Re-Cap of Evaluating Conflicts Software

We will be adding this as a resource to our website in the future, but for now here's a re-cap of all our considerations for evaluating Conflicts Software:

1.     Procedure & Technology Survey

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?"

b.     Determine which format of conflicts software is right for your firm:

                                               i.     Legal Practice Management

                                              ii.     Stand Alone

                                            iii.     Spreadsheet

                                            iv.     Word Processing

c.      Create a list of questions for your software vendors:

                                               i.     What type of platform is needed?

                                              ii.     Tell me about upgrades:

1.     Frequency?

2.     Required?

3.     Additional Cost?

2.     Inputs & Outputs

a.     Consider what type and where information is coming from as it goes into your conflicts system.

b.     Consider what type and where information is going to as it leaves your conflicts system.

c.      Consider WHO is on the giving and receiving ends of your conflicts system, and what preferences they may have.

d.     Scanning questions:

                                               i.     Pleadings naming multiple opposing counsel & firm titles into the database?

                                              ii.     Able to scan (and store) Conflicts of Interest documents:

1.     Waiver Letters

2.     Engagement Letters

3.     Declined Representation Letters

e.     Questions about Reports:

                                               i.     What varieties of reports are available?

                                              ii.     Can they be customized?

1.     Self customized?

2.     Required additional consulting?

3.     Competency Requirements

a.     What level of competency is required?

                                               i.     Will we need to understand programming or anything technical?

b.     In what timeframe can we expect to be trained and ready to work?

                                               i.     Learning curve after training?

c.      How frequently will we require education?

                                               i.     Required or available upgrade training?

d.     Are there seminars?

e.     Is the education virtual, or is classroom attendance required?

                                               i.     Do we need to budget for travel arrangements?

f.      CLE credits available for attending training?

                                               i.     If yes – this increases the value of the training.

4.     Integration Questions

a.     How does it interact with our inputs/outputs (if looking at a stand-alone product).

b.     Does it integrate with research engine databases and 3^rd party sources that the firm uses?

                                               i.     D&B

                                              ii.     Westlaw

                                            iii.     LexisNexis

                                            iv.     Capital IQ

                                              v.     Bureau van Dijk

c.      Does it integrate with with OFAC?

                                               i.     US Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control

d.     Does it provide global conversion of existing data?

e.     How long will it take to convert our data?

5.     Intake Forms & Conflicts-Centric needs

a.     Is your intake form online or does it need to be fed manually?

b.     Can we revise our own intake forms?

                                               i.     If not, will there be consulting fees to make revisions?

c.      Are ethics walls stored?

d.     Are Conflict of Interest Waiver Letters stored?

e.     Do you have a thesaurus feature?

f.      Can we add aliases?

                                               i.     How many? (optimal answer: unlimited)

g.     Do you have soundex or phonetic searches?

h.     Can we manually select/deselect content before publishing the report?

Again - this list was pulled from Sandra Roberts' book: "Creating Conflicts of Interest Procedures for Protecting You and Your Firm from Malpractice" - with a few additions of our own. If you're interested we found our copy on Amazon.

Cori Blackburn

cori.blackburn@rioncorp.com
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Evaluating Conflicts Software - Part 3

Another important piece to consider when exploring software options for your conflicts checks is how it interacts with the systems, components, and people around it. This means you'll need to consider what information needs to go in, and what information needs to come out. You'll also need to think about where the inbound information is coming from and what format it comes in - as well as the outbound information and where it's going to, and what format it needs to be in to be useful.

Also, you'll want to take into account who is on the input side, and who is on the output side. Data input can make or break some firms' conflicts systems (garbage in, garbage out), and the reports that come out must be accurate and concise.

Ms. Roberts' book outlines some good questions to ask your vendor about scanning (input) and reports (output):

Scanning:

• Are we able to scan in pleadings naming multiple opposing counsel and their firm's titles into the conflicts database?
• Can we scan Conflicts of Interest documents such as:
• Waiver Letters?
• Engagement Letters?
• Declined Representation Letters?

Reports:

• What variety of reports are available?
• Can reports be customized?
• Can we customize them, or will custom reports require additional consulting fees?

Again, these questions are from Sandra Roberts' book "Creating Conflicts of Interest Procedures for Protecting You and Your Firm from Malpractice" (Amazon).

Cori Blackburn

cori.blackburn@rioncorp.com
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn