legal case management system

8/10/2019 Legal Case Management System

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RFP for Legal Case Management System

April 4, 2014

8 April 2014

RFP for Legal Case

Management SystemSupply, Installation and Parameterization of a

Legal Case Management System

Information & Communications Technology Department


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Contents

1 The Legal Aid & Advisory Authority .................................................................................. 1

2 Purpose of this Document........................................................................................................... 1

2.1 Staffing ........................................................................................................................................ 2

3 Legacy Systems ................................................................................................................................ 3

The Searches System..........................................................................................................3

Searches Home Page.............................................................................................................4

Search Function....................................................................................................................5

Open Source Case Management System...............................................................................7

Client Listing........................................................................................................................8

User Maintenance.................................................................................................................9

Backup...............................................................................................................................10

Reporting............................................................................................................................11

Add Custom Fields.............................................................................................................12

Search Facility....................................................................................................................13

Edit Client Info...................................................................................................................14

Adding a new case..............................................................................................................15

Managing client..................................................................................................................16

View a clients folder from the archive...............................................................................17

Panels of Attorneys ............................................................................................................................... 18

4 Requirements .................................................................................................................................. 20

Detailed Functionality Requirements ................................................................................................ 21


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ICT Department, LAAA

1 The Legal Aid & Advisory Authority

The Legal Aid and Advisory Authority was established by the Legal Aid and Advice Act

Chapter 7:07 on July 1st, 1976 with the mandate to make legal aid and advice in Trinidad and

Tobago readily available to persons of small or moderate means, to enable the cost of legal aid or

advice granted to persons to be defrayed wholly or partly out of moneys provided by Parliament,

and for purposes connected therewith.

The Authority is currently headed by Director/Chairman Israel Khan SC and seven Board

Members. In fulfilling its mandate to provide legal advice and representation to citizens of

Trinidad and Tobago who cannot afford the services of an attorney, the Authority has established

a nation-wide branch network to better serve our clients:

The Authoritys Head Office in Barataria

Arima Office

San Fernando Office Houses

Couva Sub-Office The Duty Counsel Call Centre

Tobago Office

2 Purpose of this Document

The purpose of this Request for Proposal here in after referred to as RFP is to solicit bids

from qualified firms with a substantial customer base for a new Legal Case Management

System and associated implementation support and training. The proposal should provide a

solution that is technically current, user friendly, flexible and supports the operations of the

Authority. We are seeking a comprehensive software solution that follows best practices adopted

by Legal Aid organizations in Commonwealth jurisdictions while catering for the Trinidad and

Tobago Authoritysunique business processes, structure, and vision for the future.

The successful firm will be selected based on the applicability of its solution to therequirements outlined in this document, satisfactory references provided by other legal aid

agencies or legal firms, and its ability to collaborate closely with the staff of the Authority to

implement the new system, ensuring the integrity of our business processes.

The Legal Aid and Advisory Authority here in after referred to as LAAA is not bound to accept

the lowest or any proposal.


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2.1 Staffing

In terms of catering for potential users of the Legal and Case Management System, interested

firms are invited to provide user licenses for the following categories of users:

Department No. of Users Functionality

Executives 2 Approvals / Reporting

Legal Officers

(Attorneys-at-Law)44

Legal Case Management front office

functionality

Investigators 10Investigating applicants qualification for

legal aid / applying the means test

Registry 30

Maintaining lawyer panels and client files (3

of these users, including the registrar, have a

supervisory role)

IT Support 4Database Management, Application Support,Report Writing

Total No. of Users 90


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3 Legacy Systems

The LAAA has inherited various legacy systems to support its work:

1. A database system informally called Searches to search for existing clients and to enternew clients. This is used by the staff of the Registry to input or change client information.

2. An open source legal aid system.

3. Hand-written client files are scanned for archival. The PDFs are stored on a shared drive.Except for the Clerk III, Registry staff does not currently have access to these files and

must have an IT staff member display the file for them.

4. Attorney Panels were initially captured on a Microsoft Access database. This databasehas not been updated. More accurate versions, reflecting recent changes, reside on

Microsoft Excel files maintained on their personal computers by:a. Ms. Brewster (Criminal Panel, Duty Counsel Panel) in the Barataria Registryb. Ms. Cyril-Ann Samuel (Civil Panel) in the Barataria Registryc. Ms. Roxanne Williams-Fredericks in Arima

There is significant overlap in some of the functions between 1 and 2 above. Also, access to 2 is

restricted to IT staff on the grounds of security.

The Searches System

4.1.1 Main display of all clients

Functions from this screen: 1. Insert new client (Done by the Registry Clerks)

2. Search by Name / File # / Location (Counter Clerk)


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Searches Home Page


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Search Function


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3.2 Open Source Case Management System

This system has useful functionality but for some reason, access is restricted to IT staff.


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Client Listing


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User Maintenance


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Backup


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Reporting


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Add Custom Fields


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Edit Client Info


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Adding a new case


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View a clients folder from the archive

This function does not work consistently.


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Panels of Attorneys

The various lawyer panels consist of attorneys who are not in the employ of the LAAA and who

have indicated their willingness to work on different types of cases. Once approved, theseattorneys invoice the Authority for their work. There are four panels:

A Civil Panel

A Criminal Panel

A Duty Counsel Panel

Mediation PanelAn individual attorney can belong to any or all panels. We require a facility to maintain the

panels and add new panels as needed.

In addition, some office managers maintain listings of lawyers who have expressed willingness

to join particular panels / work in a particular District Court etc..

We require a facility to maintain the lawyer panPlease see the format of the Lawyer Panels on the following page:


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RME

FIRSTNAME

BARNUMBER/CALLED

DATE

STREET ADDRESS CONTACTINFO

Magistrate Court High Court Court of Appeal SPECIFIS (Di

CouCriminal Civil Criminal Civil Criminal Civil

X YYY 2009 # 50 Richmond Street POS 306-6764 Capital Family Capital Family Capital Family

ABBB 2005 # 1 Centenary Street ARIMA 766-5884

NonCapital

OtherMatter

NonCapital

OtherMatter

Non CapitalOtherMatter

CDDD

Suite 6, # 9 PrinceStreet

ARIMA

667-6127776-3117Fax 667-

4681


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Detailed Functionality Requirements

a. Import (as far as possible) the existing data from its current application into the new Legal

Case Management System.

b. Provide case management for criminal and civil actions.

c. Robust role-based user profiles.

d. Provide a means through which multiple persons are able to work on single assignments,research projects, or documents.

e. Provide automated document and form generation and assembly. Facilitate comprehensivesearch functions.

f. Generate standardized and ad-hoc reports.

g. Aid supervisors in the assignment of cases and the review of caseloads.

h. Centralize calendaring, email, contacts, notes, correspondence and document access.

i. Provide a means to track events, milestones, and workflow of assignments.

j. Remain flexible with regard to current technology trends and future advancements.

k. Accessible from desktop computers and mobile computers (tablets and smart phones) byeach attorney, secretary, investigator, and legal support staff assigned access. Data should not

be remotely downloadable.

l. Data is to be stored in one central location onlyThe LAAA Head Office. Recommendedhardware and a sample configuration is required for Servers and User computers .

m. Provide project, assignment, and case tracking accessible by attorneys, investigators, andparalegals assigned to projects, cases, and assignments, and by their secretaries andsupervisors.

n. Enable a review function by investigators and attorneys that reflects acceptance or rejectionof reports.

o. The application needs to access online information from government databases, link withlegal research and public records databases (e.g. Lexis, Westlaw and Registrar) and allow

information from legal databases to be downloaded into the Legal Case Management System.

p. Provide litigation calendaring or provide compatibility with Microsoft Outlook calendaring.


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q. Provide a daily calendar reflecting, among other things, all office meetings and dailyattendance.

r. Solution must conform to the needs of the LAAA, preferably through parameter settingsrather than custom programming.

s. Conflict of Interest checking, the application needs to flag a situation when multiple partiesin a matter have applied for legal aid.

3.1 Project Tasks

The Legal Case Management Software project will follow a phased project approach that

incorporates planning, analysis and evaluation, information architecture, design, siteimplementation and integration, quality assurance testing, and launch.

Task 1: Technology Specifications

Technical Questionnaire See Appendix

Functional Requirements See Appendix

Task 2: System Architecture

The firms proposal must include the following details.

i. The operating system that will support your proposed application.

ii. A detailed overview of the standard System Architecture required by yoursolution. Please include detailed recommendation for hardware, software, and

required ancillary products needed by your applications that are required forsuccessful deployment.

iii. Because of the sensitivity and confidentiality of client information, a robust securitysystem is required that specifies access based on user roles. A description of the

security architecture employed by your application, and details how it provides

server, client, application layer and database security.

iv. Your recommended backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity strategyand how your system accommodates the solution.

Task 3: Network Architecture

Your proposal must include a detailed recommendation of configurations, storagesizes, etc. of all hardware, software and licensing required for implementing the


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communication needs of your application.

Task 4: Database Architecture

Your proposal must include the following details:

i. A sample of the database record layout, a sample list of data elements, or asample of the database schema.

ii. A high level description of data flow and data structure diagrams.

Task 5: Required Work Plan

The firm must provide a detailed project plan for installing, configuring, and implementing

the proposed Legal Case Management System. Proposal must include the following

details:

i. An overview of project management approach and services proposed.

ii. A description of your methodology for implementation including timeframe,overview of deliverables, assumptions and assumed responsibilities.

iii. A description of how your Project Manager and project team will work with theLAAA project team members to assist in design, training, knowledge transfer,process re-engineering and configuration.

iv. A description of implementation activities that will take place onsite vs. off-site.

v. A description of how your technical support staff will work with the IT technicalteam to provide onsite technical training.

vi. A description of the roles of the LAAA and your staff for interface development, ifrequired.

vii. A description of the intended data conversion methodology, procedures and

controls.

viii. A description of the roles of the LAAA and Proponent staff for workflow andbusiness rules development and configuration.

ix. A description of the roles of the LAAA and your staff for report development.

x. A description of the roles of the LAAA and Proponent staff for parameterization /


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customizations or modifications to the software.

xi. A description of your test plan.

xii. An explanation of your quality assurance procedures to ensure the LAAA

achieves its objectives.

xiii. A description of any deliverable sign-off criteria assumed for this proposal

xiv. A description of any services proposed with this proposal that plan to utilizesubcontractors.

xv. A recommendation of how many people the Authority should have dedicated tothe project. Indicate what functional or technical competencies and subject matter

expertise these staff must have and the amount of time these staffmembers shouldbe expected to devote to this project.

xvi. A description of the hardware infrastructure requirements of the Legal CaseManagement System. Include production, testing, development, communications,

storage, and any necessary hardware to support this effort.

xvii. A description of infrastructure software requirements including operating systems,system communication software, security and any necessary software to support

this effort.

xviii. A description of your post implementation support strategy including incidentreporting and response times, escalation procedures, etc.

xix. A description of your proposed documentation. Please include the types ofdocuments you provide and an example of at least one provided document.

Task 6: Training

Training must be role-based and tailored to accommodate job specific use of theapplication. The Proponent must provide a detailed plan for training. The

Proponent must specifically describe what training courses are included in the cost

of the proposal. Total staff to be trained include up to six (6) administrative users

and up to 35 end-users. Deliverables shall include:

1) An overview of your proposed training plan/strategy, specifying how and

when training is to be delivered for on-site, off-site training, configurationtraining, web training services, etc. for the core project team, end users, train-

the-trainer, and technology personnel.

2) An explanation of how your training approach will ensure adequate knowledge


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transfer to prepare the IT support staff to configure and maintain the systemafter it is placed into production.

3) A description of the roles of the LAAA and Proponent staff for training

including the design and implementation of the training plan, development of

training materials, and level of assistance with training.

After award of contract, the successful firm will work with the LAAA to develop animplementation plan that meets the objectives for the software solution initiative.Deliverables for this phase of the project shall be based on expert analysis, consultation

with IT staff, and consultation with Legal office staff. Deliverables shall include:

i. A comprehensive written analysis of the LAAA business process, workflow, gapanalysis and projected capabilities upon completion.

ii. A project plan (hard copy as well as electronic) which details the software

solution and business plan.

D. Schedule of Deliverables

As part of the scope of work, the proponent will develop a detailed project timeline thatincludes all deliverables.

LicensesNumber of Users

As indicated in Section 2.1 Staffing, there are ninety (90) end users. Proposing firms must

provide licensing costs and describe their licensing agreement. For example, is the proposedsolution licensed on a per-seat, per-server, or per-site basis? If per site, what is the maximum

number of users that the site is licensed for? Proposing firms must also include costs for all

licenses required by their solution, such as database licenses and licenses for reporting tools.

User Configuration

As discussed earlier in this RFP, the LAAA will require various levels of user configuration

to accommodate practice areas. Applications that have a parameterization layer are preferred.

Notwithstanding this, please provide cost ranges for the types of configurations and services

your company will perform for the LAAA.

Upgrade Management

Should the LAAA request that the application be customized, details shall also be given on

how the Proponent would handle customized sections of their proposed solutions as it relates

to the product upgrades. Details of which parties will be responsible for different aspects in

the upgrades shall be described. This shall take into account the amount of customization


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versus configuration of the proposed solution.

Proposing firms shall provide details on the release(s) of their current product(s) and

on their next scheduled release(s). Proposing firms shall also provide details on their typical

schedule of releases (e.g., minor release every six months, major release every 18 months),and the amount of effort required to carry out the upgrades by the legal department.

Maintenance and Support

The successful firm must ensure that all deliverables are subjected to reasonable quality

assurance tests prior to their delivery to the LAAA, or if requested upon installation, in

advance of the commencement of the warranties, maintenance and support obligations. The

firm shall be responsible for preparing and running all such tests.

Once the software has undergone preliminary tests on the successful firms hardware platform

conducted by the ICT department with the firms participation during the initial stage of theimplementation, the firm shall be responsible for the warranties, maintenance and support of

the software from the time of installation to the final acceptance of the entire system. If the

proposing firm is unable to meet this requirement, they are required to describe in detail a

reasonable alternative solution.

Proposing firms shall provide the following warranties for all proposed software

(including any development or customized software) provided as part of the solution:

The software and any developed applications (either stand alone or

customization of the base solution) must be covered by a warranty for at least

one year from the acceptance date of the system(s), during which period

maintenance and support will be provided at no additional cost.

Any software which is not covered by a warranty must be clearly indicated

and the reason for the exclusion must be explained.


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5 RFP Standard Information and Instructions

Relevant Dates

RFP Issued: April 10, 2014. Enquiry Deadline: April 30, 2014

Submission Deadline: May 16, 2014

Vendor Demonstration: May 26-30, 2014

Single Point of Contact

From the date of issue of this Request for Proposal (RFP) up to the date of the announcement of

the selected firm, firms shall be prohibited from communicating with any member of the LAAA

staff or officials regarding the subject of this RFP, except as may be expressly permitted by this

RFP. Any unauthorised contact by a Firm may disqualify it from further consideration. The

contact person for the LAAA for the purpose of this RFP shall be:

John Chong Sing

Information & Communications Technology Manager

Legal Aid and Advisory Authority

Email:[email protected]

Required Review and Queries

5.3.1 Review RFP. Firms should carefully review the instructions; mandatory

requirements and specifications set out in this RFP and promptly notify the contact person

identified in 3.1 above of any ambiguities, inconsistencies, unduly restrictive specifications, or

errors, which they may discover upon examination of this RFP. Any such notification should be

accompanied by a brief explanation together with any suggested amendment or modification,

where applicable. The notification must be received on or before April 30th

, 2014 (the Enquiry

Deadline Date). The LAAA shall have full discretion to decide on the merits of any

notification(s) received from Firms.

5.3.2 Form of Questions. Firms requiring clarification or interpretation of any section

of this RFP shall also address these questions in writing or by e-mail to the contact person above

mentioned on or before the Enquiry Deadline Date stated in paragraph 3.3.1 above. Each
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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question must provide clear reference to the section, page, and item in question. Questions

received after the Enquiry Deadline Date shall not be considered.

5.3.3 The LAAA Response. The LAAA shall provide all firms with an official written

response to all questions received on or before the Enquiry Deadline Date. Any clarifications,

agreed modifications or amendments to this RFP shall be communicated by the LAAA to all

firms. The LAAA response(s) shall be by formal written Bulletin to this RFP. The LAAA and

the bidding firms shall not be bound by any other form of interpretation, correction, or change to

this RFP. Bidding firms shall be required to sign and return an acknowledgment of any Bulletin

to this RFP issued by the LAAA.

5.3.4 Amendment of RFP by the LAAA. If it becomes necessary to revise or amend

any part of the RFP prior to the submission deadline, bulletins or addenda will be provided. No

verbal statement of any individual will in any manner modify or affect the terms and conditions

of the RFP package or any amendment hereto.


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6 Proposal Preparation and Submission

For this RFP, a single envelope system shall be used. Firms are required to submit their

Proposal in a single envelope outlining both their Technical and Financial Proposal.

Firms are asked to organize the format of their Proposals in the order set out below:

a. Cover L etter

There should be a cover letter dated and signed by a representative authorised to legally bind the

bidding firm. The authorised representative shall be treated as the contact person for all matters

pertaining to this RFP unless otherwise requested. The cover letter should state the number of

user licenses to be provided (Please see Section 2.1 above) and an overall cost summary,

including annual maintenance costs and the cost for additional user licenses. Additionally, thecover letter should state the Firms mailing address, email address, fax number and telephone

number.

b. Table of contents

The Proposal shall include a Table of Contents. Attachments should be numbered or referenced

separately.

c. Executi ve Summary

There should be a brief summary highlighting the proposed solution and its deployment in

Commonwealth jurisdictions, as well as the main reasons the firm should be selected by the

LAAA.

d. Fi rm Quali fi cations and Experi ence

The Proposal should include:

i. A brief description of the firms business or corporate profile including the company orbusiness name, its registered address, the number of years in business, the type of

operation (e.g. individual, partnership or company), no. of employees in each category of

staff (executive, professional, technical, administrative or other) and an organizational

chart.

ii. Provide a list of any outstanding or previous litigation in which the Firm is or has beeninvolved in the last five (5) years and which relates to services undertaken by the firm ofa similar type to those described in the Terms of Reference.


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Firms will nominate one person as the preferred contact person for their companyand all group members.

h. References:

Provide a list of at least three (3) legal case management system clients (over the past three (3)

years) that may be contacted by the LAAA for references. At a minimum, the Firm shall provide

the clients name; contact information, the location where the solution was deployed and an

indication of the type and scale of services performed for each client.

i. F inancial Proposal

The Financial Proposal must indicate the type of user licenses to be provided, whether by user

function, site licensing, per user or concurrently signed on users. Include the Firms proposedfixedrates quoted in Trinidad and Tobago currency. Firms must quote prices that are inclusive

and, in relation to Value Added Tax (VAT), must state where the VAT is applicable and shall

show that amount separately. Your financial proposal should follow the format of the table at the

start of Chapter 4 Requirements.

j. Appendix 1

Layout and Format of Proposals

Proposals must be in English, typed with a font size no smaller than 12 font and 8.5 x 11 inch

paper must be used, and any alterations initialled. Some reasonable allowance may be made for

proposals which include graphic presentations or which contain double space presentations.

Any documents appended to a Proposal shall be considered as binding on the Firm and may form

part of any contract issued by the LAAA with the Firm.


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Any proposal received shall also be the property of the LAAA and may not be returned to the

submitting Firm, except as permitted by this RFP.

The LAAA understands the need to keep commercial matters confidential in appropriate

circumstances, but reserves the right to disclose some or all of the contents of your Proposal if

required to do so by a law or in order that the LAAA or a relevant Minister may discharge their

duties and obligations to Parliament and the Government. Any condition in a Proposal that

purports to prohibit or restrict the right to make such disclosures cannot be accepted.

Period of Validity of Proposals

Financial and Technical Proposals must remain valid for a minimum of 120 days from the

submission deadline date to allow time for evaluation, selection, and any unforeseen delays.

Proposals, if accepted, shall remain valid for the life of the contract.

Modification and Withdrawal of Proposals

A Firm may not modify or withdraw its Proposal after submission of the Proposal.

Failure to Comply with Instructions

Firms who fail to comply with the instructions contained in this RFP may be subject to a lowered

evaluation. The LAAA may also choose to not evaluate, deem non-responsive, and/or disqualify

from further consideration any proposals that do not follow the requirements of this RFP, are

difficult to understand, are difficult to read, or are missing any requested information.

Non-responsive proposals include, but are not limited to, those that:

(a) Are irregular or not in conformance with RFP requirements and instructions.

(b) Are conditional, incomplete, indefinite or ambiguous.

(c) Are intended to accomplish only part of the overall work.

(d) Are not submitted on time or are submitted at any time via facsimile or e-mail.

The LAAA may waive minor informalities or irregularities in a proposal that are merely a matter

of form and not substance and the correction of which would not be prejudicial to other

proposals.


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Late Proposals

Regardless of cause, late proposals will not be accepted. It shall be the Firms sole responsibility

to assure delivery at the designated place and time. Late proposals will not be opened and may be

returned to the Firm at the expense of the Firm or destroyed.


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Ability to add, delete or modify data fields in allscreens by authorized users.

Matter deletion requires confirmation, auditing.

Deleted matters can be restored.

Pull-down lists for rolodex data.

Matter number assignment either automatic or

manual.

Matter number structure alpha/numeric

Matter lookup table by name, client, number,

attorney.

Ability to designate any fields as mandatory input.

Ability to keep matter captions history as matterprogresses.

Ability to define and keep general matter

information by division.

Ability to track different phases in the life of amatter.

Ability to document final disposition of the

matter.

Function Description Y/N Additional Notes


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Ability to send reminders, alerts to attorneys &staff of active and closed matters.

Budgeting

Cost tracking

Time tracking

Document Generation

Merge with Microsoft Word (boilerplatedocuments); office will provide master forms for

merging.

Add, delete, or modify data fields within themerge document by authorized users.

Merge several documents simultaneously.

Merge must allow users to enter information indocument during merge if information not

available in data field.

Auto-merge on pre-set dates.

Auto-merge on pre-set events.

Calendar/Tickler

Calendar appointments


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Transfer events & tasks from one user to another.

Calendar and reminder alerts popups and sent via

email.

Integration with Microsoft OutLookfull

bidirectional synchronization.

Matter Notes/Diary

Automatic time, date, user stamp.

Free form entry with no restrictions.

Automated diary entries for certain events.

Full text search

Ability to log personal events.

Timekeeping

Ability to designate timekeeper roles by matter.

Ability to designate different timekeeper roles by

event.


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Ability to transfer matters and events to othertimekeepers.

Reports

Matter expense tracking & reports.

Time tracking & reports.

Statute of limitation report.

Matter archive with reporting.

Document generation history report.

Custom report writer.

Query on any and all fields.

Matter export capabilities.

Email Interface

Microsoft OutLook

Ability to drag & drop received

documents/attachments directly to matter.



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Other Requirements

Security by user down to record or tab.

File room records management.

Supports Governmental Regulatory andAccounting Reporting Standards.

Download info to laptop with synchronization

capabilities.

PDA integration; bi-directional synchronization

capabilities.

Web interface.

legal case management system

Documents