Required Functionalities

 Easy to use
 User friendly interface
 Amenable to further changes in data bases, scripts and interface
 User level access to data
 Security and data integrity

Interoperability

Final product must be operational on and compatible with the major Windows and Linux versions and distributions. All applications like but not limited to: web server, database engine, tools for executing, viewing and editing the PHP scripts and other components must comply with the requirement for compatibility and be distributed under appropriate open source software license scheme.

File Formats

 Database files: standard database files, allowing for conversion, import and export of data. Specifically the database must provide for import of the historical PDO database which is in Microsoft Access *.mdb file format.

 HTML files: standard HTML files, interpretable in the major browsers (Internet Explorer, Nescape, Opera).

 PHP files: standard PHP instructions.

Backup functionality

Functionality for regular manual or automatic backups of data.

Reminder

Functionality for user notification of forthcoming registered events such as hearings, client meetings, staff meetings, deadlines etc.

Database content

The central focal point of the whole database must be the table with cases. Every other bit of information must be directly or indirectly linked to a particular case. The structure of relationships is up to the vendor but the final product must meet the requirements for queries and reports.

Case

 ID - chronological number
 ID - unique identifier according to court archival rules
 PDO ID (for case there are more than one PDOs
 Date of filing the case into the system
 Date of assigning the case to lawyer

Case development

 Date and time of appointed hearings
 Suspensions
 Delays

Activities related to the case

 Type of legal work
 Number of hours billed
 Date of billing

Case end

 Date of sentence
 Type of end
 Type of punishment
 Amount of punishment
 Date of agreement with prosecutions

Appellation

 Is the court’s act appealed
 Instances
 Results

Lawyers

 ID
 First Name
 Middle Name
 Last Name
 Date of Employment
 Phone number
 Cell phone
 E-mail
 Address

External lawyers

 ID
 First Name
 Middle Name
 Last Name
 Date of Employment
 Phone number
 Cell phone
 E-mail
 Address

Client

 ID
 First Name
 Middle Name
 Last Name
 Phone number
 Cell phone
 E-mail
 Address
 Marital status
 Income

Administrative

 Correspondence related to the case
 Business trips related to the case

Types of Queries and reports

Lawyers

 How many cases particular lawyer had been assigned for various periods of time;
 What and how many activities particular lawyer worked on a single or groups of cases;
 Descriptive statistics (means, number, frequencies) of the type of legal activities performed by lawyer/s
 How many hours particular lawyer had spent on the various type of legal activities.
 Descriptive statistics (means, number, frequencies) of the type of legal activities performed on type of case/s.
 Relationship between lawyer and types of ending of the case

Cases

 Total number of cases for the PDO or by lawyer for any given period of time.
 Distribution of types of case ends.
 Cross-tabs of types of case ends and type of crime.

On-demand queries and templates

 Functionality for interactive building of queries and reports based on the available data and links therein.