Conflict of Interest Module

SQL*Partner's Conflict of Interest Module provides the means by which any authorized member of the Firm can quickly and accurately determine the existence of a potential conflict of interest with respect to a new client or matter. In addition, the Conflicts Module provides a valuable tool for storing and retrieving any number of entities and their interrelationships which might be of interest to the Firm including cross-reference of clients, matters and related parties.

The Conflict of Interest Module uses an enhanced, efficient database access method to provide amazingly quick response time and data accuracy. The Conflicts Module may be accessed from any terminal by any authorized user. It employs the same excellent user/system interface found in other WSI software. Ad-hoc search results may be displayed on the terminal or optionally printed.

Some of the key features of the Conflicts Module include:

Time & Billing Integration

SQL*Partner's Conflicts Module may be integrated with the Time & Billing Module, or it may run stand-alone. When integrated, client, matter, and other user-selected fields are automatically available for conflict checking. In addition, options are provided for Firm defined restrictions for entering and entering time for clients and matters based on whether the entities have passed formal conflict searches.

The options for restricting time entry include:

  • Entering time is not allowed
  • Entering time is allowed, but cannot appear on prebills
  • Time can be entered and appear on prebills, but may not be billed
  • All time entry is allowed

The majority of the data maintained within the Conflict of Interest module originates outside, and does not directly pertain to the Time & Billing Module. Entities such as adversaries, co-plaintiffs, third-party defendants, and witnesses, as well as entities related to affiliates, such as officers, employers, partners, directors etc., should be recorded directly into the Conflict of Interest Module. However, if the Firm desires, the client/matter names, billing, originating and responsible attorneys from the Time & Billing database may be automatically loaded into the Conflict database.

User-Defined Related Parties

The Firm can define an unlimited number of related party codes. Any number of related parties may be associated with a client/matter. The description for related parties may be of any length, including free-form notes.

Since the Firm defines the relation codes (categorizing the nature of relationships), they are not restricted to a pre-defined scheme. For example, the Firm may wish to establish a number of corporate relationship codes, such as Parent, Subsidiary, Affiliate, Corporate Shareholder, or other relationship codes, such as Adversary, Witness, Co-defendant, Partner, Relative, Juror, and etc. The Firm may create additional codes as needed.

The Firm assigns each relation a report sequence hierarchy for ranking the importance of a relationship. Relations may be defined as indexed or non-indexed. For example, client notes or nature of matter may be coded as non-indexed in which case all words used in conjunction with that relationship will not be indexed for search. Relations coded as indexed will have all words associated with that relation (except those in the non-index word list (a, an, of) added to the search index.

Various data items, together with their relationships, as indicated above, are entered into the system once. These entries, associated with an existing client, potential client or new matter, will be input and automatically marked as "pending conflict review". When the conflict check is complete, and the new client/matter has passed the conflict check, the data will become a permanent part of the database. The Firm has the option to retain the data client/matter which has been rejected.

To further define relationships, it is possible to maintain parties which are related to entities other than client and/or matter. For example, a subsidiary corporation may be listed as a relationship to a matter. Under the subsidiary corporation, members of the Board of Directors may be listed related to the subsidiary corporation. When potential conflicts are located at the second level, the entire set of relationships is displayed and reported.

User-Defined Synonyms

Synonyms may be established to provide the system with word alternates. For example, Jim and Jimmy are nicknames for James. When the system encounters a search request for "Jim", it will locate entries with "James" and "Jimmy" as potential conflicts.

User-Defined Non-Indexed Words

The system allows the Firm to define a list of words which should typically not be searched, frequently called "stop words" or non-indexed (such as the, of, company, etc.). Given the entry: "The John Patrick Davis Company", the system examines the entry to determine which words are not to be searched. The system will search for and display (or print) hits for John, Patrick and Davis. "The" and "company" will not produce any hits.

Formal Conflict Search

The formal conflict search is conducted on a matter basis. Each indexed relation for the matter is compared against the existing conflict database for potential "hits", or instances where the data appears to match, alphabetically or phonetically. Any "hits" found are displayed for user review. The user may display each match, then either code it as an obvious "no problem" or assign it to a timekeeper for review. Once all the hits have been either marked as "no problem" or assigned to a timekeeper, a formal conflicts report is run. The report lists all the hits and assigns each a conflict number. The formal conflict report is sent to the appropriate reviewers for resolution.

As the resolutions are returned, each conflict/hit is assigned a user-defined resolution code, i.e. "no conflict" or "waiver letter" or "conflict exists". The date, user recording the data, timekeeper authorizing the resolution, and other pertinent data are recorded permanently in the record. Annotative notes regarding the matters and conflict resolutions may be added.

Ad Hoc Query

An Ad Hoc query allows the user to make a preliminary search of the database for key words. The Ad Hoc Query searches the database and displays the hits found on the screen in a matter of seconds. The user has the option to view more detail on-line, and/or print detail for individual matches.

Ad Hoc Query can be used to quickly rule out many potential conflicts before valuable time is spent on an unacceptable matter. However, the Ad Hoc is not recorded in history or audit trail, nor does it affect time entry capabilities.

On-line (ad-hoc, informal) queries may be made from any terminal within the hardware configuration provided the user is authorized to use the conflict system.

History and Auditing

The Conflicts Module maintains an audit trail of search results (other than ad hoc searches). That is, when a formal conflict search is performed, the system records:

  • The person giving authority to perform the search
  • The user performing the search
  • The date and time of the search
  • The client, potential client and/or matter
  • Each item found in the search
  • Disposition of each item
  • Optional notes

An important aspect of the Conflict of Interest Module is auditability. The system is capable of reporting the search results, as they were at a specific point in time, at a subsequent time,; perhaps long after the original search was performed. This historical reproduction of the database at the time the original search was requested allows thorough review of the conflict procedures, as well as resolution of questions regarding the results of previous searches.

Efficiency and High Performance

The Conflict of Interest Module provides numerous features to facilitate data entry. For example, in fields where pre-defined codes are required, the user may display a window of allowable codes from which to choose. As another example, where the authorizing timekeeper is required, entry of a few characters will identify the authorizer's name, without need of typing the full name.

The system provides fast results to encourage use. Upon entry of search criteria, search matches are displayed immediately in a window for user selection. Further refinement of selections, to assist the user in narrowing down the search target, is expedited by the system.

Sophisticated Search Algorithms

A sophisticated set of algorithms was developed to provide rapid search and retrieval. Character and phonetic search capabilities, and weighted search methods allow for possible mis-spelled words. Options, such as restricting the use of vowel compression (for a narrower search), allowing phonetic searching (to broaden a search), and several other critical aspects of searching may be easily customized to allow the Firm to produce a hit list as broad or as narrow as the Firm deems appropriate.

More Info..

Other modules in the Practice Management Series include:

When used in conjunction with the The Financial Management Series, The Practice Management Series forms a complete information processing system for law firms of all sizes and types of practice.

 

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