Case Management Software Managers

Be at the top of your game with Case Management Software

Nominee:  Reva Archer
Nominator:  Michael Kozlowski
Firm:  Bradley, Drendel & Jeanney Reno, NV

I nominate Reva Archer of our firm for Needles Manager of the Year.  Reva has extensive working knowledge (i.e., eight years' experience) of Needles merge documents, reports, calendaring capabilities, and administrative tools, etc.  She is a natural team player and has assisted all our staff in gaining knowledge and training for the powerful tools Needles has to offer.  Our attorneys and entire firm have benefited from the use of the powerful case management/database software.  As a result of Reva's tireless efforts, which are ongoing, our firm has rocketed into the new millennium and we have become more productive, streamlined, and competitive as a leading litigation firm in our state.  Quite simply, without Reva, we would be limping along at a much, much slower rate of learning and productivity since having obtained Needles at the beginning of this year.  With Reva and with Needles, we are at the top of our game.

Case Management Software Manager

Lovedy Berkley, our Needles Manager (and who by the way wears many other hats in the office) has an "old school work ethic."   She takes on a task, makes it her own and see it through to fruition.

When Lovedy started working for us, she had never heard of Needles.  She has made it her mission to learn all that she could.  She was relentless in her pursuit to discover what Needles has to offer and how it could best serve our needs.  Our system was so underutilized at the time. She met with the attorneys and our staff as a group and individually, to find out how we could get the most out of
Needles.  She scheduled training sessions and made many calls to our Needles representatives.  Everyone turns to Lovedy with their questions, and if she doesn't know the answer, she's on the phone to get the answer.  She stays in contact with the Needles reps to get updated information.  She meets with our new employees to discuss the importance of inserting all necessary data in the
correct spaces to make their jobs flow easier.  When she reviews a case and notices that some information has not been entered, she immediately contacts that staff person to find out why.  She also reviews our needs, as they sometimes change, and contacts the reps to discuss better ways to accommodate us.

Lovedy is an excellent Needles Manager. I really can't imagine anyone else who would take such pride and interest in Needles and the firm.

Nominee:  Lovedy Berkley
Nominator:  Jean Potter
Firm:  Potter, Carmine & Aaronson Wilmington, DE

Case Management Software Paralegal Superstar

Nominee: Jill Miraglia
Nominator: Marie Lang & Eric Sanchez
Firm: Law Offices of James Scott Farrin,  Durham, NC

Reasons Why This Employee Deserves Needles Manager of the Year:

Jill Miraglia is the unofficial Needles guru in our law firm.  She first started working for our firm in August of 2000 as the administrative assistant to the President.  At that time, the firm was only 15 people.  She quickly learned Needles and over time has mastered it entirely on her own and become the person to whom everyone goes when they have Needles questions.  We are now a firm of 85+ and growing. In addition to performing her full-time job as a paralegal in the litigation department, she provides her Needles expertise to the rest of the firm in all aspects of Needles management.  Specifically, she creates all the merge documents (currently over 200) and all the user defined reports (now over 125) for our firm.  She has created and continually updates the Needles custom tabs and fields, case types and checklists.  Her knowledge in creating custom fields allows the firm to create reports specific to its needs.  She has recently converted all of our merge documents from WordPerfect to Word on her own in a 2-3 week period.  She accomplished this by working significant amounts of overtime in addition to her regular work week which is often already over 40 hours per week!  She has also been involved in training employees on Needles and of course, answering all of the out of the box questions and coming up with solutions for any needs or problems!  In fact, when Needles trainer, Lonnie, came to our firm several years ago, she indicated that Jill knew it all and there was nothing more that she could teach her.  When Jill inquired of Lonnie about creating a particular user defined report, Jill was advised it was impossible.  Jill of course, could not be satisfied with that answer and figured out a way to create it!  We are fortunate to have a person like Jill who works tirelessly and is able to provide our firm with unequaled Needles expertise acquired almost entirely through her own efforts and dedication.  She is highly deserving of the Needles Manager of the Year!

Superwoman uses Case Management Software by Needles

Nominee: Maria Fox

Nominator: Jennifer Fay

Firm:  Law Offices of James E. Morris Buffalo, NY

Reasons why Maria Fox deserves to be Needles Manager of the year:

Who can provide secretarial support for two or more attorneys and act as the main receptionist for the office, all while entering over 130 open cases into the recently acquired Needles program almost single-handedly?  It's not

Superwoman, but you're close. It's the Law Offices of James Morris' nominee for "Needles Manager of the Year," Maria Fox!

In spite of the fact that our firm is on the small side, (four attorneys, two law clerks, and two secretaries) it does not mean that things around the office are quiet.  To be sure, even in the smallest office, getting the Needles program up and running would be no small task.  Since we first got Needles in July, Maria has taken charge of entering the bulk of our firm's open files into Needles, training other staff members to use Needles, and encouraging staff once they learn how to use the program to actually use the program themselves.   Without Maria's unwavering commitment to spending sometimes several days in a row only entering in data into Needles, we would not be able to be use the Needles program so efficiently already.  The Needles program has revolutionized our law offices.  After only three months, we have already become dependant upon how easily the information can be accessed by any individual in the office, at any time.  This has already saved us a tremendous amount of time we would normally have to spend asking other employees for information on a file, or pulling the file and digging through it for names, dates, and so on.  In case

meetings, Maria is able to set up her computer in the meeting room with a

projector and screen, and we are able to go through all the cases in Needles, so we save time by not having to leave the meeting repeatedly to go grab a file.  The prospect of entering a Needles database alone could be daunting to some people, but immediately after training, Maria rose to the task with an exceptional attitude.  She spent three weeks or more solely entering information into Needles day in and day out, and all the while she did so with a smile and an optimistic attitude telling people how great the program was, and how she couldn't wait to see how it changed things around the office once she was finished.  I'm sure there are moments when her job is frustrating, but she always manages to keep going and remains positive. She has the utmost patience with all the staff members as she tries to coach us to use features of Needles that we aren't yet proficient in, and even coaching us through the steps we already know when we feel unsure of ourselves.  She is always kindly encouraging us to do more with the program and reminding us how to make the program work best for our office.  Maria is the only person at our office in charge of implementing the Needles

program, entering the bulk of the data, and overseeing the transition to Needles.   Things are progressing extremely well, but she still has a long road ahead of her.  I am sure there are few others who are capable of undertaking such a colossal task by themselves and doing so as thoroughly and exceptionally as Maria has done.  For these reasons and more, Maria is certainly our office's pick "Needles Manager of the Year," and she should get your vote, too!

The Zen of Case Management Software

Nominee:  Larry King
Nominator:  Sherri King & Michelle Bacotti
Firm:  Law Offices of Larry King Newport News, VA

Describing him as Manager of the year would be an understatement.  He is more like a Needles Zen master, a high ranking black belt, which is understandable because of his accomplishments in the martial arts.  He has made Needles part of our minds, not a separate tool, but more an extension of ourselves, an extension of our mind and body and attitude.  And, like a Samurai warrior who teaches the importance of maintaining and respecting his sword, through him, we have learned to maintain and respect Needles as a special friend with powerful abilities.  He daily motivates that we and Needles provide a life giving opportunity to come to the aid of our clients.  He stresses that Needles is a powerful, flexible, precision weapon of knowledge and information that helps protect those in need, and that's why we do what we do. 

And, he is never satisfied; he is never complacent.  He always calmly, but obsessively strives to improve, to make things better, to be more accurate, to be more precise; to be more efficient.  He sees things as they were, as they are, and how they can be, and easily applies his insights with Needles.  He always encourages interaction, "If you think of a way to improve things, to be more efficient, or see a shortcoming, send me a Needles message," and we do, and Needles does.

Like an experienced General in pursuit of excellence, he peers into the legal environment, analyzes the details of conflicts, evaluates adversaries, and options, and readily employs Needles in a precise, detailed, and successful manner.  Checklists are clear, flexible battle plans with room for options and variations and feedback; accurate mission notes are always readily at hand;  troops (personnel) are automatically assigned to actions based upon their ability, training, and experience; all actions are reliably coordinated by Needles for optimum results; whether in the office or in the field, case status of all relevant information is designed for immediate feedback.  He insures, with Needles, that limber, focused decision-making is always available; and I can go on and on.

I could list pages of all the standard plaudits and details that are probably true of many case managers, but the important point is that few, if any, can demonstrate the knowledge, experience, commitment and consistent zeal for the use and application of all aspects of Needles than my boss Larry King. 

PS: No, we are not looking for a raise, just trying to be honest---Michelle and Sherri.

Personal Injury Law Practice Software

Nominee: Frank Strack
Nominators: Tamara Brininger & Staff
Firm: Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy Cleveland, OH

On behalf of myself and our entire firm, Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy, I would like to nominate Frank Strack as the Needles Manager of the Year.  Frank is the head of our Information Systems Department and is an extremely valuable asset to our firm.  He recommended that we incorporate Needles into our litigation support program five years ago and has been instrumental in training and development of our Needles system since that time.

Frank understands the details of our personal injury practice both from a litigation and administrative perspective.  Over the past five years, he has fine tuned the way our staff and attorneys utilize Needles to best fit their practice area.  Most  recently, he developed a "Summer of Needles" training program to reinforce the benefits of using Needles and to focus in on new Needles program developments.  Every two weeks, he met with the staff to focus in on a different case tab to make sure that our staff was utilizing Needles to its full capacity, including everything from reserving conference rooms through the calendar tab, to generating letters.  Frank has also trained our attorneys and administrative staff to utilize the reports tab to generate various reports that are very useful in many facets of our practice.

As managing partner, Frank has helped me to understand all the advantages of monitoring statistics for our various departments and cases.  He has consistently found new and innovative ways to make our firm operate more efficiently and productively in generating merge letters and forms utilizing the data in our Needles system.  He has also incorporated the use of an after hours call service that has the ability to transfer data directly into our Needles database for ease in tracking and returning after hours and weekend calls.  This development has allowed our current and perspective clients to reach us after the close of business. 

Frank's suburb knowledge and insight into the Needles software program makes him worthy of the title of Needles Manager of the Year.

Software to meet law practice needs

Nominee:  Barry Winnick
Nominator:  Deborah Signore
Firm:  Tyler Cooper and Alcorn LLC

For the past few years, I worked extensively with Attorney Barry M. Winnick of our firm, designing and coordinating Needles to meet some of our firm's specific practice needs, i.e. plaintiff personal injury and insurance defense cases.  To date, over 30 people in our firm have been trained by me and our program training coordinator, Teresa Santore. (We are also in the process of inputting defense medical malpractice cases into the system.)

I personally nominate Barry Winnick as our Needles Manager of the year.  He is our lead IT person and is more than proficient and knowledgeable in aiding and making Needles work for us!  I am a part of our firm's Needles Administration Group, which consists of a few secretaries and paralegals.  We meet on a regular basis to discuss issues, changes, additions and either solve issues or bring it to the attention of Attorney Winnick.  We make sure we are all uniformly utilizing the system, and are available to provide support to any staff member (attorneys, secretaries and paralegals) when needed.

I personally log onto Needles daily and refer to it constantly to update file notes, insurance information, medicals, pleadings, status, etc. and constantly refer to information on cases for easy reference and to keep attorneys updated when they require specific information.  Input is timely but well worth it for daily reference with the click of a button!  Due to the time it takes to input new matters, we have recently appointed a Needles coordinator for this task and to keep our provider/rolodex updated.  We all work together to make the best of this program and are encouraged by our Litigation Department Chairmen (Partners) to use the program and reap the benefits.

Inspiring Case Law Management Manager

Nominee:  Michelle Clouatre
Nominators:  Tommy Pittenger, Eric Guirard, Trina McAlister and Larke Bilello
Firm:  E. Eric Guirard Injury Lawyers

It's unanimous!  If you are looking for the absolute BEST Needles Manager, look no further.  E Eric Guirard Injury Lawyers' very own Michelle Clouatre is the professional to claim the honor!

Michelle is one of the firm's longest reigning employees and has been a team member for approximately 8 years.  Michelle has achieved an array of accomplishments with the firm over the years and has assumed the responsibility and duties of our Needles Manager for approximately 3 years now.  Being the effective leader that she is, Michelle thoroughly researches different facets of the program before relaying these tools to office employees, both in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana.  Michelle is inspiring to all in her ability and desire to learn and teach others.  When she is unaware of a Needles feature, she readily contacts the customer service department at Needles and relays the information back to the firm in a user-friendly report.  She keeps employees up to speed with the program and provides the firm with a comprehensive manual every year.  In addition to Michelle training all new employees on how to use Needles, she is available to refresh the memories of existing employees on the system at any time.

Michelle is dearly admired and respected by anyone who meets her.  She has such a pleasant disposition both in and out of the office.  Michelle has recently been diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, yet continues to monitor Needles from her home computer.  Michelle should not only be the Needles Manager of the Year, but the Needles Manager of the Century!

Case Management Training

Nominee:  Bobby Joe Harlow
Nominator:  Chris Mayo
Firm:  Stouwie and Mayo PLLC, San Antonio, TX

Stop the presses.  I have found your Needles Manager of the year.  This man has been involved in Needles as a user, trainer, developer, implementer and basically worthy promoter of Needles automation even before there was Needles.  He worked at a firm years ago that used PINS and as some of those features evolved into what is now Needles, he became not only a supporter of the software but was ahead of his time as far as the innovation and flexibility of this tool.  After a few years in the PINS world, his employer unfortunately was disbarred.  It is common knowledge that as the firm was "disbanding" and the attorney was closing his business, another attorney became interested in some of the assets of the first...advertising, software, hardware, etc.

This manager of the year agreed to go to work for the new lawyer as the transition from PINS to Needles was taking place.  Not only did he help build the new firm from a staff of about 5 to about 200, he did so while training, educating, implementing and innovating Needles all the while by promoting its worthiness to automation challenged staff, lawyers, administrators, everyone.  This man's reputation for utilizing Needles automation grew rapidly and resulted in at least three large firms contacting him for advice and feedback about Needles and its worth.  Needless to say, those firms and several others here in South Texas are all Needles users.

After a couple of years at the new firm, this man was approached by the owner about considering other software options.  Although he was amenable to listening to other ideas, he knew there would have to be significant advancements and improved features for him to even consider other software.  The meeting was set and over in about 5 minutes.  There was no comparison.  Needles was clearly better.

After 10 years of service, commitment and dedication to building the law firm, the Needles Manager of the year decided to a life change that included leaving that firm, on good terms, I should say, and come to work for me and my partner.  After being with us for a few short months, I can honestly say that his drive and commitment to doing the smart thing and the right thing are second only to his insistence that my firm continue to enhance our use of this wonderful software.  I often hear him say...firms that don't have Needles must be trying to manage a herd of cats in the dark.  The Needles Manager of the year is my friend and teammate, Bobby Joe Harlow.

Needles Case Management Software Manager

Nominee: William Marvin
Nominators:  Inez Nutter and Aaron Schechter
Firm:  Cohen, Placitella and Roth PC,  Philadelphia, PA

I have the one!  I have the one!  It's our very own William D. Marvin of our firm, Cohen, Placitella and Roth.  We are a boutique firm with offices in Philadelphia and New Jersey.  Mr. Marvin,  affectionately known as Bill, has worked in the Philadelphia office for over 10 years.  There are about 19 people in this location.  Bill has trained each and every one of us to use Needles.  We had no idea what this program entailed.  Some of us had never heard of it.  But thanks to Bill, we have successfully converted our entire database to perform under the Needles program.  It took days of training -- sometimes one-on-one training -- to get each of us accustomed to Needles.  He also provides additional training on an as needed basis.  Mr. Marvin interacts with us daily and was extremely patient in seeing that we were able to use this program with ease.  We were able to enter over 5,000 files that we had, plus all of our new, incoming cases.  There are so many different functions to Needles.  Bill monitors our individual use of Needles each day, telling us whether we need to review our checklist, or if we've made a mistake inserting information, etc.  Bill gave each of us a Needles Manual which HE put together, showing us the ins and outs of this program.  The manual was formatted so that we could take the program step-by-step and understand it easily.  Not to mention, there are constant updates all the time and new findings and discoveries within the program.  But we are never kept in the dark! Bill updates himself on all of the new information and continually feeds it to us.  He is very patient, determined and diligent in his efforts to communicate every aspect of Needles to us.  There were times when others in the firm just didn't think this program was worth it, or not being used to its full potential, and thus seemed to be a loss.  But, despite these challenges, Bill hung in there and continued to encourage us all to use Needles EVERYDAY, so that we can have the full use of the program and be able to understand it thoroughly.  Well, today, we are very pleased with this conversion.  We solely use Needles in our office for our files.  We are so grateful and thankful to have Bill as a part of our firm.  This is why Mr. William Marvin should be the Needles Manager of the Year!!

(Chorus)

Bill, Bill, he's our Needles man!!  If no one can do it, Bill CAN!!!