User Preferences

MerusCase provides an array of customizable options, allowing users to tailor their experience to their own practice management needs. Most of these options can be found in the User Preferences section. Navigate to the User Preferences panel via Tools & Settings > My Preferences.

Tools & Settings

From here, you will be presented with the option to customize the following things:

• Overall Appearance
• Case Details
• Envelope Printing
• Microsoft Word Templates
• Billing & Time Tracking
• External Notifications & Email Messages
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Popup Help
• Synchronization Options
• Custom Pre-loaded Filters

Remember to click Save once you have finished making any changes.

Overall Appearance

• Date Format: Select the way in which you would like to see dates displayed (i.e. MM/DD/YYYY).

• Time Stamp Format: Select the way in which you want to see timestamps displayed (i.e. MM/DD/YYYY HR:MIN p.m.)

• Start Week On: Choose how you’d like the weeks on your calendar to be displayed, with your weeks starting on Monday or Sunday.

• Detail View (Right Panel): The expanded right panel view features a larger panel size so you can see more while you work. Emphasize Detail View is the default preference, but you can choose Split Down the Middle if you want the main panel and right panel to share equal space on screen.

• Block uploaded documents from my inbox: This option will stop newly-uploaded documents from being sent to your inbox as messages with the documents as an attachment. For more information, please see our help article on how to manage uploads from your inbox.

• Allow me to leave MerusCase without confirming that I have saved my data: When you make changes to a case, document, task, event, activity or preference and try to exit MerusCase, this option will prompt a warning message to let you know you’re about to leave MerusCase without saving your work.

Case Details

• Default Case Type: If you specialize in a certain kind of case or find yourself constantly creating a particular type of new case, you may want to consider setting that case type as the default option for all new cases. You can still select different case types when you create a new case, but this option will make that case type appear automatically in the Case Type field by default.

• Default Tab: This option allows you to select which set of information will appear first when you open up a specific case: Case Details, Activities, or Parties. You can still navigate to the different tabs that display data within the case, but this option will determine which of those categories appears first.

• Jurisdiction: Customize MerusCase to suit your particular jurisdiction.

• Default Case Activity Tag: This setting will specify which activity tag is selected by default when creating a New Activity within a case. When starting new activities, you can still click the dropdown list to select a different activity tag. Firm Administrators can also create Custom Activity Tags.

• Show Case Progress in Case Details This setting will change whether or not the Case Progress bar is visible in the Case Details tab of a case. This is set by default to have the progress timeline visible in cases. Unselecting this option will remove the Case Progress bar from view.

Envelope Printing

Here, you can choose whether or not to include a Return Address when printing a mailing label. The Return Address will match that of the firm branch office assigned to the case for which you are printing an envelope. Only administrators can change letterhead and mailing addresses for firm branches.

Microsoft Word Templates

• Save Method: This setting allows you to choose whether you want Word templates to download for compatibility with the QuickSave Feature or the Word Add-In by selecting either the “Save From Toolbar (Requires Macros)” or the “Save From Taskpane (Requires Word 2016+)” option, respectively.

• Hide Merus (Built-in) Word Templates: Selecting this checkbox will hide all Built-In templates in MerusCase. This means that you will only see your firm’s custom templates.

Billing & Time Tracking

One of MerusCase’s premiere features is the instant tracking of your billable time while you’re working in MerusCase.

• Time Tracking Options A courtesy time tracker will appear to log your hours each time you compose an email or log an activity associated with a case. If you want to disable the time tracker, you can do so using the options in the dropdown menu.

• Default Tracking User This designates the default user for whom the time tracker will log billable time. As an administrative assistant, you can also check a box that will allow you to log hours for other users, like the attorneys assigned to a specific case.

• I enter time for other users If you enter time for other users as a courtesy, i.e. transcribing a paper timesheet, then this option should be checked. If the time you enter for other users needs to be linked to you, i.e. for productivity purposes, then this option should not be checked. Leaving the ‘I enter time for other users’ box unchecked allows for ghost billing with both users noted on the ledger items in-app (e.g. KCB/JL).

Dashboard

The first thing users see when they login to MerusCase is the Dashboard, which displays all of your new messages, upcoming events, tasks and stale case notifications. By altering the preferences in this section, you can customize exactly which information your dashboard will display.

• Stale Cases Notifications: By changing the Interval (days) settings, you can choose how many days of inactivity will prompt a stale case notification. You can choose to hide stale case notifications by checking the Hide Stale Cases Notification checkbox.

• Agenda: By default, the Agenda displayed on your dashboard will show all events firmwide. Select Show Only Upcoming Events Assigned to Me to have your dashboard just display your events.

• Graphs: The standard dashboard configuration includes the ‘Most Ambitious Billers’ graph. This can be hidden from the dashboard display by selecting the Hide ‘Most Ambitious Billers’ Graph’ button.

External Notifications & Email Messages

• New Message Notifications: From here, you can turn sound notifications on or off for new and urgent messages.

• Notifications Emailed to Me: MerusCase will notify you via email when someone has sent you a HIPAA-secure message through MerusCase. This notification will prompt you to sign into MerusCase in order to view the message. Check this box in order to disable these notifications.

• Signature: Use this section to add a Signature block to your emails and decide where that signature gets displayed in your emails.

• Linking Messages to Cases: By selecting this box, you can choose to automatically delete messages from your inbox once you have linked them to a case.

Keyboard Shortcuts

MerusCase allows you to designate three Function keys as shortcuts to automatically input information, such as the current date or current date and time into blank fields.

Inline Assistance

• Court Packets: Using these preferences, you can hide the instructions that appear at the top of the screen when preparing to e-file court documents.

• Uploading Documents: You can set preferences for what you want to happen after you upload documents and photos. Merus can either prompt you with options on where you want to go next within the system, take you directly to Case Activities or direct you back to the Document Upload Tool.

Synchronization Options

This section allows you to set your preferences for syncing your contacts and/or calendar between MerusCase and your phone or tablet.

Simply click on Calendar Sync or Contact Sync, as appropriate, to be taken to the corresponding section in Third-Party Apps. Note that if you are an Administrator, you will be able to edit anyone’s sync settings; if not, you can only edit your own.

Contact Sync (CardDAV)

You will see the User List open in the right-panel when selecting the Contact Sync (CardDAV) option from the main table. This will display a list of all users currently employing CardDAV to sync contacts between your firm’s MerusCase and their device. Rows are per-user per-device, meaning that one person syncing both their phone and tablet will have two separate rows (phone, tablet).

Click on the Control Column (three little dots) to the left of a row to access the options. Clicking Disconnect will delete this row, but it will not prevent them from re-syncing.

On the other hand, clicking Contact Sync Preferences will take you to the options of which people types to sync as well as information about what device they’re syncing to, when the account was created, and when it was last synchronized. Click Edit to open a checkbox grid of all people types in your firm to make any desired edits on which ones are to be synced, then click Save when you’re done or Cancel to undo your changes.

Also, note the links above the user list to our documentation on syncing contacts on an Apple device as well as syncing contacts on an Android device.

Calendar Sync (CalDAV)

You will see the User List open in the right-panel when selecting the Calendar Sync (CalDAV) option from the main table. This will display a list of all users currently employing CalDAV to sync calendars between your firm’s MerusCase and their device. Rows are per-user per-device, meaning that one person syncing both their phone and tablet will have two separate rows (phone, tablet).

Click on the Control Column) (three little dots) to the left of a row to access the options. Clicking Disconnect will delete this row, but it will not prevent them from re-syncing.

On the other hand, clicking Calendar Sync Preferences will take you to the options of the time range for sync as well as information about what device they’re syncing to, when the account was created, when it was last synchronized, and how many events have been synchronized in total. Click Edit to change the values for Include Events From (i.e. how long ago to start syncing from) and Through (i.e. til what date to sync), then click Save when you’re done or Cancel to undo your changes.

Also, note the links above the user list to our documentation on syncing calendars on an Apple device as well as syncing calendars on an Android device.

Custom Pre-loaded Filters

If you find yourself constantly searching for the same types of cases, contacts, or other categories, an easy way to speed up the process of sifting through data is by using custom Pre-Filters, which allow you to set default filters across various tables in MerusCase as described in the link.