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 7

For our last publication for the Evaluating Conflicts Software series, we'll address all the other "miscellaneous" questions that we should raise to insure we have a thorough understanding of the offerings from our software & services vendors.

Here's our last list of questions for this series:

• How do you differentiate yourself from the other conflicts softwares on the market?
• Do your users have a group?
• Online?
• In person?
• Time Zone: You'll want to consider if they will be available during your firm's business hours.
• Where is your company located?
• Where is your support located?
• What level of support is provided?
• Emails?
• Phone calls?
• In Person?
• Are we able to override or disable standard features?
• Can we please have a demonstration of your product?
• Are we able to test it during a trial to determine if it is a good fit for us?
• How long do we have?
• Is your organization woman or minority owned?
• Check to see if they will be able to meet your deadlines of when you expect to have the new conflicts software installed, integrated, and everyone trained.

Most of 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

Evaluating Conflicts Software - Part 6

Today's publication is centered around Intake Forms & Conflicts-centric needs in evaluating conflicts checking software. A conflicts checking software program that takes the time to address our concerns about intake forms and items that make our jobs easier is one worth considering very seriously. A conflicts module out of a practice management suite may have a hard time competing with a stand-alone in this area.

Here are some very specific questions to ask your software vendors:

• Is your intake form online or does it need to be fed manually?
• Can we revise our own intake forms?
• If not, do we need to pay for consulting so you can customize our forms for us?
• Are ethics walls stored?
• Are Conflict of Interest Waiver Letters stored?
• Do you have a thesaurus feature?
• Can we add aliases?
• How many? (you're looking for unlimited)
• Do you have soundex or phonetic search capabilities?
• Is there a field for comments?
• Can we manually select/deselect content before publishing the report?  

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


Are there other conflicts-centric needs that aren't addressed on this list?

Cori Blackburn

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

Evaluating Conflicts Software - Part 5

In week 2 of our series we briefly discussed inputs and outputs for conflicts checking software programs - today we'll get a little deeper on the topic of integration.

Integration is one of the key drivers of cost when switching over to a new system as it generally requires consulting services from the software vendor as well as downtime for your conflicts department. This could cause a back-log, and it's important to understand how that's going to impact the firm.

Again, you also want to select a program that is as open ended on the front and back end to insure that your inputs and outputs will meet the needs of the firm. In week 2 of our series, we discussed taking a survey of your existing landscape - and this is where that list of existing software programs that are on the input and output sides of your conflicts software will come in handy.

Here are some good questions for your software vendors about integration, again we've borrowed some from Sandra Roberts and added a few of our own:

• (If it's a stand-alone product): How does it interact with our list of inputs and outputs?
• Does it integrate with research engine databases and 3rd party sources that the firm uses?
• Dun & Bradstreet
• Westlaw
• LexisNexis
• Capital IQ
• Bureau van Dijk
• Does it integrate with OFAC?
• US Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control
• Does it provide global conversion of existing data?
• How long will it take to convert?

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

Evaluating Conflicts Software - Part 4

Competency & Education is something RION Corp. is very focused on for the conflicts of interest community - especially since we're working to develop an agreeable standard with our C.A.S.E. initiative. It is of ultimate importance that conflicts checks are completed with the highest possible accuracy, and at least half of that relies on human comprehension since the existing processes are so cumbersome and manual. There's lots of room for mistakes.

We've been exploring the software evaluation checklist in Ms. Roberts' book the past few weeks, and she has some good ideas for questions to ask your vendors about requirements around competency, education, and training - we've added a few of our own:

• What level of competency is required?
• Will we need to understand programming or anything technical?
• In what timeframe can we expect to be trained and ready to work?
• Is there a particular learning curve after training?
• How frequently will we require education?
• Is there required training when we have to upgrade?
• Are there seminars?
• The education virtual, or is classroom attendance required?
• This is important to understand if travel expenses should be included in your budget.
• Are there any Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits available for attending training?
• If yes, this increases the value of the training.

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

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

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