Innovations in Intake - Ohio EJC 2008 Ron Staudt Rachel Medina Center for Access to Justice & Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law John Mayer Center for Computer Assisted Instruction Cynthia Vaughn Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation November 21, 2008

2 Innovations in Intake A2J Author ® enables new models Origins of A2J Author ® —Ron Staudt  Listen to the customer  Meet the customers’ needs  Keep it simple and make it fun  Educating the client community, empowering pro se actions, bringing e-filing to the public and making online intake a reality. Technical Insights—John Mayer  Advanced tools  Open and flexible programming techniques  Rapid development and nimble prototyping Making the tools work– Rachel Medina  A2J Author ® partnerships and projects  Web 2.0 and learning communities  Manuals, training and telephone support Project-in-Process – Cynthia Vaughn  An Ohio example

3  Curriculum: Public Interest Certificate  Research: Meeting the Needs of Self Represented Litigants w/ NCSC & Institute of Design  Access to Justice: A2J Author ® Project w/ CALI Self Help Web Center w/Cook County Circuit Court & Clerk A2J Author ® Student Editorial Board Center for Access to Justice & Technology

4 Meeting the Needs of Self Represented Litigants: A Consumer Based Approach Identify the major barriers to access to justice by litigants without lawyers Ethnographic research in 5 courts, California, Delaware, Colorado & Illinois Employ the latest in system design methodology to redesign the process Design Factors, Function Structure, Information Structure, Solution Elements, System Structure

5 The Prototype: Joint Simplified Dissolution of Marriage

6 Meeting the Needs of Self-Represented Litigants: A Consumer Based Approach Prototype Lessons Learned:  The Interface works!  Custom development requires expensive technical expertise Solution

7 (2004…present) A2J Author ® - a factory or a software machine to make hundreds of these front- ends for court forms, at a very low cost. A2J Author ® capitalizes on the front-end interface developed in the JSDM Prototype, while providing tools for authors to create guided interviews on their own.

8 Connecting the Public to the Courts and the Legal System via the Web

9 Contributors

10 A2J Author ® : Document assembly front-end Petition for a Protection Order

11 What’s the next step? Where do I go? Who do I need to contact? A2J Author ® : Website Guide

12 A2J Customer Data CM/ECF E-Filing XML PDF LEXISNEXIS A2J Author ® E-Filing Public Interface HotDocs OnLine

13 A2J Guided Interview ™ for Intake (.a2j files) A2J Author ® Online Intake Interface Interview Answers (.anx File) XSL Transform Transformed Answer Files Case Management System Answer File Data Now Available For Review in the Case Management System…. ….conflicts check ….attorney review ….processing

14 Questions? Contact Information: Ronald W. Staudt Chicago-Kent College of Law Phone: (312)

15 A2J Guided Interview ™ for Intake (.a2j files) Interview Answers (.anx File) XSL Transform Transformed Answer Files Case Management System Answer File Data Now Available For Review in the Case Management System…. ….conflicts check ….attorney review ….processing A2J Author ® Online Intake Interface

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20 A2J Guided Interview ™ for Intake (.a2j files) Interview Answers (.anx File) XSL Transform Transformed Answer Files Case Management System Answer File Data Now Available For Review in the Case Management System…. ….conflicts check ….attorney review ….processing A2J Author ® Online Intake Interface

21 LS-XML 1 Harry Fred Client1 Jr. Happy Freakn Client1 192 Harrisburg Ln. Suite 213 Cleveland Cuyahoga OH USA 192 Harrisburg Ln. Suite 213 Cleveland, OH

22 A2J Guided Interview ™ for Intake (.a2j files) Interview Answers (.anx File) XSL Transform Transformed Answer Files Case Management System Answer File Data Now Available For Review in the Case Management System…. ….conflicts check ….attorney review ….processing A2J Author ® Online Intake Interface

23 XSLT

24 A2J Guided Interview ™ for Intake (.a2j files) Interview Answers (.anx File) XSL Transform Transformed Answer Files Case Management System Answer File Data Now Available For Review in the Case Management System…. ….conflicts check ….attorney review ….processing Does Not Have to be XML!! -HTML -Comma delimited -CSV -Plain ole’ text -SQL INSERTs -etc, etc. A2J Author ® Online Intake Interface

25 A2J Guided Interview ™ for Intake (.a2j files) Interview Answers (.anx File) XSL Transform Transformed Answer Files Case Management System Answer File Data Now Available For Review in the Case Management System…. ….conflicts check ….attorney review ….processing Every transform is unique to... -The interview -The destination database A2J Author ® Online Intake Interface

Create, Store & Serve A2J Guided Interviews ® for Online Intake A2J Guided Interview for Online Intake National Public Automated Documents Online (NPADO) “National Server” CREATESTORESERVE A2J Guided Interview for Online Intake Your Own Local Server OR

Capturing the Data Collected in A2J Guided Interviews ® Client name TE Client DOB DA Client address TE Client county TE A2J Author Answer File (.anx)

Send, Translate, and Import Data XSL Transform Transformed Answer Files National Server (NPADO) OR Local Server A2J Author Answer File (.anx) -Conflict Check -CMS File Local Server SEND TRANSLATEIMPORT

29 Questions? Contact Information: John Mayer CALI Phone: (312)

30 Activity Nationwide Partners & Statistics States with A2J Guided Interviews ® (according to NPADO server statistics thru 7/1/08) 21 States, U.S. Virgin Islands & Ontario (Canada) Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Washington, Ontario (Canada) Registered Users of A2J Author ® 2.0 (per registration statistics thru 10/1/08) 33 States, D.C., Guam, Ontario (Canada), N.S.W. (Australia) Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Guam, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, N.S.W. (Australia), Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario (Canada), Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, Washington Chicago-Kent College of Law / Student Editorial Board Projects Ventura County, California (various interviews in process) Illinois Legal Aid Online (multiple interviews, either live or in development) E-Filing System Projects U.S. District Courts, Eastern Missouri Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Florida (pilot project for the state of Florida) Clerk of Kane County, Illinois Case Management System Integration Projects Iowa Legal Aid Legal Aid of Western Ohio As of July 1: 1219 active A2J Guided Interviews ® 34,042 A2J Guided Interviews ® completed in 2008

31 Training & Support Quarterly Trainings (announced on A2J Author Blog and docassembly listserv)  New User  Advanced Developer Calls  Updates to the software  Opportunity for input on software development Telephone Support (Center for Access to Justice & Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law: )  Guidance on use of web materials  General questions on use and implementation of interviews  Assistance with troubleshooting as time permits Community Support  Website:  A2J Author blog:  Listserv: Hotdocs listserv managed by ProBono.Net and LSNTAP recently changed its name to the “docassembly” listserv to incorporate A2J Author community

32 A2J Author ® Community Support “Online Guide” Blog Bug Reports Feature Requests Community Forums

33 Web supported training materials (the “online” guide) Each section of the online guide is subdivided:  Tutorials  Modules  Demonstrations A2J Author ® Starter Kit

34 Web-supported training materials  Video Demonstrations (5) The Interview Tab Functions:  Date & Today  Age Importing Variables Organizing Steps & Questions A2J Author ® Starter Kit

35 A2J Author ® Starter Kit A2J Authoring Manual  12 chapters  4 appendices  over 180 pages of training material  special icons to indicate location of helpful tools:

36 A2J Author ® Starter Kit: Starter Interviews 1) Review script (“Report”) 2) Modify Interview 3) Test Interview/Create Answer File 4) Create XSL transform to map interview variables to CMS

37 Questions? Contact Information: Rachel R. Medina Center for Access to Justice & Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law Phone: (312)

38 An Ohio Example What is Ohio currently using for online intake New development using the A2J Author ® Tool Integration with Pika Case Management

39 Legal Aid of Western Ohio (LAWO) Current Intake System Walk-in Hotline Web-based

40 Nearly 9,000 online applications in 2007 Web makes up approximately 30% of all intake traffic Legal Aid of Western Ohio (LAWO) Current Intake System (continued…)

41 LAWO’s A2J Author ® Intake TIG Legal Aid of Western Ohio (LAWO) submitted a $30,000 TIG application in 2007 in order to:  Provide the opportunity for all providers to “share” in the intellectual capital and investment made by Iowa and LSC;  Provide Ohio’s legal services providers with 24/7 online intake capabilities via a link through the LAWO website, as well as the Ohio Legal Services statewide website;  Provide people in need with the ability to contact legal aid at all hours of the day and night.

42 Ohio’s Replication of Iowa’s A2J Author ® Intake Template

43 The “Script”… The script from Iowa’s initiative was used as the “starting point” for the Ohio intake initiative. Modified as needed, with input from Legal Aid Line intake staff and LAWO attorneys. The script will be reviewed by all participating Ohio programs and will be edited based on the individual intake process for each program.

44 LAWO’s A2J Author ® Intake TIG User will complete the interview. The information gathered from the interview will be passed to Legal Aid Line’s Pika case management system by utilizing a custom-written piece of code called a “transform” that converts the.anx file to a.php file.* The generated data file is then “held” in a Pika staging table for review by intake staff, then it is transferred to the appropriate office. Transforms are, and should be, customizable by program based on elements (variables) in Pika, and are based on LSXML principles. *Transform written by John Mayer, Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction

45 LAWO’s A2J Author ® Intake TIG (continued…) Intake staff can then review the case before it is accepted into the program’s Pika case management system by utilizing a piece of code developed by the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation (Ty Acker).  Checks for conflicts and confidentiality issues.  Follows the same intake process as the Hotline.

A2J Guided Interview for Intake (.a2j files) Case Management System Data Collection Interview Answers (.anx File) XSL Transform Transformed Answer Files Case Management System Answer File Data Now Available For Review in the Case Management System…. ….conflicts check ….attorney review ….processing

Ohio Web Intake

48 Advantage of A2J Author ® Intake Time Savings It is estimated that once fully implemented, the A2J Intake tool will save the client information gathering step; thus, shortening the intake process by minutes, per client. A2J Intake will be available 24/7, which provides potential clients with a way to contact legal services outside of regular business hours; thus, potentially reducing the amount of call traffic (and waits on hold).

49 Access through Ohio Legal Services Statewide Website Link for LAWO (and other participating providers) will be available under the “Find Ohio Legal Help” directory section of the Ohio Legal Services website. Click here to complete the online intake application

50 Project Management Best practices in project management will be applied to all stages and phases of the Ohio A2J Author ® Intake project. Actively using:  Microsoft Project  Issue Tracker (Kaivo tool)  GoToMeeting / GoToWebinar  Other: Poverty Law Survey Tool

LAWO A2J Author ® Intake Project Plan

LAWO A2J Author ® Intake Project Plan (continued…)

53 Resources Involved in the Ohio LAWO A2J Author ® Intake Project Ed Marks, Litigation Director, Legal Aid of Western Ohio Debra Jennings, Managing Attorney, Legal Aid Line of Western Ohio LAWO staff and Statewide Intake Staff Cynthia Vaughn, Ty Acker, Jeffrey Fortkamp, Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation Rachel Medina, Chicago-Kent College of Law John Mayer, Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction Will Shryock, Network Administrator, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) Teresa Green, Technology Support, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) Eve Ricaurte, Iowa Legal Services Steve Gray, Michigan Legal Services

54 Questions? Contact Information: Cynthia Vaughn Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation Phone: (614)

55 For Copies of This Presentation… Visit or Provide Your Address On The Attendance Sheet And We Will Send You A Copy Thank You!