Case Management Systems

Case Management Systems are usually rather different from Disclosure systems.  They automate some of the repetitive functions of litigation. They provide check-lists and shared diary facilities, with the ability for partners to delegate tasks and to review the progress made on them. Documents and events can be filed against matters.

Case Management Systems are most useful where the litigation generally follows a fixed pattern - debt collection and personal injury cases for example - and where there is a heavy case-load. If the service of Document A is always followed 14 days later by the Service of Document B, a Case Management System will prompt for Document B. If Document B is always in more or less the same form, the Case Management System will produce it (or a draft of it) using information already stored about the matter according to rules within the system.

The recent changes to the Rules have brought tighter deadlines and a more rigid set of procedures, as well as greater penalties for missing them, and this broadens the application of Case Management Systems - even the most esoteric litigation must fit a pattern to some extent.

Case Management Systems vary in complexity. Some are little more than extensions to the Calendar and To Do List functions of Microsoft's Outlook. Others are full-blown dedicated systems, integrated with Practice Management and Accounts systems, and often produced by the same supplier. They vary enormously in functionality, in quality, and in price, and the price is not necessarily an accurate measure of the quality. Furthermore, any product, whatever its pedigree, will need a large investment in time and money to tailor to your requirements

An alternative approach is to commission your own Case Management System using a rules-based Groupware tool such as Lotus Notes (recently - Microsoft's Outlook has claimed similar capabilities) . There are many downsides to this approach - you lose the comfort that others have trodden the same path before you, and it is hard to predict the total cost. The advantage is that you get a system designed for your practice and the way you work rather than a developer's idea of a standard product for a notional norm.

There are many off-the-shelf Case Management systems. We will work with you to specify one, and to design one if there is no product on the market which fits your needs.

Our Openlaw Litigation Software is primarily Disclosure Software and is directed primarily at the efficient handling of parties' documents within a case, the pleadings and other associated material.