Casework in law offices can fluctuate from absolute inundation to mind numbing slowness. How does your law firm handle the fluctuation in casework? Do you use the slow time to your advantage by cleaning house? Do you turn the slow time into a training exercise for your paralegal staff? Does your staff know how to use Pacer? No? What better way to turn the down time into a skill-building event!
Pacer offers a free training for Pacer users. The training site can be located at Access Free PACER Training Site. The cool thing about Pacer’s training is it uses real case data from the State of New York, and it is recent 2007! The Pacer website also offers a ton of resources; which is always helpful to have on hand. For example, under Pacer’s resource page, you can find a list of suit codes and a user’s manual, which are both a treasure trove of information for support staff.
In addition to the aforementioned free training; the Pacer website has a link about the federal judiciary’s Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF). Further, on this link Pacer provides a link to the Federal Digital System (FDsys) website; which provides free public access to tons of publications from all branches of the federal government. Another interesting bit of info for you or your support staff is the updated Policy on Privacy and Public Access. Check it out—you might find that it has changed since the last time you reviewed it.
So, the next time your office is at a mind numbing slowness; ask your in house staff if they want to brush up on their #Pacer skills. Fast, and affordable!
