Legal Paperless System

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

The County of San Diego Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) developed the Legal Paperless System (LPS) to eliminate paper litigation files child support attorneys had traditionally used in approximately 17,000 court hearings each year. The system, implemented in January 2013, has reduced the staff time and supply costs associated with working with paper files. It has also increased the efficiency of child support staff in the court hearing process, which has reduced the wait time for residents in court. A little more than a year after LPS was introduced, 94.3 percent of San Diego DCSS case files are paperless. San Diego’s LPS is the first child support paperless application in the State to fully integrate the court’s calendaring system, the Department’s hearing management system, and child support case databases. Creating LPS required innovative solutions to automate a workflow process that had traditionally relied on paper-heavy processes and multiple computer systems. Moreover, moving an entirely paperless process into the courtroom required a well-designed graphical user interface that allowed DCSS attorneys to rapidly navigate the complexities of a case electronically, using both PCs and mobile devices (tablets).