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1988-06-07
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CASELOAD SUMMARY PROGRAM FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION
=================================================
CASELOAD Demo Version 5.6/D
06/04/88
Copyright (c) 1987, 1988 Jerry Frost, FrostByte Company.
All Rights Reserved.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This program is provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or
implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose.
Caseload 5.6/D MAY be shared, copied or placed on electronic Bulletin
Boards. This is a fully operational demo version and allows you to create
10 records for evaluation purposes.
All rights to Caseload 5.6/D remain with FrostByte Company.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
PURPOSE:
CASELOAD is a program designed to run on any IBM personal or
compatible computer with a minimum 384K memory. CASELOAD will allow a
practicing attorney or law firm with up to nine attorneys to have
immediate and current status reports of his/her individual caseloads by
selecting the many report options available.
These reports include the ability to choose information by:
MASTER CASE CAPTIONS
CLIENT
COURT & COUNTY
DATE FILED
DATE ANSWERED
DISCOVERY DEADLINE
DATE OF TRIAL/HEARING
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS DEADLINE
The advantage of CASELOAD will become apparent when you have all
pertinent information about your pending caseload in a neatly
arranged report form.
Active display screens and appropriate menus make CASELOAD a
fast, user friendly program your legal secretary can start using
immediately with little or no training.
CASELOAD provides an indexed database that permits quick case
searches, additions, editing and deletion with file utilities and
backup options.
HOW TO GET STARTED:
To install version 5.6/D of CASELOAD:
1) Delete all earlier versions of CASELOAD DEMO programs and
associated files from your hard or floppy disk.
2) Copy your new version of CASE56D.EXE to your hard disk or floppy
system using your DOS COPY command.
3) To run CASELOAD, type CASE56D at the DOS prompt.
(NOTE) Due to the memory requirements of CASELOAD, it is possible you
might incur an "OUT OF MEMORY" message. If this message is displayed, first
check to see that all TRS (terminal resident software), e.g., SideKick,
TurboLightning is disabled and attempt to run CASE56D.EXE again. If CASE56D
will not load, you will need to upgrade your system memory to at least 384K
with 640K preferred. Consult your computer dealer for this service.
After pressing the RETURN key, the program will be loaded and the
software title screen will appear displaying the program name and normal
copyright legaleze. To by-pass this screen, simply press the RETURN key.
The next display prompts you to enter the current (today's) date. If
your computer is equipped with a battery powered clock/calendar the proper
date should be displayed and you may press the RETURN key to continue. If
the date shown is NOT the current date, it is important for you to enter
the correct date in the format shown. If you forget to enter the date, it
can always be re-entered or altered within the program.
If you are running CASELOAD for the first time, you will be asked
for the disk drive where you would like the data files stored. If you
have a two floppy disk drive system, it is common to store these files on
drive B:. In this case you would type in 'B'. Hard disk users may select
drives C to H.
Once you have selected a drive designator and wish to change it,
simply delete the file CASE_LO.MEM and run the CASE56D program again.
This would apply for those currently using a two floppy drive system with
the thought of adding a harddisk at a later time that would require copying
all Caseload data files to the new drive.
After you have verified the current date and the program has been run
for the first time during that day, the computer will automatically check
all cases containing deadline dates coming due within the next 7 days. This
feature insures that you will take prompt action that might have otherwise
been overlooked. If any pertinent dates are found, the display will include
the attorney's initials, Case Number and whether it is an Answered,
Discovery, Trial/Hearing or Statute of Limitations deadline. At this point,
you may either jot down the information on a note pad, or if your printer
is on, you can hold down the Shift key while pressing the PrtSc key to
obtain a printout of the screen. When you have all of the information
needed, press any key to bring up the Main Menu.
The Main Menu will next appear at the bottom of the display screen.
To choose an option from this menu, use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys on
your keyboard to move the lightbar to the selection desired and press the
RETURN key. You may also type in the first letter of the option to
accomplish the same. You MUST SELECT DEFAULT (Set Program Defaults) if
running CASELOAD for the first time so that the proper attorney names,
courts, counties and printer set-up data can be initialized.
Any time you wish to back out of a routine, just press the PgDn
(Page Down) key. A menu will appear at the bottom of your screen allowing
you to either select further options or exit the program.
Each menu option and routine in this program is self-explanatory and
should require minimum definition.
Set Program Defaults - *** DO THIS FIRST!!! ***
Select the Default option if you are running the program for the
first time, or you wish to add or change attorney names, court and
county identifiers, printer codes and report size. Up to nine attorneys
may use this program simultaneously. It is suggested that you create a
list of 3 letter identifiers and full names for the counties and courts in
which your law practice participates before adding them to the set-up file.
There is space to specify up to twelve different courts & counties. Several
common court identifiers have been added for your convienence and to
provide an example. These identifiers may be changed at any time.
It is suggested that you standardize court and county symbols as the
first three letters of their actual name. For instance, use the letters SUP
for Superior court and LOS for Los Angeles county. You will find that using
this technique will greatly simplify thinking up letters of your own.
It is also suggested that you use the attorney's actual initials,
i.e., the initials for Gerald V. Frost would be entered as GVF. If, by
coincidence two or more lawyers from the same firm share the identical
initials, you would have to create a 3 letter symbol different from the
rest. A good example is a law firm comprising of John Q. Smith, Sr. and
John Q. Smith, Jr. You may then want to use the symbol JSS for the senior,
and JSJ for the junior, or JS1 and JS2. These initials are only used within
the program as record identifiers. The full names of the lawyers are
printed in the reports and are displayed above the Select Attorney menus so
there will be no mistake in confusing one from the other.
To move between fields while adding the identifiers and print codes,
press the Up or Down arrow keys. When you have completed an entry and are
ready to save the results, press the PgDn key at anytime. You will have the
opportunity to save the new or revised data to disk and the option to
request a printout of attorney or court/county identifiers for reference
purposes.
PRINTERS
Owing to the many different printers available, CASELOAD program
gives you the option of selecting two Report styles depending on the
particular printer in use at your law firm. If your printer is an 80 column
dot matrix or a daisywheel letter quality limited to 8 1/2 X 11 inch paper
and does not have CONDENSED printing capability, you must answer 'Y' at
the appropriate "80 COLUMN REPORT SIZE?" prompt to ensure that your
Reports will be properly spaced.
If, on the other hand, your printer does support CONDENSED print,
answer 'N' to show you want condensed 132 column Reports.
Selecting 'N' requires that you provide your printer's escape code
sequence to turn the condense mode on and off. Consult your printer manual
for these codes and enter them in decimal form. If you have trouble in
locating these codes, it is advised that you contact your printer dealer
for assistance.
When entering the printer escape numerals, they can be inserted in the
format 027 or 27. If you type in 27, you must then press the RETURN key to
move the cursor to the next position.
If your printer does not use continuous feed paper, answer 'Y' for
single sheet so the printer will pause between pages.
The printer set-up option also allows for BOLD print escape codes.
If this option is available on your printer, all pertinent dates within
a 30 day period from the current date will be printed in bold so that
these deadline dates will stand out from the rest of the report text and
alert you to their importance.
For an example, assume you have a Toshiba printer.
Highspeed mode ON = 27 42 48
Condense print ON = 27 91
Condense print OFF = 27 93
Bold print ON = 27 75 52
Bold print OFF = 27 77
We can combine the Highspeed and Condense codes together, so our
Condense Print ON entry would be:
27 42 48 27 91
The remaining codes would be inserted in the appropriate spaces
provided in the Default options. Nine spaces are furnished for those
printers requiring longer sequences. When you have inserted the proper
code, press the RETURN key to skip those spaces not used and to
position the cursor to the next code request, or press the PgDn key at
any time to exit and save your results.
If your printer does not have the condense or bold features you MUST
leave the appropiate spaces provided blank. The CASELOAD software will
automatically allow bold printing even if your printer does not support it.
Laser printer users must consult their manual to properly configure
the equivalent of condensed and bold print features.
It is assumed that you are using a parallel printer and it is
connected to LPT1:. If you are using a serial printer, it is
suggested that you use the DOS MODE command to redirect output through
your serial port. Refer to your DOS manual for proper use of the MODE
command.
PARTIAL LIST OF COMMON PRINTERS AND ESCAPE CODES
Toshiba 3-In-One Printers (all models)
Condense ON 027 042 048 027 091
Condense OFF 027 093
Bold ON 027 075 052
Bold OFF 027 077
Hewlett-Packard DeskJet #2276 Ink Jet Printer
Condense ON 027 040 115 049 054 046 054 055 072
Condense OFF 027 040 115 049 048 072
{NOTE: Bold ON and OFF software controlled}
Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Printers & compatibles
Condense ON 027 038 107 048 083
Condense OFF 027 038 107 050 083
{NOTE: Bold ON & OFF software controlled}
[1] Add a record to the file -
Select this option to type in your caseload information to the
database file. Each time you enter the Add function a menu of
attorney initials will appear to allow you to select the lawyer who is
handling this particular case within your firm. (In a single Practice,
this menu is not displayed.)
NOTE: If underlines appear at this prompt, you have NOT entered your
firm's attorney name(s) and initials by first selecting the Default
option at the Main Menu.
To select an attorney, you must use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to
position the litebar over the preferred initials, and then press the RETURN
key.
If you decide to exit the Add mode while in the Select Attorney
menu, press the PgDn key to return to the Main Menu.
Case Caption:
Ample space is provided for you to enter a case caption header. This
is normally in the form SMITH v. JONES, but any standardized text format
can be used to identify the particular case involved.
If you handle multiple cases for one client, you may embed an
identifying string anywhere within the case caption description for later
retrieval.
Example:
XYZ Insurance Company v. Brown
GREENE v. XYZ Insurance Company
Jones v. XYZ .....etc.
If you later select XYZ as an identifier, all occurrences of XYZ will
be found, and included in the Client report. XYZ Insurance Company will
further define an exact match.
If you decide to abandon this record, leaving the case caption field
blank and pressing the PgDn key will return you directly to the Main Menu
and the record will not be saved to disk.
Court
Type in one of the 12 court identifiers you previously entered during
the original installation of Caseload. Refer to your master court/county
list that was printed during the initial installation of CASELOAD. You may
also press the F1 function key to bring up the Court option menu and use
the LEFT and RIGHT edit keys to highlight the Court desired then press the
RETURN key to select. This feature may be used at anytime while you are in
the data entry mode and prevents you from making typing errors.
County
Type in one of the 12 county identifiers you previously entered during
the original installation of Caseload. Again, refer to the master
court/county list, or press the F2 function key to bring up the County
option menu and use the LEFT and RIGHT edit keys to highlight the County
desired and press the RETURN key to select. This feature may also be used
at anytime you are in the data entry mode and prevents you from making
typing errors.
Judge
Enter the name of the judge who will preside over this case when
known. Use only the full name of the judge, i.e., Roy L. Bean, omitting his
or her title, i.e., The Honorable or Judge for space consideration. When
the Caseload Leave of Absence module is available, it will automatically
insert the judges title for all documents, letter heads and salutations.
Opposing Counsel
Enter the name of the opposing attorney when known. It is suggested
you standardize by also including the attorneys title, i.e., Mr., Mrs., or
Ms in preparation for future document modules of Caseload.
Address
Enter the opposing attorney's full mailing address when known.
Telephone
Enter the opposing attorney's telephone number when known so that it
can quickly be looked up during those times your firms attorney needs to
get in contact with him/her.
Today's Date
For display purposes only. It is important that the proper date is
shown. If you need to change the date, it can be corrected by selecting
the Default option at the Main Menu.
The following dates are important to any practice, and it is highly
advised to include them as soon as they become known and are promptly
revised when necessary.
Date Filed
Enter the date this case was originally filed.
Date Answered
Enter the answered date when known.
Discovery Deadline
Enter the discovery date when known.
Trial/Hearing Date
Enter the Trial or Hearing date when known.
SOL Deadline
Enter the Statute of Limitations date when known.
Memo:
Two lines of 39 characters each are provided for you to enter
additional information or comments about this case.
If certain information or dates are not known at the time the case was
entered into the database, leave the spaces provided blank by pressing the
RETURN key to skip through the field. You can re-call the case record at
any time using the Find option at the Main Menu for insertion of new data,
editing or deletion.
After you have entered all of the case information, pressing the PgDn
key will save the information to disk and advance to the next record in
preparation for a new case entry. If you are keeping caseloads for several
lawyers, the Select Attorney menu will reappear highlighting the same
attorney from the previous case. If another case will be added for this
attorney, simply press the RETURN key or use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys
to select a different one.
If you elect at this time to exit the Add mode, press the PgDn key to
return to the Main Menu.
[2] Find --
Select the Find option to first find a particular case for updating,
editing or deletion. A menu will appear at the bottom of your screen
giving you the option to find the record by its Case Caption, Case
Number or record number.
If you locate by Case Caption, you only need to type in enough
characters that would sufficiently identify it, i.e., for James L.
Smith v. John Doe, typing Ja, James or John Doe is adequate.
The second search option is used to locate a record by the court
assigned Case Number. It is not necessary to include the entire number. For
instance, a record with Case # 85A 13819-4 can be located by typing in 85A,
13819-4 or any other pattern you desire as long as it contains enough
characters to accurately match the actual Case #. One advantage of this
search method, are those times you wish to review cases from a particular
court, since many courts use unique identifiers within their Case Numbers.
The above mentioned search methods also require the selection of the
attorney handling the case you wish to locate. ( The Select Attorney menu
will not appear for single Practices.)
A third search option allows you to access a case by its record
number. Since record numbers change periodically, it is advised using this
method only when you wish to step through the entire database to view
records of all attorneys. To do so, you would type in the numeral 1 to
start the search at the beginning of the database. Typing any other number
within the total records on file will begin the search from that point. The
total records in the database are displayed in the lower right hand corner
of the screen.
When the case data is found, a menu will appear allowing for
updating, deleting and undeleting the record. The Un-delete feature
allows you to recover any case record you accidentally deleted. When a
record is deleted, it remains in the data file until you do the Pack
operation described later in this text. Whenever you locate and
display a record on the screen and that record has been previously
deleted, a *DELETED* message will appear with the record number at
the lower right portion of the screen.
From the same menu you can also view other records by using the Next
and Previous options or simply type the letters N or P. This is helpful
when you have many clients with the same last name, i.e., SMITH. You can
scan all SMITHS for a particular lawyer until the proper one is found. This
feature is also useful when you need to scan all cases under one client
regardless where the search string appears within the case caption.
[3] Summary Report Menu --
The Report menu is the heart of the entire program. From these
selective reports you can tell at a glance your entire current
caseload history with pertinent dates that affect the timely manner
that each case is handled including: judge's name - court and county -
case number - opposing attorney's name, address and telephone, etc.
When you choose any of the Report options, the Select Attorney
menu is again displayed so the reports will reflect only those
caseloads of that counselor. This feature allows individual reports
for up to nine attorneys practicing in the same law firm. While
selecting these parameters you can exit to the Main Menu by pressing
the PgDn key. (For a single Practice, the Select Attorney menu will not
appear.)
Master Caseload --
Provides a detailed Master report sorted by case caption.
Selective Client Report --
Provides a listing of cases associated to one particular client or all
occurrences of similar names, companies, etc. Type in enough characters
that will sufficiently match the case captions you wish to be printed.
Date Filed --
Detailed report listing dates the cases were first filed in
chronological order.
Date Answered --
Detailed report listing dates the opposing attorney answered
in chronological order.
Discovery Deadline --
Detailed report listing all discovery deadline dates in
chronological order.
Date of Trial/Hearing --
Detailed report listing all trial/hearing dates in chronological
order.
Statute of Limitations Date --
Detailed report listing all Statute of Limitation deadlines in
chronological order.
Court and County --
A selective detailed report of pending cases before any court and
county in your area. Especially useful when preparing a leave of
absence report to a judge from one of those jurisdictions, or when you
need information about caseloads in any particular court and county. When
this option is used, selection menus will appear on the screen
so you may position the litebar over the particular court and
county the report should reflect. A combination of 144 seperate courts
and counties are possible.
Pressing the PgDn key will exit to the Main Menu if you elect not to
continue with the report.
(NOTE) Use of all of the reports will show dates occurring within 30 days
of the current date in bold print for emphasis.
[4] Database utilities --
The Utility option allows you to:
1) Re-index the data file if it should become deleted or
corrupted through a software or hardware problem.
2) The ability to Pack the case file to permanently remove all deleted
records that no longer apply to your practice. Packing should
be done periodically to save disk space.
3) Backing up your case file is an important feature of this
program to preclude the possibility of losing your valuable case
data. You should backup this data at least once a day so it can be
restored if any unforeseen disaster comes to your computer equipment!
Before using this option, be sure that a formated diskette has been place
in floppy disk drive A>.
The best way to learn how to use CASELOAD is to use it! Explore
the many helpful menus that pop onto the bottom of your screen and try the
many options these menus present. Since the caseload data screen is
always in view, you never lose track of where you are in the program.
EQUIPMENT:
Although a hard disk is recommended and increases the speed and
storage capabilities, CASELOAD will run on floppy disk systems with no
problem. A minimum of 384K memory is required for all systems.
The entire program is loaded into memory to reduce needless access
time.
FILE LIST
CASE56D.EXE
CASE56D.DOC (This documentation)
Additional files will be created automatically when you run
CASELOAD for the first time.
OPERATOR INPUT ERROR TRAPPING:
It is IMPORTANT to let the computer know the current day's
date, as all of the reports generated base deadlines within 30 days
from the current date to be printed in bold.
CASELOAD includes several operator input error trapping features.
A few of these contained are:
Date and telephone fields will only accept numbers. The date
fields will only accept valid dates including 29th of February leap year
dates. If you try to type 02/29/87 and it is not a leap year, the date will
be rejected.
A reminder message will appear any time you perform a backup of your
data file and drive A> is not ready. A similar message will appear if your
printer is off or not ready when printing reports.
All 3 letter identifier codes such as County, Court, attorney's
initials can be entered in lowercase. The program automatically converts
them to uppercase.
Menu options can be selected either by moving the litebar over the
option with the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys and pressing the RETURN key,
or by typing in the first letter displayed for that option. The only
exceptions are the Select Attorney, Court and County menus that MUST be
selected with the litebar positioned over the proper identifier.
This feature allows for speedy selections with the use of minimum
key strokes to go from one option or menu to the next. Using this method
instead of advancing the litebar over the option is much quicker and does
not require pressing the RETURN key.
NOTE: Make sure the Num Lock on your keyboard is off or operation of the
edit keys will be inoperative.
The most IMPORTANT key on your keyboard is the PgDn. By pressing this
key, you can always escape out of any data routine or menu.
UPDATES & ADDITIONS TO VERSION 5.6/D OF CASELOAD
* -- 06/06/88 Corrected bugs reported in version 5.2.
* -- 06/06/88 Added option to search by Case Number.
* -- 06/06/88 Added display to alert for deadline dates within 7 days.
* -- 06/07/88 Eliminated many sub-menus for faster operation.
* -- 06/07/88 Select Attorney menu defeated with a single Practice.
* -- 06/07/88 Added full address fields for Opposing Counsel.
The FrostByte Company is now in the process of developing two new
programs to accompany Caseload. One module will automatically create all of
the forms and text letters necessary to file for a Leave of Absence. The
second module will automatically create Conflict letters to the court and
opposing attorneys. When these programs are ready, I will be sending you
samples of the capabilities these programs will produce using the existing
Caseload data files. The workload normally used in creating these documents
will now be as easy as pressing a key! In fact, the only work incurred will
be to obtain the signature of the lawyer! I look forward to your comments
and suggestions during the compilation of these programs.
=================================================================
To gain full record access to CASELOAD, you are encouraged to become a
registered user and receive the latest unrestricted version for $49.95.
This fee includes shipping and appropriate sales tax for Georgia residents.
Please remit $49.95 and send to:
FrostByte Company
c/o Jerry Frost
3398 Sir Henry Street
East Point, GA 30344
(404) 761-8209
I may also be reached via the PC Plus BBS
Dataline Telephone (404) 762-0923
24 hours a day
*** Please specify the printer model you will be using ***