Use the Sourcing menu to edit and create RFPs, add or view law firms and lawyers, enter master data, approve hourly rates, and add/edit lead/local counsel relations.
Request for Proposal (RFP)
Use the Request for Proposal section to view existing RFPs and create new RFPs.
Use the top Filter to find specific types of RFPs. You can filter by:
- Matter Name
- Matter type
- Request Type
- Creation Date (drop-down menu); you can choose from a wide range of date options here (including custom)
- Status (drop-down menu); you can choose from all, paused, active, expired, finished, or archived
- Submission Deadline (drop-down menu)
Click on Filter to filter the results or Clear to reset the filter.
You can also click on Export to create an RFP report directly. Once you click Export, you'll be taken to the Reporting screen with the Report type already set to RFP report.
Here, you'll need to add in:
- The Description
- The Matter Name and Matter Type
- The Request Type
- The Status (choose from the drop-down menu); you can choose from all, paused, active, expired, finished, or archived
- The Creation Date (choose from the drop-down menu); you can choose from all, paused, active, expired, finished, or archived
- The Submission Deadline (choose from the drop-down menu); you can choose from all, paused, active, expired, finished, or archived
Under Subscription, click on Subscribe to this report to get report updates.
Click Save Changes to finalize. You can also use the upper-right-hand corner icons to get Information on the page, Favorite the filter, or explore existing Favorites.
The RFP directory will show a list of the Request Types attached to their associated Matter, along with the Matter type, Creation Date, Submission Deadline, Responses, and several different Options.
Clicking on Matter Name will bring you directly to the Request Details of the specific request. Here, you can view:
- General Information, including Request Type, Subsidiaries, the Matter type and Submission Date, along with the Main jurisdictions and a Jurisdiction description.
- Timing and Submission Deadline, including the Proposal required before date, Matter Start Date, and Matter End Date
- Matter Details and Templates, including the Type of Matter and any Templates associated with it
- Offer Details and Requirements, including the Calculation base, Requested estimate, Request staffing plan, Alternate fee arrangement, and Currency
- The Internal Matter Responsibility, including the Responsible department and Responsible contact person (note that the email icon will allow you to directly contact the responsible person)
- The Addressee of Request, including information on Law firms and Lawyers (note that the email icon will allow you to directly contact the addressee)
Additionally, you can click on Export to go directly to the RFP report section as detailed above
If there is a Response, clicking on the numbers below the response will take you directly to the Responses tab on the Offers page.
At the top of the screen, you'll be able to see a snapshot of the offer details. This includes:
- The name of the Law firm (click on the link to go directly to that law firm's profile page)
- Submission Date
- First total estimate
- Total Estimate
- First total hours
- Total Hours
- Alternative Fee Arrangement
- The Options screen (click the drop-down arrow to get a more detailed breakdown of the response; click the Note button to write a note to the response)
Clicking the drop-down arrow below Options will bring up the Details section, which includes:
- General Information, including Location, Responsible Contact Person, and any Conflict of Interest
- Fee Estimate, including Total Hours, Total fees, and Total expenses
- Alternative Fee Arrangement details
- The Staffing Plan, detailing the Team Members with Names, Experience in years, Classification, Agreed hourly rates (click on the link, if applicable, to go to the law firm's settings), Hourly rate, and Estimated hours.
- Expenses, including the Calculation base
Clicking on the Note icon will allow you to create a new Note for the response. Fill in the note and choose from the check boxes if you want the note to be Visible for internal staff and/or Visible for law firm (note that you do not have to make a selection here). Click Save to save your changes or Cancel to back out.
After you add a note, you will see an exclamation point appear next to the Options screen. Click on the exclamation point to open up the note.
Clicking on Options will bring up several different options.
- Clicking on Further Information will bring you to the Request Details screen.
- Clicking on Edit will allow you to edit the RFP details (more on that can be found in the Creating an RFP section)
- Clicking on Pause will allow you to stop the bid offering. Note that you'll get a Warning screen; click Yes to stop the bid offering or No to back out.
- Clicking on Delete will allow you to delete the RFP. Note that you'll get a Warning screen; click Yes, Delete to delete the request or No, Do Not Delete to back out.
- Clicking on Archive to archive the request. Note that you'll get a Warning screen. Click Yes to archive the request or No to back out.
Note that the bottom of the Responses section will also include helpful, interactive charts with response analytics.
NOTE: For details on the fields contained in the Settings tab, view the Creating an RFP section.
Creating an RFP
To create an RFP, click on the Create RFP button under the Filter section. The Create a New Request for Proposal (RFP) screen will appear.
Under General Information, you can:
- Add the Request Type (drop-down menu)
- Add the Subsidiaries (drop-down menu
- Add the Matter Name
- Add the Matter Type (drop-down menu); click on Add Category if you'd like to add next-level categories to this section
- Add the Main and Other jurisdictions; shift-click to add in multiple jurisdictions or command-click to deselect
- Add the Jurisdiction description
- Add any documents (term sheets, structure charts, etc)
- Add in Comments / description of matter
- Add in text describing a Potential follow-up engagement
NOTE: Fields marked with an asterisk (*) require mandatory input.
Under Timing and Submission Deadline, fill in the Proposal required before, Matter Start Date, and Matter End Date (if applicable) dates. Use the check box to note if you want to Archive the RFP after finishing.
Under Matter Details and Templates, select the Type Of Matter (from the drop-down menu) and the Templates (from the drop-down menu).
Under Offer Details and Requirements, use the check box if you want to make it a Uniform proposal or a Proposal divided into phases.
With a Uniform proposal, you'll have to use the drop-down boxes to adjust the:
- Calculation base (hourly rates or not specified)
- Requested estimate (accurate, range, or not specified)
- Request staffing plan (not specified, by classification, or by individuals)
- Alternate fee arrangement
- Currency
You can also add any comments in the Comments section.
With a Proposal divided into phases, you'll have to use the drop-down boxes to adjust the:
- Definition of Phase/Task
- Calculation base (hourly rates or not specified)
- Requested estimate (accurate, range, or not specified)
- Request staffing plan (not specified, by classification, or by individuals)
- Alternate fee arrangement
- Currency
You can also add any comments in the Comments section.
Click Add after finalizing your changes to add another phase to the proposal
Under Internal matter responsibility, select the Department from the drop-down menu and pick out the Responsible contact person.
Under Addressee of Request, select the law firms and lawyers for the request. You can also click on Invite a Lawyer to create a new lawyer for the request.
If you click Invite a Lawyer, fill out the:
- Salutation (from a drop-down menu)
- Title (from a drop-down menu)
- Last name
- First name
- Phone
- Law firm (from a drop-down menu)
- Date format
- Language
When you're finished, click on Prepare Invitation to sent the invite.
Once you're finished adding in your RFP information, click on Create request to create the RFP.
Law Firms
Use the Law Firms section to view and edit information on the different law firms in your directory.
Use the Filter to view a list of specific law firms; you can filter by Lawyers, Law Firms, or use the drop-down menu under Group by to group by Name or Country. Click Filter to filter the results or Clear to clear the search.
The Law Firms directory will provide the Name of the firm and detail any Special agreements and Area of specialization; use the icons under Options to either Edit the law firm or Block the firm. Clicking on the Name of any firm will bring you to the law firm details page.
Note that when you click on Block for a firm, you'll get this message. Click Block to continue to block or Cancel to back out
Editing a Law Firm
When you click on the name of a law firm (or click the Edit icon), you'll go to the Law Firm details page.
Here, you'll see five different tabs for different law firm information: Details, Time entries, Legal analytics, Settings, and Documents.
NOTE: Clicking the Edit button will automatically bring you to the Settings page.
Details tab
Under the Details tab, you can view:
- The law firm Locations
- Special Features of the law firm
- The law firm Lawyers; use the filter to search by the Name of the lawyer and/or the Matter. Click Filter to filter the results or Clear to clear your search.
- A directory of Lawyers associated with the law firm. Here, you can see the lawyer's Name, Contact details, Classification, Specialisation, associated Matters, Hourly rate, and the Options menu.
You can click on the email associated with the lawyer to directly email them, the associated Matters to go straight to the matters page, or use the Block/Edit/Delete buttons under options.
- A directory of Matters associated with the law firm. Here, you can see the matter Name, associated Staff member, Lawyers, Other Lawyers, Matter budget/currency, and Current cost level.
You can click on the Matter, Staff Member, Lawyer, and Other Lawyers pages to go directly to their screens.
Time Entries tab
Under the Time Entries tab, you'll be able to see and edit the time entries for the selected law firm.
At the top of the screen, you'll see the selected law firm.
Note that the top of the screen also has several different options to view the Time Entry information. You can:
- Filter by several different options (All of Active Matters, New time entries, My time entries to be accepted, Unanswered questions, and Archived line items)
- Download export data
- Bring up an advanced Filter or Amount tab
The Advanced Filter provides you with a wealth of options to filter with, including By Invoice, By Status, By Time and Code, By Responsible Person, By Matter, and with several other Additional Filters. Click Filter to filter, Save Filter to save the filter for future use, or Clear to clear your search.
Note that you can click the Lock icon in the upper right to lock in the information.
The Amount tab will give you a screenshot breakdown of vital financial information with the time entry.
Below the main screen, the list of Time Entries contains a wide array of information.
- An icon representing the status of the time entry.
- The Details section contains the Date, Time Entered, Matter (click the link to go directly to the matter screen), Lawyer, Law firm, and Invoice number (if applicable; click the link to go directly to the invoice screen)
- Duration / Amount details the Duration, Amount, and Hourly rate
- Narrative contains the Task code, Activity code, and any other descriptive text
- Options contains icons to Accept / Reject (this will change depending on the current status), Ask a Question, Add a Note, Adjust the Entry, and Archive the entry.
You can also click on Previous Status Changes to see all of the different status changes to the entry.
Clicking on Reject will bring up the Do you want to reject this time entry? screen. You'll have to fill in your Reason and click Send to send the reason in or Cancel to back out. Note that lawyers wil be informed of the fact that they were rejected; the underlying reason will be visible to any lawyer
Note that opening up the Ask a Question icon will bring up the You have a question about this screen. You'll have to fill in Your question and choose who it is visible for - Lawyer, Project manager (law firm), or Lawyer and project manager (law firm).
Click Send to send in the question or Cancel to back out.
Clicking on the Notes icon will allow you to add a New Note to the entry. Fill in your note and use the check boxes to mark off if you want it to be Visible for internal staff and/or Visible for law firm.
Click Send to send in the note or Cancel to back out.
Clicking on the Adjust icon will allow you to directly adjust the time entry. You'll have to edit the:
- Hourly rate, Duration, and Cost
- Click the check box if you want to Reset to agreed hourly rate (note that you'll see information on the hourly rate below this option)
- Choose from the Consequence of non-compliance check boxes (Flag line item, Reject line item as non-billable, Notify project manager- inhouse, Notify project manager - lawyers)
Click Adjust to send in the adjustment or Cancel to back out.
Legal Analytics tab
Use the Legal analytics tab to view various analytical graphs and charts for law firms.
Use the Filter function to create various charts. You can filter by:
- Time period (pick from the drop-down menu)
- Lawyers
- Matter type (pick from the drop-down menu)
- Department (pick from the drop-down menu)
- Post qualification experience (pick from the drop-down menu)
- Position (pick from the drop-down menu)
- Matters
You can also use the check box to Include all subordinated matters in the filter.
Click on Filter to run the filter or Clear to back out.
Click the Star feature on top to save your filter.
Click on Show additional filter settings in order to bring up more filter settings, including:
- Task (click / shift-click / command-click to select)
- Workflow status (pick from the drop-down menu)
- Show (pick active matters, archived matters, or all matters from the drop-down menu)
- Jurisdiction (click / shift-click / command-click to select)
- Cost center
The interactive Analytics charts and graphs will appear at the bottom of the screen. You can also Export the data from the menu on the left-hand side.
Settings
Use the Settings tab to view and edit essential details of the law firm.
Under Law Firm Locations, you can filter by Location, Lawyer, Country, City, Vendor ID, and Location status (select from the drop-down menu). Note that filtering by status will only return locations which have to be or have already been reviewed by the current user.
Click Filter to filter the results or Clear to clear the search. The Location section will display the law firm locations.
Under Location you can see the Location details and add in the Vendor ID. Under Options you can save the location or Review and Approve the information.
Under General Information, you can edit the name of the firm.
Under Framework Agreement, you have several different options to create a framework agreement and detail General Hourly Rates. View the Add Law Firm section for a breakdown of these options.
Under Features, you can provide text detailing the Existing agreements, Relevant areas of expertise, or Other remarks.
Under Standard Hourly Rates, you'll be able to create standard hourly rates for lawyers. Use the check box next to Standard hourly rates for lawyers to create these rates. Visit the Add Law Firm section to view more detail on this process.
Use the Preferred Matter type section to select preferred matters. You'll have to select the Matter type (from the drop-down menu), Location, and Lawyer. Click Add to add the preferred matter.
You'll see all the preferred matters detailed in this section.
Click on Save to save your changes to the Settings.
Documents
Use the Documents section to upload and view appropriate documents for the law firm.
Use the Choose File button to upload a file. Fill in a Description (if necessary) and choose the levels of visibility - General visibility, In-house only, and/or Law firm only - from the check boxes.
Click Upload to upload the file.
Add Law Firm
Use Add Law Firm to add a new law firm to your directory.
Under the General Information section, add in the Name of law firm. This is required.
Under the Lawyers section, add in the information of any lawyers associated with the firm. You'll have to enter the:
- Salutation (from a drop-down menu)
- Title (from a drop-down menu)
- Last name (required), First name, and email (required)
- Phone
- Date format
- Language (from a drop-down menu) (required)
Under the Framework Agreement section, use the check boxes to:
- Set permitted lawyers by name. If you check this box, you'll have to pick out the Lawyers for whitelist and choose the Consequence of non-compliance, meaning you can choose whether non-compliant line items will be flagged or rejected as non-billable; flags are invisible for your outside counsel.
- Set minimum PQE for lawyers. If you check this box, you'll have to select the minimum PQE from the drop-down menu and choose the Consequence of non-compliance.
- Restrict permitted transmission period for time entries. If you check this box, you'll have to select the time period from the drop-down menu and choose the Consequence of non-compliance.
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Apply special rates to lawyers. If you check this box, you'll have to select the Currency from the drop-down menu and fill in the rates for the different lawyer types. Note that Partner, Counsel, and Of Counsel have Hourly rate boxes.
Click on Add hourly rates when you're done to add the special rates.
You'll also have to fill in the Consequence of non-compliance for the special rates.
- Restrict maximum number of hours per day. If you check this box, you'll have to select the hours from the drop-down menu and choose the Consequence of non-compliance.
- Minimum number of words per narrative. If you check this box, you'll have to select the number of words from the drop-down menu and choose the Consequence of non-compliance.
- Minimum duration for time entries. If you check this box, you'll have to select the duration from the drop-down menu and choose the Consequence of non-compliance.
- Limit amounts per expense item. If you check this box, you'll have to choose the Expense type, fill in the Amount, and choose the Consequence of non-compliance.
- Enable Block Billing Detection. If you check this box, you'll have to select the time limit from the drop-down menu and choose the Consequence of non-compliance.
About Block Billing: eBilling.Space uses AI to detect block billing line items. Just like any email spam filter, it's not perfect, but the probability of an entry incorrectly flagged as a Block Billing item is below 8%. Entries smaller than 30 minutes will be ignored.
- Expenses. If you check this box, you'll have to fill in the Amount and Amount type (from the drop-down box) and choose the Consequence of non-compliance.
Under the Features section, fill in text for the Existing agreements, Relevant areas of expertise, and Other remarks.
Under the Standard Hourly Rates section, use the check box to mark off if you want to institute Standard hourly rates for lawyers. If you check this box, you'll have to select the Currency from the drop-down menu and fill in the rates for the different lawyer types. Note that Partner, Counsel, and Of Counsel have Hourly rate boxes.
- Click on Add hourly rates when you're done to add the special rates.
Lawyers
Use Lawyers to view a list of lawyers in your directory, organized by law firm.
Use the Filter section to filter lawyers by Law Firms, Location, and/or Lawyer. Use Filter to filter the results or Clear to clear the search.
Below the Filters section, you'll see a list of Law Firms and the Lawyers associated with each firm. On the directory, you'll see the lawyer's Name, Contact Details, Classification, and Specialisation. Under Options, you have the ability to Block an individual lawyer.
Click on the lawyer's Name to go to the lawyer's profile page. You can also click on their Contact Details to email them directly.
Note that if you click on the Block icon, you'll get this message. Click Block to continue to block or Cancel to back out.
Invite Lawyer
Use Invite Lawyer to create/ invite a new lawyer for the directory.
You'll have to:
- Pick out the Salutation from the drop-down menu
- Pick out the Title from the drop-down menu
- Fill out the Last Name (required), First Name, and Email (required)
- Fill out the Phone number
- Select the Law Firm they are associated with
- Pick out the Date Format
- Pick out the Language (required)
- Choose the Matter from the drop-down menu (required)
- Fill in a Message to the lawyer (if necessary)
Click Invite Lawyer to send the invite directly to the lawyer.
Enter master data
Use the Enter master data screen to edit the master data for the user.
You'll have to:
- Pick out the Salutation from the drop-down menu
- Pick out the Title from the drop-down menu
- Fill out the Last Name (required), First Name, and Email (required)
- Fill out the Phone number
- Select the Law Firm they are associated with (required)
- Pick out the Date Format
- Pick out the Language (required)
Click Save to finalize the Master Data entry.
Approve hourly rates
Use Approve hourly rates to view and approve hourly rates for lawyers.
Use the Filter to filter by Law firms, lawyers, classification (by drop-down menu), hourly rates status (by drop-down menu), Valid from / Valid until, and/or Comment.
Hit Clear to clear the search or Filter to filter the results.
The directory includes the name of the Lawyer, their Classification, law firm, new hourly rate, old hourly rate, Valid from / Valid until, Status, and Options. Note that the Options menu will change based upon the status of the hourly rates.
Under Options, you can:
- Get the History for a lawyer. This will show you the Imported on, Imported by, Hourly rate, Valid from/until, Updated by, Updated on, Comment, and Status. Click Close to back out.
- Accept the hourly rates.
- Reject the hourly rates. You'll have to provide a Reason for the rejection; this explanation will be displayed to the project manager of the relevant law firm. Click Send to send in the reason or Cancel to back out.
- Add a Comment to the rates.
Lead-/Local counsel relations
Use Lead-/Local Counsel Relations to detail lead counsel - local counsel relationships.
Use the Filter to filter by Lead counsel, local counsel, and/or Status (from a drop-down menu; you can select Blocked from the menu).
Hit Clear to clear the search or Filter to filter the results.
On the directory of Lead-/Local Counsel Relations, you'll see the name of the Lead counsel and Local counsel; under Options you can Block or Delete the relations.
Note that you'll get this message when you Delete a relation. Click Yes, Delete to delete or No to back out
Click Add to add a new relation.
Once you click Add, the Add counsel screen will pop up. You'll have to fill in the Lead counsel and Local counsel fields. Both are required.
