Law Ruler to Needles 4 Integration Follow
Law RulerTM proudly supports our integration with the legal case management software vendor, Needles. The default configuration of the Law Ruler > Needles 4 API connection is to manually press the “Convert to Needles Intake” button inside of the Law Ruler Lead/Intake screen for each intake. This will allow your firm to create a Needles Intake from Law Ruler after you review and approve each case, one at a time.
As of January 2020, we have an automated approach that will automatically create a Needles intake when a certain status is reached (as configured) in Law Ruler, such as “Signed Contract” This automated approach will need to be set up for each Law Ruler Case Type to enable the automation. This tutorial will also help familiarize you with how to set up automated insertion of Needles Intakes into Needles 4.8x.
Needles Case Management Software © is a legal case management software that Law Ruler integrates with for Needles version 4.x. Aside from Law Ruler, all other trademarks, trade names or company names referenced herein are used for identification purposes only and are the property of their respective owners.
Table of Contents
How the Needles Automated Integration Works and What it Includes
How to Activate the Needles Automated Integration for Existing Law Ruler Case Types
How to Activate the Needles Automated Integration for New Law Ruler Case Types
How to Disconnect Your Needles 4.x System from Law Ruler
How the Needles Automated Integration Works and What it Includes
The Law Ruler > Needles 4.x Automation includes the automated creation of Needles Intakes when a specified Law Ruler Status trigger is reached. It is strongly recommended that you use the “Signed Contract” or “Signed Retainer Contract” status as the Status trigger when configuring each Law Ruler Case Type to pair with a Needles Matter Code.
If a Needles Intake fails to create, then the Law Ruler API will attempt to create it three more times after 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 15 minutes. If the three additional attempts to create the Needles Intake fails, then each failed intake will need to be created in Needles manually. This may be done by pressing the “Convert to Needles Intake” button from inside any lead/intake in Law Ruler.
Once a Needles Intake has successfully created in your Needles legal case management system, then you will want to review it for duplicate/conflict checking internally and to audit the intake data at your convenience. If there are no duplicate or conflict issues and the intake is valid, then you will press “Make a Case” inside of your Needles legal case management software system. Each Law Ruler intake may only be inserted one-time as a Needles Intake Sheet.
After you have made the intake into a case in your Needles 4.x system, Law Ruler will detect that a Needles case has been made from the intake. Law Ruler checks for new Needles cases about every 5 minutes. If Law Ruler detects that a Needles case has been made, then it will automatically insert any documents from the Law Ruler intake into the specified folder on your Needles server or the specified network path at your firm. If a valid document path has not been specified, then Law Ruler will not be able to insert any documents in your Law Ruler > Needles 4.x Integration.
How to Map Each Law Ruler Intake Form Field to a Needles Intake Sheet Field for Law Ruler Case Types
Mapping each intake form field from Law Ruler to a Needles Intake Sheet field for each Case Type is a prerequisite of the automated Needles 4.x API.
⚠️Please make sure that any Case Type that you want to automate to Needles 4.x has an Intake Form that is mapped from Law Ruler to Needles *before* you activate it. Please contact Law Ruler Support to ensure that each new intake form for any new Law Ruler Case Type is properly mapped to each Needles Matter Code. The mapping of Law Ruler Intake Form Fields to Needles Intake Sheet fields may be performed by your firm or done for you as a consulting service by Law Ruler Support.
Let’s get started on how to set this up using the Law Ruler Intake/Case Form Builder. This must be performed for every Law Ruler Case Type that you want to connect to your Needles 4.x system.
Click on “Setup” and “Intake/Case Form Builder” You must be a user with admin access, or you will not be able to see these menu options. Please ask your firm administrator or IT department if you need these changes made.
Select the Case Type that you want to configure.
Select the Needles Matter Type at the bottom left corner of the Intake Form Builder:
Select the Needles Intake Sheet field to Map to Law Ruler:
Select the Corresponding field in Law Ruler to Map the Needles Intake Sheet field to:
Press “Create Field”
Then, continue to the next field that needs to be mapped.
🔁 Rinse and Repeat until all the Needles Intake Sheet fields are Mapped for this Case Type. Repeat for as many Case Types as you need.
⚠️ At this time, it is imperative that you have all your Needles Matter Types mapped to each Law Ruler Case Type, or the automation will not work well for you for any case types not configured. As you add new Matter Types in Needles, you will want to perform the same process for each.
How to Map Existing Law Ruler Intake Form Fields to a Needles Intake Sheet Fields for Law Ruler Case Types
If you have an existing Law Ruler intake form and would like to map those existing fields to Needles Intake Sheet fields, then you will want to follow similar steps to enter the Law Ruler Intake Form Builder.
Click on “Setup” and “Intake/Case Form Builder” You must be a user with admin access, or you will not be able to see these menu options. Please ask your firm administrator or IT department if you need these changes made.
Select the Case Type that you want to configure.
Left-click on the existing Law Ruler field that you would like to map to a Needles Intake Sheet field. Press the green “Edit” icon.
Left-click on the “Select” dropdown for Needles Matter Type. Select the appropriate Needles Matters Type. You can scroll down, or type to search the field you want to find the Needles Matter Type.
Next, you will pick the “Map To” field in the Needles Intake. You can scroll down, or type to search the field you want to find in the Needles Intake Sheet for this Needles Matter Type.
⚠️ Please note: to prevent breakage in existing integrations, this field will lock after you save it, so please do your best to choose the correct Needles Intake Sheet field.
Press the green "Save" button.
Then, continue to the next field that needs to be mapped.
🔁 Rinse and Repeat until all the Needles Intake Sheet fields are Mapped for this Case Type. Repeat for as many Case Types as you need.
⚠️ At this time, it is imperative that you have all your Needles Matter Types mapped to each Law Ruler Case Type, or the automation will not work well for you for any case types not configured. As you add new Matter Types in Needles, you will want to perform the same process for each.
How to Activate the Needles Automated Integration for Existing Law Ruler Case Types
Let’s get started with how to connect Needles 4.x to your Law Ruler system. This requires purchasing and implementing the Law Ruler API that connects to Needles 4.x. After the custom API is implemented and connected to your server by Law Ruler’s software team, you will be eligible to start using the Needles 4.x API connection.
⚠️ Mapping the intake form for each Case Type is a prerequisite of the automated Needles 4.x API. Please ensure this was completed for all Case Types before activating the Needles API automation.
Make sure that any Case Type that you want to automate to Needles 4.x has an Intake Form that is mapped from Law Ruler to Needles *before* you activate it. This requires the configuration of each Intake Form in Law Ruler to map each respective field that you want to send to Needles 4.x. Please contact Law Ruler Support to ensure that each new intake form for any new Law Ruler Case Type is properly mapped to each Needles Matter Code. The mapping of Law Ruler Intake Form Fields to Needles Intake Sheet fields may be performed by your firm or done for you as a consulting service by Law Ruler Support.
Please note that Needles is a third-party vendor and is responsible for supporting and maintaining the Needles service. Law Ruler Software, LLC provides a connection to Needles to allow our clients to use their Needles system with Law Ruler legal CRM software. Any issues related to the connection/integration to Needles 4.x will be supported by Law Ruler Support, not Needles support.
To activate the Needles 4.x intake automation, click on “Setup” and “Case Types” You must be a user with admin access, or you will not be able to see these menu options. Please ask your firm administrator or IT department if you need these changes made.
On the “Case Types” screen, on the left side, select a Law Ruler Case Type to begin pairing it with a Needles Matter Code. To do this for an existing Law Ruler Case Type, press the “Edit” link to the left of the Case Type.
If you have the Law Ruler > Needles 4.x Integration properly connected, then you will see the “Needles Matter Code” column in the Case Types and Milestones screen. If you do not see the “Needles Matter Code” then please contact Law Ruler Support for further assistance before proceeding further.
Next, you will need to set the defaults to insert into each Needles intake that will be automatically created for this Law Ruler Case Type. This will require the following steps to properly configure each Case Type:
- Activate Automated Needles API Posting – click this to turn blue to the “On” position
- Status Trigger – select 1 or more Law Ruler Statuses that will be used to trigger the Law Ruler > Needles 4.x Integration for this Law Ruler Case Type.
- Needles Matter Code – select the 1 Needles Matter Code that will be paired with this Law Ruler Case Type
- Needles User # 1 – select the 1 Needles User that will be defaulted as the required “User # 1” for each intake created in Needles. This is required to create an Intake in Needles 4.x.
- Needles Intake Taken By – select the 1 Needles User that will be defaulted as the required “Intake Taken By” for each intake created in Needles. This is required to create an Intake in Needles 4.x.
- Press “Save” to complete the pairing of the Law Ruler Case Type to this “Needles Matter Code”
- Repeat as many times as needed to pair all Law Ruler Case Types to Needles 4.x
Screenshot of Required Settings to Pair Each Law Ruler Case Type to a Needles Matter Code:
Screenshot of a Successful LR > Needles 4.x Pairing for the Auto Accident > MVA Case Type:
After you have successfully connected each “Needles Matter Code” to a Law Ruler Case Type, you will see the “Needles Matter Code” appear in the screen in the “Needles Matter Code” column.
Screenshot showing a Successful Pairing for MVA and DBT Matter Codes:
How to Activate the Needles Automated Integration for New Law Ruler Case Types
If you need to add new Case Types in Law Ruler and then pair them to your Needles 4.x system, then you will press the blue “Add New Case Type” button in the top-right corner of the Law Ruler case types screen.
At this time, you will have the New Case Type screen popup opened:
Next, you will need to set the defaults to insert into each Needles intake that will be automatically created for this Law Ruler Case Type. This will require the following steps to properly configure each Case Type:
- Activate Automated Needles API Posting – click this to turn blue to the “On” position
- Status Trigger – select 1 or more Law Ruler Statuses that will be used to trigger the Law Ruler > Needles 4.x Integration for this Law Ruler Case Type.
- Needles Matter Code – select the 1 Needles Matter Code that will be paired with this Law Ruler Case Type
- Needles User # 1 – select the 1 Needles User that will be defaulted as the required “User # 1” for each intake created in Needles. This is required to create an Intake in Needles 4.x.
- Needles Intake Taken By – select the 1 Needles User that will be defaulted as the required “Intake Taken By” for each intake created in Needles. This is required to create an Intake in Needles 4.x.
- Press “Add Case” to complete the pairing of the Law Ruler Case Type to this “Needles Matter Code”
- Repeat as many times as needed to pair all Law Ruler Case Types to Needles 4.x
How to Disconnect Your Needles 4.x System from Law Ruler
If you need to disconnect your Needles 4.x system from Law Ruler, then please contact Law Ruler Support to assist you further. It is best if this is performed by the Law Ruler Support Team.
🤗 Thank you very much for choosing Law Ruler!