PALMS - Potestivo & Associates Legal Management System

I am currently working for a law firm that practices in the default servicing industry among other disciplines.  The company deals with case files for Foreclosures, Bankruptcies, Title Issues, REO dispositions and more.  They also handle typical litigation matters and even debt collections. So there's a healthy number of different case files that the firm handles every year. 

For the last 5+ years, the company has been using a case management system to help manage the thousands of case files that come through the office in any given year.  In fact, the last time I checked, I believe the system was storing well over 100,000 case files.  This number does not include all the "other" types of files it stores as well, such as: todos, events, notes, documents, emails, and billing records among others.  The problem with this system was that it lacked scalability.  The system has been getting slower, crashes are becoming more frequent, and weird things have been happening like complete cases files coming up missing. 

Enter PALMS.  PALMS is a case management system I've been developing to do all that the current case management system does and more; without the problems.  PALMS is built as a web application utilizing PHP as the server-side language, and JavaScript (jQuery enhanced) on the client-side.  It's highly customizable, and has proven to be very flexible towards the needs of the company. 

PALMS was designed to be fast and efficient without being too complicated to use.  This allows workers to spend more time working the case file and less time fumbling around the interface.  In addition, PALMS makes it easy to stay on task through use of a checklist system.  Each case file has its own checklist.  The checklist is a listing of steps that must be taken from when the case file is open until it is closed.  Each step can either be manually completed by the case worker, or automatically by the system.  That's right, PALMS has several automation features.  Based on a set of conditions or scenarios, PALMS can automatically create tasks for case workers, schedule events, send out important emails or reminders, and even assemble important legal documents relevant to the case file. 

Case management is a major part of PALMS, but it's not the only part.  PALMS is also the company's Intranet application.  Employees can log on, read about the company's latest news and important announcements, request time off, submit their time cards, buy and sell on the company's classifieds, hold meetings, and much more.  PALMS is a complete suite of applications all in one place. 

Development of PALMS has been a very rewarding and educational experience for me.  As the system grew, I also grew in my knowledge, skills and abilities.  I have learned a great deal over the course of its development, and I am looking forward to much more.  Did I mention I designed and developed this on my own? I'm a one man army, and although it would've been great to lead a team for this, it's also made me very proud to complete something so huge all by myself.