Justice Goes Online

Snapshot

Organization Los Angeles County Civil Court System

Profile The nation's largest county court system

Headquarters Los Angeles, California

The Challenge Allow users to access court records from outside the county court offices

The Results Web Court system provides updated, easy-to-use, Web-based court information, from any computer running a Web browser

Information Builders Solution WebFOCUS

Mention the term "legal research," and it is all too easy to imagine classic Hollywood films that begin with a broad atmospheric camera shot depicting a huge law library with dark paneled walls. Then the camera focuses in on the hero, who is poring through stacks of thick legal volumes pulled from the shelves.

While the image is romantic, the reality is that although the American judicial system was founded on the idea of open access to public records, would-be crusaders hardly have the time to perform all the necessary legwork to discover the appropriate legal precedent.

In recent years, many of the nation's court systems have automated their records, allowing the user to log onto a terminal to identify appropriate cases. Los Angeles County, which operates the nation's largest county court system, maintains highly sophisticated automated case management systems.

Although L.A.'s online systems represented huge improvements over hard copy predecessors, one major bottleneck remained: users had to physically be in the county court offices to gain access to and retrieve information from the systems, while county employees often had to help these users retrieve hard copy outputs from legacy mainframe systems.

Origin of the Project

Access to civil court records is critical for both existing and prospective litigants. Members of the public or the legal community had to either travel to court facilities, write, or phone to obtain the information, while the court system staff had to spend time and effort retrieving and generating hard copy information that came from the system, microfiche, or hard copy archives.

As the nation's largest county, the process of responding to phone calls, faxes, and letters was straining court system staff resources, with up to several hundred clerks involved. In many cases, legal firms dispatched messengers to the court complex to speed up the process, battling notorious L.A. traffic in the process. In turn, tight budget allocations have forced the court to cut back phone and counter support. Clearly, a solution was necessary to clear the bottleneck and stretch available resources.

With the emergence of the Internet, the necessary skills and technology finally became available to provide unfettered access, without the hassle or legwork. There simply was no good reason to keep court records from going on the Web.

California's Newhall Municipal Court, a part of the Los Angeles County trial court system, worked cooperatively with a company called 4GL Solutions, which created and licensed Web Court, to provide automated access to case histories, plaintiff and defendant information, and court calendars via a site on the Internet. We believe Web Court is the first in a wave of publicly accessible Web sites that will provide access to active court information.

The court's existing system includes data on over one million civil cases filed since 1987, and consists of an HP 9000 UNIX-based Information Builders FOCUS database that is updated in real time by court clerks. Yet, prior to the Web, court system personnel needed to retrieve information from the online FOCUS-based court case system.

The state Judicial Council's emphasis over the past two years to expand public access provided the catalyst for Web Court. Initially, a FOCUS data warehouse on a Compaq Windows NT Server was created to pave the way for public online access. Adding a flexible front end that also resides on a Windows NT platform makes it possible to add clustered NT servers or move to UNIX as volume increases. WebFOCUS is used to generate HTML reports, which can be read on any Web browser allowing access by all users. Because WebFOCUS runs on either NT or UNIX, and thanks to its drill-down functionality, users can first review case summaries, then double-click to see the detailed court case records.

Web Court's Uniqueness

We do not know of any other city or county court system that currently provides such complete access to case information. Web Court has been providing complete information on all cases for the past decade. With Web Court, users first scan summaries to help them select which cases to study, then they can drill down to get more detail without having to make new queries for information.

Web Court is complete in that it provides information on every stage of the case, from filing to judgment. And as the system is updated daily, users always get up-to-date data. Web Court also provides ancillary information related to the case (such as the identities of the litigants), and provides court calendar information displaying which cases are scheduled in which court. These features are only the beginning; thanks to the Web's hyperlink capabilities, there is the potential to link with other court systems that might have information on cases that set relevant precedents.

What is truly original about Web Court is its implications for public information in general. Today, there are vast quantities of government information that public organizations store in transactional databases. Until now, this information has not been easily accessible. Just as the Global Positioning Satellites opened up a world of data that has benefited and created new industries, opening this world of transactional information could prove an extremely valuable tool in helping business communities more effectively leverage local skills bases and infrastructures to build stronger regional economies and tax bases.

The Future of Web Court

Newhall Court's Web Court system went live in October 1997 and is now being expanded to 17 other courts in the Los Angeles County system. Web Court has already proven itself in the Newhall unit, decreasing legwork while vastly improving public access. As Web Court's reach expands, the benefits are expected to grow exponentially. And as the public benefits from greater access, court units, too, will gain access to critical information originating outside their jurisdictions. Although this system itself does not reach across jurisdictional boundaries, the World Wide Web does.

In turn, legal community productivity improves markedly. Attorneys handling multiple cases in different jurisdictions can reduce or eliminate much of their travel or correspondence time. Thanks to the Web's ubiquitous reach and universal standards, these benefits are not restricted to the legal community. Access can be achieved at home, in libraries, municipal government kiosks, or any place within the reach of the Internet, on any computer running a standard Web browser.

Web Court came about as a result of innovative technology and the need to better utilize limited resources, and is further proof that the Internet provides a true win-win situation. It is the latest example of the "self-service customer" strategy that has grown enormously successful in private business. Since the emergence of the Internet, companies have learned that customers prefer taking control of the information process themselves. Given the choice between waiting on hold or getting the information instantly online, it is obvious what customers prefer. As a result, customers get better service, and maintain loyalty to the company while the company saves on labor costs. Web Court demonstrates that the same principle applies to government, and proves that public agencies can really do more with less.