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Everything you need to get started in the Smokeball community. Learn how to connect with Smokeball experts and other legal peers near and far.

79 Conversations
Sara Sultan
Community Manager
Sara SultanCommunity Manager
published in Run your best firm
Set up Smokeball to suit you with these right-click tips

Smokeball is full of features designed to place what you need to run your best firm right at your fingertips. Each area of law, firm, and employee needs something different. That’s why we have so many great features and customizations accessible with a single right-click.   1) Matter list view By right-clicking on the matter list heading, you can choose the information you wish to see at a glance when opening the matter list. Learn more about organizing your matter list.2) Matter detailsAdd more information you have on a matter by right-clicking certain fields in the Matter Details, such as multiple contacts.  3) Matter documentsRight-clicking on a file in a matter will present you with a plethora of different actions you can take. From sending the file as an attachment to converting it to a PDF, you can access everything you need from one place.Learn more about organizing your matter files and documents. There’s many other places where right-click can do it’s magic in Smokeball. Is th

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Sara Sultan
Community Manager
1 year ago
kuhrich
Smokeball Team
kuhrichSmokeball Team
published in Run your best firm
Are your robots underperforming?

Despite working for free, never getting tired and always showing up on time, robots still need to be set up for success—they require an occasional check-in!  Automation, or “the robots,” is really just using specialized technology to quickly complete common legal tasks. It will never replace key components of the work: problem solving, mentoring colleagues, advocating for clients, or other things that drew you to the work. Automation will ensure you’re not burning hours on repetitive and tedious tasks.   Take back your time In our free CLE Embrace the Robots: Automate Law Firm Tasks + Grow Your Practice on November 15, we’ll help you take the next steps in automating your firm. But to do it, we need to know where you’re stuck.  We’d like to know your answers to any or all of these questions: What non-billable tasks are holding you up? What repeatedly appears on your to-do list and kills your profit margin? What tasks would you like help automating?

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magort
1 year ago
Sam Lupton
Smokeball Team
Sam LuptonSmokeball Team
published in Run your best firm
What are your firm's goals?

We talk a lot about personal New Year resolutions, but do you set resolutions for your business too?To help you achieve your goals this year, on behalf of our Client Success team, we’d love to know what your firm is focusing on, and how we can help.Want to find more clients? Keen to branch out into different areas of Law? Looking to grow your team? Something else?Your success coaches are on standbyThe Client Success Team here at Smokeball are here to help you realise your business goals by helping you use Smokeball to your advantage.We also invite our community members to share learnings to help each other. Starting a conversation or simply posting your goals below is a good place to start.Whether you're planning on automating more of your processes to give you more time back or want to start tracking your profitability so that you know where to focus your marketing dollars, we are here to help support your success.Even if you aren’t sure what your goals are yet, we can share a wealth

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Smokeball Team
1 year ago
Kim Thai
Smokeball Team
Kim ThaiSmokeball Team
published in Run your best firm
How I saved time and billed more using Autotime

Before I joined Smokeball I worked in a law firm. When my firm moved from manual to automatic time tracking we quickly saw how much more we were earning and how much time we saved on admin.  Here’s what I learned from making the move to Autotime and why I think you should too.Before: Manual time tracking & billing the old-fashioned wayMy firm and I tracked everything using a timer and a new spreadsheet to log the time for each matter.It was completely manual and I remember how much time I spent recording tasks and calculating the totals when it came time to bill. Smokeball research with clients showed that firms that track time manually underestimate billable hours by up to 30%.That was my experience too. It was hard to be sure I had captured everything that was billable. I know we missed a lot.As a Client Success Manager here at Smokeball, I’ve seen how many firms are under billing and under valuing their work. Some of these clients would record their time entry in an Excel spread

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magort
1 year ago
Ben
BenFrequent Scribe
published in Run your best firm
Happy holidays! Getting support for Smokeball over the holiday break.

Happy holidays!After a busy year, many of us here at Smokeball are taking a break between now and new years day. Don't worry; some of us are sticking around to chat if you need help during normal support hours (excluding public holidays).Ask a question here in the community Check out our help articles  Or -if you're still stuck-do send our support team a messageWe wish you all a happy holiday and a prosperous new year!  

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Ben
1 year ago
Javier Rodriguez
Smokeball Team
Javier RodriguezClient Training Manager
published in Run your best firm
What would make your firm more successful? [feedback request]

Hello Smokeball Community!As we head towards the new year we are doing some research here in the USA and would love your feedback.We want to hear what kinds of things you think would help your firm be more successful or would have helped you get your firm rolling.Do you wish you had access to a place where you could buy/sell templates for common documents (wills, common petitions etc)?  What about access to resources on how to run a firm from a business standpoint or best practices by area of law? Is there something else you wish you had now or that would have made your life easier?As a note, this is not meant to be a forum for Smokeball feature requests and we would love this to be a more holistic view of the needs you might have as a firm and/or as you were getting started. Drop a comment here with ideas for discussion or if you'd like us to reach out to you so we can chat.

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Javier Rodriguez
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
A
Anonymous
published in Community News
Save $100 on Smokeball Spark: Early bird tickets available until 31 December

Want some inspiration to transform and grow your firm?Smokeball Spark, Australia’s premier small law conference, offers a chance to join other leaders to spark new ideas for business growth and learn about top technology trends to fuel your firm’s business transformation.2 streams: ‘Firm Development’ or ‘Daily Efficiency’ streams to either map out long-term strategies for your firm or to identify how you can operate more efficiently day-to-day. Keynote speakers include ‍Holly Ransom, globally renowned content curator and speaker, and Sam Bloom, Bestselling author, 2 x para surfing world champion, and inspiration behind the Netflix hit movie, Penguin Bloom. Earn 5+ CPD points, networking and moreRegister today and save $100 on early bird tickets on sale now until Dec 31, 2022. Smokeball Spark will be held on February 17, 2023 at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth. 

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A
2 years ago
kuhrich
Smokeball Team
kuhrichSmokeball Team
published in Run your best firm
Automation opportunities: watch how they help save time, reduce errors and remove stress [on demand webinar]

Automation can sound overwhelming, but Jordan Turk and Chelsey Lambert broke it down into three manageable parts in their recent CLE, which you can watch here for free. They also connected automation practices to ethical considerations. Afterall, automating one's practice doesn't just save time, reduce errors, and alleviate stress; it also helps ensure excellent client communication, protected information, and other top ethical concerns.Here's how they broke down automation opportunities across a firm:Getting the workLead generation Intake SchedulingDoing the workDocument automation Workflows Utilization reports Unified calendaring Expense trackingBilling the workCapturing time Invoicing Payments Profitability reportsDon’t try to tackle all these areas at once! Think about where you're losing the most time and money, or where you’re experiencing the most stress. Prioritize automation at those points and build from there.Smokeball's free Getting Automated guide walks you through the abo

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kuhrich
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
kuhrich
Smokeball Team
kuhrichSmokeball Team
published in Community News
'Tis the Season (of Giving)

Turkeys are filling freezer space, and Mariah Carey is telling us what she wants for Christmas. It signals there's no better time to give back--and Season of Giving is the way Smokeball does just that.Join us by taking or referring a demo today until Dec 30. For each demo ran, we'll donate $50 (up to $25,000) to our partner organizations: Howard Brown Health, Equip for Equality, Restore Justice, and CASA.Help us make a difference! The more we grow, the more we can give.   

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kuhrich
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
kuhrich
Smokeball Team
kuhrichSmokeball Team
published in Run your best firm
Recognize your favorite paralegal

There's no end to the ways that paralegals contribute to law firms. In celebration of National Paralegal Day (Oct. 23), we’re honoring paralegals who go above and beyond every day.  Now through Friday, November 4, nominate your paralegal for their chance to win great prizes and bragging rights! Just fill out this short submission form, including the name of your paralegal and a short description of how they go the extra mile for your practice.  We’ll select one grand prize winner and nine runners-up, to be announced November 14. The 2022 National Paralegal Day Winner will receive a $250 Amazon gift card, a giant personalized tin of Garrett's popcorn (Chicago's favorite!) and a blog feature on Smokeball’s website. We can’t wait to read your submissions!  

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kuhrich
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
Ben
BenFrequent Scribe
published in Run your best firm
How to get actionable data from firm insights in SmokeballAsk an expert

We’re about to go live with a webinar on how to make the most of the data Smokeball gathers and shares with you about how your firm is running.  Ask your questions hereWe’re on standby to help you put the lessons learned in this webinar into action. Whether you’d like help using firm insights in Smokeball or you’re not sure how to interpret the data, this is the place to get help.  

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M
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
Bianca
Smokeball Team
BiancaSmokeball Team
published in Community News
Smokeball’s Response to the Optus Data breach

In light of the recent Optus data breach, there is a lot of legitimate concern in the legal industry regarding the threat of cyber-security and the possibility of sensitive information being compromised. At Smokeball, we treat client data security as a top priority. We align ourselves with industry-leading approaches to protect the safety and integrity of the sensitive information stored in our systems. To keep your firm safe and ensure client data is protected, the following internal controls are in place:Access to all infrastructure is protected using Multi-factor Authentication Systems are protected with firewalls and intrusion detection technology Access to all infrastructure is audited and logged centrally Access to the physical network is authenticated and authorised centrally Monitoring systems are used to detect unusual behaviour which alerts IT staff If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our dedicated support team for assistance on 1300 33 55 53, reply to

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Bianca
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
E
Smokeball Team
emily142Smokeball Team
posted in Run your best firm
I love the Firm Insights Tab!

As a former Smokeball user myself, I did not discover or utilize the Firm Insights Tab in Smokeball until I had been using Smokeball for over a year. Yikes!The Firm Insights Tab is available for the account owner, but if the account owner would like other firm members to have access to this tab they can reach out to the firm’s SB account manager.Here is one of my favorite webinars covering Firm Insights: Using Firm Insights to Manage Your Business Enjoy!

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E
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
Ben
BenFrequent Scribe
published in Run your best firm
Ask an expert: get help marketing your firmAsk an expert

Marketing can be an expensive, time consuming effort that struggles to pay for itself. It doesn’t have to be that way.This is your chance to ask an expert how to market your firm.   Ask your question now @Mel at Loyalest joins us to answer anything you’d like to know about marketing for small law firms. Are you not sure what the best approach is for marketing your firm?  Do you need some help making sure your Google Business Profile is set up correctly?  ​​​​​​ Not sure where to start or if you even need marketing for your firm? Just type in your question below! Feeling shy? ​Ask your question anonymously Watch Mel’s WebinarWatch the recording of Mel’s webinar now and learn how to:Avoid spending marketing dollars where you shouldn't in the first 5-10 years Focus on one place where more genuinely interested clients can discover your services Monitor your efforts in one place (that is free!) to learn what is working and what isn't; and Spend as little as 5 minutes a day on high-yielding

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Ben
2 years ago
E
Smokeball Team
emily142Smokeball Team
posted in Community News
Family Law Software Integration

We are hosting a Family Law Software Integration Webinar on September 9, 2022. If you work in Family Law, and want to shave hours off of your settlement negotiations and time spent running support calculations, please register. FLS can also assist in the preparation of Financial Affidavits and Financial Disclosure forms!!!To register:https://smokeball.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_S3uDdsfZTFuqDCPdKAtJnQ Check out other upcoming webinars:https://www.smokeball.com/client-webinars/ 

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E
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
Miranda Ormerod
Smokeball Team
Miranda OrmerodSmokeball Team
published in Community News
[Q&A WEBINAR] How to get paid faster with Smokeball's all-new invoicing!

At Smokeball, we're passionate about delivering innovative technology that helps small law firms manage their client payments with ease - so you can get paid faster!Our all-new invoicing provides a simple and secure way to send, receive and record all client payments directly within Smokeball Billing. It's a smarter way to keep the cash flowing for your firm.Join us for an interactive live webinar next Monday as we showcase this new powerful functionality, including:Requesting trust funds from your client with Credit Card payment Getting your invoices paid quickly by Credit Card payment Plus, ask all your pressing questions during the Q&A session  Click here to register your place!

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Miranda Ormerod
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
kuhrich
Smokeball Team
kuhrichSmokeball Team
posted in Community News
Help a friend and earn money

Hi Members, and happy hump day.Feeling a little sluggish? Can't get motivated to write that brief? Let me provide you with the perfect bit of procrastination: Smokeball's referral program.If you love Smokeball, which obviously you do because you're a Community member (thank you!), you can earn cash by referring your friends. (Between us: they don't even have to be friends. They can be colleagues, frenemies, that person next to you on the elevator...)You'll earn $300 for every referral that signs up for Smokeball. You get money; they get their work life dramatically improved. Win-win.Here's what you do:🧠 Take 5 minutes and jot down anyone who might benefit from Smokeball. Think of the challenges and inefficiencies you no longer face. You could solve those issues for someone struggling with their practice!💻 Submit their name & email via this form📅 Set a reminder to submit referrals again in 4 months🥳 Referrals entered! Procrastination achieved! Dollars incoming!Have you participa

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kuhrich
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
Ben
BenFrequent Scribe
posted in Community News
Community News – August 2022 - New Product Updates, work life balance with hobbies and more!

Welcome to the August edition of the Smokeball Community News!Presenting the new and improved product updates sectionWe’ve given our product updates section in the community a facelift. Visit this section to learn new ways to use Smokeball to save time and support your clients.   Check out our update from Adele to learn how we’ve streamlined drafting documents for multiple clients, new features for managing trust accounts, and much more.  Don’t forget to click the subscribe button to get an email whenever a new update is shared in this section.   Quick tip: Save PDF’s straight to Smokeball from your browser Smokeball trainer Sara shared a quick tip on how to use the Smokeball Chrome extension to save PDF files straight to Smokeball from your browser.  Maintaining a work/life balance with hobbies Keep work/life balance top of mind and get to know like-minded folk when you share your hobbies.   Running in the 2022 City2Surf? So are we! Use this thread to get hyped up with our running pla

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Ben
2 years ago
Ben
BenFrequent Scribe
posted in Community News
Community News – August 2022 - New Product Updates, work life balance with hobbies and more!

Welcome to the August edition of the Smokeball Community News! Presenting the new and improved product updates section We’ve given our product updates section in the community a facelift. Visit this section to learn new ways to use Smokeball to save time and support your clients.   Check out our update from Adele to learn how we’ve streamlined drafting documents for multiple clients, new features for managing trust accounts, and much more.  Don’t forget to click the subscribe button to get an email whenever a new update is shared in this section.   Quick tip: Save PDF’s straight to Smokeball from your browser Smokeball trainer Sara shared a quick tip on how to use the Smokeball Chrome extension to save PDF files straight to Smokeball from your browser.  Maintaining a work/life balance with hobbies Keep work/life balance top of mind and get to know like-minded folk when you share your hobbies.   Smokeball training sessions We have a bunch of great training webinars coming up with expert

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Ben
2 years ago
Ben
BenFrequent Scribe
posted in Community News
Community News- July 2022 - Webinars, updates to Communicate and more!

Hello and welcome to the Smokeball community news for July 2022. Here’s a quick update on interesting conversations in the Smokeball community and beyond.Please note, to see all the links shared here, you will need to log in to the community. Learn how to use all the new features released in Smokeball over the last six months@Eric in our USA training team has put together a great webinar covering all the new updates and changes to Smokeball over the past six months. While this event is focused on our United States version of the application, there will be many updates that are useful for the Australian community too. Register for the event here to attend live or get access to the recording once the show is over. Get early access to the new Communicate Client Portal @Ben.Enviah is testing out some new features in a beta version of a new client portal for Smokeball Communicate. Learn all about what he’s building and how to get early access here. Bug alert! Create a password to access the

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Ben
2 years ago
Ben
BenFrequent Scribe
posted in Community News
Community news- May 2022 - Welcome to the community

Hello and welcome to the first edition of the Smokeball community news. Tune in to learn about trending conversations, interesting updates and to highlight some of the incredible support you all offer each other. Without further ado here’s the update... Our community is global now!Until now, we’ve had separate communities for Australian and US members. We’ve now created a space for everyone. Don’t worry though. There are still private sections for location specific conversations.  Trending topicsSay hello in our introduction thread for JuneIf you haven’t had a chance to already, please head over and introduce yourself here. Whether you’re brand new or an old hand, we encourage everyone to participate in the thread each month. Click here to introduce yourself What should we build next?Our community is brand new the team and I want to know what we’ve done well and what we can improve on. Please share your feedback here 

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Ben
2 years ago
Ben
BenFrequent Scribe
posted in Community News
Community News- July 2022 - Webinars, updates to Communicate and more!

Hello and welcome to the Smokeball community news for July 2022. Here’s a quick update on interesting conversations in the Smokeball community and beyond.Please note, to see all the links shared here, you will need to log in to the community. Learn how to use all the new features released in Smokeball over the last six months@Eric in our USA training team has put together a great webinar covering all the new updates and changes to Smokeball over the past six months. While this event is focused on our United States version of the application, there will be many updates that are useful for the Australian community too. Register for the event here to attend live or get access to the recording once the show is over. Get early access to the new Communicate Client Portal @Ben.Enviah is testing out some new features in a beta version of a new client portal for Smokeball Communicate. Learn all about what he’s building and how to get early access here. Bug alert! Create a password to access the

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Ben
2 years ago
zac.meyer
Smokeball Team
zac.meyerSmokeball Team
published in Run your best firm
Get a better view of your firm using Reports [webinar]

For all who might have missed the webinar on reports (it is just finishing up report card season after all), here is a report on the Reports in Smokeball Desktop.

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D
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
HunterSteele
Smokeball Team
HunterSteeleCEO at Smokeball
posted in Community guide
Welcome to the new Smokeball community

Hi all!Welcome and thanks again for joining the new Smokeball community. We really are very excited to have you here.Smokeball’s Core purpose is all about Community. This space we hope is one that brings everyone together to celebrate, collaborate and help each other supporting this purpose.Check out the links below to start exploring our new space. Introduce yourself here Ask questions and share answers here Learn more about how to navigate and use the new community here  Feel free to send me a message at any time if you have any questions, suggestions or if you just want to say hi! I would love to connect.All the best!Hunter

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HunterSteele
Smokeball Team
2 years ago
Ben
BenFrequent Scribe
posted in Community guide
Moving to the new Community- Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to the new Smokeball community! This post covers all the important information about the move to this new community space.Is there something else you’d like to know that isn’t covered here? Scroll down, click reply and let me know! ContentsWhat’s changing in the Smokeball community?  How do I access the new community?  I can’t sign in to the web version of the smokeball community How do I make a post in the new community?  What is happening to the current Smokeball community?  What happens to my profile and posts in the existing community?  What about my Smokebucks?  What can I do in this community?  What’s changing in the Smokeball community? We have designed it to make it easier to connect with our team, other Smokeball clients, and legal experts from around the world.   The best news is, we’re making it simpler to join from the Smokeball app – there's no need to sign in each time you want to connect to the community. The new community will also be available online so, it can

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Ben
2 years ago

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