November 2011

In this issue:

• What's New
• Customize Best Case with User-Defined Fields
• Save time and improve accuracy of data entry with Common Text Blocks
• Workflow Tools
• Did You know?
• Bankruptcy Chat

View the Spotlight e-newsletter

Feature Spotlight: Customize Best Case with User-Defined Fields

Manage cases more efficiently by personalizing data entry fields located in the case status window under the user-defined tabs. Customize fields including:

• Text Field: Gather text data, such as the source of a referral
• Check Box: Indicate whether a debtor has completed a MyCaseInfo questionnaire or other steps in the bankruptcy process
• Date Field: Add dates, such as for a Continued Confirmation Hearing
• Dollar-Amount Field: Indicate expenses advanced, the retainer for adversary, the balance due at signing and any other amounts

The possibilities are nearly endless for customizing fields to your specific needs.

To create a User-Defined Field:

1. Open a client file.
2. Click the Notes button on the Best Case toolbar.
3. Select the User Defined 1 tab.
4. Click the Edit Field Prompts button to create a new User-Defined Field.



5. Enter text into the Field Prompt Text box to label the field.
6. Enter text into the Field Tip Text box to create a field title that will appear when you hover a cursor over the field.



7. Click OK.

Tip: Eliminate any unused User-Defined Fields from view by entering a tilde (~) in the Field Prompt Text box.

Insights: Save time and improve the accuracy of data entry with Common Text Blocks

Store re-usable paragraphs of text that you can quickly insert into data entry screens or directly into documents in the Best Case Editor with Common Text Blocks. For example, insert miscellaneous provisions or special instructions to the Trustee into Chapter 13 plans.

Create a Common Text Block:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+B to access the Common Text Block window.
2. Click Insert.
3. Enter a name for your text block.



4. Enter the text you want to use.

Tip: Click the Data Token button to insert commonly used information from the Voluntary Petition, such as the debtor's name, address and Social Security number.


5. Select the schedules and forms where the text block will be used.
6. Click OK to save your text block.

To Use a Common Text Block:

1. Open any data entry screen or the Best Case Editor.
2. Place your cursor in the field where you want the text block inserted.
3. Press Ctrl+Shift+B on your keyboard to access the Common Text Blocks List..



4. Highlight the Common Text Block you want to insert.
5. Click Select. The Common Text Block is automatically placed at the insertion point.

Workflow Tools: Boost productivity with MyCaseInfo and MyECFMail

Upcoming releases:

Did you know 25% of Best Case Bankruptcy users simplify their data entry with MyCaseInfo? The upcoming release of MyCaseInfo will include:

• Attorney Administration Site
• Increased client status flexibility
• Enhanced search functionality
• Client Site
• New bankruptcy glossary
• Simplified review screen
• Additional save and finish-later options

The new release of MyECFMail, the workflow tool for managing CM/ECF communications, will include:

• Expanded Email Manager Options – delete and easily move emails from archive
• Rule Manager Updates – better visibility and control for rules

Check for emails announcing the new releases soon.

Did You Know?

The color of a client folder indicates the federal forms of a particular year. For example, client documents filed between 12/1/2010 and 11/30/11 are contained in green folders.

Starting December 1, new client forms will be contained in orange folders. This will indicate that you are using the forms that become effective 12/1/11.

While Best Case defaults to the most current forms when you open a new client file, you can still switch to a different version of the forms. To do this, see "Selecting the Correct Set of Federal Forms" in the Best Case Help File.

Bankruptcy Chat: by George Basharis, J.D.

Ethical Implications of Cloud Computing & Online Data Storage

Attorneys are subject to an ethical duty to safeguard confidential client information and to protect client property from destruction or loss. Ethical guidelines vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. However, at a minimum, attorneys must exercise due diligence in determining if a particular practice management system, online or otherwise, will preserve the confidentiality of client information.

An attorney cannot guarantee that client confidentiality will never be breached. This is especially true if data is warehoused by a third-party vendor. The bars of at least two states, Arizona and Nevada, recognize this and have adopted the approach that the attorney who uses cloud computing or third-party providers to store client data must exercise reasonable care in selecting and entrusting the storage of confidential data to a third-party.

Whether reasonable care in selecting third-party vendors of cloud computing and data warehousing alone will satisfy the ethical requirements of most state bars or attorney disciplinary boards has not yet been established. At least one state bar, North Carolina, has taken the position that an attorney may not simply rely on a cloud provider's expertise or representations of data security, integrity and availability. Consequently, among the bar's recommendations for attorneys contemplating the use of cloud computing or third-party providers to store client data includes the independent evaluation of the provider's measures for safeguarding the physical and electronic security of the data. At a minimum, the evaluation should cover firewalls, encryption techniques, socket security features and intrusion-detection systems.

Rule 3002.1 Increases Transparency of Post-Confirmation Fees

Frequently, undisclosed fees materialize post-confirmation at the end of a Chapter 13 case and either compromise the debtor's ability to complete a plan or interfere with the debtor's fresh start after discharge. Despite developing case law and the adoption of local rules and model plan provisions aimed at eliminating unexpected charges at the end of a Chapter 13 case, the Bankruptcy Rules Advisory Committee in 2009 proposed Rule 3002.1 to enhance the transparency of post-confirmation fees. The Rule was approved by the Supreme Court earlier this year and will become effective December 1, 2011.

Rule 3002.1 assists in the implementation of Bankruptcy Code Sec. 1322(b )(5), which permits a Chapter 13 debtor to cure a default and maintain payments of a home mortgage over the course of the debtor's plan. It requires the holder of a claim secured by a residential mortgage to file a notice of all post-petition fees within 180 days after the fees are incurred. The notice must itemize all fees, expenses and other charges as a supplement to the proof of claim, and the claim holder must serve the notice on the debtor, debtor's counsel and the trustee. Supplements to Official Form 10, which also become effective December 1, establish a uniform format for claim holders of residential mortgages to comply with the notice requirements of Rule 3002.1.

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Thank you for all your positive feedback. Keep it coming, it's important to know what topics you want to see in Spotlight. You, the Best Case user, drive the content of this newsletter. Email us at spotlight@bestcase.com to give us your best practices, topic suggestions and feedback.