Last January, Aderant, a global provider of business management software for law firms, acquired American LegalNet (ALN), the docketing technology and rules-based calendaring company. 

When it did, Aderant already had a leading rules-based calendaring product of its own, CompuLaw, which it acquired in 2011, and which originally was introduced to the legal market some 40 years ago.

Now, Aderant is unveiling a new cloud-based docketing product, Milana, which it says combines the best of both products, including the extensive court-calendaring rules of CompuLaw and the cloud docketing features and functionality of ALN.

In fact, the name, Milana, comes from a Hindi word that means “mix” or “bring together,” Aderant says.

Milana makes it easy to select trigger events leveraging the CompuLaw rules engine.

“Milana introduces a new standard of litigation docketing, offering an easy-to-use cloud-based solution that will continue to lead the market and drive innovation with the ongoing rollout of new features and functionality immediately available to end-users,” Aderant said in announcing the new product.

As for CompuLaw, it is not going away, David Flynn, director of account management at Aderant, told me during a preview demonstration yesterday. The on-premises product has an established customer base that Aderant will continue to serve.

Milana offers simplified in-browser data management with task-based information and contextual tools.

I asked Flynn if the long-range plan is to move customers from CompuLaw to the cloud-based Milana. He said there are currently no plans to require customers to move from the on-premises product to the cloud.

Milana offers color-coded calendar views, with smart filtering by cases and/or timekeepers.

Features of Milana include:

  • CompuLaw’s court rules with matter-level exclusions, covering more than 2,000 jurisdictions across all 50 states.
  • Auto Docket Pro, which was ALN’s product for automatically downloading and distributing ECF notices.
  • DMS integration with iManage and NetDocuments, so that court documents are automatically stored in the correct client/matter folder.
  • Integration of ALN’s Forms Workflow product, which provides a repository of official court and agency forms that can be completed using Microsoft Word.
  • Docket Direct, which directly integrates with and pulls information from selected courts’ data feeds.
  • A variety of settings, wizards, workflows and self-service tools to enhance user experience.

Milana provides a tree-view list of events with a number of filtering options and context-based editing tools.

During a preview demonstration yesterday, David Flynn, director of account management at Aderant, said a focus in building this new product has been to provide more analytics around docket data so firms can better understand their own litigation experience and profile, both historical and current. Firms and docketing staff will also have more options for generating and scheduling reports on cases.

“We rolled out a report that really allows you to get granular with the data,” Flynn said. “So let’s say I’m trying to figure out how many cases we have we had in a certain jurisdiction in front of a certain judge, who were the attorneys involved, and the outcomes. In just a couple of clicks, I can run this report filter and then have that information or even send that information to some other project that we’re working on.”

Another focus has been on creating a clean and simple user interface, especially as compared to the UI of CompuLaw, which can be challenging for new users.

Milana includes ALN’s Auto Docket Pro for ECF receipt processing, document profiling and distribution.

“Everything is still here,” Flynn said, “it’s just organized differently.”

“The Docketing team at Aderant is incredibly excited to launch Milana, the next generation of docketing technology,” commented Dan Biegel, VP of Product Management for Docketing at Aderant. “With such tremendous support and investment from Aderant, we’re bringing powerful new capabilities to docketers and streamlining the flow of information for attorneys and staff, all while addressing the emerging technology requirements of firm IT stakeholders.”

Aderant will be demonstrating Milana at the National Docketing Association (NDA) annual conference Oct. 16-18 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

 

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.