General Q&A

I have a couple of questions for which I’ve not been able to find answers.Is there a way to write off an invoice itself? We have a few clients who are just never going to pay what they owe and the attorneys don’t want to pursue it anymore. I don’t want to void them or waive them because those are not accurate. And I really don’t want to have to go in and write off each individual entry. Is there a way to just write off the remaining balance? Is there a way to run a report that only lists write offs and the clients associated with them? I looked and I don’t see one but I’m hoping I’m just missing it. Otherwise, I’ve been instructed to create an excel spreadsheet to keep track of write offs and I really don’t need another project to keep track of. Help, please!

For the past few days, I’ve had trouble with the “Combine PDF” feature...it stalls and fails to complete when combining 7 image files with a table of contents and page numbering. Anyone run into this?

I found the following article while looking for something else: https://support.smokeball.com/hc/en-au/articles/6112048755735-Using-the-Safe-Custody-register This is a really interesting feature. Is it available only for Australia? If so, is there a plan to add this feature to the US as well?  It would be so useful for estate planning clients, or business clients, to keep all the “official” executed documents associated with the contact (as if it was that client digital binder) so that they are easily accessible when a client has several matters opened with the firm (instead of keep moving/copying the “executed documents” from matter to matter).

We are having trouble seeing tagged Outlook matters in the Events tab. I can only see events that I personally tag - I cannot see events that colleagues are tagging.

Why is there no way to set up a non- trust account?

Is there a way that you can print a copy of the deed register so the client can sign if they collect all documents .

Is there anyway that when a Message is received back into Smokeball that can also be sent by email?  I receive too many notifications in a day and am missing messages

Do you find it too easy to create duplicate contacts in Smokeball? Are you struggling to identify duplicates or find yourself putting the wrong contacts onto your Matters or Invoices because there are too many “versions” of the same contact? We want to hear from you! Smokeball is currently investigating methods of tidying up pre-existing duplicate contacts and ways of making it easier to prevent their creation in the first place. If you would like to discuss this topic with the Product team, please like this post or reach out to sam.king@smokeball.com and someone will be in touch with you. Thanks!

Hi everyone,You may have noticed that labels in the Smokeball web app are sometimes capitalised inconsistently. Some buttons and menu items use title case ("Edit Matter Details"), while others use sentence case ("Edit matter details").In the interest of consistency we'd like to agree on a single standard to follow from now on. We're leaning towards sentence case: only the first word and proper nouns are capitalised. Before we commit, we want to hear from you.  For clarity, nothing will change right away. The standard will guide new work, and older screens will move across gradually over time.Why we're leaning towards sentence caseIt's easier to read at a glance, especially in long menus. Names stand out more clearly: "Assign to Sarah Mitchell", "Export to Microsoft Word". It’s more conversationalWe'd love to hear:Is either version clearer or easier to scan for you, and why? Would sentence case cause any practical issues for you day to day? Do you have any accessibility or readability c

I have a case where there are 3 defense attorneys from the same firm.  When adding them to the matter, will I enter them as 3 separate entries which lists the firm and their name each time or can I add the firm with the 3 names listed under the same entry?  If the later, how do I do it?  i can’t figure it out.

Hello Smokeball community, Looking forward to discovering more.  

When we receive a message from the Smokeball Bot advising that a matter has reached a certain percentage, do we also receive a notification/alert for that message, or do we need to go directly into the matter's Messages section to check whether any messages have been sent?

We’ve been working hard to make sure that when you move into new Outlook, the transition is smooth and you have an add-in that can support the way your firm works and save you time.We have released a lot of new functionality in the last few updates, so if you haven’t tried it yet, or haven’t looked at it for a while, now is a great time to install it and see what it can do.Work from anywhere: new Outlook for Windows, Outlook for Mac, Outlook on the web, and the Outlook mobile app on iOS and Android. Assign emails: one at a time or in bulk. The add-in suggests matters based on the email details, so assigning is usually one click away. Organise as you save: rename the email and each attachment, pick the matter folder for each, create folders on the fly, or even set a default folder so every save lands where you want it. Keep the thread filed automatically: once an email is assigned, replies and their attachments save to the matter on their own, even when Outlook is closed. Capture your t

Why doesn’t the discovery disappear from your “My Discovery Due Dates” when it is completed? And how do you remove it manually? I have all of this discovery telling me it’s due when it’s already been completed. I wish it would go away once completed like the medical records widget.

I work with many professionals in their professional capacity and also in their individual capacity. They have professional and personal emails.I do not see a way to add 2 different emails for the same contact and choose 1 as the primary to populate the email dialogue window.What am I missing?

Is there a way to create a task from an email?  95% of my tasks for myself and my staff come from email.  Going back and forth can be a bit of a pain.  There is a way to make tasks off of email for Outlook.  Is there a way to create a task from an email - i.e. draft response to email, create task, hit send.  Email goes to file and task created.   Along with finally doing something about a Service tab for more than one defendant (or, my practice, 10+), this would be life changing. 

We are new to smokeball and want to know if we have a client with multiple matters, is there a way to create the “master” client and then the various matters branch off of the same client?  Hope this makes sense.  Thank you!

Does the client still have access to the client portal messages and documents after their matter is closed?

Are there are any attorneys here in Colorado who handle probate or real estate matters? Have a Texas client going through probate with property in Colorado, and will likely need assistance with ancillary probate in Colorado and property deed.

Besides inputting the information into the discovery details area - how is this helping us?  What is it doing?  It doesn’t notify us of anything.  Can it notify us what is happening? 

Hello all, we have been using the widgets notes to keep key information on client cases easily accessible but have realized that someone on our team (who cannot access the Smokeball app) isn’t seeing these notes because she has to use the browser version (she is remote and the app is not supported in her area). Is there a fix for this or something on our end we can turn on so she sees these in the browser version as well? 

I’m a new user.Is there a way to enlarge or zoom a dashboard for a visually impaired user?  So far it looks like I can only add/remove items from my dashboard, but I cannot make the font larger or increase the contrast.Edited to add, I think the solution is to set my computer system to display everything in larger font, but that is not always desirable so please let me know if I’ve missed something.  Thanks!

I am trying to use Arche to summarize medical documents.  There are 10 PDFs, all well within the Archie size limits & I keep getting the following message: Archie cannot answer questions in .25 files.  Please choose another file.Any ideas what is wrong?

I accidentally added a memo Heading I do not need, How can I delete this one, thanks