Court Tech Related News and Notes – February, 2017

We have news about Margaret Hagan’s new book, digital justice around the world, New Hampshire’s neutral citation program, Tyler Technology in Maine, a new name for the FACT group, and a survey on social media.

---

Law by Design Online Book Posted

Our favorite legal technology designer Margaret Hagan writes:

“I have just released the first working version of my book, Law By Design. It is meant for people in the legal system, to understand how design process, mindsets, and patterns can help them solve the big challenges they are facing.

I have compiled my notes, insights, and work into these chapters to lay out a more systematic introduction to the world of legal design.

It's a working prototype of a book, so I will be adding more details -- particularly with cases, examples, and organizational strategies. Please check it out, let me know what you think, and share it with anyone you think it may interest.

Oh, and it's free, and it's full of pictures! Even if you don't feel like reading lots of words, there are plenty of colorful sketches to amuse you.”

Digital Justice Discussed

An article in The Guardian news discusses court technology initiatives in Turkey, Australia, USA, England & Wales, British Columbia, and Pakistan.  The article begins:

“People in all societies have disputes. In advanced legal systems the dominant approach to resolving them has been to instruct lawyers and appear before courts. But with the internet, advanced hardware and cutting-edge software coming on-stream, the days of fetching up in front of a judge with bulging case-files are beginning to change – though rather faster in some parts of the world than others.”


New Hampshire US District Court’s “Lonely Gesture Toward Open Access and Medium-Neutral Citation”

Our good friend, now retired Judge David Harvey in New Zealand, posted an interesting article on the US District Court in New Hampshire approach to case citation. He writes:

“The following year the court adopted a local “citation format” rule.  That rule directs those citing decisions released after January 1, 2000 and published at the court site to do so “using the four-digit year in which the opinion is issued, the letters ‘DNH,’ [and] the three-digit opinion number located below the docket number on the right side of the case caption ….”  For decisions published in “the Federal Supplement, the Federal Rules Service, or the Federal Rules Decisions” the rule authorizes volume and page number citations to those print reporters as an alternative.”

The rest of the article discusses this and related issues in detail.

Tyler Technologies wins Maine CCMS contract

Not surprisingly, we missed the pre-Christmas eve announcement that Tyler Technologies had been awarded a $16.8 million dollar contract for their Odyssey CCMS for the Maine Judicial Branch.

Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley said that “this contract signing culminates an extensive competitive bid process and lengthy negotiations with Tyler Technologies.”

FACT group moves to the IJIS Court Advisory Committee

Joe Wheeler, Senior Partner and CEO at MTG Management Consultants writes:

“We’re excited to announce that a metamorphosis is underway for this LinkedIn forum! On February 2nd we will officially rebrand this Group as ICAC (IJIS Courts Advisory Committee), completing the shift from FACT that began last year. If you’re unfamiliar, ICAC operates as an Advisory Committee under the IJIS Institute with a mission of advancing information sharing between the courts and other justice, health, and public safety agencies and stakeholders. Through ICAC, IJIS Member companies work alongside court practitioners and advisers to study their business and operational challenges and provide expertise on innovative technology solutions.”

Click here for the groups new LinkedIn site.

Depressed?  Maybe it is Social Media?

Last, the Internet security company Kaspersky Labs released an article on the results of a survey on January 5, 2017 that started:

“Social media started life as a way of staying in touch with friends and sharing happy memories. However, the results of the latest study from Kaspersky Lab indicate that social media now leaves many people feeling negative instead. The hunt for likes plays a central role in this, with the majority of people feeling down or upset when they don’t get as many likes as they expect for a post, and with 42 percent saying they feel jealous when their friends get more likes than them. In addition, the research shows that people feel envious when they see the seemingly happier lives of their friends on social media.”

The full press release is available here.