Replication

1
Replication ReuseBuilding Document Assembly
AppsBased on Prior Work

• Alan Soudakoff
• Marc Lauritsen
• Capstone Practice Systems
• December 7, 2007

2
Overview

• Intro document assembly as reuse
• An example and some history
• Going meta reusing systems
• Getting specific tools and techniques
• Wrap up
• Questions

3
Reusing law practice knowledge

• What
• Information to gather
• Forms to use
• What words go where
• Other steps to take
• Resources
• Data

• DA methods
• Dynamic interviews
• Template libraries
• Modeled documents
• Modeled tasks
• Links and materials
• Answer files and databases

4
1976
1981
1986
2002
2007
5
Communities and challenges

• Sharing common knowledge and tools in law
  practice
• Obstacles and inhibitions
• Not invented here
• Need for delivery system
• Need for support infrastructure

6
Reusing law practice systems

• What
• Know-how (technical, substantive, project
  management)
• Good practices
• Decision frameworks (e.g. RTF vs. PDF)
• Templates
• Components

• How
• Trainings, mentoring, list serve, articles
• Standards
• NPADO contributor portal
• System kits
• Internal reuse (modularization)

7
Specific steps for NPADO folks

• Find out whos already done some of what youre
  about to do
• Find the closest systems
• Download from contributor portal
• Explore through component manager
• Copy, revise, extend
• Post results for others to use!

8
Cautions and drawbacks

• Jurisdictional variations
• Danger of careless copying
• Reuse can constrain creativity
• Danger of monoculture, suboptimal ruts
• Blessing and curse of standards whats the
  right balance?

9
Family law system kit

• Distilled wisdom from a dozen projects
• New product from Legal Systematics, Inc.(Alan,
  Bart, Doug, Marc)
• Partially funded through a TIG awarded to Legal
  Assistance of Western New York (Jeff Hogue,
  project manager)
• Beta version early 2008 release mid year
• Free to LSC grantees

10
Kit contents

• Model component file - data variables,
  computations, dialogs, interview(s)
• Component documentation
• Illustrative support for
• both advocates and pro se users
• foreign languages
• Collection of issues/solutions, covering e.g.
• design and planning
• testing
• case mgt integration
• Overview(s) of the subjects and system for both
  technical authors and family law advocates

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To conclude

• Innovate and improve, dont reinvent
• Reuse begins with awareness
• Dont forget to reuse your own stuff
• Design for reusability (generality, consistency,
  documentation, )
• Dont get paralyzed by standards

12
Resources

• LSNTAP document assembly section -
  http//lsntap.org/lilbookshelf?tid49nameDocumen
  t20Assembly
• Standards Practices - http//lsntap.org/sites/ls
  ntap.org/files/hds_standards_and_practices.pdf
• NPADO contributor portal (for approved template
  providers) - https//npado.org
• Ontologies and Openness in Law Practice
  Automation - http//www.capstonepractice.com/Onto
  Open.html

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Questions?