Version 10.1 Release Notes

Version 10.1 of the Smokeball Desktop App contains the following new features and refinements.

New features

Improved Matter Permissions

We have updated the Permissions section within matters in the Smokeball Desktop App and introduced a way to configure Matter Permissions in the Smokeball Web App. 

Changes made in the Desktop App will also apply to the Web App, and vice versa.

Changes to Matter Permissions in the Smokeball Desktop App

The Matter Settings > Permissions tab now displays a list of staff and a Select all option by default, instead of splitting these options.

In addition, you can now Restrict users created after today from accessing this matter. Check this option to prevent new staff from being able to access this matter by default.

New Matter Permissions Setting in the Smokeball Web App

You can now set Matter Permissions from within the Smokeball Web App, by selecting Manage access on the top-right corner of the matter.

You can set up the permissions on this matter in one of two ways:

• Open: Everyone in your firm can access this matter.

  

• Restricted: No one in your firm can access this matter, except for users you have selected.

  

Refer to the expected behavior of each configuration below:

• Open with Restrict users created after today.. toggled Off: This means all users (existing and future) can access the matter.

  

• Open with Restrict users created after today.. toggled On: This means all existing users can access the matter. Users added to your firm after this date cannot access the matter by default.

  

• Restricted with Restrict users created after today.. toggled Off: This means the following users can access the matter:
  • Staff with roles on the matter (e.g. Supervisor, Attorney Responsible, Attorney Assisting) and;
  • Any users selected from the Staff with access drop-down menu, and;
  • Users added to your firm after today.

  • Choose this configuration if you would like to restrict some existing staff from accessing the matter.

    

• Restricted with Restrict users created after today.. toggled On: This means the following users can access the matter:
  • Staff with roles on the matter (e.g. Supervisor, Attorney Responsible, Attorney Assisting) and;

  • Any users selected from the Staff with access drop-down menu.

    

Matter based court captions

You can now customize court captions at the matter level from within Microsoft Word. 

The new "Configure Court Caption" panel auto-fills caption fields from matter data and supports a manual override mode for cases that require formatting beyond what the panel controls. Changes made in the panel apply to this caption only. They do not flow back into the matter in Smokeball.

To access the Configure Court Caption panel:

1. Open the Word document in Modify mode.

2. Find the User Configurable Court Caption field under Forms Automation > Case Details and double-click on it to insert it where your document's text cursor is.

   

3. Select Show values above the Fields section.
4. Click on Configure Court Caption. 
5. The Configure Court Caption panel auto-fills party names, court roles, and case details from your matter. Review these fields. Note that any changes here apply to this caption only.

   • To change the separator between opposing party groups, use the Vs. options dropdown and select your preferred format (v., vs., VS., and, against, versus, §, and more).

     

   • To hide a party from the caption (for example, a settled party), use the visibility toggle next to their name.

     

   • To edit the name or add an annotation to a party (for example, "d/b/a" or "individually and as administrator"), select the edit option next to that party.

     

   • You can add more fields to your caption - select Add Field to select from the full list.

     

   • If the caption requires formatting or content that the panel does not support, click Enable Manual Override. A confirmation message will appear explaining what changes when manual override is active. Click Enable to proceed and edit the caption directly in Word.
     • If you select Return to Configure, you will lose your manual override edits. Try to make all possible changes in configure mode before moving to manual mode. 
     • While in manual override, new parties added to your matter will not appear in the caption automatically. If you need to add a new party to a caption in manual override, edit the caption directly in Word.

For more information and frequently asked questions around the Configure Court Caption panel, refer to our dedicated article.

Refinements

"Email as PDF" option for attachments when using New Outlook

If your firm is using New Outlook, right-clicking on one or more Word documents in the Documents List of a matter will now allow you to send these documents as PDF/s.

Note: The PDF is not saved back to the matter - it only exists as an attachment to the email.