METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IDENTIFYING, ASSESSING AND CLEARING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

• US 20110093792A1
• Filed: 02/19/2010
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Frayman Group, Inc (Intapp Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: The Frayman Group, Inc (Intapp Incorporated)
• Inventors: Hug, Alp, Danilov, Serge, Frayman, Yuri
• Granted Patent: US 8,225,218 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services

Abstract

Methods and systems for identifying, assessing and clearing conflicts of interest are described herein. Consistent with some embodiments, a conflicts management system receives a conflict search request, and processes the request utilizing a risk matrix that encompass and represents the risk tolerance or risk profile of a law firm. The risk matrix maps certain request types to different search queries and rules that are to be evaluated for a given request type. Based on the execution of the queries and the rules for the request, a score is assigned to a party, such that the score represents the level of risk that would be undertaken if the party was engaged as a client.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for clearing a conflict report that consists of one or more search hits, each search hit identifying a party representing a potential conflict, the method comprising:

automatically populating a distribution list with e-mail addresses of personnel identified as having a relationship with a party representing a potential conflict;

communicating an e-mail message to an e-mail address included in the distribution list, the e-mail message i) including a clearance request for the party representing the potential conflict, and ii) having an embedded clearance identifier uniquely identifying the clearance request;

detecting communication of, and capturing, all e-mail messages having the embedded clearance identifier that uniquely identifies the clearance request; and

displaying as an e-mail message thread, all detected and captured e-mail messages having the embedded clearance identifier that uniquely identifies the clearance request.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein automatically populating the distribution list with email addresses of personnel identified as having a relationship with the party representing the potential conflict includes querying other systems or databases to identify personnel who have previously performed work on a client matter for which the party is the client.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the populating of the distribution list with e-mail addresses of personnel identified as having a potential conflict is performed in response to detecting selection of a search hit identifying the party representing the potential conflict from within a user interface displaying the one or more search hits of the conflict report.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a resolution status for the clearance request, the resolution status indicating whether the clearance request has been resolved.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the e-mail message includes an interactive user interface element enabling a recipient of the email to indicate a resolution for the clearance request, the method further comprising:

receiving a reply e-mail message i) having the embedded clearance identifier uniquely identifying the clearance request and ii) indicating a resolution for the clearance request, wherein the reply e-mail message is generated as a result of a recipient of the email message interacting with the interactive user interface element.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

archiving all e-mail messages with the embedded clearance identifier uniquely identifying the clearance request to enable a subsequent audit application to retrieve and display the email messages in an e-mail message thread.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting communication of, and capturing, one or more messages to which the clearance identifier that uniquely identifies the clearance request has been embedded; and

displaying the one or more messages when displaying the e-mail message thread.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the one or more messages include a message selected from any one of the message types including:

instant message, a voice mail message, a telephone call;

or a facsimile.

9. A conflicts resolution system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a machine-readable medium in communication with the at least one processor, the machine readable medium storing instructions that are executable by the at least one processor, the instructions being executed by the at least one processor to cause operations to be performed, the operations comprising;

automatically populating a distribution list with e-mail addresses of personnel identified as having a relationship with a party representing a potential conflict;

communicating an e-mail message to an e-mail address included in the distribution list, the e-mail message i) including a clearance request for the party representing the potential conflict, and ii) having an embedded clearance identifier uniquely identifying the clearance request;

detecting communication of, and capturing, all e-mail messages having the embedded clearance identifier that uniquely identifies the clearance request; and

displaying as an e-mail message thread, all detected and captured e-mail messages having the embedded clearance identifier that uniquely identifies the clearance request.

10. The conflicts resolution system of claim 9, wherein automatically populating the distribution list with email addresses of personnel identified as having a relationship with the party representing the potential conflict includes querying other systems or databases to identify personnel who have previously performed work on a client matter for which the party is the client.

11. The conflicts resolution system of claim 9, wherein the populating of the distribution list with e-mail addresses of personnel identified as having a potential conflict is performed in response to detecting selection of a search hit identifying the party representing the potential conflict from within a user interface displaying the one or more search hits of the conflict report.

12. The conflicts resolution system of claim 9, further comprising:

displaying a resolution status for the clearance request, the resolution status indicating whether the clearance request has been resolved.

13. The conflicts resolution system of claim 9, wherein the e-mail message includes an interactive user interface element enabling a recipient of the email to indicate a resolution for the clearance request, the method further comprising:

receiving a reply e-mail message i) having the embedded clearance identifier uniquely identifying the clearance request and ii) indicating a resolution for the clearance request, wherein the reply e-mail message is generated as a result of a recipient of the email message interacting with the interactive user interface element.

14. The conflicts resolution system of claim 9, further comprising:

archiving all e-mail messages with the embedded clearance identifier uniquely identifying the clearance request to enable a subsequent audit application to retrieve and display the email messages in an e-mail message thread.

15. The conflicts resolution system of claim 9, further comprising:

detecting communication of, and capturing, one or more messages to which the clearance identifier that uniquely identifies the clearance request has been embedded; and

displaying the one or more messages when displaying the e-mail message thread.

16. The conflicts resolution system of claim 15, wherein the one or more messages include a message selected from any one of the message types including:

instant message, a voice mail message, a telephone call;

or a facsimile.

17. A computer-implemented method comprising:

subsequent to generating a conflicts report that identifies a party as a potential conflict, receiving an indication that a risk score assigned to the party does not accurately reflect perceived risk associated with representing the party;

prompting for additional information concerning one or more reasons why the perceived risk of representing the party is not accurately reflected in the risk score assigned to the party; and

responsive to receiving and analyzing additional information, automatically modifying an algorithm used in generating the conflicts report based on the additional information.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein automatically modifying the algorithm used in generating the conflicts report includes modifying a rule, adding a rule, or deleting a rule, for use in generating a conflicts report in response to a request of a particular type.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein automatically modifying an algorithm used in generating the conflicts report includes modifying an attribute of a rule that is evaluated to assign a risk score to a party.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the perceived risk of representing the party is higher than indicated by the risk score assigned to the party, the method further comprising:

automatically modifying an attribute of the rule so that the evaluation of the rule results in increasing the risk score assigned to the party.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the perceived risk of representing the party is lower than indicated by the risk score assigned to the party, the method further comprising:

automatically modifying an attribute of the rule so that the evaluation of the rule results in decreasing the risk score assigned to the party.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the prompting for and receiving additional information is performed via a wizard user interface element.

23. A computer-implemented method comprising:

detecting an event associated with a conflicts report that has been generated in response to a request of a particular type; and

in response to detecting the event, automatically modifying a rule assigned to the request of the particular type, the rule for use in generating conflicts reports in response to requests of the particular type.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein detecting the event associated with the conflicts report includes detecting a user-initiated interaction with a particular search hit displayed in the conflicts report, the interaction with the particular search hit representing a clearing event to indicate that a party indicated by the search hit does not represent an actual conflict.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein detecting the event associated with the conflicts report includes detecting a user-initiated interaction with a particular search hit displayed in the conflicts report, the interaction with the particular search hit indicating that a risk score assigned to a party associated with the search hit does not accurately reflect the perceived risk associated with representing the party.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein automatically modifying the rule includes modifying an attribute specified in the rule, the attribute evaluated as part of a process for assigning a risk score to a party.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein automatically modifying the rule includes deleting the rule so as to prevent the rule from being evaluated for requests of the particular type.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein detecting the event associated with the conflicts report includes systemically detecting an addition of a new custom attribute name or custom attribute value for use in evaluating a rule that is utilized in assigning risk scores to a party.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein detecting the event associated with the conflicts report includes systemically detecting deletion of a custom attribute name or custom attribute value for use in evaluating a rule that is utilized in assigning risk scores to a party.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein detecting the event associated with the conflicts report includes systemically detecting a revision to a custom attribute name or custom attribute value for use in evaluating a rule that is utilized in assigning risk scores to a party.