Must Do Legal

New version...for lawyers, paralegals and legal secretaries. We always appreciate positive ratings if you like the app!

Free ebook -what’s quite novel is the app actually comes with an embedded e-Book that explains and teaches the Must Do Today time management system and how to use the app with it.

The most important principle in the system is Parkinson’s Law, that states: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” In other words, the more time you give yourself to do a task, the more time that particular task will take.

When you set up a new “Must Do” task in the app, it asks you to set a time goal for each client task and then automatically totals the billable hours target for the day. Then by touching the timer, it tracks and records your actual time. When you’re done, touch the timer and enter your docket description of the service performed. The app tracks time in either 1/10th of an hour format, or actual clock time.

On the main Must Do Legal screen you can view your day’s billable and non-billable hours at a glance. Do you have seven billable hours of work slated for the day? The app shows you how many hours you’ve worked and percentage of completion. This performance tracking instantly lets you see what you’ve accomplished.

Second, the app teaches you the Rule of 5. Each morning you are asked to create a to-do list with no more than 5 tasks that you absolutely must do before the end of the workday. This is designed to keep you focused on what really matters. In fact, productivity drops when you try to work from an “open” to-do list that has a multitude of to-dos from your busy work and personal life. And, if you happen to finish the first 5 tasks and still have time, the app prompts you to add a few more tasks to complete during the day.

Third, the app stresses the need for prioritization and automatically ranks your Must Dos according to what is most important at the top. In a lawyer’s hectic world, this is critical. The app automatically renumbers the Must Do list as each task is completed. You can also move the Must Dos up or down on the list with your finger to change priority as needed. Moreover, if any Must Do remains unfinished, it can be moved to become the #1 to do for the next day.

You can also maintain a master Task List that inventories every billable and non-billable task you need to do in your practice and personal life, plus use the robust sort feature showing tasks alphabetically, billable vs. non-billable, by due date or the level of priority.

Must Do Legal includes a built-in Planner that allows you to set up multiple tasks for the days ahead. Planner gives you a Day View or a Week View, together with a summary of the estimated hours needed to get that work done. Importantly, the app also provides the convenience of syncing tasks with iCal so that critical to-dos can be scheduled in between meetings and other commitments.

The app has a unique delegation tracker that lets you keep a separate list of all client tasks that have assigned to juniors, assistants or colleagues for completion. The Delegated Task List shows when those delegated tasks are due and has an auto-email feature so that you can easily follow up with the person who has responsibility for completion of that task.

Must Do Legal emails a back up of all task details through a .csv file, readable by Excel and other spreadsheet programs. For time entry, the app also exports a .csv file of all completed client tasks, estimated time, recorded time and a description of legal services completed. In fact, entry of billable time in the app is very time efficient because lawyers can use Apple’s accurate voice-to-text dictation feature, which text can be sent to staff by email from the app for quick data entry into the office’s main billing program.