A Well Thought-Out Database Can Assist in Your Law Practice
Author: Michelle Heigelmann
In the late fall of 2009, the University of Florida's Legal Technology Institute ("LTI") published its Case, Matter and Practice Management Software Study (the "CMS Study"). The study was developed to form a better understanding of how case, matter and practice management software can improve legal services, to understand how such technologies are used and to anticipate trends in such technologies.
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Some inspirational words... |
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"For a project manager overruns are as certain as death and taxes.
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The CMS Study received 341 completed and qualified surveys that contained 75 questions. Among the significant finding of the study are:
- One third of the respondents use CMS software, an increase from the 25% reported in LTI's study conducted in 2000.
- The most common reason provided for purchasing a CMS (70%) is "to become more efficient".
- More than half (55%) of respondents indicated that having a document management system (DMS) functionality in a CMS was important.
Two of the biggest reasons law firms do not integrate CMS into their practice are 1) integration issues and 2) cost. However, smaller scale alternatives do exist that provide some of the more compelling attributes of a CMS with less disruption to normal law practice activities and significantly lower cost.
"What is a relational database?" you ask. A relational database is an object-oriented database, or a set of tables that contains pre-defined data categories in one or more columns. The data in the table is stored in rows, each containing a unique piece of information. Each table in the database relates to another table in the database by a common column or field. This common denominator, if you will, allows data to be extracted from each table into a new table via a query, while allowing the original tables to maintain unique sets of data and avoid redundancy.
If you take this a step further and imagine a database with many tables containing different types of information and different types of "common denominators", you can see that a relational database can be a very powerful tool, indeed.
A great deal of thought must go into the structure of a database. First and foremost is what information will be maintained and how it will be linked. Then consideration must given to how the data will be viewed, what queries you will need for the functions you want to perform and the design of reports for the information you want to manage.
There are basics that guide the database design process. First is that redundant or duplicate data is not good because it takes up space and increases the likelihood for errors and inconsistent data, the second principle is that of "garbage in, garbage out". If the database contains erroneous, inconsistent or duplicate information, any reports derived from that erroneous information will be incorrect as well, resulting in misinformed decisions, or worse, the possibility of missed deadlines.
A good database design is, therefore, one that:
- Divides your information into subject-based tables to reduce redundant data.
- Provides your database software with the information it requires to join the information in the tables together as needed.
- Helps support and ensure the accuracy and integrity of your information.
- Accommodates your data processing and reporting needs.
Thus, relational databases for small law firms can contain contact and case information that can be queried and used in a number of useful functions. For example:
- Data resulting from queries could be used as a data source for a number of so-called "mail merge" documents. For example, pleadings, discovery and correspondence could all be drafted from information queried from the database, used in conjunction with your word processing program.
- The ability to query the database for the number of cases you have with any particular opposing counsel, or the number or even type of case in a particular court;
- Case loads among attorneys and staff can be analyzed if that information is maintained in the database;
- Trial dates can also be maintained in the database so that trial lists can be run, enabling better docket management;
- Other deadlines could be maintained as well, such as deadlines for responding to incoming written discovery, or deadlines for expert designations or trial preparation orders due for any specified period of time.
- Information in databases is also easily updated via a query. For example, if Joe Smith, the opposing counsel in 20 cases that you handle decides to retire and Bob Brown is now the new counsel of record, the information for Bob Brown can easily be updated within the database, and your database is representative of the most current information for those cases.
The appeal of relational databases is that they are also easily expandable, without having to reorganize the existing data. If a new set of information needs to be tracked, another table for that information can be implemented into the database and linked to an existing table in the database.
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