Office Visit Report

Amy Warren, BTECH 145, Records/Database Management

Amy Mosley
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Office Visit Report-

For my office visit, I interviewed Bayly Miller, Attorney at Law. Bayly has a

private practice law office at 818 South Yakima Ave. Tacoma, Washington.

Adjacent to the Pierce County court building. I interviewed Bayly instead of his

legal assistant. His personal preferences as to how the records are stored from

creation to disposition are under his direction as he is the one who requires

access to the records.

File management is key to the overall success or failure of legal

proceedings. Judges rule in favor of cases that are well documented and well

presented. The training or experience necessary to be successful as Bayly’s office

manager, is knowing how to create a file versus a binder and knowledge of the

Legal Information Network eXchange (LINX) system website. Also knowledge of

how to scan documents, create an electronic file, and copy that file to disk are

imperative skills for the success of Bayly’s legal proceedings. Successfully creating,

maintaining, and ultimately archiving legal proceedings are the records

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management skills necessary for Bayly to maintain order of importance in his

pending, open, and closed cases.

Bayly uses multiple filing methods in the life cycle of each record. Creation

of a file, creation of a binder for court appearances, LINX website, and finally

closed cases are scanned onto a disk for archiving. Then physical records/paper

records are shredded as the final step or disposition of the record. Office

equipment used by Bayly is cabinets to store supplies such as empty binders, tabs,

and new folders; open shelves to hold files, binders, and computer disks; a

computer desk to hold the computers; and an additional table for the

scanner/printer equipment as well as a chair to sit in while doing electronic filing

or archiving to disk. Most records created are external and transactional, but

reference documents are also important in legal proceedings. Reference

documents include past rulings and orders made by the court pertinent to the

present case. Most records are vital as they are legal proceedings, although

records may be moved down in category of classification to important or even

useful after the court proceeding at which time they can be found on LINX
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website, and are highly accessible. The value of the records are mostly legal,

however historical records may be used to prove why past judges have ruled a

certain way on a case. This is called setting a precedence.

Bayly practices family law, which includes divorce, child custody, and

adoption proceedings. Records are crucial in legal proceedings. They serve as not

only a record of past court proceedings and rulings, but also as evidence of what is

currently being asked of the court. Proposals and motions must be filed within a

set amount of time prior to the court date where the client and attorney are set to

appear before a judge for a ruling which generates an order. A copy called judges

working copy must be filed with the court two weeks prior to the appearance date

or scheduled court date. Judges working copies must include all documents filed

with the court, all pertinent information to the case such as all proposals and

motions, and all personal declarations. A copy must also be mailed by certified

mail or served by a process server to the responding party prior to the set court

date. On the date of appearance, it is crucial to have all paperwork in order for
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proper presentation in front of the judge. Proof of filing in a timely matter as well

as proof of service is required of the court to proceed.

Bayly uses a binder with tabs for court appearances. The tabs are numbered

from one to fifty. Bayly also uses custom tabs with parenting plans, confidential

sealed records, and orders printed on them for those commonly used files. A

binder holds only one court case. These are identified by party’s last name, first

name and, cause number as identified on court documents, and printed onto a

label and placed on the binding ridge. A key is generated and placed as the first

document. The key consists of the tab number and the name of the document it

represents. Files are placed in front of the tab that represents it. Court

proceedings are filed as current order, proposed order, then past orders. Parenting

plans and confidential sealed records are placed in front of their tab. Extra copies

and other miscellaneous records are stored in the folder pockets in the back of

the binder. After a court appearance an order will be generated by the judge and

signed by both parties. Court proceedings are video and voice recorded. A copy of

these can be purchased from the court. In some cases it is helpful to have these
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proceedings transcribed onto a paper document, to show, for example, a future

judge the happenings of a proceeding ruled on by a prior judge. It is common in

family court, also called Superior Court, to see a different judge at each court

appearance. These proceedings are generally ruled over by a pro-tem or

temporary judge.

All documents filed with the court and all orders generated by the court are

uploaded on to the LINX electronic file system and are a matter of public record,

meaning anyone can look them up. Attorney/client privilege is retained only on

sealed confidential records, and sealed financial statements. The LINX website is a

method of electronic filing that is used by Washington State and is accessible to

anyone with internet access. Files and proceedings can be accessed by name of

person involved or cause number of proceeding. Other information provided by

LINX includes;

Superior Court Cases

 Search criminal, civil, and judgment cases by title or cause number.

 View criminal case attorneys, charges, docket, proceedings, and judgments.

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 View civil case litigants, attorneys, docket, proceedings, schedule, and

judgments.

 At the Clerk's Office: Use this web site to view and print public documents

filed in 2002 or latter.

Attorney

 View, print, and download Superior Court documents that were filed in

2002 or later (a subscription is required).

 E-File and E-Serve Superior Court documents.

 View active cases.

 Confirm and strike non-trial proceedings on civil calendars.

 Complete Track Assignment Requests online. (Available in the Forms

section.)

 View an attorney's proceeding calendar.

By knowing how to use the LINX website, and having knowledge of the format in

this electronic filing database, a lot of time and effort in both filing documents

and in accessing them once they have been filed with the court can be saved.
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The third and final stage in Bayly’s records keeping is converting closed

cases onto a disk for archiving. First a file is created with the name and cause

number. Then all pertinent files are scanned in and copied to disk. The disk is

labeled with last name and cause or case number. Each document scanned is

labeled. The last name is the key unit and the document name is unit two with a

dash inserted between. Example: Mosley-Parenting Plan, for repeating

documents a date is added for clarification as unit three. Generally, files are

copied and pasted from LINX, and only sealed confidential, sealed financial, and

attorney client agreement documents need to be scanned. Disks are stored

alphabetically by the client’s last name. Binders are then disassembled and all

paper files are shredded and destroyed in the final stage of disposition. Binders

are repurposed for new cases that have a scheduled venue of appearance, or

upcoming court date.

I felt Bayly’s system was effective and precise. The job requirements

include many other tasks and responsibilities which leaves the record filing at the

bottom of the task list. This creating stacks of files needing attention. Bayly was
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the only person who knew which files were needing to be converted, processed,

or archived, making it difficult to work without his direct supervision and constant

input. Although the system seems easy, there are a lot of details and training

requires a lot of time and effort and must be done by Bayly himself, as he is the

only one needing access to the records. Organization and record/file management

is vital for attorneys as cases are determined based more on process than on the

proceedings. Judges rule in favor of cases that are well documented and well

presented. Preparation of court cases are detrimental in the success or failure of

the attorney. File management and records information management is key to

the overall success and lively-hood in practicing law.