News Releases

State Bar selects new case management system to improve accountability for attorney misconduct

Contact: Laura Ernde

415-538-2283

barcomm@calbar.ca.gov

SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2016 – The State Bar of California announced today that it has selected a new case management system that will improve its ability to effectively investigate, prosecute and adjudicate attorney misconduct. 

After a careful and competitive public bidding process and a thorough analysis  of available alternatives, State Bar staff will recommend that the Board of Trustees award a contract to Tyler Technologies, Inc. The new case management system, Odyssey, will be deployed in the Office of Chief Trial Counsel, the Office of Probation and the State Bar Court and will allow the Bar to adjudicate cases more efficiently, exchange information online, manage documents electronically and eliminate inefficiencies. The system will ensure a more efficient and transparent discipline system. Implementation is expected to begin in the fall and to take 13 months to complete.

Tyler Technologies’ case management software is a Commercial Off-The-Shelf product which will be configured to meet the needs of the Bar. “Recent experience in the California judiciary has shown that a commercial off-the-shelf system has the greatest likelihood of success and minimizes the risk inherent in a large technology project,” said Leah Wilson, Chief Operating Officer of the State Bar of California.

Tyler Technologies has a proven record of successfully implementing case management systems for 11 statewide court systems and  numerous District Attorney Offices and Probation Departments. The software has been contracted for use in 25 California counties, representing 70 percent of the state’s population. Tyler is widely viewed as the national leader in case management systems, with success in all 50 states, Canada and the UK.

“The new system will bring greater transparency and accountability to the State Bar’s regulation of attorneys, as well as people engaged in the unauthorized practice of law,” said Wilson. “We chose a technology that offers the best value to achieve the bar’s public protection mission in the most efficient and effective way.”

Updating its case management system is one of a number of steps the State Bar will take to improve its discipline system. The bar recently completed a legislatively mandated workforce planning study of that system, which called for a restructuring of the Office of Chief Trial Counsel, among other significant reforms. Recommendations will be implemented by Dec. 31, 2016.