Case Management

The MasterList main working screen is a list of Logs, Appointments and To-Dos, which can be sorted by date, person they are attached to, task code or any user-defined category. Appointments can be viewed on a “Calendar” screen for a given day, week or month. To-Dos don’t “follow” you from day to day as with other programs, but it’s easy to “blast” a To-Do forward a given number of days, thus eliminating some of the clutter frequently found in other programs.

A simple but slick report function lets you generate and print reports for any task code. For example, if you have entered Statute of Limitation (SOL) dates and warning dates (SOL runs out in six months), you easily can generate a report showing all these events in all your cases. A given case (or project) can be divided into free-form logs organized as your needs dictate (e.g., witnesses, documents, court dates, etc.).

Word processing documents and folders can be dragged and dropped onto an event or log. You can have one log devoted to documents you generated relevant to a case and another log for documents received in production or from various other sources. While event descriptions are limited, each event has a free-form notepad attached where you can store thoughts, annotations, record time and more.

A “Desktop Espresso” function allows you to place shortcuts to almost any application on your computer to a bar at the top of the program for easy access without referring to your desktop. Security can be assigned to individual users on the network to give them access to various projects so everyone working on a project can see the events and notes made by others working on that team. The MasterList syncs with a Palm handheld device and is activated by a license key. To continue using the Outlook Contact list while disabling the Calendar and To-Do functions on your Palm, a third-party add-in from DataViz must be used.

While the program offers little in the way of automation, it’s easy to enter events because the entry screen is free-form: no need to select off pick lists or tab from required field to required field on multiple data entry screens. The program is easy to manage, but that management must be done manually. On the plus side, you don’t have the overhead in terms of setup and maintenance that characterizes programs with more extensive automation features.

Thus both the MasterList’s main strengths and weaknesses stem from the program’s basic concept. Its simplicity, flexibility and even elegance come at a cost: There is no rolodex functionality; no time and billing piece; you can’t e-mail reports; you can’t automate events; the calendar is view-only (you must add events from the main screen); links with other programs are only through Windows’ cut and paste function; and so on. In short, the MasterList is more an expanded To-Do list or “project management” in a restricted sense rather than the more comprehensive “all-in-one” approach of practice management programs such as Time Matters, Amicus Attorney or Case Master. It’s aimed at small firms and practitioners who don’t want to buy into the learning curve and network requirements of its bigger relatives. Its audience includes a significant number of people who have “dropped out” from more feature-rich programs on the grounds they are too complex or too hard to learn.

The MasterList’s self-definition as “a tactical project/case management tool, which applies to the computerized management of ideas, tactics and timetables” is a fair description.

If you want an all-in-one program that aims at linking your calendar, case list, e-mail, documents, phone messages and time and billing, you would be better off looking elsewhere. But if the way you work fits The MasterList’s concept and your primary goal is simply to organize your practice around “projects,” your daily schedule and To-Do lists, then the MasterList is worth a look.

The next version of The MasterList (Version 2.48vm) called The MasterList Visual Mind Version, which incorporates Visual Mind (reviewed on Page 47 of this issue) as a component of The MasterList, was released on Sept.1.

Price: $179 per user

DOS, Windows 3.1, Mac etc. supports Win 95 and above

Reviewed by John Heckman, principal of Heckman Consulting located in Old Saybrook, Conn. The firm specializes in software integration and technology issues for small to medium size law firms.

Oct/Nov '01 Issue

PROS
Simplicity and flexibility for project management. Can be up and running with very little training.

CONS
Lacks more advanced all-in-one case management integration.

VERDICT
Worth a close look if you treat your cases as projects and don’t need or want the complexity of more elaborate all-in-one programs.

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Updated 09/27/01
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