CALSPro - California Association of Legal Support Professionals

Data Integration: The Future of Attorney Services

Posted March 23, 2012 in Membership, Technology

A mere two decades ago, landlines and paper were the dominant forms of communication. Business tasks required human involvement at every stage. As keyboards replaced typewriters, the pace of the business world accelerated. Pagers and mobile phones became familiar sights, enabling contact between the office and field.  Over the years, toaster-sized batteries shrank into iPhone and Androids. According to a recent Pew Research Center report, nearly half of American adults are Smartphone owners. Computers are in our pockets, homes, and vehicles, and the attorney service industry has access to new capabilities that did not exist a few years ago.

Communication is evolving at an unprecedented rate and data integration technology is at the core of this transformation. Data integration allows users to see a unified view of data from different locations and sources. When information was primarily conveyed on paper and the almighty FAX ruled the workplace, the system was only as accurate as the humans maintaining it. Revolutionary advances in cloud computing and web services are empowering businesses to work smarter, not harder.  Collaboration and partnerships are the new norm and the desire to expand and network is more pronounced than ever before.

Attorney service companies would be wise to look into data integration. Technology is changing at a rapid rate, and those who fail to adapt will be left behind. How can a company using old human-powered systems stay relevant when their competitors can complete identical tasks with a few clicks? Data integration allows companies to share data with their clients in real-time to complete tasks as commonplace as checking status that can be accomplished immediately using the client’s own program.  Sharing jobs with other attorney service companies instantly and directly is now a reality. How about when you forward a job to an affiliate? You would normally send an email with instructions, only to have your client re-enter the same data. With data integration, you can send the work order directly into your affiliate’s system.  Data integration makes it possible for a single software package to streamline the operations of an entire attorney service company, and to smoothly manage a job from beginning to end.

Attorney service companies should find out what kind of programs their clients are running, as there may already be web services or other tools available to make data integration possible.   As the industry begins to shift to new technologies such as E-Filing and GPS integration, and  cloud computing; companies who are quick to embrace the inevitable tide of change will be in a stronger position.  Data integration makes companies more marketable and effective. Who doesn’t want to save time, money, and significantly reduce the potential for errors?

Dennis Chaples
www.TristarSoftware.com

eFiling in Orange County

Posted January 23, 2012 in Membership, Technology

e-filing. Just hearing the word is enough to make some court runners and attorney services get nervous; especially those attorney services earning a significant portion of their revenue from physical court filing. That being said, the demand for e-filing with the superior courts is on the rise.

When e-filing began in June of 2010, a single Electronic Filing Service Provider (EFSP) provided an interface for attorneys and individuals to electronically file documents directly with the court in Orange. Attorney services had to build their own e-filing interface to e-file with the court, or refer their clients to the Court’s website for them to access the existing EFSP and obtain e-filing capability. As of January first of this year the types of cases that are required to be e-filed in Orange County has grown, and as such, so has the concerns amongst attorney services that cover Orange County that they would lose out on this portion of this business.

The concern can now be eased as there are additional EFSP’s now available for electronic filing in Orange who allows third parties (attorney services) to e-file on behalf of their clients.

Now, if an attorney service has a document that needs to be e-filed with Orange County, they can set up an account and e-file through an EFSP by manually entering the information into their system. For some attorney services, this is another option, rather than building their own  e-filing system or turning their clients away.

We have heard that other companies have built or are currently in the development stages of efiling systems where the law firm clients of an attorney service might have the option of doing the data entry and submitting it through their attorney service’s site or a possibly a site with their attorney service’s name and logo will be on it.

The CALSPro Technology Committee will be keeping a careful watch on the progression of efiling, and will continue to keep our membership informed of any new developments.