Paperless Productivity

If you tuned in for part three of our ODR podcast series “ODR Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Asking (And Answering) the Hard Questions with the NCSC,” you know that we could talk for days with NCSC CIO Paul Embley and Consultant Diana Graski. So we kept the conversation going and spun off this special edition episode that speaks directly into the heart of justice: is technology really supporting the court, or just speeding up its processes?

We hope you’ll hear Paul and Diana illustrate how “automated insights” have helped Judges spend more quality time with litigants to make better informed, more compassionate decisions. Journeying us through recent use cases and their own in-person experiences, Paul and Diana put a pulse on how ODR is effectively serving the public and the court by making justice available at the litigant’s convenience, hurdling language barriers, and painting a fuller picture for each case.

NCSC resources available to help courts and other legal counsel in their ODR research, such as ncsc.org/jtc and https://www.ncsc.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/20830/2020-04-02-intro-to-ai-for-courts_final.pdf

As much as we’d love to say online dispute resolution (ODR) is a clear-cut topic, it’s not. From questions about funding and whether such a platform actually increases access to justice, to how the states and their various court types have responded to ODR’s availability – there’s a lot of gray area.

Venture into some of these hot-button topics as we ask our friends from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) about these hard questions surrounding ODR and the changing legal landscape. Through their first-hand experiences and use-case stories, NCSC’s CIO Paul Embley and Consultant Diana Graski provide refreshing, outside-the-box perspective and helpful resources to guide those interested in ODR toward a well-informed decision.

Don’t miss these key conversation takeaways, including:

• The mixed bag of state-wide and individual court responses to the pandemic, including those who have embraced and adopted court tech and why many still have not

• The far-and-wide tools and outcomes that the courts, law firms and other legal counsel are seeking when they research ODR for specific case types, such as civil, traffic, family and others

• A briefing on the interesting story behind Iowa’s pre-pandemic push for ODR in landlord-tenant cases

• Deciding when courts become involved in disputes (i.e., waiting until the case is at their doorstep, or taking on a responsibility to provide information and actively participate in dispute minimization)

• Use cases of outside-the-box funding options, separate from filing fees, that would position ODR as a true path to increased access to justice

• The various ways of bringing court to the people, such as the Judge who sets up hearings in his RV and in tents

• Providing citizens with a continuum of options for the future of “going to court” and what that means

• Establishing personal relationships ahead of ODR adoption that support positive user experiences and helps to bridge people into these new ways of going about the court

• NCSC resources available to help courts and other legal counsel in their ODR research, such as ncsc.org/jtc

Did you know that 57 percent of the world’s population (that’s 4 billion people!) live outside the shelter of law? It seems like a steep statistic, until you factor in the costs of missing work for court dates, transportation, childcare and the emotional toll of entering a potentially confusing and hostile environment.

This conversation with Attorney and Founding President of the Collaborative Lawyers of Saskatchewan Brad Hunter is taken directly from our recent, widely popular webinar, “Online Dispute Resolution: Making Justice Effortless and Accessible.” With a specific focus on how ODR has shaped his 30+ legal career, especially in family law, Brad walks us through the key benefits afforded to both participants of the justice system and every type of legal practice. Speaking from decades ago through to today, even pre-pandemic, Brad shares his best practices for adopting online dispute resolution into your service.

If you haven’t already listened to part one of our ODR series, “The Recovering Lawyer’s Perspective,” you can do so here. To learn more about ODR and/or request a free demo, please visit www.ResolveDisputes.com.

Self-proclaimed “recovering lawyer” Joe Al-Khayat is the Co-Founder of online dispute resolution platform and ImageSoft partner Resolve Disputes Online, and the first guest on our three-part podcast series journeying online dispute resolution from its private sector roots to a highly regarded platform increasing access to justice in Courts across the globe.  

Join Joe as he describes what it’s like to face the barriers of accessible justice from the perspectives of both the litigant and a stakeholder of the Court, and how these well-rounded views of his team shaped their ODR platform into a tool that problem solves for both sides. From there, conversation snowballs into how the pandemic shifted ODR from an option to a necessity, and the Resolve Dispute Online team’s specific expansion into various justice systems abroad, including the U.S., the United Kingdom, Singapore and Thailand.   

Washtenaw, Michigan, a Top 10 Digital County, is no stranger to The Paperless Productivity Podcast, so it’s our pleasure to welcome back Jeff Arbogast, Application Specialist for the esteemed Washtenaw County, to chat about their OnBase-powered, electronic arraignment process. 

In this to-the-point episode, Jeff talks us through the multi-faceted “eArraignment” process as it relates to both walk-in and pre-scheduled proceedings, case preparation from the Clerk’s perspective, and workload balance for the Judge. As you’ll hear, Jeff notes how eArraignment, complete with digital signatures and workflow, has supported Washtenaw County through the pandemic thanks to instantaneous, digitally streamlined deliveries of arraignment packets and other documentation to defendants, probation officers, jails, prosecutors’ offices, etc. And with the county’s printers connected through “auto print,” the Clerk can, in addition to emailing or digitally sending the documentation, print carbon copies at any county office printer – eliminating the need to fax and the consequential deterioration of signatures and images.  

Fueled by the perfect blend of digital workflows, electronic signatures and forms, and centralized case management, Washtenaw easily established an efficient, routine eArraignment protocol that reduces the need for widespread human contact (digital workflow as opposed to a courier, and less foot traffic in the courthouse), and significantly lightens the Clerk’s workload post-arraignment.  

Regulatory technology, commonly referred to as “Reg Tech,” is technology that assists regulatory agencies in managing how information is stored, used, shared and discarded in accordance to compliance efforts.

As Jeff Heigert, Hyland’s Senior Customer Advisor for Insurance, explains, there are more than 750 regulatory bodies across the globe producing over 2,500 rule books relating to compliance. Organizations dedicate millions, if not billions, of their annual budget to comply because, as costly as compliance is, the consequences of non-compliance outweigh it all.

Join Jeff and his colleague Chad Kerns, Hyland’s Product Manager for Financial Services and Insurance, for a chat about what Reg Tech is, and its support for banking institutions, insurance agencies, mortgage companies and others throughout the entire regulatory life cycle. From regulating data management to reducing the time and financial cost of maintaining compliance by automating regulatory process, Jeff and Chad tag-team an interesting conversation that tackles how simple Reg Tech solutions are making a significant difference for global, cross-industry organizations and their customers. And if you’re an OnBase user, you won’t want to miss Chad’s breakdown of Reg Tech solutions and easily-implemented capabilities, like multi-factor authentication, document encryption and redaction, online viewing identity protection and security keywords, which are simple to learn and, ultimately, reallocate manpower and capital resources to higher-level initiatives, like customer engagement and satisfaction.

A ring of fire, the moat, a drawbridge, archers and more are protecting the precious gem that is your core enterprise system – do you fear the enemy?

Of course not! When your business model is safeguarded in the Hyland Cloud, its castle approach to security is always on high alert, designed to immediately retaliate against data breaches and other security threats. Defenders of data protection since 2004, experts on the Hyland Cloud team happily absorb all your usual system security responsibilities so you can relax and focus on higher-priority projects.

Amanda Pfriem, Hyland’s Cloud Business Consultant, takes us on a more in-depth journey through what it means to operate in the Hyland Cloud instead of an on-premise system, including a breakdown of the Cloud’s various security layers, your new title as a SaaS customer and the much more affordable, single subscription cost model – no more prioritizing projects to fit boxed-in budgets!

For those just seeking to better understand the Hyland Cloud, Amanda closes us out with even more peace of mind – all inquirers work with Hyland’s Cloud experts for a comprehensive review of your current system to, first, see if the move would be valuable to you. If the shoe fits, your Hyland team will ensure you understand everything about migration, including all the experiences you can expect from the move, before going any further.

Added bonus: once becoming a Hyland Cloud community member, Amanda explains, in no “encrypted” terms, the no-cost perks customers receive during migration.

Jeff Arbogast, Application Specialist for one the nation’s Top 10 Digital Counties, story tells Washtenaw County, Michigan’s journey from their RFP beginnings of email, frustrating document size restrictions, manual uploads, and various versions floating between departments to their now centralized, transparent and well-orchestrated OnBase-hosted RFP management process.

Walk through this conversation with a notepad in-hand as Jeff starts at the top, walking us through the intake process with electronic forms and how proposals are then circulated across departments via an automated workflow. Listeners will hear how simple capabilities, such as attaching related documents, performing redactions, accounting for protest opportunities and housing large files in a digital system rather than printing and filing, turn into significant time and money savers. OnBase then carries Washtenaw’s RFP process to completion by generating records for the people that were awarded and not awarded, and automatically sending out emails to each person who gave a bid. It also triggers staff to send out paper copies of the decision, and to publish it on the website.

You’ll be amazed at the opportunities and savings Washtenaw’s digital RFP management process supports, and even more so that it was all built using standard, OnBase tools.

Does your electronic signing platform turn your smartphone into a signature pad?

TrueSign does, in addition to meeting several other compliant, mobile criteria you’ll want to consider when adopting an electronic signing platform in today’s increasingly remote world.

Grab a notepad and join us for a conversation with two ImageSoft Originals, Tim Zarzycki and Terry Chaudhuri, about how TrueSign is helping people confidently proceed and succeed in swiftly collecting auditable and compliant electronic signatures from contract vendors, court case participants, internal staff, the public and other external parties.

As Terry will illustrate, TrueSign is hosted in the highly secure Microsoft Azure Cloud, which fulfills CJIS, PCI, FIPS and HIPPA compliance standards. Serving as a Cloud solution also means it’s ideal for enterprise-wide use because there is minimal setup, and because it provides a straight-forward design that is user-friendly for all technical aptitudes. Terry and Tim also go over proxy signing capabilities (which are game changers for Judges or CEOs who often have assistants sign on their behalf), QR Code functionality, achieving interoperability with REST APIs and no-cost integrations, and much more.

What can tirelessly do the work of thousands of employees without complaining and never take time off?

No, this isn’t the start of a bad joke – it’s a reality for enterprises across the globe who deploy robotic process automation.

RPA, as its casually referred to, mimics mouse clicks and keystrokes to automate repetitive, office-like work. Able to automate tasks in any environment, regardless of the existing software platform, RPA is available to any industry and thrives in all environments, especially those who already operate on OnBase and want to take their automation a step further.

We couldn’t have picked a timelier guest to walk us through an overview of RPA and the types of applications that qualify as good candidates. Tim Tallaksen, Director of Intelligent Process Automation at Hyland Software, joins us for a well-rounded conversation about what robotic process automation is, how its currently supporting businesses amidst the pandemic, and how Hyland’s recent acquisition of a world-class RPA developer is allowing current OnBase customers to quickly deploy huge bot farms to automate the work of thousands of staff – easily extending the value of their digital workflow.