Product Bulletin for Amicus Attorney 2009 Premium Edition (including Amicus Mobile 2009)

Release 9.0.0

January 19, 2010

In this list, outstanding known issues in the current build of Amicus Attorney 2009 Premium Edition are grouped together by topic.

Table of Contents

Issues for Amicus Administrators Only:

Windows:

Amicus Mobile:

Preferences

20368—After enabling E-mail Integration from the Outlook - E-mail Basics view of Preferences, you cannot navigate to the Outlook E-mail Auto settings via the navigation arrows in the toolbar without first initializing the integration.
WORKAROUND: Close the dialog and then select Outlook - E-mail Auto from the Preferences screen.

Dailies

19687—If the path for a “Folder” Document or “Win Explorer” Dashboard element is specified as a UNC network path (e.g. \\Alaska\ClientHistories) rather than as either a local path or a mapped drive letter path, the folder will open in a separate Windows Explorer window instead of within Amicus.

20368—After enabling E-mail Integration from the Outlook - E-mail Basics view of Preferences, you cannot navigate to the Outlook E-mail Auto settings via the navigation arrows in the toolbar without first initializing the integration.
WORKAROUND: Close the dialog and then select Outlook - E-mail Auto from the Preferences screen.

Files


19856—After displaying a Documents Folder view in File or People Details, clicking My Documents or All Documents might have no effect.
WORKAROUND: Select another view in the list, such as Summary, before clicking My Documents or All Documents.

20173—When a File Intake Form is designed with Client ID on more than one page, a user who navigates back to an earlier page and changes the Primary Client might not see the ID change accordingly, and will be prevented from saving the new File. A message asking them to change the Client ID or Primary Client appears. (This issue does not occur for those using the PCLaw or QuickBooks Link.)

20362/20469 (patch available)—Double-clicking an item quickly in the Files Index, or using the navigation arrows in File Details to go to a File that is already open, might result in two copies of the same record being open. In the first case, only the first one open can be saved. In the second case, only the changes made in the last one closed will be saved.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website.

People

19856—After displaying a Documents Folder view in File or People Details, clicking My Documents or All Documents might have no effect.
WORKAROUND: Select another view in the list, such as Main Note, before clicking My Documents or All Documents.

20469 (patch available)—Double-clicking an item quickly in the People Index might result in two copies of the same record being open. Only the changes made in the last one closed will be saved.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website.

20475 (patch available)—If a Firm Member with permission to access to all Firm Contacts switches the People Index display option from My Contacts to Firm Contacts, and then edits and saves a Firm Contact, an exception error occurs.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website.

Calendar

15113—If you exit Amicus directly after editing the Diary in the Calendar Day view, your Diary changes are not saved.
SOLUTION: After editing the Diary, navigate to another view before exiting Amicus.

20358—The Time - New Entries Preference for creating a Time Entry when a To Do is marked Done is not applied to Repeating To Do’s.

Tasks

16500—In a Month-based Timeline view of the Tasks module, selecting a Task and then pressing Shift+DownArrow to select a range of Tasks causes an error.
SOLUTION: To select multiple Tasks in this view, use Ctrl-click and select each individually.

17096—When a Timeline view of the Tasks module is printed, two pages are printed: one for the range shown and one for the next range.

17170—Upon opening the details of a Note on an Event from the Tasks Module, an error might occur. (This could be related to the Windows Date Format set at your workstation.)

Time

20361—When editing the description of an existing Time Entry in Time Entry Details, the Tab key navigates to the Timer rather than the Duration.

Communications

18677—If you created a Phone Message for another Team Member, opening it again marks it as Read.

E-mail Integration

18966—If you set your Outlook e-mail signature block to be included in e-mail that you send from Amicus, any graphics included in the block will appear as a red X in the e-mail.

20256 (patch available)—Right-clicking on a Saved E-mail in a Communications list and choosing Follow Up To Do causes an exception error.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website.

20305 (patch available)—From an Unsaved E-mail Details dialog with Files/Contacts selected, choosing to save one or more of the e-mail attachments clears the Files/Contacts selections from the E-mail Details dialog. (This will not occur if you have set the preference to automatically save unsaved e-mail whenever you save their attachments.)
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website. After the Patch has been applied, a prompt will appear when you save attachments on an unsaved e-mail, asking whether you want to save the e-mail first.

20355 (patch available)—In a User-Managed Documents environment, if you select a single unsaved e-mail with attachment(s) in the Communications module, select a File, and click Save and Make Association(s), the Browse For Folder dialog does not appear. The attachments are instead automatically saved to the default folder set in your preferences.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website.

20373 (patch available)—In a User-Managed Documents environment, if you select multiple unsaved e-mail with unsaved attachment(s) in the Communications module, select a File, click Save and Make Association(s), and then click Cancel in the Browse For Folder dialog that appears, the attachments are saved anyway (to the default folder set in your preferences). The attachments should not be saved in this case.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website.

  Document  Assembly and E-mail Merge 

17920—When adding or editing a Group from Template Management, pressing <Enter> does not save the Group name.
SOLUTION: Simply click elsewhere, outside of the Group name box.

20271—If Amicus Attorney was upgraded directly to Version 2009 from Version 7 (Build 7.1.0.8), document generation might fail if the template includes an Address Merge Variable, or incorrectly merge if the template includes a Contact Name Merge Variable.
SOLUTION: Please contact Technical Support for assistance.

20534—Document Templates using HotDocs 2009 cannot be edited or created. (Note, however, that documents may be still be generated from existing Document Templates.)
SOLUTION: Please contact Technical Support for a fix.

 Document Management 
 

19687—If the path for a “Folder” Document or “Win Explorer” Dashboard element is specified as a UNC network path (e.g. \\Alaska\ClientHistories) rather than as either a local path or a mapped drive letter path, the folder will open in a separate Windows Explorer window instead of within Amicus.

Offline

18584—Windows 2000 Professional and Server 2000: Because these versions of Windows do not detect network events, a Workstation with Offline components installed will not automatically prompt you go to Offline (or Online) when disconnected from (or reconnected to) the network.

19305—If Offline capability is enabled at the firm, adding an Amicus record might occasionally fail with a SQL error message: “The insert failed. It conflicted with an identity range check constraint…”. This can occur at a Workstation that has not gone Offline or Online in a long while.
SOLUTION:
- If the problem occurs while you are working Offline, resolve the issue by going Online (and then back Offline if desired).
- If the problem occurs while you are working Online, please call Technical Support for assistance.

20293 (patch available)—In rare cases, record conflicts are not shown when you go back Online.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website.

20431—Installation of Offline Components at a workstation running under a 64-bit edition of Windows might fail with the message “SQL Server 2005 cannot continue because the installation package could not be opened”.
WORKAROUND: Your Amicus Administrator can download SQLEXPRE.EXE from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3181842a-4090-4431-acdd-9a1c832e65a6&displaylang=en and copy it to the following folder on your Amicus Server, replacing the existing version of the file: \Amicus\Amicus Attorney PE Server\SmartClient\Install\Offline. Then proceed to install Offline Components.

Performance

20503 (patch available)—Saving an e-mail that contains special characters (such as certain accented characters) might cause Server stability or performance issues.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website. Such characters are ignored when e-mail are saved.

20504 (patch available)—Heavy transaction loads may affect Amicus Server stability and performance. This can be caused by having numerous Firm Members assigned to numerous records, especially when using third party links like Outlook.
SOLUTION: A Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website provides improvement when viewing and processing long lists, such as Contacts.
NOTE: To ensure better Server performance it is NOT recommended that firms assign all Firm Members to Contacts and/or Events. You will find that it makes your workflow cumbersome, slows down the system, and provides no benefits. Amicus Attorney has been designed for easy viewing of items assigned to others, like the ability to open another Office, the QuickFind feature, and filters available in the Calendar, Tasks, and People modules. Accurate Firm Member assignments will result in more accurate data and better record tracking.

Miscellaneous

9266—Customizing the Amicus Tasks Toolbar attributes from Microsoft Office applications (e.g., removing one of the buttons) will cause problems.

16943—A module screen (such as the Files Index) might appear with your Windows Desktop image shown in some areas of the navigation pane at the left.
SOLUTION: Refresh the screen by going to another module and then returning.

18134—If the Amicus Tasks Toolbar is installed, then while an e-mail message is open and in focus in Outlook, you click on a Mail list column heading (“To”, “From”, “Received” etc.) to sort items, that column will be deleted from the view.
WORKAROUND: To get a deleted column back, right-click on a column heading and choose Field Chooser. Drag the desired column from the Field Chooser dialog to the desired location among the column headings.
SOLUTION: To avoid deleting columns, ensure that focus is on the Mail list view before clicking on columns. Or, at the beginning of each Outlook session, drag the Amicus Tasks Toolbar up next to another Toolbar.

18385—After opening the Tutorial, or another Firm Member’s Office as a Guest, the Office > Back To My Office command is not available.
WORKAROUND: In the Office module, choose Return To My Office in the control panel.

18724—Your sort settings for lists are not always saved when you close a module or window.

20247 (patch available)—If you are not an Amicus Administrator and open another Firm Member’s Office, exception errors might appear periodically.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website.

20410 (patch available)—REPORTS: Parameters for custom reports created in Crystal Reports are not handled.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website. After the Patch is applied, the Amicus report parameters dialog will show custom parameters utilizing their basic settings. For clarity, the following Crystal Report parameter types are supported: Number, String, Boolean, Currency, Date, and Time. For String parameters, dropdown list values and descriptions are supported. TIP: To take advantage of Firm Member or specific Amicus File selections as a parameter, create your custom report based on an existing one that uses the desired selection parameter.

20419 (patch available)—Special characters (such as certain accented characters) entered in a record might cause issues.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website. After the Patch is applied, such characters will be ignored when the record is saved.

21812—In rare circumstances, Word customizations (such as AutoText list changes) that you make might not be saved successfully (to your Normal.dot template).
SOLUTION: Restart Word and make your customizations. Do not use the Amicus Tasks Toolbar during this Word session, until your customizations are saved.

30055—REPORTS: For Number parameters in custom reports created in Crystal Reports, the Amicus report parameters dialog allows you to enter only integers, not decimal numbers.

30056—REPORTS: For Date/Time parameters in custom reports created in Crystal Reports, the Amicus report parameters dialog shows only the Date portion.

Amicus Accounting

20210—If a Client is created in Amicus Accounting with an improperly formatted phone or fax number (e.g. 8 or 9 digits rather than 7 or 10) and then exchanged to Amicus Attorney, Amicus Attorney terminates unexpectedly.

 Accounting — PCLaw Link 
 

13243—If you delete mapped Types of Law or Task Codes in PCLaw, the File Type and Activity Code mapping dialogs in the Link Configuration wizard will then show the mappings incorrectly.
SOLUTION: In the mapping dialog in the wizard, clear the mappings, click Close, click Yes to save the change, return to the dialog, and remap the codes as desired.

18730—When adding a new File, if you open and edit a Person on the File, the new Matter ID is automatically exchanged to PCLaw without first prompting whether you want the File excluded from the Link.

20261 (patch available)—Posting a Time Entry with a description longer than 902 characters to PCLaw, causes an error message to appear: “integration with your accounting application is currently unavailable”. (However, the Time Entry is posted successfully and the connection continues to function.)
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website.

20285 (patch available)—If you unlink and exclude a File from exchange with PCLaw, and then remove its Primary Client but leave the Contact on the File, the Client ID might be removed from that Contact’s record and from all Files where that Contact is the Primary Client.
SOLUTION: This issue is resolved in a Patch available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website.

21166—PCLaw 10: Upon initialization of the Link, some Billing Rate Values for Amicus Timekeepers mapped to PCLaw Lawyers will not synchronize from Amicus to PCLaw when the Link is set to synchronize values in that direction. Note that this issue does not occur for Rate Categories that ship by default with PCLaw.

21167—PCLaw 10: Upon initialization of the Link, Rate Values for the Amicus Activity Codes and Task-Based Billing Task Codes mapped to PCLaw Task Codes will not synchronize from Amicus to PCLaw when the Link is set to synchronize values in that direction. This issue also occurs upon adding a new Amicus Billing Rate to PCLaw (as a Rate Category) via the Link wizard.

22120—New Task-Based Billing Code Sets created by the firm (in Firm Settings) are not available in the Link Wizard for mapping to their PCLaw equivalents.
WORKAROUND: Please contact Technical Support for assistance.

Accounting – Timeslips Link

22120—New Task-Based Billing Code Sets created by the firm (in Firm Settings) are not available in the Link Wizard for mapping to their PCLaw or Timeslips equivalents.
WORKAROUND: Please contact Technical Support for assistance.

18690—If no one is currently logged in at the Amicus Application Server (e.g. because the computer was restarted but Amicus Attorney and Timeslips are not configured for automatic logins, as detailed in the Link Guide), any attempt to use the Timeslips Link will cause the Amicus PE Service to terminate. (For example, if a user attempts to post a Time Entry, or saves a new File which is to be exchanged to Timeslips.)
WORKAROUND: Someone must log in to Windows at the Server before Amicus may communicate with Timeslips.

Issues for Amicus Administrators Only

Firm Settings & Customization

12670—If the firm’s shared documents folder (specified in General – Document Management Firm Settings) is not configured for indexing by Microsoft Indexing Service, or that Service is not running, an error message appears whenever a user attempts to perform a full text document Search.
SOLUTION: To configure a folder for indexing: At the Amicus Attorney Application Server, go to Windows Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management and, in the navigation list at the left, choose Services and Applications > Indexing Service > System > Directories. On the toolbar, choose Action > New > Directory and specify a folder; repeat this step for each folder you want indexed.
We also recommend that the Indexing Service be set to start up automatically whenever the Amicus Server is restarted. (This can be done at the Server, via the Startup Type field in the Properties dialog for the Indexing Service.)

12897—In the Field Attributes dialog for a Text Custom Field on the Custom Page or Record Designer, you are permitted to enter a Maximum Length of more than 255 characters but, upon saving, the value changes to 255 without a warning.
SOLUTION: For a Custom Field that can hold more than 255 characters, use a Memo Custom Field.

17944—The Designer window for a Custom Record Designer window might not maximize properly (unusable white areas appear).
SOLUTION: After maximizing the window, click the right arrow at the bottom of the navigation panel to browse to the next Custom Record. (If you have another Custom Record defined, then click the left arrow to browse back to the original Record.)

20245—If the firm stores Document Templates in a location other than the default location, the proper Templates might not be copied to a user’s workstation when they go Offline.
WORKAROUND: Unshare the default Templates folder (\Amicus\Amicus Attorney PE Server\DocumentAssemblyTemplates), and then share the firm’s Templates folder with the share name “DocumentAssemblyTemplates”.

User Management

18779b—Firm Members who were designated as “Former” in Version 2008 or earlier cannot be removed from the Firm Groups of which they were members.
WORKAROUND: Contact Technical Support for assistance.

20113—When a Firm Licensing File is applied, the User Management view’s Login Status for all users (regardless of whether or not they are licensed yet) is reset to “Out” followed by a blank date until they next log in to Amicus.

Import

17284—Comma Separated Values format files that have undelimited blank fields in the last columns cannot be imported (“Number of fields found is less than expected” error). The exporting of Outlook Contacts creates files of this type.
SOLUTION: Before importing, open the file in Excel, add another column, and enter any multiple-character data in it. In the Import Field Mapping and Attributes dialog of the Amicus Import wizard, map that extra column as an “<Unused Field>”.

19737—Comma Separated Values format files that have a single-character field in the last column cannot be imported (“Number of fields found is less than expected” error).
SOLUTION: Before importing, open the file in Excel, rearrange the columns so that the last one you wish to import is a multiple-character field. In the Import Field Mapping and Attributes dialog of the Amicus Import wizard, map the rearranged columns appropriately.

19767—If importing Files with the match criteria set to Short File Name AND either Client ID or Matter ID, then an import record that matches on Short File Name only will be imported as a File with a duplicate Short File Name.

Other Administration

17900—Conversion from Small Firm Edition or Version 4 or 5: Hyphens in Custom Field Labels are deleted upon conversion. For example, “Pre-judgment Interest Rate” becomes “Prejudgment Interest Rate”.

20282—The installation of a new Amicus Attorney Server or an upgrade from Version 7 might fail at the “Defining dbase constraints” step.
SOLUTION: Cancel the install and contact Technical Support for assistance.

20431—Installation of Offline Components at a workstation running under a 64-bit edition of Windows might fail with the message “SQL Server 2005 cannot continue because the installation package could not be opened”.
WORKAROUND: Download SQLEXPRE.EXE from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3181842a-4090-4431-acdd-9a1c832e65a6&displaylang=en and copy it to the following folder on your Amicus Server, replacing the existing version of the file: \Amicus\Amicus Attorney PE Server\SmartClient\Install\Offline. Then proceed to install Offline Components.

Windows

Windows Vista

20191—Under Vista, uninstallation of Amicus Application Server might fail with a 1721 error.
SOLUTION: Turn off Windows User Access Control (from Windows Control Panel > User Accounts) and restart the computer. Uninstall Amicus Server. Afterward, you may turn UAC back on.

Amicus Mobile

Amicus Mobile

16447/18653—Initialization fails to detect a lack of connection, and might show an invalid “successful” message. (Ensure that the device is cradled or is otherwise connected.)

18277—Some Windows Mobile devices when set to portrait orientation might truncate the left side of the Settings screen.
WORKAROUND: Set the device orientation to landscape while configuring Settings.

18563—If a File is currently locked by another user, you can still select or clear its Mobile checkbox in the Files Index but this action has no effect. No warning message appears.

18569—If a Time Entry is created in Amicus Mobile on a File that is set to a Flat Rate or Other hourly billing rate, it will be sent to Amicus Attorney with a Rate Value of 0.

18615—When replying to a Sticky on a Smartphone device, the number pad is activated and the corresponding alphabetic letters cannot be entered in the message field.
WORKAROUND: Navigate out of the message field and then go back.

18633—When sending a new Sticky from the Notes module, the “To” selection list of Firm Members does not reflect additions, deletions, or name changes done in Amicus Attorney since you last Initialized Amicus Mobile.
WORKAROUND: Reinitialize Amicus Mobile occasionally.

18639—Changes to Contact information in Amicus Attorney (name, primary phone number, primary e-mail address) are not exchanged to the Contact On File lists in Amicus Mobile until that File has been changed in Amicus Attorney and exchanged to Amicus Mobile.

18655/18656—If a Time Entry is created on a Phone Call in Amicus Mobile, the Time Entry icon might still be shown for that record in Communication lists in Amicus Attorney.

18663/18664—In Amicus Mobile, you are permitted to assign Contacts to a File that you have been restricted from editing. (These assignments do not, however, affect Amicus Attorney.)

18665—A Phone Call record created upon completion of an inbound or outbound call on an Amicus Mobile device records the end time rather than the start time of the call.

18666—If you have two calls (due to Call Waiting), switching away from one call to the other does not trigger the prompt to create a Phone Call record on that call in Amicus Mobile.
WORKAROUND: To create a Phone Call record on the call you are ending first, tap or click End Call rather than simply switching away from it. In a few moments, your phone will ring to resume your other call. Note, however, that if you choose to create a Phone Call record on this other call as well, its duration field will include only the time since the call was resumed.

18676—Viewing the details of a Phone Message in Amicus Mobile does not automatically mark it as having been read.

20258—Amicus Mobile Server might not work if installed on a server running Windows Small Business Server 2008. Other websites and HTTP services provided by that server might also fail.
SOLUTION: IIS requires additional configuration after Amicus Mobile Server has been installed. Please contact Technical Support for assistance.

20260—After opening another Office as a Guest, any changes made subsequently in Amicus Attorney might fail to exchange to your Mobile device. (Changes made on your device will continue to exchange to Amicus Attorney.)
WORKAROUND:
· On a BlackBerry device, simply reinitialize Amicus Mobile.
· On a Windows Mobile device, the following workaround is possible after applying a Patch (available from the Support > Updates and Downloads section of our website):
Exit both Amicus Mobile and Amicus Attorney. Then log in to Amicus Mobile and reinitialize.

 

For further information, contact:

Gavel & Gown Software Inc.
Phone: 800-472-2289/416-977-6633
Fax: 416-977-2563
www.amicusattorney.com
info@amicusattorney.com

Copyright © 2010 Gavel & Gown Software Inc. All rights reserved.
AMICUS and AMICUS ATTORNEY are registered trademarks, and AMICUS ACCOUNTING,AMICUS MOBILE, AMICUS MOBILE SERVER, and DO are trademarks of Gavel & Gown Software Inc.
All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owner. Gavel & Gown Software Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks other than its own.