Creating a Contact

This article shows you how to add contacts, clients, and vendors in Legal Accounting.

To add a contact:

1. In Legal Accounting, navigate to Contacts in the main menu, then select the New Contact tab.
2. Select the Contact Type from the drop-down list to auto-populate the contact number:
   • Client refers to a business or individual that a file or matter is assigned to.
   • Vendor refers to a business or individual that can be referenced with accounts payable.
   • Other refers to a business or individual (e.g., outside counsel, opposing party, opposing counsel, or medical expert).
     
     NOTE:  This dropdown list may not display due to a caching issue. Click the Cancel button in the left corner to refresh.
     TIP: In Admin Settings, you can create different numbering sequence for clients, vendors, and other contact types. When you add a new contact and select their type, the system will automatically generate the next number in that format. You can always edit the number if necessary.
3. Review the automatically generated contact number. This can be changed if needed, but the number must be unique.
4. Fill in the remaining contact details. Fields with red lines are required.

   NOTES:
   - If you see more red lines than just "Last" and "Company", click Cancel to clear it and if still unable to save, expand all sections to look for any red lines as those indicate fields that your administrator has set as required.
   
   - If the Last (Name) field is populated, Company field will not show as required and Display As will be set to Individual. If the Company field is populated, Last (Name) will not show as required and Display As will be set to Company. If both the Last (Name) and Company fields are populated, Display As field will become editable, allowing you to manually select either Individual or Company and if the Display As field is set to Company, the Attention line will appear on the bill, displaying the First (if any) and Last name.

   TIP:  If you need to show multiple names on the bill, do one of the following:
   
   Option 1: First field = First names, Last field= Shared last name.
   Option 2: Last field = Full names, use <br> for new line. 

   
   

   Sample:

   
   

   Result:

5. Optional: Expand the Additional Addresses section to add other addresses. If an address is marked Billing, it will be included on bills (unless a specific Contact for Billing Address has been set).
6. Optional: Expand the Additional Communication Methods section to add extra phone numbers, email addresses, or websites. If an email is marked Billing Email, bills will be sent there (unless a specific Contact for Billing Address has been set).
7. If the contact is a vendor, expand Vendor Info section to set default accounts and further vendor details.
8. Expand the Billing/File Defaults to predetermine the following:
   • Default Billing, Tax, Rate and File Groups for all files associated to the contact
   • Preferred Correspondence Method
   • Invoice Contact Covers
   • Additional contacts to notify (CC) during billing
     
   • Additional Payee for Client if you want to be able to receive payment from a different contact saved in the system.

     NOTE:  Preferred Correspondence Method plays an important role with billing. If you want to email an invoice or statement (past due) to the client, and/or you will be using LawPay, this needs to be set to either Email or Print and Email.

9. Click Save when you are finished. You will be able to view and edit this contact/client/vendor under Contact Manager.

Related Articles:

• Creating a File 
• Managing Contacts