Caps & Immunities LegalTech
Confused About Caps, Immunities & Notice?
Find Your Answers Technologically
John J. Cord Tere are few things that strike fear into the heart of a
lawyer more than the possibility of a missed notice deadline or statute of limitations. Most of us have had panic-stricken moments where we wondered whether we missed a notice requirement or whether we provided notice to the correct entity. Tere is no room for error here, because failure can lead to grievances, legal malpractice, and most significantly, inability for a claimant to recover. To help you breathe a little easier, I offer the following
technological solutions:
1) Electronic Diary System Tis is perhaps the best part of any case management
system. No matter what you use, you should ensure that you can enter deadlines, including statutes of limitations and notice deadlines, into your software. Make sure that you and your staff will be automatically notified well in advance of every deadline through the program’s tickler system. Tis will give you enough notice to get the job done. If you do not have a case management program like Time Matters or Needles, you can obtain the same result using the calendar programs of your e-mail system (like Gmail or Microsoft Outlook). Deadlines for all cases should be entered at the time the case is added into your system. If you are not sure whether notice applies, all possible deadlines should be added until they are excluded.
2) MAJ Listserver Often called the best member benefit that MAJ provides,
the listserver puts the expertise of hundreds of members at your fingertips. When filing suit (or considering filing suit) against an entity that you have not dealt with, you can shoot out a quick e-mail to determine if there are notice requirements and, if so, who you should serve. Additionally, you can check archived listserver messages to determine if anyone has answered the question in the past. To check archived messages:
1. Go to
www.marylandassociationforjustice.com 2. Log-in by clicking “Login” at the top left corner of the blue bar
3. Enter your Username (usually your e-mail address) and your Password (if you don’t know it, click “If you do not know your password, click here”), then click “Login”
4. Hover your mouse over “Attorney Resources” 5. Click “List Server” 6. Click “Search List Messages” 7. Enter your search terms, then click “Search”
For example, a search including the words “notice
Montgomery board education” provides 22 results from MAJ’s general listserver. While the advice of other members should not be exclusively relied upon, it is a good basis for confirming your own research, or using as a starting point for your own research.
Trial Reporter / Spring 2011 53
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