Legal consultation assistance system and legal consultation assistance method using the system

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a legal consultation assistance system and a legal consultation assistance method using the system which enable both a consulting person and an answerer to cope with a legal problem with ease. [Solution] A legal consultation assistance system 1 comprises: consulting person terminals 3 (3A-3C); respondent terminals 4 (4A-4C); and a server 5 for relaying consultation details transmitted from the consulting person terminals 3 (3A-3C) and the answer details transmitted from the answerer terminals 4 (4A-4C) through the Internet 2. The server 5 comprises: an input content determination unit 21 that determines the presence or absence of a term registered in advance for the consultation details transmitted from the consulting person terminals 3 (3A-3C) and the answer details transmitted from the answerer terminals 4 (4A -4C); and a determination result transmission unit 22 that transmits the determination result by the input content determination unit 21 to the consulting person terminals 3 (3A-3C) or the answerer terminals 4 (4A-4C).

Description

Legal consultation support system and legal consultation support method using the system

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for providing legal consultation support for labor issues and the like via the Internet, and a method for providing legal consultation support using the system.

[0002] In recent years, online consultation services using the Internet have become widespread, and among these, there has been a particularly high demand for legal consultations on labor issues, inheritance issues, etc. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional online consultation system in which the client inputs the content of the consultation and experts (professionals) such as social insurance labor consultants and lawyers respond to the various issues. Patent Document 1 also discloses that various consultation formats can be selected depending on the content of the consultation, such as chat consultation, telephone consultation, individual interview, and the conclusion of a written individual contract.

[0003] Patent No. 7233065

[0004] However, the online legal consultation disclosed in Patent Document 1 has several issues. For example, privacy concerns arise because the client is required to provide detailed personal information when seeking legal advice. Furthermore, from the perspective of the respondent, disclosing personal information such as the respondent's name and contact details to the client raises concerns that the respondent may be held responsible for the content of the response.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a legal consultation support system and a legal consultation support method using the same system, which allows both the client and the respondent to deal with legal issues with peace of mind, without the client having to worry about various anxieties such as incurring additional costs depending on the content of the consultation or having to conclude an individual contract with an expert, which are associated with disclosing their own personal information, and without the respondent having to respond to questions about personal information such as the client's name and contact details, sent by the client.

[0006] The present invention provides a legal consultation support system for providing legal consultation via text chat between the client terminal and the answerer terminal, the system comprising: a client terminal operated by a client who provides legal consultation via the Internet; a responder terminal operated by a responder who provides an answer to the legal consultation; and a server that relays the consultation content transmitted from the client terminal and the answer content transmitted from the answerer terminal to each other, the server having a database for recording the consultation content and the answer content, an input content judgment unit that judges whether the consultation content transmitted from the client terminal or the answer content transmitted from the answerer terminal contains a term that has been registered in advance, and a judgment result transmission unit that transmits the judgment result by the input content judgment unit to the client terminal or the answerer terminal.

[0007] The server may further include a respondent schedule adjustment unit that collectively manages data regarding the respondent's free dates and times, a respondent selection unit that selects a respondent who can respond to the consultation content of the client based on the data regarding the respondent's free dates and times in the respondent schedule adjustment unit, and a respondent notification unit that notifies the respondent selected by the respondent selection unit of a consultation request from the client.

[0008] a third step in which an input content judgment unit judges whether the legal consultation content contains pre-registered terms; a fourth step in which a judgment result transmission unit transmits the judgment result of the input content judgment unit to the client terminal; a fifth step in which the server notifies the answerer terminal of an answerer selected by the server that there is legal consultation; a sixth step in which the answerer accesses the answerer terminal and inputs the transmitted answer content to the answerer terminal; a seventh step in which the answer input by the answerer is transmitted to the server; an eighth step in which the input content judgment unit judges whether the text of the answer content to the legal consultation contains pre-registered terms; a ninth step in which the input content judgment unit transmits the judgment result of the input content judgment unit to the answerer terminal;

[0009] The system also includes a first step in which the client accesses the client terminal and inputs the legal consultation content into the client terminal, a second step in which the client transmits the legal consultation content inputted by the client to the server, a third step in which an input content determination unit determines whether the legal consultation content contains a term registered in advance, a fourth step in which a determination result transmission unit transmits the result of the determination by the input content determination unit to the client terminal, a fifth step in which a respondent selection unit selects a respondent who can respond to the client's consultation content by referring to the available dates and times of multiple respondents collectively managed by a respondent schedule adjustment unit, and a fifth step in which the respondent selection unit selects a respondent who can respond to the respondent's consultation content. The method may also be a legal consultation support method including a sixth step in which the respondent notification unit notifies the respondent terminal that there is a legal consultation; a seventh step in which the respondent accesses the respondent terminal and inputs the content of the response to the legal consultation sent to the respondent terminal; an eighth step in which the response content input by the respondent is sent to the server; a ninth step in which the input content judgment unit judges whether the text of the response content to the legal consultation contains pre-registered terms; a tenth step in which the judgment result transmission unit sends the result of the judgment by the input content judgment unit to the respondent terminal; and an eleventh step in which the server notifies the client terminal of the response content.

[0010] As described above, the present invention provides a legal consultation support system for providing legal consultation via text chat between a client's terminal and a respondent's terminal, which has, in addition to a database for recording various consultation contents and response contents, an input content judgment unit that judges whether the consultation content sent from the client's terminal and the response content sent from the respondent's terminal contain pre-registered terms, and a judgment result transmission unit that transmits the judgment result to the client's terminal or the respondent's terminal when the input content judgment unit judges that the consultation content or the response content contains the term.

[0011] Therefore, the consultation content from the inquirer is appropriately processed by the input content judgment unit and the judgment result transmission unit before being sent and notified to the answerer (prospective answerer), and the answer content from the answerer is similarly appropriately processed by the input content judgment unit and the judgment result transmission unit before being notified to the inquirer. Therefore, the inquirer does not have to worry about incurring additional costs or entering into an individual contract due to disclosing his or her personal information, and the answerer does not have to respond to questions about personal information, so that the inquirer and the answerer can deal with legal issues with peace of mind while maintaining mutual anonymity.

[0012] FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a legal consultation support system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a server 5 that forms the system 1 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an example of a screen input to a client terminal. FIG. 4 is an example of a screen of a judgment result displayed on a client terminal. FIG. 5 is an example of a screen input to an answerer terminal. FIG. 6 is an example of a screen of a judgment result displayed on an answerer terminal. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a legal consultation support method (first embodiment). FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a legal consultation support method (second embodiment).

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following, similar elements in all drawings will be designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations will be omitted. Furthermore, in the description below, previously described reference numerals will be used as necessary.

[0014] An overall configuration diagram of a legal consultation support system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 1, and an overall configuration diagram of a server 2 forming part of the system is shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 1, the legal consultation support system 1 according to the present invention is configured by a server 5 relaying between a client terminal 3 (3A to 3C) where a client inputs and operates the content of a consultation via the Internet 2, and a respondent terminal 4 (4A to 4C) where a respondent inputs and operates the content of a response to the consultation.

[0015] The server 5 also includes a database 10 for recording the contents of consultations from clients and the contents of responses from respondents, an input content management section 20 for managing and controlling the contents entered by both clients and respondents, and a respondent management section 30 for managing and controlling the schedules of respondents, etc.

[0016] Furthermore, the input content management unit 20 has an input content judgment unit 21 and a judgment result transmission unit 22, and the respondent management unit 30 has a respondent schedule adjustment unit 31, a respondent selection unit 32, and a respondent notification unit 33. Below, the input content judgment unit 21 and judgment result transmission unit 22 that make up the input content management unit 20, and the respondent schedule adjustment unit 31, the respondent selection unit 32, and the respondent notification unit 33 that make up the respondent management unit 30 will be described in detail.

[0017] 2, the input content judgment unit 21 constitutes part of the input content management unit 20 in the server 5, and has the role of checking the content (text) entered by both the seeker and the respondent. That is, the input content judgment unit 21 analyzes the consultation content sent from the seeker's terminal and the text of the answer content sent from the respondent's terminal to determine whether or not the content contains personal information of both the seeker and the respondent, discriminatory language or offensive language that belittles specific individuals or groups, or inappropriate content that is legally problematic, such as copyright.

[0018] The text analysis process can use algorithms such as natural language processing to identify important keywords and phrases in the text, and then compare them with a pre-registered term list to confirm whether the consultation content and answer content are appropriate and relevant. The term list can be pre-registered to exclude personal information such as the names and contact details of the person seeking advice and the answerer, or terms that are inappropriate for the consultation content and answer content, such as words that are likely to violate laws and regulations (e.g., murder, smuggling, drugs, tax evasion, etc.), and can also be updated as needed. The judgment results of the input content judgment unit 21 are notified to the judgment result transmission unit 22, which will be described later.

[0019] <Determination result sending unit 22> As shown in Fig. 2, the determination result sending unit 22 constitutes part of the input content management unit 20 in the server 5, and has the role of receiving the determination results made by the input content determination unit 21 described above and sending (notifying) them to the client terminal 3 (3A to 3C) and the respondent terminal 4 (4A to 4C). An example of a screen where the consultation content is input to the client terminal (an inappropriate example) is shown in Fig. 3, an example of a determination result sent from the determination result sending unit 22 and displayed on the screen of the client terminal is shown in Fig. 4, an example of a screen where the answer content is input to the respondent terminal (an inappropriate example), and an example of a determination result sent from the determination result sending unit 22 and displayed on the screen of the respondent terminal is shown in Fig. 6.

[0020] If it is determined that the input content determination unit 21 does not contain any of the terms listed above, a notification of the determination result made by the input content determination unit 21 is sent to the client terminal 3 (3A to 3C) or the respondent terminal 4 (4A to 4C) by the determination result sending unit 22. At the same time, the consultation content input by the client is sent to the respondent terminal, or is sent to the respondent terminal after passing through the respondent management unit 30 (respondent schedule adjustment unit 31, respondent selection unit 32, respondent notification unit 33) described below. The answer content input by the respondent is also sent to the client terminal 3 (3A to 3C) after undergoing the same processing.

[0021] On the other hand, if specific terms such as personal information of both the inquirer and the respondent are detected, the result of the judgment is notified to the inquirer or the respondent in a manner that encourages them to modify the text, as shown in Figures 3 to 6. For example, text that invites the inquirer to provide their contact information to the respondent, or to ask for the respondent's contact information such as their place of work or email address, or text that invites the respondent to provide their contact information to the inquirer or to conclude an individual contract, falls under the scope of text that should be modified.

[0022] In this case, the person seeking advice or the answerer is notified of any term judged to be inappropriate in the text, urging them to delete or correct it, as shown in Figures 4 and 6. Furthermore, if a term that violates a specific law is included, the judgment result sending unit 22 provides an explanation of the term or a link to the address, allowing the person seeking advice or the answerer to refer to another term that should be used instead. In either case, the person seeking advice or the answerer can receive feedback from the judgment result sent by the judgment result sending unit 22 on the consultation content and answer content that they have entered.

[0023] The judgment result transmitted from the judgment result transmitting unit 22 can be transmitted in various transmission formats depending on the type of client terminal 3 (3A to 3C). For example, depending on the type of device used by the client (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.), the client can select a notification format that is convenient for the client, such as email, SMS (short message), or dedicated app notification.

[0024] As described above, the input content judgment unit 21 and the judgment result transmission unit 22 have the function of appropriately processing the consultation content from the client and then sending and notifying the answerer (planned answerer), and also appropriately processing the answer content from the answerer by the input content judgment unit 21 and the judgment result transmission unit 22 and then notifying the answer content to the client.

[0025] Therefore, the legal consultation support system of the present invention allows both the client and the respondent to deal with legal issues with peace of mind, as the client does not have to worry about incurring additional costs or having to enter into an individual contract due to disclosing his or her personal information, and the respondent does not have to respond to questions regarding personal information.

[0026] <Respondent Schedule Adjustment Unit 31> The respondent schedule adjustment unit 31 constitutes part of the respondent management unit 30 in the server 5 as shown in Fig. 2, and has the role of collectively managing the schedules of multiple respondents. Specifically, the respondent schedule adjustment unit 31 has a schedule management function. The schedule management function is a function for managing the entire schedule of each respondent by pre-registering their free time and schedule in a predetermined database 10. This function allows the legal consultation support system 1 of the present invention to view and refer to a list of available respondents in real time.

[0027] Here, "multiple respondents" refers to a group made up of multiple professionals who specialize in various fields. For example, a group made up of social insurance labor consultants who are experts in labor issues and lawyers, tax accountants, and judicial scriveners who are experts in inheritance issues could be cited. It is also possible to freely group people according to specific fields of expertise or qualifications held, such as a social insurance labor consultant group made up of only multiple social insurance labor consultants, a lawyer group made up of only multiple lawyers, or a tax accountant group made up of only multiple tax accountants.

[0028] By providing an application that visually displays the free time of the respondent, the administrator of the legal consultation support system of the present invention can easily grasp the availability of the respondent.

[0029] <Respondent Selection Unit 32> The respondent selection unit 32 constitutes part of the respondent management unit 30 in the server 5 as shown in Figure 2, and has the role of selecting the most suitable respondent for the consultation content of the client based on the respondent schedule stored in the respondent schedule adjustment unit 31 described above. The respondent selection unit 32 selects the most suitable respondent by taking into consideration the consultation content, the respondent's free time, past performance, etc., using a dedicated algorithm. In addition, for specific consultation content, it also has a function to narrow down the respondents with high priority in terms of their specialty. This function makes it possible to quickly select the most suitable respondent for consultations with high urgency or special specialty fields.

[0030] 2, the respondent notification unit 33 constitutes a part of the respondent management unit 30 in the server 5, and has the role of sending various notifications to the respondent selected by the aforementioned respondent selection unit 32. The respondent notification unit 33 can also notify the respondent (prospective respondent) of necessary information such as the outline of the consultation content and the urgency level.

[0031] In addition, the respondent who received the notification can be equipped with a function to track whether or not the respondent confirmed (received) the notification, so if the respondent's confirmation is delayed, the notification can be sent again. The respondent notification unit 33 can select multiple notification methods, such as email, SMS, or notification by a dedicated app, depending on the model of the device owned by the respondent.

[0032] As described above, by grouping multiple respondents (prospective respondents) in advance and pre-registering each respondent's schedule in the database 10, the respondent management unit 30 (respondent schedule adjustment unit 31, respondent selection unit 32, respondent notification unit 33) can simultaneously perform a series of steps from selecting a respondent (prospective respondent) according to each respondent's schedule to notifying the respondent. This has the advantage that the inquirer can receive a quick response and the respondent can make effective use of their free time.

[0033] <First Embodiment of Legal Consultation Support Method> Next, a legal consultation support method using the above-described legal consultation support system will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 7 shows a flowchart illustrating the overall flow of the legal consultation support method (first embodiment) according to the present invention. The legal consultation support method (first embodiment) according to the present invention is composed of a total of ten steps, from step 1, in which a client accesses a client terminal and inputs the content of the legal consultation into the client terminal, to step 10, in which the server notifies the client terminal of the content of the response. Details of each of steps 1 to 10 will be described below.

[0034] (First Step S001: Consultation Content Input Step) The first step S001 is a step in which the client inputs the consultation content into their own client terminal. First, the client uses their own terminal (client terminal) to access a dedicated legal consultation site. After accessing the site and paying the prescribed fee, a dedicated input form is displayed, where the client can enter the specific details of the legal consultation. In this first step, the client can enter in detail the legal problem, question, background information, etc. that they are facing.

[0035] (Second step S002: Step of transmitting consultation content to server) The second step S002 is a step of transmitting the consultation content entered by the client to the server. After the client has finished entering the consultation content in the input form in the first step, the content is transmitted to the server. When the client presses the transmit button, the input data is transmitted to the server in an encrypted state.

[0036] (Third Step S003: Consultation Content Judgment Step) The third step S003 is a step in which the input content judgment unit in the server judges the text of the consultation content. The consultation content sent to the server in the second step is analyzed by the input content judgment unit. This input content judgment unit checks whether it contains specific legal terms or inappropriate terms that have been registered in advance. Specifically, the legal consultation content sent to the server is first saved in a database. It is then sent to the input content judgment unit, where analysis of the input text begins.

[0037] This analysis can be performed using, for example, text mining technology or natural language processing. The input content judgment unit compares the consultation content with a pre-registered term list. This term list includes terms related to personal information, inappropriate expressions, and misleading terms. It checks whether the text of the consultation content is included in the term list. For example, it checks for terms related to personal information such as the names and contact information of the person seeking advice or the respondent, as well as inappropriate terms such as discriminatory expressions and defamatory phrases.

[0038] (Fourth Step S004: Judgment Result Transmission Step) In the fourth step S004, the judgment result transmission unit transmits the judgment result made by the input content judgment unit to the client terminal and the respondent terminal. The judgment result transmission unit notifies the client terminal of the judgment result made by the input content judgment unit in the third step. If the consultation content of the client is judged not to contain any of the terms in the above-mentioned term list, the judgment result transmission unit transmits a notification to that effect to the client terminal.

[0039] On the other hand, if the consultation content contains specific terms such as inappropriate terms or ambiguous expressions, the judgment result sending unit will notify the person in question. This notification will be sent to the person's device as a pop-up message or email, urging the person in question to delete or revise the content. Based on this notification, the person in question can delete or revise the consultation content again and resend it.

[0040] Specifically, if the input content judgment unit detects content that seeks to solicit personal information or inappropriate terms or expressions, it generates correction instructions based on the results. For example, if the input content judgment unit detects the expression "Please tell me your teacher's contact information," it generates a correction instruction such as "Please refrain from asking questions about the respondent's personal information."

[0041] The judgment result sending unit then sends the generated correction instructions to the client's device. The client is notified of the judgment result via a dedicated app or email. At the same time, the notification clearly indicates which parts are inappropriate and how they should be corrected. The client checks the notification and corrects the consultation content based on the instructions. After corrections are made, the content is sent again to the server, where it is checked again in the third step.

[0042] In this way, in the third and fourth steps, the input content judgment unit and the judgment result transmission unit appropriately process the consultation content from the inquirer and then transmit and notify the consultation content to the answerer. Therefore, the inquirer can ask about the legal problem that is bothering them with peace of mind, without having to worry about additional costs or the conclusion of an individual contract due to the disclosure of their personal information.

[0043] (Fifth Step S005: Respondent Terminal Notification Step) The fifth step S005 is a step of notifying the respondent terminal of the consultation content. After the consultation content is determined to be appropriate in the fourth step, the server notifies the respondent who has already been selected based on the content that there is a new legal consultation. This notification is sent to the respondent terminal in the form of a notification via a dedicated app, email, or the like.

[0044] (Sixth Step S006: Answer Content Input Step) The sixth step S006 is a step in which the answerer inputs the answer content into the answerer terminal. After receiving the notification in the fifth step, the answerer accesses a dedicated site from his / her own terminal (answerer terminal). The consultation content input by the consultant is displayed there, and the answerer inputs an appropriate answer to that content into the answerer terminal. The answerer provides a detailed answer to the consultant's questions and problems according to a manual of answer content that has already been prepared.

[0045] (Seventh Step S007: Answer Content Transmission Step) The seventh step S007 is a step in which the answer content entered by the respondent is transmitted to the server. After the respondent has finished entering the answer content in the sixth step, the content is transmitted to the server. The server checks the received answer content and stores it in a database. The server performs a basic format check on the answer content stored in the database. For example, it checks whether all required fields have been filled in and whether the input format is correct. Once the format check is complete, the server prepares to proceed to the next eighth step. Note that this step is also encrypted, and the data is securely transmitted to the server, and the server analyzes the received answer content again in the input content judgment unit in the next eighth step. Note that the respondent can also perform the format check on the answer content by comparing it with the contents written in a predetermined checklist or sample sentence collection.

[0046] (Eighth Step S008: Answer Content Judgment Step) The eighth step S008 is a step for judging the wording of the answer content entered by the respondent. The answer content sent to the server in the seventh step is analyzed again by the input content judgment unit. The input content judgment unit can check whether the answer content includes personal information, whether the answer content is appropriate, whether it is legally accurate, and whether specific pre-registered legal terminology is used correctly. Specifically, the answer content entered by the respondent is first stored in a database in the server. It is then sent to the input content judgment unit, where analysis of the answer content begins.

[0047] In this step, too, analysis can be performed using text mining technology and natural language processing. The input content judgment unit compares the response content with a pre-registered terminology list. This terminology list includes legal-related technical terms, appropriate expressions, and words that should be used in responses. It checks whether the response content is included in the terminology list. For example, it checks for terms related to personal information of both the person seeking advice and the respondent, and the use of legal terminology. It also checks for misleading expressions and inaccurate information.

[0048] (9th step S009: judgment result transmission step) The 9th step S009 is a step in which the judgment result transmission unit transmits the judgment result by the input content judgment unit to the respondent. If the 8th step determines that the answer by the respondent does not contain any terms that fall under the above-mentioned term list, a notification to that effect is transmitted from the judgment result transmission unit to the respondent terminal. If the answer contains an error or inappropriate expression, the judgment result transmission unit notifies the respondent of this. Based on the notification, the respondent can correct the answer and resubmit it. Specifically, if the input content judgment unit detects inappropriate terms or expressions, it generates correction instructions based on the results.

[0049] For example, if the expression "contact details of the client" is detected in the response, a message requesting deletion will be generated, stating "Please refrain from replying with personal information." If the expression "very bad" is detected, a message requesting correction will be generated, stating "Please reply with a specific legal opinion."

[0050] The judgment result sending unit then sends the generated correction instructions to the respondent's device. The instructions are sent to the respondent's device as a notification via a dedicated app or email. The notification also clearly indicates which parts are inappropriate and how they should be corrected. If the respondent confirms the notification instructing them to make corrections or deletions, they correct the answer based on the instructions, and after correction, the answer is sent again to the server and checked again in the eighth step.

[0051] In this way, in steps 8 and 9, the input content judgment unit and the judgment result transmission unit appropriately process the answer from the answerer and then notify the answer to the inquirer. Therefore, the answerer does not need to respond to questions about personal information, and can handle legal issues with peace of mind.

[0052] (Tenth Step S010: Client Terminal Notification Step) The tenth step S010 is a step in which the server notifies the client terminal of the answer content. After the answer content is finally determined to be appropriate in the ninth step, the server notifies the client terminal of the answer content. The client checks the answer on their own terminal. This step completes the series of processes related to legal consultation.

[0053] <Second Embodiment of Legal Consultation Support Method> Next, a flowchart showing the overall flow of the legal consultation support method (second embodiment) according to the present invention is shown in Figure 8. The legal consultation support method (second embodiment) according to the present invention is composed of a total of 11 steps, from step 1 in which the client accesses a client terminal and inputs the content of the legal consultation into the client terminal, to step 11 in which the server notifies the client terminal of the content of the response. Each of steps 1 to 11 will be described in detail below.

[0054] (First step S101: consultation content input step) In the first step, the client accesses the client's terminal and inputs the content of the legal consultation. First, the client logs in to a dedicated app on the terminal or a dedicated portal site. After logging in and paying the prescribed fee, a dedicated input form is displayed, and the client inputs the content of the consultation.

[0055] When the user enters the specific problem they are having, relevant facts, and background information in detail, the system provides the respondent with several guidelines and example sentences to help the respondent more accurately understand the content of the consultation. This helps to ensure that the input information is clear and subsequent processing proceeds smoothly. Furthermore, because the content of the consultation may contain confidential information, security measures are implemented during input. For example, the input information is encrypted using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to protect it from unauthorized access from outside.

[0056] (Second step S102: consultation content transmission step) The second step is a step in which the consultation content entered by the client is transmitted to the server. When the client presses the send button on the screen of the client terminal such as a personal computer, the input data is transferred from the client terminal to the server. This data transfer is also encrypted, so the confidentiality of the data is guaranteed.

[0057] The server checks the received consultation content and stores it in a database. The server then performs basic format checks on the consultation content stored in the database. For example, it checks whether all required fields are filled in and whether the input format is correct. This reduces the risk of errors occurring in subsequent processing. Once the format check is complete, the server prepares to proceed to the next step, step 3.

[0058] (Third Step S103: Terminology Confirmation Step) In the third step, the input content determination unit checks the text of the consultation content and determines whether it contains pre-registered terms (specific terms). The consultation content saved on the server is first analyzed by a text analysis engine. The analysis engine divides the text of the consultation content into multiple segments and extracts each word and phrase.

[0059] Based on this analysis, the input content judgment unit checks whether the consultation content contains specific terms. This term list includes terms related to personal information, inappropriate expressions, and misleading terms. In other words, the input content judgment unit checks whether the text of the consultation content is included in the term list, and if it does contain any of the relevant terms, the result is used in the next step. For example, it checks for terms related to personal information such as the names and contact information of the person making the consultation or the respondent, as well as inappropriate terms such as discriminatory expressions and slander.

[0060] (Fourth Step S104: Confirmation Result Notification Step) In the fourth step, the judgment result sending unit notifies the client of the judgment result made by the input content judgment unit in the third step. If the input content judgment unit determines that the consultation content by the client does not contain any terms that fall under the above-mentioned term list, the judgment result sending unit sends a notification to that effect to the client terminal. On the other hand, if the input content judgment unit determines that the consultation content contains a term that has been registered in advance, the judgment result sending unit sends the result to the client terminal and prompts the client to modify the consultation content.

[0061] First, the judgment result sending unit sends a notification to the client terminal based on the result received from the input content judgment unit. The notification specifically indicates the parts that need to be corrected. For example, if the expression "I would like to enter into an individual contract with the teacher" is detected, a specific instruction such as "Please refrain from asking questions regarding an individual contract with the respondent" will be displayed on the screen of the client terminal.

[0062] Upon receiving this notification, the person seeking advice rechecks the content of the consultation and makes any necessary deletions or corrections. After deletions or corrections are made, the process returns to the third step, where the revised content of the consultation is sent to the server, where the input content judgment unit checks the text. In other words, this process is repeated until the content of the consultation has been completely corrected and it is determined that it does not contain any specific terms.

[0063] (Fifth step S105: Respondent selection step) In the fifth step, the respondent schedule adjustment unit collectively manages the schedules of multiple respondents who have been grouped in advance, and the respondent selection unit selects a respondent who can respond to the consultation content of the client. First, the respondent schedule adjustment unit centrally manages the schedule information of respondents registered in advance, and this schedule information includes the time periods when the respondent is available and plans to respond to consultations for other cases.

[0064] When a new legal consultation is sent to the server, the respondent schedule adjustment unit generates a list of responders who can handle that legal consultation. The availability here can be set to take into account not only time availability but also expertise in the consultation content. For example, if the consultation is about labor law, a respondent who is knowledgeable about labor law (such as a certified social insurance labor consultant) will be given priority. This expertise is determined based on the respondent's profile and past consultation history.

[0065] Next, the respondent selection unit selects the most suitable respondent based on this list. The respondent selection unit first extracts keywords and categories from the consultation content and compares them with each respondent's area of ​​expertise and past response history. This allows for the selection of respondents who are well-versed in a specific legal field. Furthermore, the respondent's current availability is taken into consideration, with priority given to respondents who are available in the near future. For example, if there is a respondent available on the same day or the next day, that respondent will be selected, but if there is no respondent available, a respondent who has free time within the next few days will be selected.

[0066] In this step, an algorithm can be applied to distribute the burden evenly among the respondents. To prevent a specific respondent from being overwhelmed, the number of responses and past response history can be taken into consideration, allowing all respondents to share the burden fairly. Finally, the respondent selection unit determines the most suitable respondent, and this information is retained for use in the next step, the sixth step.

[0067] (Sixth Step S106: Respondent Notification Step) In the sixth step, the respondent notification unit notifies the respondent selected in the fifth step that a legal consultation is available. The respondent notification unit is configured so that the respondent can receive the notification quickly and reliably. Specifically, the respondent can be notified through a variety of means. For example, notification by email, SMS, or a dedicated application is possible.

[0068] When a notice is sent, it includes details such as an outline of the legal consultation, a deadline for response, and background information about the person seeking advice. This allows the respondent to immediately understand what kind of consultation they need to respond to upon receiving the notice. In particular, by including important keywords related to the consultation content and information about similar cases in the notice, the respondent can prepare more efficiently.

[0069] When the respondent receives the notification, they must check the content of the notification and quickly determine whether they are able to respond. If the respondent is able to respond, they can enter their response by accessing a dedicated website (including an app) using a computer. The administrator of this legal consultation support system can also receive notifications and respond in the same way by accessing a dedicated website or using a dedicated app using a computer.

[0070] If the respondent is unable to respond at the time of receiving the notification, the legal consultation support system of the present invention is designed to automatically send a notification to the next most suitable person so that the client can receive a response promptly. Similarly, if the respondent does not respond within a certain period of time after receiving the notification, the notification will be sent to the next most suitable person. This response time can be flexibly adjusted by setting the system, and in the case of a highly urgent consultation, it can also be set to send a re-notification within a short period of time.

[0071] In this way, in the sixth step, a notification system is put in place that allows the respondent to quickly receive details of the legal consultation and begin preparations for the response. This notification method minimizes the waiting time of the client and ensures the smooth progress of the legal consultation.

[0072] As described above, in the fifth and sixth steps, the respondent schedule management section, respondent selection section, and respondent notification section work together to group multiple respondents (prospective respondents) in advance, and by pre-registering the schedule of each respondent in a predetermined database, a series of steps from selecting a respondent (prospective respondent) according to each respondent's schedule to notifying the respondent can be carried out all at once, which has the advantage that the inquirer can receive a quick response and the respondent can make effective use of their free time at work.

[0073] (Seventh step S107: Respondent input step) In the seventh step, the respondent accesses the respondent terminal and inputs the content of the response to the legal consultation that has been sent. This step is for the respondent to understand the content of the consultation and provide appropriate legal advice. Based on the information provided by the client, the respondent creates optimal legal advice in accordance with the response manual that has already been prepared.

[0074] Respondents enter their answers using a dedicated form or template displayed on their device. To standardize the quality of answers provided by each respondent, the form includes detailed information such as specific answers to the client's questions, citations of relevant laws and precedents, and the reasons for the advice. The input information is automatically saved, and can be revised or added to as needed.

[0075] (Eighth Step S108: Answer Content Transmission Step) In the eighth step, the answer content entered by the respondent is transmitted to the server. This step is for providing the legal advice prepared by the respondent to the client. The answer content entered by the respondent into the respondent's terminal is securely transmitted to the server using encryption technology to ensure data integrity and confidentiality. The server checks the received answer content and stores it in a database. The server performs basic format checks on the answer content stored in the database. For example, it checks whether all required fields have been filled in and whether the input format is correct. Note that the answerer can also perform format checks on the answer content by comparing it with the contents of a specified checklist, sample sentence collection, etc.

[0076] The answers sent to the server are automatically saved and managed on the legal consultation support system. This management includes backing up the answers and setting access rights. The legal consultation support system also confirms receipt of the answers and notifies the respondent. This notification is sent to confirm that the answers were sent successfully.

[0077] In the eighth step, since the safety and reliability of the data are important, advanced security measures can be taken to prevent unauthorized access to the response content by third parties. In addition, the data sent to the server is centrally managed on the legal consultation support system.

[0078] (Ninth Step S109: Response Content Analysis Step) In the ninth step, the input content determination unit determines whether the text of the response to the legal consultation contains pre-registered terms. This step is important for ensuring the quality and consistency of the response. The input content determination unit analyzes the sentences and phrases of the response to check whether pre-registered technical terms and legal terms are being used appropriately. For example, it checks for terms related to personal information such as the names and contact information of the person seeking advice and the respondent, as well as inappropriate terms such as discriminatory language and defamation.

[0079] (Tenth step S110: judgment result transmission step) In the tenth step, the judgment result transmission unit notifies the respondent of the judgment result made by the input content judgment unit in the ninth step. If it is determined that the answer provided by the respondent does not contain any of the terms in the term list, the judgment result transmission unit transmits a notification to that effect to the respondent's terminal. On the other hand, if the input content judgment unit determines that the answer contains a registered term, the judgment result transmission unit transmits the judgment result to the respondent's terminal and prompts the respondent to correct the answer.

[0080] The judgment result sending unit notifies the respondent specifically which terminology is missing or which part needs to be improved. This notification serves as a guideline for the respondent to review their answer and make any necessary corrections. For example, specific areas for improvement will be clearly indicated if the answer is missing important legal terminology, if the explanation is insufficient, or if personal information such as the respondent's contact details is disclosed. Once the answer has been corrected, it will be sent back to the server for final confirmation.

[0081] (Eleventh Step S111: Answer Content Transmission Step) In the eleventh step, the server notifies the client's terminal of the answer content. The answer content managed on the server is securely transmitted to the client's terminal, where the client can view the legal advice. This step is performed quickly and efficiently, allowing the client to obtain an answer early. The answer content includes details of the legal advice provided by the answerer and is displayed in a format that is easy for the client to understand. Therefore, the client can consider their next course of action based on the advice they received.

[0082] This step can also be designed to allow the consultant to ask additional questions or make inquiries. In other words, the consultant can ask follow-up questions to the respondent by receiving a notification from this step, and can also receive continuous support.

[0083] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Legal consultation support system 2 Internet 3 (3A to 3C) Client terminal 4 (4A to 4C) Respondent terminal 5 Server 10 Database 20 Input content management section 21 Input content judgment section 22 Judgment result transmission section 30 Respondent management section 31 Respondent schedule adjustment section 32 Respondent selection section 33 Respondent notification section S001 to S010 1st to 10th steps S101 to S111 1st to 11th steps

Claims

1. A legal consultation support system for providing legal consultation via text between the client terminal and the respondent terminal, comprising: a client terminal operated by a client who provides legal consultation via the Internet; a respondent terminal operated by a legal professional who is an expert in said legal consultation and who provides an answer to said legal consultation; and a server that relays the consultation content transmitted from said client terminal and the answer content transmitted from said respondent terminal to each other, wherein said server has: a database for recording the consultation content and the answer content; an input content judgment unit that judges whether the consultation content transmitted from said client terminal or the answer content transmitted from said respondent terminal contains language related to an individual contract; and a judgment result transmission unit that, when the input content judgment unit judges that the consultation content contains language related to an individual contract, sends a notice to said client terminal or said respondent terminal requesting that the necessary personal information be refrained from being entered.

2. A legal consultation support system as described in claim 1, wherein the server further comprises: a respondent schedule adjustment unit that collectively manages data relating to the respondent's free dates and times; a respondent selection unit that selects a respondent who can respond to the consultation content of the client based on the data relating to the respondent's free dates and times in the respondent schedule adjustment unit; and a respondent notification unit that notifies the respondent selected by the respondent selection unit of the consultation content of the client.

3. A method of supporting legal consultation using the legal consultation support system of claim 1, comprising: a first step in which the client accesses the client terminal and inputs the legal consultation content into the client terminal; a second step in which the client transmits the legal consultation content inputted by the client to the server; a third step in which the input content judgment unit judges whether the legal consultation content contains a pre-registered term; a fourth step in which the input content judgment unit transmits the judgment result transmission unit to the client terminal; a fifth step in which the server notifies the respondent terminal of the respondent selected by the server that there is legal consultation; a sixth step in which the respondent accesses the respondent terminal and inputs the transmitted reply to the legal consultation into the respondent terminal; a seventh step in which the reply inputted by the respondent is transmitted to the server; and an eighth step in which the input content judgment unit judges whether the reply to the legal consultation contains a pre-registered term. a ninth step of transmitting the judgment result by the input content judgment unit to the answerer terminal by the judgment result transmission unit; and a tenth step of notifying the client terminal of the client of the answer content by the server.

4. A method of supporting legal consultation using the legal consultation support system of claim 2, comprising: a first step in which the client accesses the client terminal and inputs the legal consultation content into the client terminal; a second step in which the client transmits the legal consultation content inputted by the client to the server; a third step in which the input content judgment unit judges whether the legal consultation content contains a pre-registered term; a fourth step in which the input content judgment unit transmits the judgment result to the client terminal via the judgment result transmission unit; a fifth step in which the answerer selection unit references the free dates and times of the multiple answerers collectively managed by the answerer schedule adjustment unit and selects an answerer who can answer the client's consultation content; a sixth step in which the answerer notification unit notifies the answerer selected by the answerer selection unit that there is a legal consultation, via the answerer terminal; a seventh step in which the answerer accesses the answerer terminal and inputs the legal consultation response content transmitted to the answerer terminal; and an eighth step in which the answerer transmits the answer content inputted by the answerer to the server. A legal consultation support method comprising: a ninth step in which the input content determination unit determines whether or not the text of the answer content to the legal consultation contains a term registered in advance; a tenth step in which the determination result transmission unit transmits the result of the determination by the input content determination unit to the answerer terminal; and an eleventh step in which the server notifies the client terminal of the answerer of the answer content.

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