My attorney gave me free reign to create a system that worked for me. As long as the work got done, it didn't matter what tools I used to get matters moving. I started looking at CRM tools online, and I’ve found that a large portion of those kinds of tools are expensive and overcomplicated. 

I came across ClickUp because I was looking for a free organizational tool to help me better organize my workflows. In this article, I'm going to tell you five of my favorite free features on ClickUp and how you can benefit from using their website as well.

1. Create Reminders on Tasks

Probably my favorite feature on ClickUp is the ability to add reminders to tasks, down to the date and time I want to accomplish them. For example, if I want to knock out all of my phone calls in the morning, I can go into each matter and create a task to make a phone call to a client, court coordinator, or opposing counsel and set that task to be done on a particular day around 9:00 a.m. When it's time for me to start the task, I'll get a reminder on my desktop letting me know it's time to accomplish it.

If for whatever reason you don't get to the task right away, you can go to your main page and all of your missed tasks, as well as those that are upcoming, will be listed out for you at a glance. This helps when I have an overwhelming caseload and I need to prioritize which tasks I need to do at certain times of the day.

2. Templates for Caseflow

Some areas of law can be repetitive, and with repetition sometimes things fall through the cracks because you've done the tasks over and over again, and you may miss something important. With ClickUp, you can create a workflow to trigger different tasks to be done in a particular kind of case. For example, when I get a testate probate case, I have a template of tasks to be done from the beginning to the end of the matter, this way I don't forget about a particular task.

Within the templates, you can also write tasks for different stages of the case. With probate, I have my tasks split up into three sections: the application phase, the prehearing phase, and the after hearing phase. Within each phase, I have about 20 to 30 different tasks (depending if the case is testate or intestate) to be done before moving on to the next set of tasks. This is really helpful, especially if I get a dependent administration case where there are hundreds of moving parts.

3. Organizing Matters

Using ClickUp as a freelance paralegal has been useful to me and my business because it allows me to separate my cases by law firms and attorneys. I like to use ClickUp’s “spaces” feature  as the law firm and attorney's name and the “lists” feature as the matter name. Within the “spaces” I'm able to see how far along each case is in its workflow, and I can see what tasks need to be done at a glance.

Also, I can track my time on each task I have created. This way I don't have to retype what I did for each matter because the task was already written out. As a freelance paralegal, this also helps me to generate a timesheet report for my attorney to review how many hours have been worked within their contract. 

4. Description of Matters

Before ClickUp, I used to keep an Excel spreadsheet with all of the cases and notes describing each one. However, ClickUp has been a useful electronic version of this process. Within each “list” you can add a description at the top as a note to yourself. Typically, I like to write the case number, the court of record, Judge presiding over the case, client info, attorney ad litem info, and any major updates to the case.

The description feature has been extremely helpful for me in my freelance paralegal business. I no longer have to open up a separate Excel spreadsheet to take down a note every time something new happens. With ClickUp, I can simply make the note inside of the matter and I don't have to take any further steps to make sure I have the most updated information written down. 

5. Notes

Working with Texas Probate courts, each Judge has their own set of rules in how to conduct a probate hearing. To keep track of all of the different policies and changes within each court and county, ClickUp has a notes section I use to keep track of all of the different rules and preferences of each Judge. On top of that, I can also track which fees each Court Clerk needs for the probate document filings.

Additionally, I've worked with a lot of smaller counties throughout South Texas, and a handful of those courts have different mailing addresses to send the original Last Will and Testament to the courthouse. Often the probate court websites are not updated with this information, so instead of calling the court clerk for the mailing address every time you have a Will to mail, you can simply write a note to yourself keeping track of the mailing addresses for each county.

Conclusion

If you're a paralegal for a solo or small firm, or you need a way to keep a better organized system for yourself and your matters, ClickUp is a great free alternative compared to other costly CRM tools. From creating reminders for yourself on tasks to keeping notes for different county filings, paralegals and legal staff can benefit greatly from using ClickUp’s free features within their law firms. 

If you’re an attorney seeking assistance in your estate planning and probate law practice, please feel free to contact me at raquel@personalparalegal.com to book a free discovery call and discuss how I can best assist you and your law firm. 

Sincerely, 

Raquel Alonso

Personal Paralegal