Setting Goals for Automation
Cullimore wanted a system that would allow them to:

• Significantly expand the number of clients and cases they could service without increasing personnel.
• Ensure that proper legal procedures and deadlines were met.
• Customize the collection process by collection type and client.
• Easily keep clients informed about the status of their cases.

Cullimore's Office Manager, Brenda Barrows, says: "Much of the productivity increase comes from the hundreds of documents that are printed with a single button." The application is designed so that different legal collection processes, including evictions, subrogations, consumer, commercial, check and account collections can be effortlessly managed. Then demand letters and court documents can be automatically printed and tracked at the appropriate time. Barrows continues "New employees, even without collection experience, can be productive in handling complicated eviction and collection cases in just a few hours with the help of the system."

Evictions
Eviction services is one area that Cullimore added to his portfolio of services. He used the system's process modeler to implement his eviction's process and requested Empowered Applications add Eviction Accounting. This accurately tracks costs and fees, allowing the eviction process to seamlessly flow into the collection process after the eviction.

Confidence in the Process
One of Cullimore's automation goals was to give him confidence that his staff was following all requisite legal procedures and collection processes. Collector's Advantage has allowed him to do just that. Cullimore's Collection Supervisor, Michelle Andrus comments that clients "feel confident with our firm because all case deadlines are met and nothing falls through the cracks… Collector's Advantage gives us, with the touch of a single keystroke, instant ability to print hundreds of letters and notices meeting every requirement of thousands of cases."

Customization of the Process
Collector's Advantage contains an object oriented process modeler, making the system easy, not only to set up collection processes by type of collection, but also set up unique processes by client if desired. Demand letters, timing of demand letters, and legal filings can all be customized by client or collection type. This allows Attorneys to tailor their services to the needs of each individual client or collection type.

Financial Accounting
Customization extends to financial accounting for each case. That is, payments can be automatically allocated between the client and the attorney and applied to the amount of loss, interest, statutory fees, court costs, attorney fees, and treble damages (where allowed) in priority order. This gives one more way for attorneys to differentiate themselves from the competition and adapt to changing situations.

Keeping Clients Informed
Clients often complain about their collection attorneys because they do not know the status of their collection cases. Collector's Advantage solves that problem through extensive report capabilities, and by giving clients the ability to see the status of every one of their cases via the Internet. Andrus says: "Our clients appreciate our customer service since we provide them with real-time status and payment reports."

Next Steps
A number of Cullimore's clients have requested that he expand into other markets with his business model and system. That is the next priority. He is pleased that the system will allow him the ability to expand into new types of collections and into new geographical areas, while using the same database and system.

Ed Allred, CEO of Empowered Applications emphasizes "Since Collector's Advantage is designed specifically for legal collections, it has enabled the Law Offices of Kirk A. Cullimore to be highly competitive by streamlining operations and becoming more efficient in their collection processes."