The Wagon Legacy – Driving Efficiency with Anaqua’s WiseTime

Meet Alex Varela, Founder & Managing Attorney of The Wagon Legacy, a thriving estate planning firm dedicated to helping families protect their assets and plan for the future.

With three offices in California, United States, the firm provides services ranging from wills and trusts to probate and trust administration.

Their mission: deliver peace of mind to clients at every stage of life.

Tell us about your background and what inspired you to start The Wagon Legacy

Alex Varela: I’ve been an attorney for about 12 years, but my first career was as a journalist.

I decided to become an attorney because of my own family’s experience with estate planning. Today, we help families protect their assets and ensure their wishes are honored.

The Wagon Legacy is a unique name for a law firm. Can you share the meaning behind this name?

A.V.: We tell clients that if you don’t have an estate plan, it’s as if you’re carrying all of your assets in the palm of your hand. If something happens to you, everything flies all over the place – every bank account, life insurance policy – leaving your family to pick up the pieces.

But when you have a trust, instead of carrying your assets like that, it’s as if you have a little red wagon. You’re pulling it by the handle while you’re alive and well. If something happens to you, you simply drop the handle, and someone you know and trust picks it up and continues to pull the wagon, keeping all your assets safely inside.

What challenges were you facing before implementing WiseTime?

A.V.: I wanted to grow the firm, and consultants kept asking: how is time being spent? How long do tasks take? We didn’t have good data.

I asked the team to track time in spreadsheets, but it wasn’t easy. People forgot to update, and I couldn’t make informed decisions.

Why did you choose Anaqua’s WiseTime?

A.V.: Our practice management system is PracticePanther and I searched online for passive timekeepers for law firms that would integrate with it. Anaqua’s WiseTime solution stood out. It’s a passive time tracker, so my team doesn’t have to manually log every minute. They just review and post at the end of the day. That’s a game-changer.

“WiseTime is an essential tool. Time is all we have in this industry. It’s critical. Now I can see where our time is spent, and we can make smarter decisions.”– Alex Varela, Founder & Managing Attorney, The Wagon Legacy

How did you get buy-in from your team?

A.V.: I explained it would make their lives easier compared to manual tracking. WiseTime also emphasized privacy. Team members only see what is actually posted by other users, and personal sites like music streaming can be excluded. That helped a lot.

The outcome is that my team really values the ease of use, the privacy features and the time they save in not having to manage time tracking.

What has been the impact since adopting WiseTime?

A.V.: It’s amazing. Before, I didn’t know how long things were taking. Now I have visibility into how attorneys and paralegals spend their time. Time is everything in professional services. It’s critical. WiseTime helps us identify inefficiencies and improve processes.

It also enables us to make informed decisions regarding our fixed fee structure by analyzing whether the actual time invested aligns with the fixed fees set for our business.

How was your experience with the WiseTime team?

A.V.: They were incredible. The WiseTime Support did a training with my team, which really helped with adoption. Anytime I have questions, even with the time difference, they respond quickly.

I had initial doubts about the responsiveness of the WiseTime team because being part of a global company they might be in a different time zone, but in reality the support has been outstanding.

What business outcomes did you achieve after implementing Anaqua’s WiseTime solution?

A.V.: We’ve seen three major improvements:

• Improved Efficiency: We eliminated manual time tracking, saving hours each week across the team.
• Better Decision-Making: Access to accurate time data has enabled us to plan capacity and develop growth strategies with confidence.
• Team Satisfaction: Simplified workflows and strong privacy controls have boosted adoption and made the transition seamless for our staff.

“It’s something I should have gotten a long time ago. WiseTime makes tracking effortless and gives me the
data I need to grow our firm.” – Alex Varela

What improvements would you like to see for WiseTime in future?

A.V.: Sometimes I’d like the reporting tool to be more sophisticated, for instance, I’d like to be able to breakdown by client name and get even more granular time reporting.

But overall it is very useful and I’ve been using it a lot.