How to Notify Attorneys on a Recurring Schedule

You must be a Super Admin user or have the following permissions: create attorneys update attorneys update settings

Learn how to automatically notify attorneys on a recurring basis for any scheduled court events. Customize attorney notification settings for your agency.

Learn how to automatically notify attorneys on a recurring basis for any scheduled court events. Customize attorney notification settings for your agency.

Overview

Notifying attorneys about upcoming court events is a crucial task to ensure that all parties involved in a legal case are well-informed and prepared. The eCourtDate platform allows government agencies to automate this process, reducing the manual workload and minimizing the risk of oversight. This feature is essential for court personnel, legal administrators, and IT staff who manage attorney communications. By using automated notifications, agencies can enhance the efficiency and reliability of their communications, ensuring timely updates for attorneys regarding their court schedules and related case information.

Prerequisites

Before setting up the attorney notification system, please ensure you have the following:

• Admin access within the eCourtDate platform to configure settings
• All necessary attorney contact details available in your system
• Event schedules properly entered and maintained
• (Optional) A web portal created to include in notifications

How to Steps

Follow these step-by-step instructions to set up and customize attorney notifications:

 

Customize Default Attorney Settings

1. Navigate to the top navigation bar and click on the Admin dropdown.
2. Select Settings from the dropdown menu to open your agency's configuration page.
3. Within the Settings page, locate the Attorney Settings section.
4. Click the Save button to apply any changes.

Note:

• If you select any option besides "Disabled" for "Default Attorney Notification Frequency", then all new attorneys will have notifications enabled by default.
• If you don't already have a web portal created, read this article to create one.

Create or Update Attorneys to Receive Notifications

1. Click on the Cases link in the top navigation bar.
2. Click on the Attorneys tab.
3. If you don't already have attorneys created, fill in the Create Attorney form.
4. Click on the Edit button for the Attorney that you want to test with.
5. Ensure that the Notify field is configured and is not set to Disabled.
6. Ensure that the Email field is set with a valid email address.
7. Click on the Save button to apply any changes.

The attorney profile is now ready for notifications. Any cases and associated events will be included in the recurring report.

If you don't already have cases and events created, follow these steps to create a sample case and event for testing purposes:

1. When editing the attorney, use the Search Cases form to search for available cases.
2. Click the Attach button for the desired case.
3. Click on the Edit button for the attached case.
4. Review if there is already one event attached to the case.
5. If not, click on the Events link in the top navigation bar and fill in the Create Event form using the same case number.

What to Expect

• Case reports are triggered based on the selected frequency. 
• Each message includes a list of any case event.
• If there are no case events, then a message is not created.
• Messages are created using Message Type "notify:attorneys".
  • Tip: create a report with a filter based on this message type to generate an automated report for your agency.

Notification Frequency	Trigger Time	Date Range
Daily	Daily at 9 AM UTC	Events from the previous day to one day ahead
Weekly	Sundays at 9 AM UTC	Events from the current Sunday to the following Sunday
Monthly	First day of the month at 9 AM UTC	Events from the first day of the month to the last day of the month

Note: the date ranges are based on the configured agency time zone.