About LEX (for barristers)

Image 1 - Mind map of key LEX features for barristers (see attachment)

Diary and appointments

This is essentially the heart of LEX for barristers and the part you will see and use most often. Even the diary itself is a complex feature, with the ability to configure many aspects, show/hide different fields and apply filters and saved diary tabs.

The default view is usually multi-day (essentially a list of dates/appointments scrolling down the page), but there are a range of views including 2-day, 5-day, month and year views as well as the Location Diary that shows all members diaries with their respective appointment location but no further details. Please note, Location Diary is not enabled by default and will only be made so at chambers request.

Image 2 - Location diary view

The diary links to one- and two-way Exchange synchronisation. One-way sync means anything added to your LEX diary will sync to your Exchange calendar and two-way sync means anything added in either calendar will sync to the other. Please note, this feature is only enabled at chambers request and is chargeable per user. 

The paperwork panel is an easy way to see, at-a-glance, what paperwork is overdue and impending in a simple list. Each paperwork item can then be opened from there to update as required.

Image 3 - Paperwork panel

Dashboard and stats pages

Depending on what dashboards and widgets chambers have enabled, you will be able to see an overview of various financial and other information within the Classic dashboard and an overview of Opportunities and Tasks from their respective dashboards.

Image 4 - Classic Dashboard

Image 5 - Opportunity Dashboard

There are Stats tabs within barrister, company and contact profiles which give similar information as the Classic Dashboard but focused on the respective record. 

Image 6 - Stats tab within barrister profile

Case fees

Barristers usually have visibility of case fees but read-only access. It is possible to limit what entries are visible to barristers but this isn't the norm.

From the Fees tab within a case you will potentially be able to see all fees, expenses, adjustments, payments, and comments as well as their billed status. 

Image 7 - Fee screen displaying relevant information

Fee lines with a red flag on the right hand side mean they are unassessed, a red printer icon means they are unbilled and a grey printer icon means they are billed. You can hover over the grey printer icon to see when it was billed. 

Case docs

Any documents that are generated on a case, such as fee notes and receipts are stored within the Docs tab of the case record. 

Image 8 - Docs tab showing receipt

There are sub-folders within the Docs tab for all barristers added to the case, but you only have access to your own sub-folder as well as the Document Root parent folder. 

Clerks can upload case documents here that can then be downloaded or previewed as required. 

Xero

Since the introduction of Making Tax Digital, LEX has integrated with Xero accounting software. This allows payments to be synchronised automatically to your individual Xero account, thus making tax returns more straightforward.

Time Recording

The Time Recording functionality within LEX allows barristers to record what work has been done and how long was spent on it in order for the clerks to bill accordingly.

This process reduces the time and effort required in the billing cycle as work can be done, recorded, and billed by the clerks on the same day. 

Reporting

There are more than 20 reports potentially available within LEX. However, this is usually restricted for barristers to just a selection of key reports, for example Aged Debt, Payment Summary, Work Done, and Taxation reports.

These reports are fairly self explanatory in what information they provide, but there are a number of configuration options and filters in each. You could, for example, report on the total amount billed for a specific company or type of work. 

The reports are then viewable on-screen or can be exported to Excel in order to save, print, add further information etc.