The Evolving World of Case Management: Taming the Unpredictable

Case management systems are not only for courts.  The concepts are being used in many industries including insurance, health care, and even airport management systems.

US Federal Courts Internet Education/Training Offered

The November, 2011 edition of The Third Branch federal courts newsletter contains articles on three new internet services.

The first article announces that the judiciary has created "a free-of-charge website the offers training for the federal Judiciary's Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service."

The article continues: "The site, which launched in mid-September, features data from real cases in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York filed over a six-month period in 2007. The training site can be accessed via “What’s New With PACER” on the PACER website home page, www.pacer.gov."

A second article "Contemporary Issues Teach Teens about Federal Court System" describes an eduction website that"is offering several new courtroom simulations for use by high school teachers and federal courts that address contemporary issues and teen-related situations. They also teach students about the importance of jury deliberations and the relevance of the federal court system to their lives.

Two recently added simulations deal with Miranda warnings and counter-protests at funerals. Others deal with the legal conflicts arising from social media, texting while driving, teen house parties, and student protests. The simulations are available, with videos, podcasts, and interactive tools on-line at www.uscourts.gov/EducationalResources.aspx that are ready for immediate classroom and courtroom use."

And last, there is a quick note regarding an online series of podcasts on "landmark" cases.  The note states that "(e)ach episode explores a different landmark case as a law professor discusses the case’s background, key arguments, and the decision.

New episodes will be available each month at uscourts.gov/landmarks."

PDF Isn't Permanent.

Recently I received an E-mail solicitation for a product called PDF Security Removal.  As many of you know, there are settings that work with Adobe Reader that supposedly keep a PDF document from being printed or saved.  So one more "advantage" of PDF electronic documents to serve as the permenant case file record is now obsolete.

The Electronic Judicial Bench

Hon. Chief Judge Lee E. Hayworth

In an earlier CTB article I wrote about the need for E-filing systems to focus upon the needs of the judiciary in the transition from a paper to electronic environment.  But as usually happens, a court has already made this occur.

Starting in 2009, the judges of the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida working in conjunction with the Clerk of Court in Manatee County created a system "designed for judges, by judges".

Lots of IJIS Institute Announcements

Many announcements from the IJIS Institute:
Announcement 1:

NEW Information Sharing LinkedIN Group
Please join the IJIS Institute’s new LinkedIN Group:  Justice & Public Safety Information Sharing.  The Group is a technology forum for practitioners and industry from the state, local, and tribal justice and public safety communities.  The forum encourages organizations and individuals to share information about cross-agency, cross-jurisdictional, and cross-sector information sharing.  Participants will  discuss and share information on technology and standards to facilitate and assist one another to achieve information sharing.  In just three weeks, 376 of your industry colleagues from across the country have joined the information sharing discussion.

There's an App for That Court

1st Judicial District of
PA Android QR code

Courts are now making their information "smart phone" accessible.

First, from The Pennsylvania Record legal journal (www.pennrecord.com) in an article from October 14, 2011:

"Are you an attorney looking for easier access to upcoming civil trial dates? How about simply a member of the general public looking to learn more about the judicial system in the City of Philadelphia?

Iterative Implementation

In recent years I have become less and less convinced that courts have the ability to foresee all of the process/workflow, document, and data sharing BEFORE they install a new case or document management system.  These new systems have substantially more capabilities and flexibility that is not available in first or second generation case management systems.  The new system brings many more new capabilities and possibilities.  The old thinking about how things should be done in general does not apply and the design/specification efforts are wasted.

Therefore in recent years I have often advocated an “iterative approach” that has a new system first installed in the court with base/default capabilities.   THEN, after experiencing the new system environment, the court adjusts both the system workflows/presentation and their business processes (and ideally organizational structure) to take advantage of the new technical capabilities.  Visually presented, these are the two outside arrows of the Court Technology Framework diagram in action.

The system is therefore chosen based on the tools and potential, and not on how closely it fits the existing or imagined situation.  This in turn means that new court automation system installations are not a 6 month but rather a 12-24 effort.  And budgets and staff resources must be provided to support the effort over that time.

Many of you know and have viewed the wonderful TED Conference presentations that are available online.  One presentation on point is called “Build a tower, build a team” by Tom Wujec. I hope you enjoy it.

Signing Documents on Your iPad?

As many of you know, Apple iPads are already widely adopted by the judicial community.  One issue/desire that has arisen is the ability for judges to "sign" documents.  But unfortunately the late Steve Jobs rejected the idea that a "pen interface" was needed as standard equipment in opposition to the Tablet systems previously released by Microsoft.

Maryland Chooses Statewide CMS & E-Filing Vendor

In a press release on November 3, 2011, it was announced that the State of Maryland Judiciary has selected Tyler Technologies' "Odyssey® court management system as the single, integrated environment for managing and reporting court information".

According to the announcement:

"The contract between Tyler and the State of Maryland is valued at approximately $45 million, which includes software licensing fees, professional services and a multi-year maintenance agreement. The MDEC Project will use several Odyssey modules, including Case Manager, Enterprise Content Management, Financial Management and e-Filing.

Maryland’s search for a judicial technology partner was anchored by three strategic goals: 1) enhance public safety by more rapidly sharing high-quality data in support of better decision-making; 2) increase access to the courts by providing an easy-to-use system that’s available anywhere, anytime; and 3) support the fair and efficient administration of justice by using a system that improves overall court operations, including better scheduling, reduced delays and better-informed decisions."

Eight Rules of E-Filing: Conclusion

The goal of this series was to expand the thinking about E-filing beyond the delivery of static civil case documents via a web server (the most common system).  E-filing must support all case types and the transition from a paper records to an electronic records foundation.

In turn, electronic documents do not have to be restricted to the limitations of paper documents.  Formats, organization, and data capture/extraction can all take advantage of the dynamic environment that electronic information allows. In other words, as I often teach in classes and seminars, better information can and will result in better decisions and in turn, justice.  And while this goal will never be fully realized, E-filing and related technologies will move us closer.

Last, for your convenience, the entire series of articles have been compiled into a PDF document that can be downloaded.  (see the "File" command in the upper right corner to download or make a copy)

Links to all of the articles in the series:

Introduction
Rule Number 1: All documents created by the court are stored in the electronic document management system (EDMS) are designated as “the official record”.
Rule Number 2: User authentication must be designed into the overall e-filing solution.
Rule Number 3: Design Backwards
Rule Number 4: Court document creation must be integrated with the CMS.
Rule Number 5: Efficiency.  E-filing should facilitate more efficient court processes and decisions.
Rule Number 6: E-Filing Must Support the Self-Represented
Rule Number 7: E-Filing Should Support Government to Court Communications
Rule Number 8: E-filing and “Paper on Demand”