System
Design
Solution Areas
Our view of the proposed system reveals five solution areas: Diagnosis,
Logistics, Strategy, Resolution, and Collaboration. This overview
summarizes the interaction of solutions within each area.
Every time SRLs enter or re-enter the court system,
they may have different needs or objectives. Each introduction or
reintroduction to the court system is an opportunity to meet several
goals:
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Evaluate
Provide SRLs with tools to identify their
legal problems and evaluate the cost and time of pursuing a
case. Help SRLs understand their objectives in the context of
what the court system can and cannot do. Evaluate a course of
action.
Prime
Prime the Access to Justice system to anticipate
and specialize its subsequent interactions with the SRL based
on a selected course of action and changing needs.
Feed Back
Gather intake information and provide the
court system with feedback on the needs of SRL’s, allowing
the improvement of programs and initiation of new partnerships.
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Once litigants choose to pursue trial or mediation, they will need
to clarify their objectives, organize their cases, and begin to
interact with the court system.
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Clarify
Learn while doing. Negotiating the legal
process is fraught with hidden pitfalls not apparent to the
novice SRL. Provide SRLs with explicit rationale and implications
of what they are doing. Educate and inform while SRLs learn
to maneuver within the system.
Organize
Provide transparent, smart and efficient
tools to improve system use without “getting in the way.”
Create a safety net for SRLs by keeping track of their evolving
cases. Prototypical samples and physical organizers use categorization
schemes, filters, and triage techniques to make the SRL aware
of “common” or “idealized” court practices.
TransAct
Create new ways of communicating with
the court, keeping records, and reducing TransAct ion costs
by minimizing the physical requirements of information exchange.
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Strategic planning is different from general education. These tools
help a self-represented litigant learn tactical solutions, build
a coherent and persuasive case and prepare for negotiation either
in trial or in mediation.
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Educate
Teach SRLs about the basics of good negotiation
and provide a foundation to minimize inequities between parties.
Solutions should help SRLs recognize that a multitude of outcomes
are possible and to begin setting the stage for good negotiation
practices. These tools should be engaging, personal and humane
as they impart experience to their users.
Build
Elicit and capture salient aspects
of a litigant’s story through progressive, iterative,
and interactive tools. Representation support tools, while
not attorney substitutes, are designed to aid SRLs in producing
a fair and coherent representation of their story, their needs
and their objectives. These tools should teach the SRL about
what the court deems to be important, thus better helping
them to represent themselves.
Cooperate
Provide incentives and tools for
parties in dispute to cooperate and settle their dispute without
having to go to trial.
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Supporting fair and balanced dispute resolution may require a wide
range of changes. These solutions support fair negotiation by stabilizing
emotions and using environmental changes and technology to balance
inequities between SRLs and parties who are more experienced or
who have representation.
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Support
Create litigant-centered environments
and provide customer assistance in an effort to support fair
outcomes before and after judgment. Provide customer service
tools that help litigants focus on the issues at hand by minimizing
the frustrations of navigating through the court.
Mediate
Provide an alternative means of dispute
resolution that minimizes the involvement of the court. Take
advantage of computation-supported tools that can be used
effectively and efficiently to juggle multiple issues. Provide
SRLs with a way to pursue resolution on their own.
Present
Support presentation and readiness
for trial. Equip the court with technologies that support
presentation. Seek alternative approaches to trial proceedings.
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The court should not be solely responsible for aiding SRLs. Creating
partnerships between the judicial system and external organizations
strengthens both the court’s role in the community and the
likelihood of aiding SRLs in need. A particular group of people
who have little recourse are SRLs who have lost judgments and have
difficulties meeting their payments. These solutions are networked
tools that strive to promote additional resources for SRLs when
the court, alone, cannot address their problems.
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Analyze
Gain insights from intake information
captured in Diagnosis to better plan and initiate programs
that match litigant usage and need.
Partner
Work with external organizations to create
incentives and mutual value in developing programs to assist
SRLs. Share insights and knowledge between court systems.
Expand programs to gain regional and statewide reach.
Deploy
Execute and monitor programs developed
in conjunction with external organizations. Address litigant
needs that the court cannot address alone.
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