Evaluating Conflicts Software - Part 2

Survey & Technical Requirements

Ms. Roberts' book outlines several checkpoints about evaluating conflicts software programs, today we're going to focus on looking at your firm's internal landscape as well as good technical questions for your software vendors that might impact your decision.

Procedure & Technology Survey:
You'll want to take a look at the conflicts procedure from start to finish with a question in the back of your head: "Is this the best use of our resources?"

You'll also want to determine which format of conflicts software is right for your firm:

• Legal Practice Management
• Stand Alone Conflicts Software
• Spreadsheet
• Word Processing

Once you've got a good survey of your process, procedures, and software; you can determine your goals for upgrading or replacing as needed.

During this process you'll want to create a list of questions for your software vendors as they pop into your head.

A few good technical questions to ask are:

• What type of platform is required for the software to work smoothly?
• Tell me about upgrades:
• Frequency?
• Are they required?
• Is there additional cost?

Again, these points are part of the book "Creating Conflicts of Interest Procedures for Protecting You and Your Firm from Malpractice" written by Sandra Roberts (Amazon).

We welcome your feedback, especially if you have ideas about questions to ask your software vendors!


Cori Blackburn
RION Corp.
cori.blackburn@rioncorp.com