New functions & other great improvements in 1/1/23 update

The RB 9.40 update, released January 1, 2023, is a major update. It includes some system-wide updates — such as multiple column sorting in results grids — plus new functions and new features in over 20 RB9, RB Lite, and RB Connect/RB Connect Mobile functions.

For the full list of this update’s features and more details — including video explanations of update highlights — visit the RB latest update page.

New functions

There are 3 new functions in this update:

1. Tasks (Monthly View): Similar to Jobs (Monthly View), view tasks as items on an interactive calendar page instead of in a list. You can customize the view in Setup > System Preferences with options similar to the Jobs monthly calendar options. Original Tasks function is renamed Tasks (List View) and includes all jobs. Monthly View will only display jobs that include tasks.
2. Send Payment Receipts: Send clients receipts acknowledging posted payments. Create your own Payment Receipt forms in Tools > Form Templates, and customize the Subject line of the email that accompanies payment receipts in Setup > System Preferences. 
3. Send Invitations: Email new contacts or resources invitations to RB Connect that automatically includes their login credentials. Customize the invitation forms with your own content, RB9 data fields, text formatting, and images. (RB9 only)

New & updated feature highlights

Sort results grids by multiple columns

In any results grid you can select more than one column to sort the list, choose the order of the columns to sort by, and whether to sort by ascending or descending order in each selected column.

Special treatment of rush order messages

Add multiple contacts at a firm at once as parties to a case

When adding additional parties to a case, you can add multiple contacts at the same firm simultaneously from the New Party panel.

More unlimited length text fields

Enter as much information as desired in:

• Direct Billing Notes
• Notes in Edit Task panel
• Invoice Messages
• Firm and Contact Calendar Notes
• Production/Billing Notes

Style notes & remarks

Change the appearance of the contents of the above text fields plus Case Remarks, Scheduling Notes, Confirmation Notes, Resource Notification Notes, and Notes Templates. Change the font name, size, and color. Appearance formatting appears in the fields in RB and also in forms, invoices, reports, etc. that include the fields.

More warnings displayed in jobs

Warning fields with red text have been added to job detail screens for:

• Scheduling Firm
• Scheduled By
• When Firm is selected in the Location Type drop-down

Update the status of individual tasks

A Task Status field has been added to the Task panel. You can add your own task status categories in Setup > Lists, then select from them in individual tasks’ Change Status drop-downs. You can also view individual tasks’ status history from their Task Status fields.

Add repository files in New Job screen

Instead of having to save a new job before you can upload files to its repository, the Repository pane appears in the New Job screen as well as the Edit Job screen.

Monthly View calendars always display today’s date

If your browser window isn’t large enough to display the whole Job (Monthly View) or Task (Monthly View) calendar page, RB will default to display the area with today’s date so you don’t have to scroll.

Assign preferred resources in Quick Assignments

If you maintain preferred/blocked resources lists for firms and contacts you can view those lists in Quick Assignments and assign an ordering firm’s or ordering contact’s preferred resource to a task with a click.

Invoice grid view doesn’t change when performing More actions in Turn In

Selecting a More action in the invoice pane of an Edit Turn In screen no longer affects the current expanded/collapsed state of the invoices listed in the Invoices grid. In earlier versions, performing a More action would default all of the listed invoices to an expanded view.

Send Draft Pay Statement to resources

If you want to give reporters the opportunity to verify that nothing is missing from their upcoming pay that they were expecting to receive, you can now print and/or email Draft Pay Statements to resources from RB.

Inactive contacts hidden as default in Firm’s All Contacts panel

Initial view of All Contacts panel in a firm listing shows only active clients. Show Inactive button has been added to the panel to access a firm’s entire contact list.

Have repository files publish when uploaded as the default

System Preference added in Production > Repository to default to publish new uploads. Previously you had to check the Publish box when uploading files. Now if this option is selected, you uncheck the box when uploading files you do not want to publish.

New Email Log options

In System Preferences > Tools > Email Log, designate which types of RB9 emails you want to keep track of and how long you want to store them. Previously only sent email’s contents and attachments file names were recorded. Now all attachment files will be stored as well and add on to your repository size. So you have the option to deselect all unnecessary email types that do not need to be recorded so you can manage your repository size.

Allow resources to update task status through RB Connect/RB Connect Mobile

Task Status has been added to the Task pane of View Job windows in RB Connect so resources can see what stage a task is in. You can also give them the ability to change the Task Status themselves by enabling online task status changes in Connect Preferences > Resource-Jobs.

More update features

• Status column added to Tasks grid in job detail screens.
• End Time and Task Status columns added to Tasks (List View) results grid. Status column changed to Job Status.
• Task Status column added to Tasks in Progress results grid.
• Changed to default to Validate Address in new FedEx and UPS shipping labels in Shipping. Previous default was to not validate address.
• Invoices emailed from the Client Activity function are recorded in the invoice’s Notes Log with the explanation that it was sent from Client Activity.

For more details about this latest update and previous updates, visit the RB updates section.