This article provides a complete guide of Task Manager within Automated Civil Litigation (ACL)

The Task Manager allows users to keep track of their file tasks and reminders within ACL. All ACL users have access to all tasks created for all files, subject to any ethical walls or security features which the firm might have in place.

All Files Page – Next Task and Status Columns

On the main page, ACL will display the Next Task date and Status of the upcoming task for all files where tasks are assigned.

The Status icons have a colour code which lets users quickly see a breakdown of tasks:

*The default ACL value is 7 days. The ACL Administrator may adjust this to any number of days as
required by the firm.

Task Pane Overview - My Tasks

The My Tasks bar shows information at glance pertaining to a user’s tasks and their status.

1. This list of tasks displayed within My Tasks shows all tasks for all files assigned to a user with the X date range.
2. The Calendar displays task due dates in bold.
3. Today lists any overdue or due today tasks.
4. Next 7* Days list the tasks due within the next seven days. *X value configured by the firm
5. Completed will list the tasks that have been marked as complete. **Note this is a setting that can be configured not to display completed tasks**

Task Pane Overview - File Tasks

• File Tasks will show the same details as My Tasks however the list of tasks displayed are all tasks for all users.
• There are other features available within File Tasks as well.
• Click the dropdown menu to display all file tasks or only my tasks.

• Click the dropdown menu to display the grouping options for tasks and task sets.

If there are multiple task sets assigned to a file, it may be helpful to see which tasks belong to which task set.

Adding a Task

• From the task pane, click on the Add Task icon.

1. The File Name will automatically fill in.
2. Enter the Task.
3. Click the calendar to select the Due Date.
4. If the due date needs to be calculated, click the calculator icon to have ACL automatically calculate the due date (for example, you can enter in a date, and ask ACL to calculate the due date two years from today’s date).
5. Select if the task is a Deadline task.
6. Choose whether to synchronize this task as an Outlook appointment or an Outlook task.
7. Add in the Outlook reminder date or dates.
8. Add in any E-mail reminder date or dates.
9. The Assigned to will automatically assign the user who is creating the task.
10. Click Assign to to add additional firm members or groups.
11. Add in any Notes specific to the task.
12. Check Completed if required.
13. Click Add Another to add another task.
14. Click OK if no additional tasks are needed.

Adding a Task Set

• From the Task Pane, click the Add Task Set icon.
• A list of available Task Sets that the firm’s ACL Administrator has added will be available.
• Select the appropriate Task Set

1. Review the list of tasks contain within to selected Task Set.
2. Enter in the Due Date.
3. Enter in the firm members or groups this task will be Assigned To.
4. The Task Sets will automatically have all tasks contained selected. You can choose to deselect any Task within the set.
5. Click OK to add the Task Set to your file.

Synchronizing Tasks with Outlook

ACL can sync tasks entered to the program with Outlook. ACL Tasks can appear in the Tasks section or Calendar section of Outlook.

**Note: synchronized ACL tasks will appear in their own instance called ACL Tasks or ACL Calendar**

If the firm has enabled the ACL Task Manager synchronization with Outlook, any task added into ACL will automatically appear in Outlook.

**Note: if adding lawyers to tasks (or other firm members who do not regularly use ACL) the firm members will need to launch ACL on their machines one time only to have the task synchronization take effect**

Outlook & ACL Tasks

When accessing the synchronized ACL Tasks in Outlook you will see a separate subfolder titled ACL Tasks. Click the folder to view synched ACL tasks:

1. There is an option for ACL Calendar under My Calendars
2. Check the box and your calendars will synchronise

• Calendars can be overlayed/separated using the arrows in the title banners

**All edits to tasks or task sets must be done in ACL. The synchronization is one-way from ACL to Outlook; Outlook does not sync back to ACL. Should edits be made to any of the ACL tasks within Outlook, the changes will not carry over to ACL**

Editing/Deleting/Completing

Please refer to this article : Editing, Deleting and Completing Tasks

Reassigning Tasks

Tasks can be reassigned one by one, or file by file. To reassign a task located with the My Tasks pane,:

• Right click on the task
• Select Reassign Task
• Choose the required option and click OK.

To reassign tasks for an entire file, highlight the file from the all files page, right click and select Reassign Tasks.

1. Choose whether the updated tasks are for only a certain firm member.
2. Choose if the reassigned tasks are only for a specific date range.
3. Choose which option is needed to Add, Replace or Remove.

Task Manager Reports

In addition to the e-mail reminders that can be configured for ACL tasks, there are task manager reports users can generate under the Menu → Reports.

1. Tasks: Current File  - This report will generate into a Word document containing all tasks for all users for the selected file.
2. Tasks: My Notifications  - This report is similar to the daily e-mail reminder report which lists Overdue Tasks, Tasks Due Today, Tasks Due in the next 7 days (or whichever default has been configured by the firm), Reminders and Notifications.
3. Tasks: User Report  - This report will list all task information for all ACL users, as of the date selected. The report can be filtered by user and grouped by different variables as required. The report can be printed directly from ACL or exported to Excel. When exported to Excel, the report is automatically formatted as a table with additional filtering available.