MyCase Client Portal

Today the Jeff Parker Law Firm announces the introduction of a new and sophisticated communication tool for our clients called MyCase. Our clients will now have 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week secure and protected access to the attorneys and staff of our law firm as well as access to the details of their legal matter through what is known as a “client portal.”  MyCase enables a secure and encrypted link to be made directly between our client management software system and our clients.

This new feature, provided at no cost to our clients, has many exciting and useful features which will ensure that none of clients will ever have to wonder what is going on with their case. With MyCase, our clients will always know what is going on and what is going to happen next.

MyCase does this by giving each of our clients a separate, private and secure website where we can share the calendars, documents, and billing details of each case with each client. Additionally, every item uploaded by our staff and by our clients into MyCase has a comment stream associated with it. Both the attorney and the client can use the comment stream to give status updates and leave comments. When that happens, real-time notifications are sent to all relevant parties, thus ensuring that everyone is kept up-to-speed about what is going on with each case and thereby guaranteeing that our clients are always aware of the progress of their case.

Furthermore, MyCase is the most secure way to protect attorney-client communication. Recent case-law has held that the attorney-client privilege may be waived if a client uses an unsecure method of communication. This could include not only emailing an attorney using a person’s work computer or a shared computer which anyone else has access to, but it could even include calling an attorney on an employer’s telephone or with any other unsecured telephone. Additionally, cell phone communications have been intercepted in the past, and therefore the privilege could be waived by something as simple as using a cell phone to discuss privileged information with an attorney.

In order to avoid any potential problems, we have begun using the MyCase client portal to guarantee privacy with all communications between ourselves and our clients. MyCase, in addition to providing our clients with access to relevant court dates and documents in real-time, allows our clients to communicate directly with us in a safe and secure manner–thus ensuring protection of the attorney-client privilege. Our clients can send us secure messages and upload protected documents to us directly from within the MyCase portal, thereby eliminating the danger and risks associated with sending sensitive and privileged information through unsecure email addresses across the Internet.

Additionally, all information stored in the MyCase system is transmitted using the same 128-bit SSL encryption used by health-care providers, banks and other financial institutions. The information is then stored on the Amazon S3 system using 256-bit AES encryption. S3 storage systems are distributed throughout the country in nondescript facilities which are protected by military grade perimeters where physical access to the hardware is strictly controlled by two-factor authentication and 24-hour security escorts (additional information regarding these security precautions is available here).

Finally, each and every document stored in our MyCase system is encrypted using a new and unique encryption key for each individual document, thus providing an additional layer of security. In other words, no unauthorized persons can get to our client data, and even the ones with physical access can’t do anything with it because it is encrypted beyond their ability to view it.

Unlike with many law firms, our clients do not sit around wondering what is going on with their case, they know! To use our MyCase portal, and have 24/7 access to all of the important details of your case any time you desire along with protected and private communication with us, we must first create a new private portal for you. So, the first step in getting access to MyCase on our system is to notify us that you want access.

This is achieved by providing us with your email address, as your email address will function as your user name on the system. Once we have confirmed the validity of the email address, and that you are the person requesting access to your own matter, an account will then be created. Once that is completed, a confirmation email will automatically be sent to you, providing you with instructions for completing the sign-up process.

The confirmation email will look like this:

Once you click the link to activate your account, a webpage will open allowing you to choose a password. It will look like this:

After choosing a password, you will then be asked to confirm your address:

After updating your address, you will be taken to your new client homepage:

From the homepage, you can access your calendar events, upload and download documents related to your case, send and read secure communications between us and yourself, and access billing information, if any. If you owe an outstanding balance, you can view that information here and even make payments online!

When a new event, document or comment is added to your case, you will receive an email notifying you that something has been added to your case. The email will look like this:

You will notice that none of the confidential details of the event, document or comments are sent using an unsecure email. The email simply notifies you that you need to log in and access the new information using the secure, encrypted client portal.

Once you log back in, the event appears under your calendar page like this:

Once you view the calendar entry, you can review details of the event – including whether your appearance at the event is required or not!

Additionally, the system is designed to send you an email reminder (and you can choose when and how often you want those reminders, as well). An email reminder for an event you will be required to attend will look like this:

I have added the red box to show you where to look for attendance requirements. If you are not required to attend, the email reminder will look like this:

Should you have any questions about the MyCase portal, please do not hesitate to ask.

You can access the portal directly by going to https://jeffparker.mycaseinc.com or by clicking the MyCase logo on the top right of any page on our website.

Client Portal

Our clients have 24/7 secure and protected access to us and to the details of their legal matter using MyCase, a private and secure client portal which creates an encrypted link between our client management system and our clients.

MyCase gives each of our clients a separate, private and secure website where we can share the calendars, documents, and billing details of each case with each client. Additionally, every item uploaded by our staff and by our clients into MyCase has a comment stream associated with it. Both the attorney and the client can use the comment stream to give status updates and leave comments. When that happens, real-time notifications are sent to all relevant parties, thus ensuring that everyone is kept up-to-speed about what is going on with each case and thereby guaranteeing that our clients are always aware of the progress of their case.

Furthermore, MyCase is the most secure way to protect attorney-client communication. Recent case-law has held that the attorney-client privilege may be waived if a client uses an insecure method of communication. This could include not only emailing an attorney using a person’s work computer or a shared computer which anyone else has access to, but it could even include calling an attorney on an employer’s telephone or with any other unsecured telephone. Additionally, cell phone communications have been intercepted in the past, and therefore the privilege could be waived by something as simple as using a cell phone to discuss privileged information with an attorney.

In order to avoid any potential problems, we have begun using the MyCase client portal to guarantee privacy with all communications between ourselves and our clients. MyCase, in addition to providing our clients with access to relevant court dates and documents in real-time, allows our clients to communicate directly with us in a safe and secure manner–thus ensuring protection of the attorney-client privilege. Our clients can send us secure messages and upload protected documents to us directly from within the MyCase portal, thereby eliminating the danger and risks associated with sending sensitive and privileged information through unsecure email addresses across the Internet.

Additionally, all information stored in the MyCase system is transmitted using the same 128-bit SSL encryption used by health-care providers, banks and other financial institutions. The information is then stored on the Amazon S3 system using 256-bit AES encryption.  S3 storage systems are distributed throughout the country in nondescript facilities which are protected by military grade perimeters where physical access to the hardware is strictly controlled by two-factor authentication and 24-hour security escorts (additional information regarding these security precautions is available here).

Finally, each and every document stored in our MyCase system is encrypted using a new and unique encryption key for each individual document, thus providing an additional layer of security. In other words, no unauthorized persons can get to our client data, and even the ones with physical access can’t do anything with it because it is encrypted beyond their ability to view it.

Our clients do not sit around wondering what is going on with their case, they know!  To use our MyCase portal, and have 24/7 access to all of the important details of your case any time you desire along with protected and private communication with us, we must first create a new private portal for you. So, the first step in getting access to MyCase on our system is to notify us that you want access.

This is achieved by providing us with your email address, as your email address will function as your user name on the system. Once we have confirmed the validity of the email address, and that you are the person requesting access to your own matter, an account will then be created. Once that is completed, a confirmation email will automatically be sent to you, providing you with instructions for completing the sign-up process.

The confirmation email will look like this:

Once you click the link to activate your account, a webpage will open allowing you to choose a password.  It will look like this:

After choosing a password, you will then be asked to confirm your address:

.

After updating your address, you will be taken to your new client homepage:

From the homepage, you can access your calendar events, upload and download documents related to your case, send and read secure communications between us and yourself, and access billing information, if any.  If you owe an outstanding balance, you can view that information here and even make payments online!

When a new event, document or comment is added to your case, you will receive an email notifying you that something has been added to your case.  The email will look like this:

You will notice that none of the details of the event, document or comments are sent using an insecure email. The email simply notifies you that you need to log in and access the new information using the secure, encrypted client portal.

Once you log back in, the event appears under your calendar page like this:

Once you view the calendar entry, you can review details of the event – including whether your appearance at the event is required or not!

Additionally, the system is designed to send you an email reminder (and you can choose when and how often you want those reminders, as well).  An email reminder for an event you will be required to attend will look like this:

I have added the red box to show you where to look for attendance requirements.  If you are not required to attend, the email reminder will look like this:

Should you have any questions about the MyCase portal, please do not hesitate to ask.

Federal Courts to Require PDF/A Filings

The Administrative Office of the United States Courts is changing the technical standards associated with CM/ECF filings. The reason for the change is to ensure that, in the future, we will still be able to view electronically filed documents as they were originally filed.

Normally, Adobe Acrobat saves a document without including the font as part of the file (it just assumes that everyone else will have the same fonts already installed on their computers, thus keeping the file size smaller). The problem, though, occurs when someone does not have a particular font installed. In that situation, the PDF viewer program has to substitute another font which the user does have installed in place of the missing font. The result, though, is that the viewer is not seeing the document as it was meant to be viewed.

The solution to the problem is to save your PDF files with the font (or fonts) which you used to create them. That way, future viewers of the document will be able to see the document the way you intended it to be seen.

The way to do this is to save the PDF documents with the PDF/A settings. PDF/A stands for “PDF for Archiving.” It is a standard format which is meant for long-term archiving of documents. I believe that all law firms should already be saving their files this way, just to future-proof their paperless office systems.  Who knows what types of computers and operating systems and software we will be using next year, much less decades from now.  Wouldn’t it be nice to still be able to view your saved documents quickly and easily?

Also, when a person later opens a PDF/A file, that format will limits what a viewer can do with it. The reason is because the document is being viewed in “archive mode.” Think of that as a hands-off, final form view of the document. For lawyers, think of it as a kind of as a type of document which has been “file-marked” (it isn’t literally file marked, I just mean that the document is the type of document which can no longer be changed). A user can, of course, go back into Word or WordPerfect and create a new version with whatever changes need to be made and then save it again as a new PDF/A document; but, a PDF/A version of a document cannot be changed itself.

I do realize that most attorneys already think of PDF documents that way, so this shouldn’t be that difficult of a mental change. We usually don’t create the PDF version of a document until we are done editing, and then the document is ready to be filed or sent to someone. However, for other users, they are aware that it is possible to open a PDF document and add comments and make changes even after it was created. PDF/A stops that, though.

So, how do you create a PDF/A document with Adobe Acrobat? If, like me, you “print” to the Adobe Acrobat print driver in Windows, simply click “Printer Properties” in whatever program you are “printing” from, and in the Default Settings box, choose “PDF/A-1b:2005 (RGB).” You can go to the Control Panel, under “Devices and Printers,” right-click on the “Adobe PDF” printer, and change the printing preferences to default to “PDF/A-1b:2005 (RGB).”

For more information, here is a blog entry on Adobe’s own website which contains more background information and links to other ideas about this topic.

Federal CJA Compensation Rates

Since I have not posted an updated table since the last increase, I thought I would simply link to PDF file that summarizes everything in an easy-to-read form.  Click this link to download the current and historical rates.

More information, and fill-in-the-blank forms, can be found on the Office of Defender Services Training Branch’s website.

New Policy on Court Costs with Felony Cases

Just like the County Courts, the District Courts of Bell County are now requesting that defendants have all of their court costs available at the time of the sentencing hearing.  Here is the memo signed by the criminal court judges which explains the policy in detail.

As stated therein, this policy applies to all defendants, whether in jail or out on bond.  Obviously, though, if the defendant is indigent and serving a term in prison, then that defendant may not have to pay court costs on the date of sentencing.  Whether such a defendant must pay has to be determined on a case-by-case basis, and a qualified criminal defense attorney should be consulted.

If, on the other hand, a defendant is being granted a term of community supervision (probation), then that defendant will very likely need to have his or her court costs available on the day the defendant is given probation.  If a defendant cannot even come up with the court costs on the day they are asking the judge to put them on probation, what chance does that defendant have of successfully completing the entire term of probation with all of the other fees and costs associated with it?  With that in mind, I am confident that a judge would think twice before agreeing to put someone on probation who starts off so poorly.

If, despite a defendant’s best efforts, a defendant cannot come up with all of his or her court costs, then the judge may be able to postpone the payment of court costs for up to thirty days.  The defendant’s attorney can make that request for the defendant.