Word 2016 Templates to Manage Clients

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Tom54
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Word 2016 Templates to Manage Clients

Post by Tom54 »

My expertise is Excel and my Word skills are basic.

Can anyone point me to an already created Word Template that will better manage all the messy e-mails I receive and rapidly find a Client Page.

By example in Word for each Client there is a standard form that would be used such as:

Client name:
Client nickname:
Client Address:
Client Phone
Name of Other Party
Name of Attorney Representing Other Party
Client No:
Client Project KeyWord1 APEX
Client Project KeyWord2 Jones
Client Project KeyWord2 New York Office
etc.

Each day e-mails come from various people with only fragments of Client data. Such as "Need update on Jones file" or Did you contact client on update to project APEX. Or a real favorite FEDEX documents to New York Office.

Rather than wasting time asking various support persons "When you sent e-mail for your Boss who is the party they represented."

Is there a Word Template that will allow a way to give the Word APP a Key word or words and it will find and display to Standard Client Record.

Tried to find something out on the WEB but results were not what i wanted.

Regards,

Tom54

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Charles Kenyon
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Re: Word 2016 Templates to Manage Clients

Post by Charles Kenyon »

I am a lawyer with more than 30 years experience with Word processing.
What you are looking for is beyond the scope of Word and Word templates.
Best would be a database application such as Access or a Case Management System (which is a database application).

I have long used an Excel spreadsheet to track client and case data, but it does not handle tracking activities and correspondence. It gives a basic cover sheet with information about the case. It is mail merge, not something interactive. My templates are keyed to the data in that Excel spreadsheet and allow me to quickly prepare draft documents for clients that are specific to the case and client. Here are the fields that are available in any document.
00 deleteme 9.png
The fields for gender exist because many of the merge documents have gender-specific pronouns which are changed by those settings.

Frankly, I have neither the knowledge nor the time to develop a Case Management system. They are out there and they are not cheap.
The Law Office Practice Management section of the ABA has studied such systems and I'm sure can make recommendations.
If I were on the management committee of a large firm, I would be studying them. I am a sole practitioner with a criminal defense practice. It would be overkill for me.

I am attaching my File Cover page which shows some, but not all of, the data in the spreadsheet as well as my template for a client contact record. Remember that these are mail merge forms.
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Tom54
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Re: Word 2016 Templates to Manage Clients

Post by Tom54 »

Charles: Thanks for the response. The person I am helping is semi-retired Attorney doing Solo and in need of better organization. They have intermediate Word Skills, basic PDF and Outlook skills. As for Excel they have zero skills and no real desire to learn. They rely on an assistant for Excel tasks which I supervise.

Your comment about an Excel Table should allow me to use my Advance Excel Skills to generate what I am looking for using just two Word Document. The first being the Client Data, the second Word doc that can be filled out and the data transferred to Excel to run advance queries and Open all Client Sheets in Word that match the query.

Thanks again.

Tom54

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Charles Kenyon
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Re: Word 2016 Templates to Manage Clients

Post by Charles Kenyon »

Glad to have helped.

That is not a table, it is simply the list shown in Word when connected to the Excel worksheet. Each item shown is a column in Excel.
Prepare Your Excel Data Source for a Mail Merge https://support.office.com/en-us/articl ... ac7c68673e

I use a template, like the one for client contact, to create a new document. There is an AutoNew macro in the template that automatically makes the document a mail merge primary document. It then attaches to the Excel database which is stored in a folder in the Word workgroup templates folder.
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/te ... #Workgroup
The workgroup templates folder is one shared on my network.
Here is the code for the AttachClients procedure (which is located in a global template rather than being repeated in each document template)

Code: Select all

Sub AttachClients()
'   Written by Charles Kenyon
'   19 April 2005 revised 15 December 2006
'       revised 12 March 2014 to clean up attachment code
'
'   Requires WorkGroupPath function
'
'   Makes activedocument a mailmerge (letter) document and
'   attaches Clients_Merge.xls from Parts folder of Workgroup Templates folder.
'
'   Then displays search dialog and goes to client, makes sure merge info is
'   displayed instead of merge codes.
'
    On Error Resume Next
    MergeFieldUnlockAllStory 'if merge fields locked, unlock
'
'   Name of file
    Dim strFileName As String
    Dim strProvider As String
    strFileName = WorkGroupPath & "Parts\Merge Data\Clients_Merge.xlsm"
'
'   Attach Merge list
    With ActiveDocument.MailMerge
        .MainDocumentType = wdFormLetters
        .OpenDataSource Name:=strFileName, _
            SQLStatement:="SELECT * FROM `Clients$`" ', _
'
'       Show merge data
        .ViewMailMergeFieldCodes = False
    End With
    
'   Find client
    Application.Dialogs(wdDialogMailMergeFindRecipient).Show
    
    On Error GoTo 0
'
'   Disconnect from Merge
'    ActiveDocument.MailMerge.MainDocumentType = wdNotAMergeDocument
End Sub
This is what I see after that macro is run:
00 deleteme 10.png
It displays the Find recipient dialog after attaching. Typing in the client name, file name, or other information should locate the client record.

I violate recommended practice. I use these documents in merge preview mode. I disconnect the merge and change it back to an ordinary document which then serves as a draft. I do have macros to do that.

My templates designed to work with this are organized into folders by subject. Those folders show up as dynamic menus on a custom ribbon.

Setting up the dynamic menus is documented on Greg Maxey's page: https://gregmaxey.com/word_tip_pages/dy ... _menu.html
It picks up any Word template file in a folder and puts it in a menu for that folder. The help files and divider lines are also Word templates.
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Charles Kenyon
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Re: Word 2016 Templates to Manage Clients

Post by Charles Kenyon »

Easier for picking custom templates would be Graham Mayor's Add-In.
http://www.gmayor.com/select_document_template.htm

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Tom54
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Re: Word 2016 Templates to Manage Clients

Post by Tom54 »

Charles:

Again thanks for your assistance. This far more than what I originally expected.

I will use the above to build the solution.

I did read the entire post and was able to follow along and do understand how it will work.

Right now a bit busy with work matters but hope to have it up and running soon.

Regards,

Tom54

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Charles Kenyon
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Re: Word 2016 Templates to Manage Clients

Post by Charles Kenyon »

You are welcome.