The VBA Journal is the official publication of The Virginia Bar Association.
Issue link: http://vba.epubxp.com/i/99281
LAW PRACTICE MUSINGS BY JAMES P. GUY II CHAIR, LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT DIVISION better, cheaper, faster Ali Fannon demonstrates the ease of JusticeServer on smartphone and PC. he question is not whether to engage in pro bono practice, but how to do it more efectively. We rely on technology for a whole range of law practice management functions, including case management, billing, research, conficts management, due diligence, and discovery, among many others. Wouldn't it be great if there were a tool to help us spend less efort and money on pro bono representation, while making us more efective in the time we do spend? Tat would be a great law practice management asset! Tat's just the sort of thing the VBA ought to be developing. As it happens, that is just the sort of thing the VBA is working on, with great leadership and support from Capital One, Dominion Virginia Power, the Greater Richmond Bar Foundation, CVLAS, LAJC, some of Virginia's top law frms, and many others (See "VBA leverages Firms in Service concept for pro bono access" in the spring 2012 issue of the VBA Journal and the article on the next page). JusticeServer has two major components: a state-of-theart case management system for Legal Aid, and a "portal" for outside lawyers. Legal Aid already is using the case management system to more efciently process and manage its case load. T At press time, the portal was still in development, but I chatted with Ali Fannon, who is leading the task force responsible for it. She flled me in on some of the anticipated features: • After entering the relevant data, documents, etc., into the case management system, Legal Aid routes each case to one of its lawyers or to the portal. • An outside lawyer registers, selects preferences based on expertise, training, interests, jurisdictions, etc., and the portal develops a profle for the lawyer. Based on the profle, the portal will select pro bono opportunities to ofer the lawyer. • Te lawyer scans a list, and clicks on a matter to get information for a conficts check. • If conficts clear, the lawyer clicks to accept the case and BAM! (Ali's word, not mine) all the necessary documents are available from the lawyer's computer. • Ultimately, the portal will be a platform for information sharing and access to reference materials, training, and other resources. Result: more efective management of your pro bono practice. n For more information about the JusticeServer portal, or to ofer feedback, contact Alexandra Fannon at afannon@grbf.org. 10 • VBA JOURNAL