the attorney or paralegal will remain unanswered. That said, a number of kinks should have been spotted during beta testing, which I hope will be fixed. |
Thomson West Price: ImmForms Plus costs $69 a month for the first user and $18 a month for each additional user. ImmForms Plus with Handbooks costs $112.50 a month for the first user and $31.50 a month for each additional user. Windows 98 second Edition/ME/NT 4.0 Service Pack 6/2000/XP; Pentium II 350MHz (Pentium III 750MHz or faster recommended); 128MB of available RAM (256MB or higher recommended); 300MB hard disk space. Not compatible with Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Reviewed by Alexander H. Lubarsky, who practiced for a decade in family-based immigration law in visas, naturalization, removal defense and circuit court litigation. He is based in Hillsborough, Calif. PROS CONS VERDICT |
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