2005 Newsletter >> HotDocs & District Attorney Automated

Document Automation for the District Attorney

A guiding expert system

Charges & Indictments

Basha Systems was successful in attaining the Nassau County DA's office RFP for a new document assembly system. As with any document assembly system we build, it is not so much "filling in the blanks", but rather, providing a system that is with you every step of the way. Systems that fill in the blanks are a dime a dozen. Systems that only allow you to make relevant and correct selections are rare. Much like an attorney guiding their client through treacherous legal implications, our systems guide attorneys and support staff to produce more accurate documents...in record time.

Showcasing Document Assembly for the DA's Office

The video takes you on a guided tour of a system designed for one the Nassau District Attorney's Office. The video will cover topics such as:

  • Single entry of Defendant data, regardless of where it is needed
  • Benefits of using a database to store charge data
  • Creation of dynamic lookup lists in HotDocs, so no maintenance is required in HotDocs to include new charges
  • Two-click data for importing all details regarding ADA's, document specialists and other staff members
  • Dynamic charge previewing
  • Allowing HotDocs variables to be inserted into charge content from the database

Welcome & Document Selection

The system introduces itself plainly and quickly, prompting the user for case file data and the button to initialize data sources, which commences the interview process.

Documents are selected by the user during the interview process and not at the library window screen. This approach means that users are running HotDocs on a case-by-case basis and not a document-by-document basis.

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Welcome to Nassau

A simple welcome screen introduces the system. With a single button click, the system is initialized to ensure it always contains the latest and most accurate data

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Document Selection

Documents are chosen within the HotDocs interivew.

Control Panel

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All information from a single screen

Rather than having to "progress" through a threaded interview, the system design for Nassau utilizes a "control panel" interface. All major threads of data are accessible from a single screen, with a click or two. No more "next" and "previous" button mashing to get around HotDocs!

Control Panel: Case Details

View all case data details at a single glance. Fill in the information once and forget about it.

Control Panel: Defendants

Enter in all the details regarding Defendants in a single location. Enter personal details, gender and other specific details. Enter priors as needed, and update the Defendant's case status as required.

Control Panel: Updated Automatically

In this screenshot, you can now see that the control panel has been updated to include the option to create an SCI & Waiver. You can draft in respect of any defendants currently in the system.

Defendants Revisited

Ready to draft some specific charges? Review each defendant and select those charges that are relevant to a given defendant. Not all defendants will be listed on every charge, and not every charge is relevant to each defendant. The system takes this into account and is structured accordingly.

Charge Selection

Possibly the most impressive feature of the Nassau County system is the way charges are handled.

Selecting a Statute By Title

The system lets you choose how you wish to find a charge: by statute or by title or, a new or custom charge. All selection lists are generated dynamically from the available statutes in the database.

Selecting a Statute By Number

If you know the exact statute number, simply click it off the "by statute" list. No matter which way you select your charges, you will only ever see the blank fields relevant to your selected charge.

Completing a Charge

Once the charge has been imported, and the relevant fields filled in, click the "PROCESS CHARGE" button to view a complete and exact preview of what will appear in your document.

Preview a Charge

As part of the completion process, the entire charge is displayed, as it will appear in the finalized document. Affirmation of whether or not to include "To Wit" statements is also provided.

Indictments

Indictments are treated in the same way as charges, but reversed. Simply check the box to state you wish to enter Indictment Charges, and away we go.

By Count, By Defendant

For each count, you will be provided with a screen to select which defendant(s) this particular charge applies to. Again, all data requested is only ever relevant to the charge at hand.

Preview Charge Pane

As each statute is imported as a charge, the system displays the current content of the charge every step of the way. [Square Brackets] in a charge text mark unanswered data that needs to be entered to successfully draft a count.

Indictments

Screenshot dicussion

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Dynamic Charge View

xxNo screenshots exist for this section - delete if necessary. However, discussing the 'dynamic preview from a database' has real ramifications for any firm using database data in HotDocs.

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