Computerized system and method for creating aggregate profile reports regarding litigants, attorneys, law firms, judges, and cases by type and by court from court docket records

• US 20060129593A1
• Filed: 06/21/2005
• Published: 06/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RELX Inc. (RELX PLC)
• Original Assignee: RELX Inc. (RELX PLC)
• Inventors: Slovak, Marc B., Stehr, Kevin R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,734,241 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/313 Selection or weighting of terms for indexing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/345 Summarisation for human users
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services

Abstract

Computerized method for aggregating relevant information from court records and presenting such information in electronic reports including tables and charts. There are five types of reports that focus on cases filed by Litigant, Attorney or Law Firm, Judge, Court, and Nature of Suit. A History option also is provided, in which are grouped all reports previously run by the user in one table. The user inputs a time frame and identifies specific reporting entities. The process accepts these inputs and constructs a list of cases that meet the specified criteria. The information in the list is presented to the user as a multi-part report containing tables and charts of aggregate information of particular interest to the user. Most report sections allow for “drilldowns” that bring additional specific focus to the reports. The reports are also configurable in a variety of ways including selecting graph types and section inclusion/exclusion.

Claims

1. A computerized method for aggregating and presenting relevant information from public records comprising the steps of:

capturing data from at least one data source;

parsing the data;

storing the parsed data in a database configured to support the production of reports of aggregated data based on parameters entered by a user;

aggregating data stored in the database tables based on parameters entered by a user;

generating an electronic report of the aggregated data; and

displaying the report to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

in the parsing step, the data are parsed by separating them into a plurality of component data fields; and

in the step of storing the parsed data, the component data fields are stored in corresponding database tables.

3. The method of claim 1;

wherein;

the records are court records; and

in the step of capturing data, the data are case data and the at least one data source is at least one court.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein in the step of generating a report, at least one of the parameters represents a name of one of a Litigant, an Attorney, a Law Firm, and a Judge.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein in the step of generating a report, the aggregated data includes counts and percentages of information including at least one of:

one of case type and nature of suit,

where the cases were filed, by state and by court,

litigants,

attorneys, and

judges.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein at least some of the information is displayed in a form that allows for drilling down to more specific data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the report includes presenting at least some of the aggregated data in the form of a table and presenting at least some of the aggregated data in the form of a graph corresponding to the table.

8. A computerized apparatus for aggregating and presenting relevant information from public records comprising:

automated means for capturing data from at least one data source;

means for parsing the data;

means for storing the parsed data in a database configured to support the production of reports of aggregated data based on parameters entered by a user;

means for aggregating data stored in the database based on parameters entered by a user;

means for generating an electronic report of the aggregated data; and

means for displaying the report to the user.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the means for parsing parses the data by separating them into a plurality of component data fields and

the means for storing the parsed data stores the component data fields in corresponding database tables.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the records are court records; and

the data are case data and the at least one data source is at least one court.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein at least one of the parameters represents a name of one of a Litigant, an Attorney, a Law Firm, and a Judge.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the strategic profile report contains aggregated information including counts and percentages of information including at least one of:

one of case type and nature of suit,

where the cases were filed, by state and by court,

litigants,

attorneys, and

judges.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the means for displaying displays at least some of the information in a form that allows for drilling down to more specific data.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the means for displaying displays at least some of the information in the form of a table and displays at least some of the information in the form of a graph corresponding to the table.

15. A computerized method for aggregating and presenting relevant information from court records comprising the steps of:

inputting search criteria relating to court records into a computer;

filtering the search criteria against a corresponding table of information relating to court records stored in the computer;

displaying possible matches between the search criteria and the information in the table;

selecting matching search criteria from the displayed possible matches;

extracting all information in the table matching the selected search criteria;

producing a strategic profile report using the extracted information, wherein the strategic profile report contains aggregated information relating to the court records; and

displaying the report.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein in the step of producing a report, the report is qualified by an entered date range.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the search criteria represent a name of one of a Litigant, an Attorney, a Law Firm, and a Judge, and wherein in the filtering step, the information in the table comprises names.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the aggregated information includes counts and percentages of information including:

one of case type and nature of suit,

where the cases were filed, by state and by court,

litigants,

attorneys, including opposing and co-counsel, and

judges.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step, prior to the step of producing a strategic profile report, of selecting a type of strategic profile report to be produced from a list of categories including Litigant, Attorney/Law Firm, Judicial, Court, and Nature of Suit, and wherein in the displaying step, the reports for at least some of the categories display a list of the cases that matched the selected search criteria.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of displaying the report includes presenting at least some of the information in the form of graphs and wherein the method further comprises the step of altering the graphs between at least two of a pie chart, a bar chart, and a line chart, at the direction of a user.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of displaying the report includes presenting at least some of the information in the form of tables.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the tables are displayed in a form that allows for drilling down to more specific data.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the tables are displayed in a form that allows for sorting and filtering.

24. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of displaying the report includes presenting at least some of the information in the form of a table and presenting at least some of the information in the form of a graph corresponding to the table.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the method further includes at least one of the step of changing the position of the graph relative to the table at the direction of a user and the step of selecting which of the graph and the table to display at the direction of a user.

26. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further includes the step of changing the selected date range at the direction of a user without the user having to re-specify other search criteria.

27. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of selecting a Litigant strategic profile includes specifying a litigant name and time period, and wherein the step of producing a strategic profile includes producing an online report that summarizes number of cases, number of cases by type of case, number of cases by state and court where the cases were filed, and attorneys and law firms who have represented the litigant as aggregated lists.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein any one of the aggregated lists can be drilled down to discover the unique set of cases comprising the aggregate.

29. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of selecting an Attorney/Law Firm strategic profile includes specifying at least one attorney and a time period, and wherein the step of producing a strategic profile includes producing an online report that summarizes the clients the attorney has represented, the types of cases on which the attorney has worked, the judges before whom the attorney has appeared, the states and courts where the cases have occurred, and other attorneys with or against whom the selected attorney has worked as aggregated lists.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein any one of the aggregated lists can be drilled down to discover the unique set of cases comprising the aggregate.

31. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of selecting a Judicial strategic profile includes specifying a judge and a time period, and wherein the step of producing a strategic profile includes producing an online report that summarizes the types of cases presided over, attorney appearances, and a case load analysis over time as aggregated lists.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein any one of the aggregated lists can be drilled down to discover the unique set of cases comprising the aggregate.

33. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of selecting a Nature of Suit strategic profile includes specifying a time period, a specific case type, and one or more courts, and wherein the step of producing a strategic profile includes producing an online report that includes the number of cases filed over time.

34. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of selecting a Court strategic profile includes specifying a time period, a specific court, and one or more case types, and wherein the step of producing a strategic profile includes producing an online report that includes the number of cases filed over time.

35. A computerized apparatus for aggregating and presenting relevant information from court records comprising the steps of:

means for inputting search criteria relating to court records into a computer;

means for filtering the search criteria against a corresponding table of information relating to court records stored in the computer;

means for displaying possible matches between the search criteria and the information in the table;

means for allowing a user to select matching search criteria from displayed possible matches;

means for extracting all information in the table matching the search criteria selected by the user;

means for producing a strategic profile report using the extracted information, wherein the strategic profile report contains aggregated information relating to the court records; and

means for displaying the report.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for producing a report produces a report qualified by an entered date range.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the search criteria represent a name of one of a Litigant, an Attorney, a Law Firm, and a Judge, and wherein the information in the table comprises names.

38. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the aggregated information includes counts and percentages of information including:

one of case type and nature of suit,

where the cases were filed, by state and by court,

litigants,

attorneys, including opposing and co-counsel, and

judges.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, further comprising means for allowing the user to select a type of strategic profile report to be produced from a list of categories including Litigant, Attorney/Law Firm, Judicial, Court, and Nature of Suit, and wherein the reports for at least some of the categories display a list of the cases that matched the selected search criteria.

40. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for displaying the report includes means for presenting at least some of the information in graphic form and wherein the apparatus further comprises means for altering the graphic presentation between at least two of a pie chart, a bar chart, and a line chart at the direction of a user.

41. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the step of displaying the report includes presenting at least some of the information in the form of tables.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the tables are displayed in a form that allows for drilling down to more specific data.

43. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the tables are displayed in a form that allows sorting and filtering.

44. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for displaying the report includes means for presenting at least some of the information in the form of a table and means for presenting at least some of the information in the form of a graph corresponding to the table.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the means for displaying further includes at least one of means for changing the position of the graph relative to the table at the direction of a user and means for selecting which of the graph and the table to display at the direction of a user.

46. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the apparatus further includes means for changing the selected date range at the direction of a user without the user having to re-specify other search criteria.

47. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the means for selecting a Litigant strategic profile includes means for specifying a litigant name and time period, and wherein the means for producing a strategic profile includes means for producing an online report that summarizes number of cases, number of cases by type of case, number of cases by state and court where the cases were filed, and attorneys and law firms who have represented the litigant as aggregated lists.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein any one of the aggregated lists can be drilled down to discover the unique set of cases comprising the aggregate.

49. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the means for selecting an Attorney/Law Firm strategic profile includes means for specifying at least one attorney and a time period, and wherein the means for producing a strategic profile includes means for producing an online report that summarizes the clients the attorney has represented, the types of cases on which the attorney has worked, the judges before whom the attorney has appeared, the states and courts where the cases have occurred, and other attorneys with or against whom the selected attorney has worked as aggregated lists.

50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein any one of the aggregated lists can be drilled down to discover the unique set of cases comprising the aggregate.

51. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the means for selecting a Judicial strategic profile includes means for specifying a judge and a time period, and wherein the means for producing a strategic profile includes means for producing an online report that summarizes the types of cases presided over, attorney appearances, and a case load analysis over time as aggregated lists.

52. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein any one of the aggregated lists can be drilled down to discover the unique set of cases comprising the aggregate.

53. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the means for selecting a Nature of Suit strategic profile includes means for specifying a time period, a specific case type, and one or more courts, and wherein the means for producing a strategic profile includes producing an online report that includes the number of cases filed over time.

54. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the means for selecting a Court strategic profile includes means for specifying a time period, a specific court, and one or more case types, and wherein the means for producing a strategic profile includes means for producing an online report that includes the number of cases filed over time.