Pathfinder - Intake
This content is geared to agencies onboarding with LegalServer. While most of this content is timeless, relevant, and all around useful, not all of it will be applicable if you are currently live with LegalServer.
LegalServer uses "Intake" to refer to processes that creates a case record. This is different from auxiliary processes, which add information to an existing record and are not restricted to just case records. There is also a prescreen option, which is a pre-intake process, generally used for recording applications that are turned away. A few rules of thumb are- if you have more than one form (page) or if you need to collect financial information, you should consider using an intake, rather than a prescreen.
Some agencies (especially those with immigration practices) may have a screening process that collects a lot of information and then an intake process that ultimately decides whether or not the agency is going to take that case. In situations like this, a LegalServer Intake process is usually best suited for the screening process, and a auxiliary process is used for the follow-up "intake".
A typical intake process consists of the following forms:
- Initial Information
- Applicant Conflict Check
- Adverse Party Conflict Check
- Financial Information
- Applicant Demographics
- Case Specific Questions
- Disposition
You can add forms or leave forms out, depending on your needs. You can also add branch logic to prompt the user for customized questions during the intake process. There is a special block to show questions specifically related to a certain legal or special legal problem code.
If you collect information on whether an address or a phone number is safe to contact and use, there are several configurations on those blocks to allow you to do this. You can use the DV Block on the intake process and possibly also to the case profile. It will be visible to all users who can log in and view the case profile by default. To avoid this, consider adding the block to an auxiliary case process where you can limit the user permissions.
Where to Start
- Determine if there will be one intake for all programs, with the option to add program/project specific information in a separate form, or if there is a need to have more than one intake process. Consolidation is highly encouraged, especially for new programs.
- Decide if a short prescreen/reject & refer process is needed and what rejection information is needed for funders. Note that a normal intake can be ended early with a referral and/or rejection.
- Complete an intake to review the form
- Determine what values you will use in each lookup, if any additional information needs to be collected and what, if anything can be eliminated
- Decide what demographic and problem questions need to be asked
- Determine what (if any) financial information is required
- Determine Legal Problem Codes you will use
- Determine how to use Offices and Programs
- Determine Case Statuses you will use
- Determine what values you will use in each lookup, if any additional information needs to be collected and what, if anything can be eliminated
- Discuss how the standard Case Dispositions built into LegalServer align with your current jargon and process
- Make the necessary customizations or communicate customizations to your LegalServer Onboarding Staff