Triage and expert systems in legal aid: New tools to assist people in need and the

advocates that serve them

July 23, 2014

Our panel todayZach Hutchinson Student and Research Assistant, Georgetown University Law CenterAdam Friedl Program and Special Initiatives Manager at Pro Bono NetDonna DoughertyAttorney-in-Charge at JASA/Legal Services for the Elderly in QueensMarc Lauritsen President, Capstone Practice Systems

Liz Keith (Moderator)Program Director, Pro Bono Net

TakeawaysHow can new technologies and design approaches:

• Aid advocates with legal screening, triage and analysis

• Help litigants navigate unfamiliar process

• Support community partnerships to expand access to assistance

Community approaches• Neota Logic• Drools engine• HotDocs and A2J Author guided

interviews • Drupal-based options• HTML / Javascript (for simple,

formulaic tools)• You tell us!

Resources on other “next generation” triage and intake initiatives

• 2013 LSNTAP.org training – Beyond Online Intake• http://www.slideshare.net/LSNTAP/beyond-online-intake-final

• 2014 LSC TIG Conference workshop – Online Triage and Intake: To Infinity and Beyond

• http://tig.lsc.gov/tig-conference/past-conferences/2014-tig-conference

• 2014 EJC workshop – Online Intake and Triage Systems • http://www.americanbar.org/groups/probono_public_service/resour

ces/archive/workshop_archive_20131.html

• 2013 LSC Technology Initiative Grant awards• http://tig.lsc.gov/sites/lsc.gov/files/TIG/pdfs/TIG-2013grants.pdf

Three Triage and Legal Analysis Expert Systems Developed at Georgetown University Law Center

Zach Hutchinson Student and Research Assistant,

Georgetown University Law Center

EJC Wage Theft App - Triage and Legal Analysis

https://lawstudents.neotalogic.com/a/wagetheft

OAH Unemployment App - Simple Legal Analysis

https://lawstudents.neotalogic.com/a/oah-advisor

MIDAS (Military Discharge App) – Complex Legal Analysis

https://lawstudents.neotalogic.com/a/midas-dec3-2013

Expert Systems Discussion• Thinking like a programmer – building the app• Thinking like a lawyer – domain knowledge• Thinking like a designer – user experience

The DENDebt and Eviction Navigatorhttps://lawstudents.neotalogic.com/a/jasa-den

Donna Dougherty, JASA Legal Services for the Elderly

Adam Friedl, Pro Bono Net

The Big Idea:• Enable social workers visiting homebound,

elderly clients to perform legal screenings• 2 areas of focus (I didn’t want to say “foci”):

• Housing • Consumer Debt

• Direct clients to appropriate resources/referrals

Expert Systems• Screening process designed by substantive

experts• Interviewer diagnoses client situation and

suggests next steps• Social worker is on hand to help facilitate and

navigate

Future steps• Eventually incorporate e-filing• Broaden subject areas• Generate Statistical Data, Analysis and Reports

Tools of Choice

Marc LauritsenJuly 2014

Going beyonddatabases,

document assembly,guided interviews,

andexpert systems

Supporting choicerequires

Databases are great for• Gathering, storing, and retrieving information• Searching and finding information• Not just numbers and texts, but images,

sounds, video, …• Statistics, reports

Document assembly is great for

• Creating customized documents and forms• Intelligent questionnaires and checklists• Information gathering• Individualized guidance

A2J guided interviews are great for

• Gathering information needed for document assembly, case intake, or other purposes

• Audio, video, images• Making online resources more accessible• Individualized guidance

Expert systems are great for

• Rule-based reasoning(backward and forward chaining)

• Non-procedural (‘declarative’) knowledge• Explanation• Individualized guidance

But

None of these are particularly good for helping people make choices

Choices involvecompeting values and

perspectives

They’re not algorithmic

You can’t look up or compute the answer

Law-related ChoicesClients and Self-helpers

• Ways to deal with legal problems

• Lawyer/firm selection• Business decisions

• Entity type• Hiring/firing• Employee/contractor• Compliance, risk

management• Negotiation and settlement

Professionals• What position to take, what

advice to give • Case triage• Litigation

• Where to file• What witnesses to call• What arguments to make

• Business• What software or hardware• What vendors/consultants• Who to hire

Legal Services Contexts

• Which types of cases to accept• Which particular clients to help, with what forms

of assistance• Case strategy – what claims to make where; what

arguments/evidence to emphasize• Contract/settlement negotiation – which package

of terms lets you ‘get to yes’• Which office technology to adopt• LSC technology funding priorities

Example: Triage

Factors in play

• Recipient needs, interests, & circumstances• Nature of ‘stake’ and likelihood of success• Capacity for self-help

• Provider resources, interests, & circumstances• Availability• Priorities / Preferences

• System/Society interests• Fairness• Overall impact on just outcomes• System improvement

Challenges• Demand greatly exceeds resources• Complex recipient circumstances• Changing provider circumstances (resource

availability, priorities)• Competing views about which kinds of

problems deserve which kinds of assistance

Representation Online Doc Assembly

Promote Self-sufficiency

Broader Impact

Low Marginal Cost

Law Reform

Better Outcome

BUT …

Most decisions involve many “hands”:

• more than two options, and • more than a couple considerations, • of varying degrees of importance, • with people disagreeing both about the relative

importance of considerations and how the options ‘do’ on them.

How can technology help?

32

Aspen Workflow LawBase Practice Manager(RealLegal)

Practice Master Time Matters

The product

Essential features

Tickler

Conflict checking

Remote access

Reporting

Other product factors

Document mgt

Timekeeping

Custom intake screens

Integration with DA

Relevance to graduates’ practices

Security options

Vendor stability

User community

Other law schools?

Pre-built modules?

Cost (product & any newly required software)

The services

Customization

Training

Cost

Other notes

34

Factor

Factor

Factor

PerspectivePerspective

PerspectiveOption Option Option

Rating Rating Rating

Rating Rating Rating

Rating Rating Rating

A choicebox

Features

Interface

Ease of learning

Jane

JohnCombined

Ace Acme

Apex

7 8 9

Best Good Better

6 7 5

Choosing a case management system

Totals 1 3 2

US Legal Services Corporation

Opinions

Ideas

Experiences

??

Note: This data is illustrative. See Greacen report for final ratings.

Going Deeper• A Decision Space for Legal Service Delivery• Dancing in the Cloud• Which – a simple HotDocs-based example of

choiceboxing on LawHelp Interactive[Best viewed in Chrome or IE]

• Preparing Law Students for Choice Jobs (Presentation at 2014 CALI conference)

• 'Boxing' Choices for Better Dispute Resolution, Int'l Journal of Online Dispute Resolution (1) 1, 70-92 (2014)

Thank you to our panel!Zach Hutchinson - zachary.b.hutchinson@gmail.com

Student and Research Assistant, Georgetown University Law CenterAdam Friedl - afriedl@probono.net

Program and Special Initiatives Manager at Pro Bono NetDonna Dougherty - ddougherty@jasa.org

Attorney-in-Charge at JASA/Legal Services for the Elderly in QueensMarc Lauritsen – marc@capstonepractice.com

President, Capstone Practice Systems

Liz Keith (Moderator) – lkeith@probono.net

Program Director, Pro Bono Net

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING TODAY!

Be sure to check out www.lsntap.org for information regarding the next LSTNAP Community

Training!

Contact InformationBrian Rowe (brianr@nwjustice.org) or via chat on www.lsntap.org

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