Legal case management server, legal case management system, and legal case management method

Abstract

To smoothly make communication between legal personnel and site personnel in relation to a legal case, particularly progress management thereof, while keeping track of overall progress.SOLUTION: A legal case management server includes the steps of: receiving a case request from a client terminal and sharing the case request with a legal personnel terminal such that the case request can be displayed thereon; receiving an assignment operation for associating one legal personnel terminal with the case request from the legal personnel terminal and allowing communication between the one legal personnel terminal and the client terminal via a legal case management service; associating status information corresponding progress of the communication with the case request; updating the status information in accordance with the progress; and sharing the updated status information with at least the one legal personnel terminal such that the status information can be displayed thereon.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a legal case management server, a legal case management system, and a legal case management method.

Background Art

[0002] As so-called digital transformation (DX) technology in the legal field, technologies for supporting the review work of contracts (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3) are disclosed. On the other hand, technologies for smoothly communicating between legal staff and clients (on-site staff) are also disclosed (Patent Document 4).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Patent Document 4

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Although each of the above-mentioned technologies can improve the efficiency of individual operations, they are insufficient as technologies for grasping and managing the whole.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technology that can smoothly communicate between legal staff and on-site staff while grasping the whole, especially regarding the progress management of legal cases.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] According to the present invention, A legal case management server that provides legal case management services to both the legal staff terminal and the client terminal, The process involves receiving a case request from the client's terminal and sharing that case request with the legal staff's terminal so that it can be displayed. The process involves receiving an assignment operation from a legal staff terminal to associate a specific legal staff terminal with the case request, and enabling communication between the legal staff terminal and the client terminal via the legal case management service. A step of associating status information corresponding to the progress of the aforementioned communication with the aforementioned case request, A step of updating the status information in accordance with the progress described above, The step includes sharing the updated status information in a viewable manner to at least one of the legal staff terminals, A legal case management server is available. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to this invention, by enabling clients and legal staff to communicate about cases through a legal case management system, comprehensive management becomes possible. Furthermore, by visualizing case progress information as a so-called dashboard function, legal staff can grasp and manage the overall progress of the legal department's operations. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example configuration of a legal case management system (hereinafter referred to as "the system") according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 shows the legal case dashboard screen provided to legal personnel by the system. [Figure 3] This figure shows the hardware configuration and functional blocks of the system in Figure 1. [Figure 4] Figure 3 is a block diagram of the memory unit's functions. [Figure 5] This is a process diagram schematically representing the operation flow of the system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an example of a request form. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing an example screen of the dashboard screen in FIG. 2. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing another example screen of the dashboard screen in FIG. 6. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing an example of a person-in-charge assignment screen. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing an example of an operation time count screen. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing an example of an operation time count screen.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] The contents of the embodiments of the present invention will be listed and described. The present invention has the following configuration. [Item 1] A legal case management server that provides a legal case management service to each of a legal affairs in-charge terminal and a requester terminal, A step of receiving a case request from the requester terminal and sharing the case request so that it can be displayed on the legal affairs in-charge terminal, A step of receiving an assignment operation for associating a certain legal affairs in-charge terminal with the case request from the legal affairs in-charge terminal, and enabling communication between the certain legal affairs in-charge terminal and the requester terminal via the legal case management service, A step of associating status information corresponding to the progress of the communication with the case request, A step of updating the status information as the progress proceeds, Including a step of sharing the updated status information so that it can be displayed on at least one of the legal affairs in-charge terminals, Legal case management server. [Item 2] A legal case management system including a legal affairs in-charge terminal, a requester terminal, and a legal case management server that provides a legal case management service, The legal case management server is: Receive a case request from the requester terminal and share the case request in a displayable manner with the legal affairs terminal; Receive an assignment operation from the legal affairs terminal to associate a legal affairs terminal with the case request, and enable communication between the legal affairs terminal and the requester terminal via the legal affairs case management service; Associate status information corresponding to the progress of the communication with the case request; Update the status information as the progress is made, Share the updated status information in a displayable manner with at least one of the legal affairs terminals, Legal affairs case management system. [Item 3] A legal affairs case management method realized by a legal affairs case management server that provides a legal affairs case management service to each of the legal affairs terminal and the requester terminal, The legal affairs case management server, Receive a case request from the requester terminal and share the case request in a displayable manner with the legal affairs terminal, Receive an assignment operation from the legal affairs terminal to associate a legal affairs terminal with the case request, and enable communication between the legal affairs terminal and the requester terminal via the legal affairs case management service, Associate status information corresponding to the progress of the communication with the case request, Update the status information as the progress is made, Include sharing the updated status information in a displayable manner with at least one of the legal affairs terminals, Legal affairs case management method.

[0010] <Details of the Embodiment> Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] <Overview> As shown in Figure 1, the legal case management system according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the "system") comprises a legal case management server, legal staff terminals (the primary legal staff terminal and the secondary legal staff terminal are collectively referred to as the "legal staff terminals"), and client terminals. The legal case management server according to this embodiment provides legal case management services to users of these terminals (examples include, but are not limited to, clients and legal staff) by making the legal case management system available to the legal staff terminals and client terminals.

[0012] In this embodiment, the client is not limited to the contract manager, but can be any person in any department within the company who may potentially make a request. For example, the development department may enter into a service contract. When concluding an agreement, the legal department is not the only one to be asked to review the contract; for example, the marketing department may consult on the Premiums and Representations Act, or all employees may make requests regarding labor matters to the Human Resources Department.

[0013] More specifically, as shown in Figure 2, this system generates and displays a dashboard screen that is only visible to the legal staff's terminal. On the dashboard screen, cases are arranged in rows R, and items are arranged along column C for each case. Each case is associated with the following information: a sequentially numbered case number 201, a case category 202, a case title 203, a status 204, a request date 205, a response deadline 206, and the name of the first responder 207. However, the information associated with a case is not limited to this. Note that for items in column C, such as the difficulty level of a case, which should only be decided among the legal staff, the legal staff may create new items as needed.

[0014] <Structure> As shown in Figure 3, this system comprises a legal case management server configured to communicate with each other via the internet, a legal staff terminal, and a client terminal. This system may be configured as a cloud-based / network-based system provided by a designated service provider, or as an on-premise system operated independently within the implementing company.

[0015] As shown in Figure 3, the legal case management server comprises at least a storage unit, a management unit, and a transmission / reception unit. The storage unit stores various information, such as information necessary for providing the system and information accumulated as a result of system use. The management unit manages the information in the storage unit and updates the information automatically or when predetermined conditions are met. The transmission / reception unit performs information input and output with the legal staff terminal and the client terminal, respectively.

[0016] The memory unit in Figure 3 stores the information shown in Figure 4. Examples of this information include, but are not limited to, information about the case, information about the person in charge, information about the status, information about attached files and documents to be referenced, information about the date and time associated with the process, and UI (User Interface) information necessary to generate the dashboard screen.

[0017] <Example Hardware Configuration> Each of the functional blocks described above can be configured using hardware, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or software, for example, provided in a server device (terminal device). For example, when configured using software, each functional block is actually configured using a computer's CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and is realized by the operation of programs stored on recording media such as RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory.

[0018] <Operation> Next, the operation flow of this system will be explained with reference to Figure 5. Note that the order and timing of each step, as well as whether notifications are direct or indirect, can be changed as appropriate within a reasonable scope and are not necessarily limited to the order shown in the diagram.

[0019] Figure 5 illustrates the exchange of information (communication) between four parties: the case handling terminal, the legal case management server, the primary legal staff terminal, and the secondary legal staff terminal.

[0020] The client enters information about the case (for example, a request for review of a contract) into a request form displayed on the client's terminal (SQ1101). The case request form may be one in which the client enters the necessary information for the request, such as the subject, the client's name (client's name, etc.), email address (contact information), department, total contract amount, etc., according to a pre-prepared request form, as shown in Figure 6. The request form may also be generated on any website provided by the legal case management server, and the client may access the website and enter the information into the request form.

[0021] Once the requester has finished entering information into the request form, they can submit the form to the legal case management server by performing the submission process (SQ1102). The request form may also include attachments in a specified format, as well as access information to those attachments.

[0022] The legal case management server displays the presence of new cases on the dashboard screen (SQ1103). That is, primary and secondary legal staff can check for the presence of new cases on the dashboard, as shown in Figure 7. More specifically, on the dashboard screen in Figure 7, new cases are displayed in the new cases display area 601. The new cases display area 601 displays, for example, the case management number, case category, subject, assign and return operation buttons, request date and time, response deadline, number of days elapsed since the request was received, and the name of the requester, and these are included in the request form mentioned above.

[0023] Also, referring to Figures 7 and 8, the dashboard screen displays not only the new cases display area 601, but also the user-assigned cases display area 602. The user-assigned cases display areas 602 and 602a may also display information such as the case number, case category, subject, status, request date, deadline, primary responder, secondary responder, elapsed time, requester's name, requester's department, and contact information such as email address.

[0024] In the self-case display area 602, cases that the user has control over (cases they are currently working on) are marked with a symbol 603. The symbol 603 is associated with and displayed to only one legal professional across all cases. The symbol 603 will also be displayed to other legal professionals whose responsibility changes due to assignment operations (as described later). The symbol 603 is an icon representing a ball, but its shape and design can be anything, and the row may be represented by a different sun. Any visual indication that the user has control over a case is acceptable.

[0025] Referring to Figures 5 and 7, the primary legal officer selects the "Assign" button from the new cases displayed in the new case display area 601 to specify the legal officer (SQ1104). Selecting the assign button displays a screen like Figure 9, allowing the officer to specify both the primary and secondary legal officers.

[0026] While there is usually one primary contact person, one or more secondary contact persons may be assigned depending on their expertise and experience. Furthermore, the term "secondary contact person" may encompass all subsequent contact persons, including tertiary and quaternary contact persons.

[0027] While assignments are currently performed manually by the primary legal staff member, it is also possible to automatically assign the appropriate person based on predetermined conditions. In this case, for example, assignments may be made automatically based on the attributes of the request, such as the department, the person in charge at the other party, and the type of case. This allows for automatic assignment processing even if the number of cases increases, without requiring additional staff to be employed for assignment.

[0028] Referring to Figure 5, once the assignment operation is complete, the assigned person's information is sent to the legal case management server (SQ1105). As a result, the information is updated on the dashboard screen, associating cases with assigned persons, and the display is also updated. In other words, each legal staff member can now see who has been assigned to which case.

[0029] Simultaneously, the legal case management server notifies the client of the name of the assigned representative (SQ1106). This notification may be sent to the email address entered in the request form, or it may be sent to a messaging application, chat application, etc.

[0030] Subsequently, the assigned primary legal officer performs contract review tasks as requested via the request form (SQ1107). This system may be configured to allow for seamless contract review tasks to be performed on the system, for example, by providing viewer and editor functions.

[0031] In this embodiment, for example, if the primary legal staff member has questions or comments for the client, they may use the communication tool on this system to input a message (SQ1108). The message is stored on the legal case management server as a comment associated with the case, and the content of the message is also notified to the client (SQ1109). This notification may be sent to the email address entered in the request form, or it may be sent to a messaging application, chat application, etc.

[0032] The client may respond to messages from the first-line legal representative (SQ1110). Responses may be entered, for example, by accessing a URL for a response form associated with the message, or by having the client reply to a designated contact.

[0033] When the legal case management server receives a response, it updates and stores the information, associating the response with the case, and displays it to the designated person in charge (first-line legal contact) (SQ1111). The first-line legal contact can then check whether a response has been received and the content of the response on the dashboard screen.

[0034] Here, for example, if it is determined that another person is more suitable than the primary legal officer based on their expertise or past experience, it is possible to switch the officer to that person before the case is completed. In other words, the primary legal officer selects a secondary legal officer (SQ1112) and assigns the secondary legal officer to the legal case management server (SQ1113).

[0035] The legal case management server updates the information by associating the legal secondary staff member with the case and sends a notification to the legal secondary staff member's terminal indicating that they have been designated as a legal secondary staff member (SQ1115). The notification is displayed on the legal secondary staff member's dashboard screen.

[0036] Simultaneously, the legal case management server notifies the client of the name of the second-in-command legal representative (SQ1114). This notification may be sent to the email address entered in the request form, or it may be sent to a messaging application, chat application, etc.

[0037] Subsequently, the assigned legal support specialist performs contract review tasks, etc. (SQ1107). At this time, the legal support specialist can refer to the messages and responses exchanged between the legal support specialist and the client prior to this.

[0038] Once the contract review process is complete, the legal secondary staff member performs a completion check (SQ1117) on the legal case management server. This updates the legal case management server, changing the case status to "completed."

[0039] Referring to Figures 2 and 5, in this embodiment, when the legal case management server receives notification that a primary legal representative has been assigned (SQ1105), the status automatically changes to "Primary Legal Representative Handling"; when the legal representative sends a message with a question (SQ1108), the status changes to "Client Confirmation in Progress"; and when the client responds to the question (SQ1110), the status changes back to "Primary Legal Representative Handling" automatically. In other words, if any communication takes place between the client and the primary legal representative via the legal case management server, the status is automatically changed and updated as appropriate according to the content of the communication. Furthermore, when the primary legal representative changes responsibility to a secondary legal representative (SQ1113), the status changes to "Secondary Legal Representative Handling" and the mark 603 shown in Figure 7 is displayed in the corresponding case in the secondary legal representative's self-case display area 602 (at this time, the mark 603 is removed from the primary legal representative's case and is not displayed).

[0040] The legal case management server will also notify the client that the contract review process is complete and that the reviewed contract and other documents have been finalized (SQ1118).

[0041] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 10 and 11, this system visualizes the elapsed time 1002 from the date a case request was received, and the elapsed time 1001 from the date a person in charge was assigned, making it possible to visualize the workload of case processing and measure the effectiveness of efficiency improvements.

[0042] In the explanation above, the terms "client" and "legal staff" were used under the assumption that they belonged to the same company or organization, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, external experts such as legal counsel may be granted access permissions (IDs) to the system as legal staff. Furthermore, the scope of access may be restricted on a case-by-case basis.

[0043] <Industrial application fields> This invention is not limited to use between clients and legal personnel. Examples of legal matters include contract review, contract drafting, and general legal consultation. Furthermore, this invention may be used to make requests for specific tasks or consultations to departments other than legal departments (e.g., human resources, accounting, administration, sales, development, marketing, etc.). Moreover, it can be used for any task or consultation requests between internal and external parties (e.g., law firms, accounting firms, tax firms, social insurance and labor consultant firms, patent firms, etc.).

[0044] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative to facilitate understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit its interpretation. The present invention can be modified and improved without departing from its spirit, and it goes without saying that the present invention includes equivalents thereof. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0045] 1. Management Server 2 User terminals 3 Network

Claims

1. A legal case management server that provides legal case management services to both the legal staff terminal and the client terminal, The process involves receiving a case request from the client's terminal and sharing that case request with the legal staff's terminal so that it can be displayed. The process involves receiving an assignment operation for the case request from the legal staff terminal, associating a legal staff member with the case request, and enabling communication between the legal staff terminal associated with the legal staff member and the client terminal via the legal case management service. A process to associate status information corresponding to the progress of the aforementioned communication with the aforementioned case request, A process to update the status information in accordance with the progress, A process of sharing the updated status information so that it can be displayed on at least one legal staff terminal associated with the legal staff member, A process to display on the legal staff terminal an indication that the legal staff member is working on the case request, associated with the case request, The indication that the work is in progress is associated with only one legal representative throughout all cases, and if the legal representative is changed due to the assignment operation, the indication is then updated to reflect the new legal representative. A process to display the elapsed time since the date the request for the aforementioned case was received, Execute Legal case management server.

2. A legal case management system comprising a terminal for legal staff, a terminal for clients, and a legal case management server that provides legal case management services, The aforementioned legal case management server is The system receives a case request from the client's terminal and shares that case request with the legal staff's terminal so that it can be displayed. The system accepts assignment requests for the case from the legal staff terminal, associates a legal staff member with the case request, and enables communication between the legal staff terminal associated with the legal staff member and the client terminal via the legal case management service. Associate status information corresponding to the progress of the aforementioned communication with the aforementioned case request. The status information will be updated in accordance with the progress described above. The updated status information is shared in a viewable manner on at least one legal staff terminal associated with the legal staff member. An indication that the legal staff member is working is displayed on the legal staff member's terminal, associated with the case request. The indication that the work is in progress is associated with only one legal representative throughout all cases, and if the legal representative is changed as a result of the assignment operation, the indication is associated with the new legal representative. This displays the elapsed time since the request for the aforementioned matter was received. Legal case management system.

3. A legal case management method implemented by a legal case management server that provides legal case management services to both the legal staff terminal and the client terminal, The process involves receiving a case request from the client's terminal and sharing that case request with the legal staff's terminal so that it can be displayed. The steps include: receiving an assignment operation for the case request from the legal staff terminal, associating a legal staff member with the case request, and enabling communication between the legal staff terminal associated with the legal staff member and the client terminal via the legal case management service; A step of associating status information corresponding to the progress of the aforementioned communication with the aforementioned case request, A step of updating the status information in accordance with the progress described above, The steps include sharing the updated status information so that it can be displayed on at least one legal terminal associated with the legal officer, The steps include: displaying a message on the legal staff terminal indicating that the legal staff member is working on the case request, associated with the case request; The indication that the work is in progress is displayed in association with only one legal representative throughout all cases, and if the legal representative is changed by the assignment operation, the indication is displayed in association with the changed legal representative. The step includes displaying the elapsed time since the date the request for the aforementioned case was received. How to manage legal matters.

Images