LegalAtoms Drug Courts CMS

Durg Courts Case Management System

LegalAtoms is a comprehensive and friendly CMS for drug courts

What is a CMS ? This is a simple definition of CMS. Case Management System (CMS) is a software for managing all your courts cases, relationships and interactions with clients and partner agencies around a case. The goal is simple: court efficiency and quality. A CMS system helps courts stay connected to clients, streamline processes, and improving the experiences for your staff and constituent.

When people talk about CMS, they are usually referring to a central software that serves as a database of cases and has special business logic for moving cases from one stage to next, and communicating with all parties involved in that case.

A CMS solution helps court staff focus on the intellectual aspects of the case e.g. complexities in a legal case without letting mechanical work of assembling documents, making duplicates, or checking for completeness dominate their daily calendars.

Features

Reporting

Data Collection

Data collection is streamlined and made friendly. LegalAtoms provides an essential tool for state administrators seeking a complete picture of the drug courts in the state. LegalAtoms offers a standardized data collection that allows administrators to gain the ability to compare sites, report across sites, and identify trends and promising practices that might not be apparent when looking at data from a single site.

Dissemination of case to all stakeholders

A major component of courts operations is delivering case documents to different teams. Things are not that straightforward as there are business rules as to which teams get which documents and with what updates. LegalAtoms offers smart dissemination

Automatically or manually routes cases to a specific team
Automatically flag cases with “Clerk’s Action Required” or "Law Enforcement Action Required" or similar labels for visual notifications to the relevant personnel

Multiple levels of access

Track and monitor partcipants

Tracking and monitoring participants is a key aspect of drug courts. Participation in a drug court may last months and years and its important to have excellent tracking through the entire course of participation.

Common aspects for tracking are:

Drug tests: Participants may take frequent and random drug tests.
Treatment for substance abuse disorders.
Required frequent appearance in courts.
Rewards for complying with treatment plans
Sanctions for failure to meet obligations

Notifications

LegalAtoms provides detailed notifications to request action, bring attention or disseminate information. These notifications are sent via multiple channels based on a user's preference which include

System alerts within LegalAtoms
Text messages
Emails

Some example of notifications are:

A user updates their profile information such as date of birth or address
A case is E-filed or a clerk rejects a submission
The clerk passes on a case to a judge

LegalAtoms allows detailed search

Search cases and persons based on specific fields e.g. Last name and also free text search that may appear any where in the case such as case number, date of birth, or citation #
View results as the query is typed for ease in locating results
Different levels of access for search based on permissions
Give court wide, or public access to Search
Create reports via search based on certain criteria

Workflow

LegalAtoms views a legal case to be an object moving through a flow chart.

A case flows from one stage to next based on predefined stages for that case type, the specific information entered by the user (e.g. with children) and the action taken.

The actions can be:

Clerk’s Office approve or reject filings within the solution
Easy modification to, and update of, state created forms as needed according to Local Court Rules by authorized Superior Court administrators and Clerk’s Office staff

The actions then result

Court forms to be generated (e.g. temporary order)
Events such as hearings to be set
Notifications to be sent
Sharing case data with partners (e.g. send case information to law enforcement for serving)

Persons as entities

A person is not a name but an entity within LegalAtoms which is our way of smartly modeling persons. This means that a case does not merely has plain text of petitioner name but a person who has attributes like a date of birth and relationships, with common sense rules.

Persons can be linked via relationships e.g. A is an attorney of C. So there is a concept of a social graph. Case records are labeled if the person has a label or there's some other relevant attribute.

The software can detect and prompt the court officials of duplicate entities without compromising user privacy. The logic on which attributes such as name, or date of birth or social security # or some combination is used for deduplication can be configured.

Import / Export data into other systems

Messaging

Invite New Clients

Case Level Features

Automated Validations and Rules

E-Signatures

Legalatoms provides an efficient and easy to use e-signature

E-Signature: These are any signatures done online. LegalAtoms embeds needs within questionnaires where users can sign using any of: mouse, finger on smartphone/mouse track pad, or any pointing device such as a stylus
Digital signatures: These are signatures that carry additional hidden information such as a digital identity of the person signing, plus the text of what was signed, in a secure way

Court form generation

Create an editable and exportable PDF and WORD file containing all submitted documents for each case in a filing submission session
Any court form can be marked for confidentiality
Specify any case specific cover sheets which are generated as part of a users packet
Established protocol for Confidentiality and cover sheets; as well as associated viewing authorization (consistent with GR 22)
Link required documents by case type (e.g. SCOMIS codes in Washington state) supplied on state created forms.
Child forms are linked to parent forms (such as Firearms Surrender forms, Law Enforcement Information Sheets, Returns of Service, and Appeals)
Customizable naming conventions and sub document order in the case management system for each case type

Fees, Fines and Payments

Fee Waivers

Exhibits

There are very detailed features for the handling of exhibits. Exhibits can be added to a case by different parties with permissions

Exhibits have essential information tied to it such as a description, when it was provided and who is the custodian

Court staff members can perform rich set of tasks e.g. generate destruction notices and print labels

Each party to a case can view their own exhibits or request updated destruction date with a few clicks

Private notes

Allow court staff members to keep private notes which are visible internally only. The notes can have attachments which can be any of

- WORD
- Images of any type (PNG, JPG, bitmap, gif, etc)
- PDF
- Excel
- .MSG Email message
- Calendar (.ical)
- Text
- Audio or video file

The notes have a time stamp.

Examples of how useful notes can be

Keep informal messages about a case so all team members can glance through and get important meta points about a case e.g. do not call the petitioner over phone
Attach communication between legal representatives and the court that have been submitted outside of court (e.g., e-mail, voicemail, etc.),

Reminders

LegalAtoms offers various reminder features for improving the court efficiency

Clerks can set reminders for any date listed on the case so all parties can be given a notice and the due date is fulfilled.

Reminders contain a subject, description, a template for email, and text thereby allowing for very custom messages to be generated to maintain privacy. The clerk can also set the audience based on roles (e.g. law enforcement or defendants)

Examples are:

Hearing: Many hearings are missed causing loss to everyone. LegalAtoms allows clerks to setup reminders for all parties with a single click
Clerks can set reminders on cases with upcoming due dates so they can plan their work -- and preliminary decisions, approvals, denials, or modifications -- and complete it in a timely way
Autogenerate notifications when a minor on a case turns 18 i.e. reaches adulthood
Autogenerate reminders when the case enters a state

Citations

Sentence tracking

Manager individual sentences with detailed features for

Community Service:
- Easily track details of orders for community service (e.g. hours, facility, location, requirements, etc.).
- Provide limited access to Community Service Provider offering community service
- Specify conditions such as attend therapy or be alcohol free
Probation:
- Track compliance
Prison
- Interface with Prison Management system

Get documents from 3rd parties

Calendar

LegalAtoms provides a calendar solution that serves the court officials, the public, and the is connected with the case specific logic

Overlay multiple calendars

Ability to have a unified calendar view consisting of overlay of individual professional calendars with some visual indicator of each conflict

A clerk may want to see calendars to other team members just like in Google calendars you can share your calendar with other

Organize hearings

The hearings can be organized by the clerk in any order. The clerk can choose to keep any field or information private from public view

Publish Court Calendar

Have a public view of the calendar

Enable/disable public view of the calendar
Petitioner name
Respondent name
Cause #
Case Type

Setup sessions

The court calendar is organized into a series of sessions. Each court session then has a series of hearings

A clerk can efficiently assign personnel and resources to session. For example the clerk can assign or update

Interpreters, bailiffs
Presiding officials
Court reporters

Provide a view of session so that all the defendants participating in that session can be seen easily (Maybe use a table so all defendants appear in a column)

When a clerk is adding a person to a session, and that person has a conflict on their calendar then Prompt for override when making such appointments

Search within a calendar

In calendar search results allow these fields to be optionally included or dropped (e.g. time, case title, case number, case status, hearing type, party names, attorney names, party information (e.g. bond status, key party flags, etc.))

Connect with Outlook or Google Calendar

LegalAtoms allow you to sync your existing calendar with LegalAtoms so new sessions can be setup and hearings can be setup without creating conflicts.

So different members of the court can maintain their primary calendars as they were and still be calendar wise fully connected with LegalAtoms

Payments and Accounting

LegalAtoms offers courts a comprehensive and extensible payments solution to manage general accounts, trust accounts, payment plans, bails and forfeitures all integrated with the Case Management System

Fees, Fines and any kind of charge

Clerks can provide a fee schedule for each case type (e.g. based on statutory requirements) and service so the correct fees are charged for each filing type
LegalAtoms provides a "Shopping Cart" like mechanism for end users to pay for multiple fees or charges e.g. certified copies, filing fees, or fines with a single transaction
There are extensibility points to interface with a court's other vendors handling payments receipts and payments.
LegalAtoms provides fee payments to be automatically calculated and processed at the end of the business day for governmental end users who currently utilize vouchers
Refunds are supported.
Discount codes can be provided
Established workflow for processing IFP waivers

Credit, Debit, Checks, Paypal, Venmo and Bond

Courts can increase payments collected by offering relevant payment methods to your customers who are now using a range of new payment methods besides just a credit or debit card.

Credit Cards: Visa , Mastercard , American Express , Discover & Diners
Bank Transfers (ACH), Wires and Debit Cards
Digital Wallets: Venmo, Paypal, Google Pay, Microsoft Pay
Checks: Accept and pay via checks including: issue, print, reprint, void and escheat checks. Checks can be deposited by mail. Your customer uses the LegalAtoms-provided invoice number and PO box address and the payments will appear on your screens.

Payment flexibility

Pay in installments: Offer clients to pay their fines in installments. Each installment is managed in a friendly way with reminders for all parties, and handling of missed payments.
Pay in advance: Client makes a payment of type "advanced" to a clerk account. Later when the clerk creates a charge, LegalAtoms check if there's a credit balance for the client or their lawyer, prompts for confirmation and automatically applies the credit balance
Lawyer can pay: A lawyer or party designated by the clerk can make payments on behalf of the client

Automated rules

LegalAtoms allows for external to parties and departments involved

Ability to add rules to update payment plan status for a given case in response to certain actions on that case e.g. case is dismissed
LegalAtoms additionally sends verification email to all provided email addresses and wait for verification before sending anything else to that email address.

Bail and Bonds

LegalAtoms offers complete managing of bail bonds

Track the amount of surety bonds
Track the status of bail bonding companies
Automatically update bail with case incidents e.g.
- Forfeiture
- Cancellation
- Discharge
- Reinstatement
Close out a previous bond when a second bond has been initiated on the same case (i.e. Disposed/No Forfeiture)
Manage a bond
- Record a bond including personal bond
- Assess fees
- Reject
- Modify

Cash Till and Credit Card Readers

Cash payments, receipts and tallies
Limit cash features to certain users
Track deposits to a central entity
Setup credit card terminals

Trust Accounts

LegalAtoms offers Trust accounts for your clients

An account in trust or trust account refers to any type of financial account that is opened by an individual and managed by a designated trustee for the benefit of a third party per agreed-upon terms.

LegalAtoms has built in smart technology e.g.

Autodetect and trigger alerts when a minor on the trust account becomes an adult
Ability to filter accounts by this field values

Views, Reports and Automated Rules

A clerk, financial bookkeeper or any member of the court staff with proper permissions setup will have ability to generate reports for viewing, printing and sharing.

Examples of reports: View cases with

Credit balance
Payments overdue and the amounts

Convenience features include

Ability to filter, sort and group by virtually any field on the case e.g. payment type is a bond
Generate notices in bulk for the selected cases

Collections

LegalAtoms offers complete handling of collections scenarios

Refer payment accounts to collections via automated rules or via case by case
Track payments made via collections

Different levels of access

LegalAtoms provides multiple roles to allow for efficient operation of different teams within a court, while still keeping maximum confidentiality.

Different users can also access the case without viewing all aspects of the case.

Waivers, Credits and Refunds

Legalatoms allows clerks to setup standard credits which can be triggered by certain financial calculations. Alternatively clerks can provide ad hoc credits

Waivers: Setup automated criteria for In Forma Pauperis (IFP) waiver. Allow self-represented litigants to submit filing and IFP waiver without paying fee upfront. Routing IFP waiver to correct judicial officer for approval or rejection of waiver
Credits: Issues credits based on community service, time served in prison or based on other factors
Refunds: For refunds assign disbursement priority: This basically means which refunds are processed first. Court staff members can override priority of disbursements

Connect with Accounting Software

LegalAtoms offers some basic accounting and ability to export data so you can connect it with your primary accounting software

Ability to track daily transactions with payment details
Automatically routes all submitted documents in the file to the correct queue for verification and acceptance
LegalAtoms provides convenient data import and export features using open secure formats such as OFX, and CSV