Publications

Purpose: The Publications module allows an agency to easily select and send information to applicants and clients. Publications can be any PDF document, but are often handouts or 'fact sheets' such as "Representing Yourself in Small Claims Court".

Cost: The Publications module can be enabled for a one-time setup fee. Contact us for pricing.

Overview

Publications (PDF files) are uploaded to LegalServer and associated with legal problem codes and other attributes.

During intake, or after a case is open, users drag and drop available publications into a queue to be printed and mailed. Publications can also be emailed if that option is enabled.

The publications queue is periodically reviewed and a document is created and printed for some or all of the intakes and cases that have pending publications. The PDF file generated for printing can contain a cover letter for each case or intake, followed by all the publications queued for that intake or case, followed by a cover letter for the next intake or case, and so on.

Adding Publications to the Queue

The Publication Selection block can be placed on an intake form and/or an auxiliary form for use on cases. The block displays two boxes: one box lists "Available publications", the other lists "Publications to mail". You drag one or more publications from the Available box to the "Publications to mail" box to place them in a queue to be printed.

Administrators can enable an option to choose a cover letter for any publications sent. They can also enable an option to email the publications instead of having them added to the queue for printing.

There is also a Selected Publication List block that can be used on a form or the main profile page. The block displays a list of any publications that have been added to the queue for printing using the Publication Selection block. For each publication, you can see who added the publication, who printed it, and the print date (if any). The block also displays an "Edit these publications" link that will redisplay the Publication Selection block and allow adding or removing publications from the "Publications to mail" box.

Managing the Publications Queue

The publications queue is displayed via the Admin / Publications Queue link. That page displays a list of publications queued for printing and a Print History list.

Each matter in the queue has a checkbox, allowing publications to be printed for all, or only selected, matters. The list is filtered by the user's office by default. Each matter also has an Edit/Delete link that displays the publications selected and allows adding or removing publications for that matter.

Each 'run' of the queue listed on the Print History tab contains a View/Reprint link. That link displays the details of the run and allows the publications for individual matters to be reprinted or the entire packet to be reprinted.

Reporting on Publications

Agencies can report on the publications generated by title, date generated, Case ID, problem codes, and so on. In the Reports module, the top level data table is called Publications.

Administrative Setup

Uploading Publications

Publications are uploaded on the Admin / Documents page using the "Create New Publication" link.

Each publication can be marked as a "Common" publication, or associated with one or more Problem Codes and Related Problem Codes, and associated with one or more Languages.

Each publication's profile page also displays a Publication History section that is a list of all cases or intakes the publication has been used with.

Uploading Cover Letters (optional)

Administrators can enable the Cover Letter option in the Publications block, allowing users to select from a list of one or more cover letters to send with any selected publications.

Cover letters are uploaded on the Admin / Documents page using the "Create New Publication" link.

Select Yes for Template if the cover letter should use information from the intake or case to fill in template field markers. (See Document Templates - Creating and Editing for more information)

Select Yes for Cover Letter, then optionally select office(s) and problem codes(s). These relate to the Publications block option to "Calculate Cover Letter" based on the case's assigned office and problem code.