The
law
practice
management
platform
MyCase
rolled
out
three
product
updates
today
that
include
MyCaseIQ,
an
AI
conversational
interface;
enhancements
to
its
accounting
module;
and
an
immigration
add-on.
It
also
announced
the
beta
release
of
Smart
Spend,
a
product
that
marries
a
business
credit
card
to
expense
tracking
within
MyCase.
Generative
AI
Enhancements
Last
January,
AffiniPay,
the
parent
company
of
MyCase,
announced
AffiniPay
IQ,
its
strategic
initiative
to
embed
generative
artificial
intelligence
across
all
of
its
products
and
make
AI
a
native
component
of
legal
professionals’
daily
workflows,
along
with
the
beta
versions
of
the
first
two
features
of
that
initiative,
document
summarization
and
text
editing.
Now,
those
two
features
are
coming
out
of
beta
under
the
name
MyCase
IQ.
The
text
editing
feature
is
already
out
of
beta
and
available
within
MyCase,
and
document
summarization
will
launch
within
a
few
weeks.
In
addition,
early
next
year,
MyCase
will
release
an
AI-driven
conversational
interface
will
allow
users
to
source
case
information,
timelines,
and
data,
all
within
the
case
file
itself,
by
asking
questions
in
a
conversational
style.
The
interface
will
be
embedded
directly
in
the
case
detail
page.
It
will
have
suggested
prompts
that
users
can
select,
such
as
to
request
a
summary
of
the
case
or
a
detailed
timeline.
“We
are
on
a
mission
to
make
our
clients
financially
well,
and
to
use
cutting
edge
technology
to
achieve
that
goal
in
partnership
with
them,”
Dru
Armstrong,
chief
executive
officer
of
AffiniPay,
parent
company
of
MyCase,
told
me
during
a
briefing
yesterday.
“So
our
whole
thesis
for
generative
AI
is
to
not
do
it
because
everyone’s
doing
it,
but
to
do
it
because
it
makes
firms
be
able
to
leverage
automation
and
intelligence
to
give
them
time
back
so
they
can
serve
their
clients.”
From
beta
testing
these
generative
AI
features,
Armstrong
said,
one
major
takeaway
has
been
that
attorneys
really
need
to
trust
the
accuracy
of
the
information
the
AI
is
providing.
“So
we’ve
done
a
lot
of
work
to
make
sure
that
everything
that
goes
full
GA
[general
availability]
meets
those
very
high
standards
that
our
attorneys
have,”
she
said.
Accounting
Enhancements
MyCase
also
today
introduced
enhancements
to
its
native
accounting
software.
Among
these
enhancements:
-
1099
vendor
reporting:
To
help
simplify
bookkeeping,
MyCase
Accounting
will
soon
offer
1099
vendor
reporting
directly
within
the
platform. -
Automatic
deposit
slip
creation:
MyCase
accounting
now
offers
automatic
deposit
slip
creation
for
vendors.
When
funds
are
deposited
into
the
firm’s
bank
account,
the
slip
is
created
automatically. -
Automatic
bank
reconciliation:
Once
the
deposit
slip
is
created,
it
is
matched
to
the
corresponding
bank
feed
transaction
from
LawPay,
eliminating
the
sometimes
time-consuming
task
of
reconciling
deposit
slips
and
transactions.
The
deposit
slip
feature
is
available
now,
and
the
other
enhancements
will
be
rolled
out
between
now
and
the
first
quarter
of
next
year.
Armstrong
said
the
bank
reconciliation
is
particularly
powerful
for
its
ability
to
solve
a
core
practice
management
challenge
of
IOLTA
compliance
by
combining
invoicing
within
MyCase,
electronic
payments
via
LawPay,
which
is
also
owned
by
AffiniPay,
and
automatic
reconciliation
within
the
native
accounting
feature.
“When
you
have
MyCase
with
the
invoice
and
billing
engine
combined
with
LawPay,
and
then
having
the
legal
accounting
package
built
natively
in
the
platform,
it
really
makes
it
a
pretty
automagical
experience
to
be
able
to
reconcile
the
invoices
with
the
transactions
with
the
bank
account,”
she
said.
Immigration
Add-On
The
immigration
add-on
uses
an
application
programming
interface
(API)
to
connect
MyCase
with
its
sibling
company
Docketwise,
a
case
management
platform
for
immigration
lawyers.
The
add-on
integrates
immigration
case
management
into
the
MyCase
practice
management
platform,
enabling
immigration
attorneys
to
get
the
benefits
of
both
case
management
and
practice
management
without
having
to
switch
between
platforms.
Armstrong
said
that
many
immigration
customers
wanted
more
of
a
full
practice
management
platform,
while
keeping
the
immigration-specific
case
management
features
of
Docketwise,
such
as
its
Smart
Forms.
Ever
since
AffiniPay
acquired
MyCase,
which
already
owned
Docketwise,
bringing
together
the
capabilities
of
the
two
platforms
“had
been
a
core
part
of
our
vision,”
Armstrong
said.
To
take
advantage
of
the
integration,
MyCase
users
will
required
to
purchase
a
subscription
for
the
Docketwise
add-on.
The
monthly
cost
of
the
add-on
will
be
$79
per
user
or
$69
if
purchased
annually.
Once
purchased,
all
Docketwise
features
will
be
available
directly
within
MyCase,
without
having
to
switch
platforms
or
even
ever
use
the
Docketwise
platform.
Among
the
features
the
add-on
provides:
-
Smart
Forms:
Users
can
auto-populate
immigration
forms
with
client
data,
eliminating
manual
entry. -
USCIS
case
tracking:
Track
the
status
of
immigration
cases
through
automatic
USCIS
updates,
keeping
attorneys
and
clients
informed,
from
within
MyCase. -
E-filing:
Enables
electronic
submission
of
immigration
forms
directly
to
government
agencies
(USCIS,
DOL
FLAG,
DOS
CEAC)
from
within
MyCase. -
Priority
date
tracking:
Monitors
key
dates
to
ensure
timely
actions
are
taken
on
immigration
cases,
minimizing
the
risk
of
missed
deadlines.
The
immigration
add-on
is
being
soft-launched
before
the
end
of
the
year
and
will
be
made
generally
available
to
all
users
sometime
next
year.
Smart
Spend
Beta
MyCase
also
said
today
that
the
Smart
Spend
feature
it
announced
last
February
will
become
available
for
beta
testing
by
select
customers
staring
Oct.
21.
It
will
be
released
for
general
availability
in
the
first
quarter
of
next
year.
MyCase
had
initially
said
it
would
be
released
in
beta
in
the
second
quarter
of
this
year
and
then
to
general
release
in
the
third
quarter.
The
Smart
Spend
feature
promises
to
offer
a
business
credit
card
for
law
firms
that
is
tied
to
software
that
directly
channels
client-related
expenses
into
the
associated
matters
and
invoices
within
the
MyCase
platform.
It
provides
law
firms
with
a
LawPay-branded
Visa
credit
card
for
their
attorneys
and
staff.
All
spending
on
the
card
is
tracked
to
a
dashboard
where
the
firm
can
monitor
all
of
its
business
and
client
expenses.
Spending
is
also
integrated
within
MyCase,
so
client
expenses
are
directly
tracked
to
the
matter,
including
the
nature
and
category
of
the
expense
and
any
associated
receipts.
‘Big
Moves’
Ahead
In
July,
it
was
announced
that
Genstar
Capital
had
made
a
significant
investment
in
AffiniPay,
while
TA
Associates,
which
had
been
the
company’s
largest
investor
since
2020,
would
continue
to
retain
a
“meaningful
stake”
in
the
company.
During
our
briefing
yesterday,
Armstrong
said
that
she
was
“super
excited”
about
the
new
investor,
which
now
owns
the
larger
share
of
the
company.
“They’re
a
phenomenal
software
investor
with
just
an
amazing
track
record
of
helping
build
best-in-class,
high-growth
software
businesses,”
she
said.
She
said
the
driving
force
behind
the
deal
was
to
be
able
to
invest
more
in
product
research
and
development
in
order
to
deliver
more
for
the
company’s
customers.
“It’s
giving
us
an
opportunity
to
think
more
strategically
about
our
position
in
the
market,”
Armstrong
said.
“We
were
super
successful
with
our
MyCase
acquisition,
and
I
think
you’re
going
to
see
us
making
some
big
moves,
whether
it’s
in
products
that
we’ve
built
or
products
that
we’ve
partnered
with
or
products
that
we
bought.”