Litigation Support

TimeMatters Is Wasting My Time

By Blake Boyd

Eight years ago I began helping a local plaintiff firm with all their IT needs. I setup their network, phone system, website, computers, etc. and I’ve been managing their small system ever since, and while it’s not my normal day to day job, I enjoy sticking my nose in the legal IT world from time to time.

They introduced me to TimeMatters back in the late 90’s and I’ve administered their database since then. They’ve actually sent me to a couple seminars to further expand my knowledge when LexisNexis released new versions. So when I got a call last week informing me they want to overhaul their entire system to meet the demands of a new venture, I was happy to lend a helping hand.

I never thought I would be still trying to get the program installed 5 days later…

My first step was to create a new database; My thought was they already own 10 licenses it would be no problem removing one license and apply it to a new database for testing and setup. But I was wrong, the wonderful (sarcasm) customer support lady told me I needed to spend ANOTHER $350 to install a new database with 1 user to run a staging database.

Maybe I’m ignorant, but does ANYONE make changes to a system that is LIVE AND BEING USED EVERY MINUTE?

So after forking over even more money for their horrible product, and a day later, I got the download link. Installed the program.. and realized that I accidentally set the path wrong, and installed into a directory that wasn’t to my liking. My bad, my fault.. but it happens right? Have you ever installed a program in a location that you wanted to change??? I’m sure you have.

This apparently is a big NO NO to the folks at TimeMatters, as I’ve been trying to jump through hoops to get it re-installed. You cannot uninstall and re-install without filling out a verification form and faxing it to them. What does that mean to someone like me that works remotely? More time and money wasted getting a paralegal to do it.

I had the form faxed last Wednesday and still haven’t heard back. So I sit here on hold and wait.. my phone currently says that I’ve been on hold for 57 minutes and that my call is important to them (over and over and over by the wonderful automated voice).






I think @lieslglogan on twitter said it best with her response: time doesn’t really matter that much to them…your time, anyway.

other great responses from twitter:

@debdobson sorry to hear you have to deal with TM. Awful.
@jeffalfod Switch to PCLaw. It works well & customer service is very responsive.
@steveworrall LexisNexis was the worst thing to happen to that program.
@TheHRLawyer The best strategy I have found in dealing with TimeMatters is not to use it.
@HumanRacehorses My favorite is when it tells you you need to reauthenticate it every once in a while or you get locked out. Also love crashes.
@jmckeever our paralegal (who does billing) hates it, its not intuitive at all.
@jmckeever wow you must be really fun at parties too. that sounds dreadful (mostly b/c I despise TM)

Full post as published by The Trial Technologist's View on December 01, 2008 (boomark / email).