Electronic Signatures for Lawyers Included in Rocket Matter Premier

Electronic signatures for lawyers is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Perhaps that’s going a bit too far. But the reality is that electronic signatures, commonly known as e-signatures, greatly reduce operational complexity. More importantly, this terrific tech makes life easier for lawyers, their clients, and everyone they interact with.

What used to involve the time and expense of sending out documents for signatures – and awaiting their return – can now be accomplished in a couple of clicks. Expensive overnight packages no longer need to sit on clients’ desks for unpredictable periods of time.

With e-signatures, there’s no cause for procrastination: you click and you’re done. Nowadays, you can lie on the couch, scroll with your thumb, and tap on a smartphone to buy a house. 

With our Artemis release, Rocket Matter is pleased to offer amazing electronic signatures for lawyers through a partnership with our sister company, ImagineShare.  

True to our philosophy of making the lives of lawyers a whole lot easier, our e-signature offering is radically simple. Instead of logging into an entirely different application, you can send out docs for signing from Outlook.

Powerful ImagineShare App Included in Rocket Matter Premier

ImagineShare is currently a standalone product included with Rocket Matter’s new Premier tier. It will be integrated into the core product later this year. 

The value for law firms is great. Not only are you getting all of the new, rich functionality in Rocket Matter’s Premier tier, but you’re getting a powerful document Swiss Army knife as well. ImagineShare replaces the functionality of DocuSign, and as we will see, it also replaces Dropbox or Box as well.

Net result? Law firms gain a smoother e-signature and document sharing workflow and save thousands of dollars each year.

RELATED: The Paperless Law Office: A 12-Month Plan for Going Paperless

ImagineShare Enables Electronic Signatures for Lawyers In Outlook

You can use ImagineShare from your favorite browser, just like DocuSign, HelloSign, or any of the other e-signature products on the market. You can upload a PDF and drag and drop signature elements to the corresponding place in your document.  

However, surpassing those products, ImagineShare also allows you to create e-signature documents directly inside of the tool you spend most of your day using: Outlook.

How ImagineShare Sends E-Signature Docs From an Attorney’s Email

Setting up ImagineShare is a breeze. It’s as simple as activating an add-in from the Microsoft app store – and Rocket Matter’s seven-time award-winning support team can help you if you run into trouble.

As you can see in the animation below, when you create an email for a client, you click on the ImagineShare icon in your toolbar which brings up an Outlook sidebar. From there, you have three options: send a file, request a file, or request a signature.  

Once you upload your file and set up your document security, you can base your e-signature document off of an existing template that you use all the time (like an engagement letter or fee agreement). Alternately, you can customize the e-signature document directly inside of Outlook.

Below, you can see a drag-and-drop creation screen. This is all taking place inside of Outlook.

Send E-Signature Requests Directly from Your Law Firm’s Email Address

Another thing that makes ImagineShare’s e-signature product unique is that your signer receives an email directly from you. They are not receiving an email from DocuSign or some other platform with an anonymous or unfamiliar email address.

This functionality is critical in today’s email environment. Because of the prevalence of spam and phishing attacks, email filters trap unknown senders, causing e-signature documents to get lost in junk, spam, and trash folders.

It’s one thing to get a sharp, tech-savvy person to comb through their junk mail to find an email. Try doing this with someone who’s a bit more technically challenged. By sending e-signature documents via Outlook, you eliminate this problem.

Additionally, when you send an e-signature from your own email, you preserve your own brand when you interact with others. Your communication and your messaging is 100% your own.

Secure Filesharing for Lawyers

ImagineShare doesn’t stop with e-signature. As its name implies, it is a full-fledged filesharing application. It is also a document management software like Dropbox or Box.

What makes ImagineShare different is the un-portal-like approach it takes in getting your documents to the intended recipients. In reality, clients don’t like (and often avoid using) document portals. And law firm staffers often dislike portals because they serve as tech support for the clients who lose their passwords or just can’t figure them out. From the ImagineShare website:

The secret’s out, clients don’t like to use client portals. Your [software vendor] told you that their client portal will be a great way to send and receive files with your clients, but it turns out that none of them actually use it! A handful of clients will like using a portal, but the majority of them would rather get their files through email, in person, or in their mailbox.

Instead of uploading files back and forth to a portal that clients don’t want to use, ImagineShare employs secure email. In the below gif, we see how simple it is to attach a secure file to an email using ImagineShare.

Without ImagineShare, if you send someone a confidential file by email, you might as well be posting the information on a billboard. Email sends your files in cleartext (i.e., not encrypted), where they bounce around multiple servers before they reach their final destination. The hard truth is you’re in violation of model rule 1.6 on client confidentiality.

With ImagineShare, you can set up a passcode your client will easily remember, like the last four digits of their cell phone or social security number. Or you can lock the file down with whatever password you prefer.

ImagineShare Is a Legal Document Management Software Too

Like Dropbox and Box, ImagineShare allows you to store documents in the cloud in a folder structure. 

However, as we’ve seen, ImagineShare also includes convenient electronic signatures for lawyers. This means that you gain access to a powerful workflow where you store your documents and send them out for e-signature without having to bounce between multiple programs.

Unbeatable Economics for Secure Filesharing, E-Signature, and Powerful Legal Practice Management Software

Instead of paying a monthly fee for both Dropbox and DocuSign, which totals around $40.00 per user per month, you only pay an additional $30 to upgrade from Rocket Matter Pro to Premier. In addition to ImagineShare, you have access to all of Premier’s rich features, including:

• Business Intelligence, which allows you to design and build your own custom reports.
• Paperless Prebills, which facilitates getting your bills out in a much easier fashion.
• Role-based Permissions, which secures Rocket Matter by allowing you to prevent fine-grained, unauthorized access to areas of the application.
• Custom Billing Audit Rules, which allow you to stop erroneous time entries from making their way onto an invoice.

Talk to a Rocket Matter account executive today and see how easy it is to get started with e-signature and practice management for lawyers. Contact our team at 866-710-1845 or schedule a free personalized demo!