Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02811421 2013-04-02
SYSTEM, METHOD, AND INTERFACE FOR EVALUATING A LEAD
COPYRIGHT NOTICE AND PERMISSION
A portion of this patent document contains material subject to copyright
protection. The
copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of
the patent document
or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office
patent files or records, but
otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever. The following notice applies to
this document:
Copyright 0 2011 Thomson Reuters.
TECHNICAL FIELD
Various embodiments of the present invention concern system, method and
interface for
evaluating a lead.
BACKGROUND
Professionals today are tasked with not only performing the duties within
their job
description but also frequently must bring in additional revenue for a
company/firm. For example,
a lawyer may have current clients for which he does product liability
litigation. His daily job
description includes drafting briefs, memorandums, motions, emails and
communicating with
current clients. Yet, as the lawyer is promoted within the firm, the
responsibility of bringing in
clientele increases. Responsibilities may include networking, communicating
via social media,
and/or advertising to bring in leads that may become clients. A lead is an
individual or
organization that expresses interest in a firm's goods or services. However,
besides the lawyer's
personal experience, he has no other efficient way of assessing the leads he
receives through the
aforementioned examples. In another example, if the lawyer is a solo
practioner, the sole
responsibility to manage leads for his firm may become cumbersome. The solo
lawyer may have to
keep track of the number of leads, the number of times his website is visited,
the number of times
his firm and/or key words are searched using a search engine, and/or the
number of people who
view videos and/or electronic advertising materials. Keeping track of these
metrics may assist the
solo practioner in addressing weaknesses within his revenue building strategy.
A significant obstacle encountered by large law firms and solo practioners
alike is how to
determine if a lead has enough potential to be profitable. In order to make
that determination,
professionals need various sets of information to determine if this lead is
worth pursuing. One
known approach to managing leads is a lead management system. For example,
John, a solo
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criminal practice attorney, has a lead management system that allows him to
input lead information
about each retained client. In addition, if a lead calls in, he may input the
initial information into
this system. The lead management system may also include a section where the
initial contact type
and follow up contacts are inputted. However, this lead management system
fails to provide John
any additional information about a lead. For example, Sally, an incoming lead,
may send a brief
email stating she is charged with a driving while intoxicated offense. She
leaves her name, address
and phone number. The lead management system may be able to store this
information. However,
the system does not assess the quality of the lead. For instance, there is no
case evaluation and/or
additional information to help John determine if this lead is potentially
profitable.
To date, lead management systems have not provided information to determine
the quality
of the lead. However, for professionals that require efficiency and quality, a
better solution is
needed.
SUMMARY
The inventors have recognized the necessity for additional improvements in
evaluating a
lead. In particular, the present invention allows for evaluating a lead by
receiving a set of lead
information. Consequently, the set of lead information is associated with
generating a case
evaluation and retrieving a set of additional information. For example, a
lawyer may receive a set
of initial lead information such as a name, address and phone number from a
lead. The set of lead
information may then be used to generate a case evaluation to better assess
the quality of the legal
case. The case evaluation may include information about the average case award
for this case type,
the percentage of cases settled and/or won by plaintiff or defendant and/or
the last case award
amount. The set of lead information may also be used to retrieve a set of
additional information to
better assess the quality of the case. For example, the set of additional
information may include
U.S. Census Bureau information, a range of household income and/or home values
based on the
address provided.
Advantageously, the present invention permits notifying a professional when a
set of
criteria is satisfied. Continuing from the previous example, the lawyer may
provide a set of criteria
regarding when to be notified of a lead. This set of criteria may be based on
case type, average
case award, percentage of plaintiff wins, etc. Once this set of criteria is
satisfied, the professional
may then be notified, for example, by email. In addition to the advantages
explained earlier, the
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notification process allows the lawyer to further filter and determine which
cases have the best
potential considering the lawyer's customized criteria.
Additional advantages and/or features of the present invention will be set
forth in part in the
description. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following
detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory
and are intended to
provide further explanation of the present invention as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is an exemplary system 100 which corresponds to one or more
embodiments of the
invention.
Figure IA is a more detailed view of the lead evaluation module 140 of
Figure 1 which
corresponds to one or more embodiments of the invention.
Figure 2 is an exemplary method 200 which corresponds to one or more
embodiments of the
invention.
Figure 3 is an exemplary interface 300 which corresponds to one or more
embodiments of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT(S)
Exemplary Document Processing and Information Retrieval System
Figure 1 shows an exemplary system 100, which may be adapted to incorporate
the
capabilities, functions, methods, and interfaces of the present invention.
Figure lA further shows
exemplary lead evaluation module 140, which may be adapted to incorporate into
system 100.
System 100 includes a server 120 and an access device 130.
Server 120 is generally representative of one or more servers for serving data
in the form of
a webpage or other markup language with associated applets, ActiveX controls,
and/or other related
software and data structures. Server 120 includes a processor module 121 and a
memory 122,
wherein the memory 122 further includes lead evaluation module 140, a search
module 123 and a
content database 124. All of the components within server 120 are connected
via computer bus
102, which is shown in various pathways. Computer buses 101, 102 and/or 103
are buses that
transmit information between the access device's components/elements and/or
between multiple
access devices. For example, computer bus 101 and computer bus 102 aid in
transmitting
information (e.g., a signal) within access device 130 and server 120,
respectively. Processor
module 121 may use computer bus 102 to queue a request which is to be
transmitted through a
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signal, from server 120 via a wireless or wireline transmission channel 150
and is then ultimately
received by processor module 131 through the utilization of computer bus 101.
Generally, server
120 transmits the signal via a wireless or wireline transmission channel 150
to at least one access
device, such as access device 130. Supplementing the previous example, the
signal from server
120 may be associated with a request to display an interface (See Figure 3) on
access device 130.
Processor module 121 includes one or more local and/or distributed processors,
controllers
and/or virtual machines. In the exemplary embodiment, processor module 121
takes any
convenient and/or desirable form known to those skilled in the art. Memory 122
takes the
exemplary form of one or more electronic, magnetic, and/or optical data-
storage devices and stores
a search module 123, a content database 124 and lead evaluation module 140.
Search module 123 includes one or more search engines and related user-
interface
components (not shown), for receiving and processing queries against content
database 124.
Content database 124 takes the exemplary form of one or more electronic,
magnetic, and/or optical
data-storage devices. Content database 124 may contain legal cases and/or
metadata relating to the
legal cases. In addition, the content database 124 may also contain public
records information, U.S.
Census Bureau information, demographic information, analytics and the like.
This content may
also be considered subscriber content. Subscriber content includes content and
related data for
controlling, administering, and managing pay-as-you-go and/or subscription
based access. For
instance, a consumer may have to subscribe to a lead evaluation service. The
content is stored in
the content database 124 until a set of consumer credentials is authenticated.
For instance,
consumer credentials may be a consumer name and associated password. Once the
credentials are
successfully authenticated on server 120, a signal, including the information,
is transmitted over a
wireless or wireline transmission channel 150 to access device 130. For
purposes described herein,
successfully authenticating a set of consumer credentials means the consumer
credentials are
accepted by an authentication system (not shown). This successful
authentication allows for
receiving and/or transmitting of information.
Access device 130 is generally representative of one or more access devices.
In addition,
access device 130 may be mobile or non-mobile. For example, a mobile and/or
non-mobile access
device may take the form of a personal computer, workstation, personal digital
assistant, mobile
telephone, smartphone, APPLE iPad, and/or any other device capable of
providing an effective
consumer interface with a server and/or database. Specifically, in this
exemplary embodiment,
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access device 130 is a mobile access device which includes a graphical
interface 138, a processor
module 131, a memory 132, and a keyboard 134. All of these elements are
connected via computer
bus 101, which is shown in various pathways throughout the access device 130.
Processor module 131 includes one or more processors, processing circuits,
and/or
controllers. In the exemplary embodiment, processor module 131 takes any
convenient and/or
desirable form known to those skilled in the art. Memory 132 is coupled, via
computer bus 101, to
processor module 131.
Memory 132 and hard drive (not shown) are examples of main memory and
secondary
memory, respectively. In this document, the terms "computer program medium,"
"computer usable
medium," and "computer readable medium" may generally refer to media such as
main memory,
secondary memory, removable storage drive, a hard disk installed in a hard
disk drive and/or other
media known to those skilled in the art. The computer readable medium, for
example, may include
non-volatile memory, such as a floppy disk, ROM, flash memory, disk drive
memory, a CD-ROM,
a CD-optical drive or disc and/or other permanent storage. Additionally, a
computer readable
medium may include, for example, volatile storage such as RAM, buffers, cache
memory, and/or
network circuits. The processor module 131 reads data, instructions, messages
or message packets,
and other computer readable information from the computer readable medium.
In one exemplary embodiment, memory 132 stores code (machine-readable or
executable
instructions) for an operating system 136. Operating system 136 is coupled to
a graphical interface
138 and other various components thereof, via computer bus 101. In the
exemplary embodiment,
operating system 136 takes the form of a version of the MICROSOFT WINDOWS
operating
system, and browser 1383 takes the form of a version of MICROSOFT INTERNET
EXPLORER . In addition, operating system 136 interacts, via computer bus 101,
with the
keyboard 134 and the processor module 131. For example, the keyboard 134 sends
inputs, via
computer bus 101, to the operating system 136. The operating system 136 then
determines the lead
evaluation module 140 needs to be utilized, engages the lead evaluation module
140 through the
signal via a wireless or wireline transmission channel 150, accepts the lead
evaluation module
output as data and stores that data temporarily in memory 132 (e.g., RAM).
Operating system 136
and browser 1383 not only receive inputs from keyboard 134, but also support
rendering of
graphical consumer interfaces within graphical interface 138.
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Graphical interface 138 includes a browser 1383 and a display 1381. When the
lead
evaluation module 140 is initiated, a display 1381 is defined in memory 132
and rendered on
graphical interface 138. Upon rendering, the graphical interface 138 presents
the data in
association with a set of modules from the lead evaluation module 140 as
further discussed herein.
FIG. IA illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the lead evaluation module 140.
The lead
evaluation module 140 is configured to execute a set of modules from memory
122. The modules
include a lead management module 140a, a case evaluator module 140b, an
additional information
module 140c, an analysis module 140d, a delivery module 140e and a
notification module 140f.
These modules may be operatively connected to each other in several
configurations. One
exemplary configuration along with each module is described herein.
A lead management module 140a is configured to receive a set of lead
information. The set
of lead information may include first name, surname, phone number, address,
email address, legal
case type, facts about the legal case, date of initial contact, type of
initial contact, education,
occupation, marital status, number of dependents, any combination thereof and
the like. For
example, a lead with a personal injury case (i.e., legal case type) may call a
service which matches
the lead to an attorney specializing in personal injury. The service may use
the lead management
module 140a configured to receive lead information. The lead may be asked to
provide her full
name, home address, primary phone number, email address, date of incident,
education level,
marital status, number of dependents, and additional facts relating to the
case. In addition, the lead
management module 140a is configured to receive the date in which the call
occurred between the
service and the lead and/or the type of initial contact (e.g., a phone call
and/or email) from the lead.
In some embodiments, the lead management module 140a is configured to manage
multiple sets of
lead information during the various stages of evaluating a lead. For example,
the service may
intake the initial information about the lead such as first name, surname,
home address, phone
number, type of initial contact, and legal case type. Next, the attorney may
contact the lead by
phone/email to gather additional information to assess the merits of the legal
case. For instance, the
attorney may manually populate additional information into an electronic
and/or paper form for
potential clients. In other embodiments, the lead management module 140a is
further configured to
receive a set of lead information from multiple leads where the multiple leads
are from a group of
attorneys within a single firm and/or multiple firms. In some embodiments, the
lead management
module 140a is configured to receive and store the set of information at
various stages of
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information gathering. In other embodiments, the set or a copy of the set of
lead information may
be stored within content database 124. Referring back to FIG. 1A, the lead
management module
140a is operatively connected to a case evaluator module 140b and an
additional information
module 140c.
A case evaluator module 140b is configured to generate a case evaluation. The
case
evaluation is an assessment of a legal case based on the set of lead
information. For example, the
set of lead information may include whether the lead is a plaintiff or a
defendant, the state in which
incident occurred, the location of incident and any other information related
to the legal case. The
case evaluation may include statistics and the like on the resolution of other
legal cases with similar
facts and/or information. For example, statistics may be provided on the
average case value, the
last legal case award in a geographical area, and/or percentages of plaintiff
wins, defendant wins
and settlement. The case evaluation allows the user to assess the quality of a
lead which in turn
may increase the revenue by engaging, and ultimately representing, profitable
leads. An exemplary
interface displaying exemplary case evaluation is illustrated in Figure 3 and
described in the
corresponding Exemplary Interface section. Referring back to FIG. 1A, the case
evaluator module
140b is operatively connected to an additional information module 140c, an
analysis module 140d
and a delivery module 140e.
An additional information module 140c is configured to retrieve a set of
additional
information. The set of additional information is also associated with the set
of lead information.
For example, the set of additional information may include an interactive map
showing the location
of an address, a household income value, a home value, a range within the area
of any value and/or
any information in which the lead did not directly provide. For example, a
lead provides a home
address. This home address may be used as search criteria in a property value
website to determine
the home value and/or a home value range for houses in that area. In addition,
the set of lead
information may be used to search public records content to determine if a
lien is placed on any
property owned by the lead. The additional information module 140c is
operatively connected to a
case evaluator module 140b, an analysis module 140d and a delivery module
140e.
In some embodiments, an analysis module 140d is configured to analyze one or
more of the
set of lead information, the case evaluation and the set of additional
information. Exemplary
analyses may include comparative analytics, aggregation, conversion rates,
market sizing and/or
any other analyses which may be implemented using the above-mentioned
information. See Figure
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2 and the corresponding Exemplary Method section for a further description of
analyzing the set of
lead information, the case evaluation and/or the set of additional
information. The analysis module
140d is operatively connected to a delivery module 140e.
Whether operatively connected to the additional information module 140c, the
case
evaluator module 140b and/or the analysis module 140d, a delivery module 140e
is configured to
generate and transmit a display signal. The display signal is associated with
the set of lead
information, the case evaluation and the set of additional information. The
display signal is
generated and transmitted over transmission channel 150 to access device 130.
Ultimately, the
information associated with the display signal may be displayed to the user on
browser 1383. See
Figure 3 and the corresponding description within the Exemplary Interface
section for an example
of information associated with a display signal.
In other embodiments, a notification module 140f is operatively connected to
the delivery
module 140e. The notification module 140f is configured to notify a
professional when a set of
criteria is satisfied. The set of criteria is associated with meeting or
exceeding a threshold for at
least one of the set of lead information, the case evaluation and the set of
additional information.
The notification may be initiated by a service and/or automatically. For
example, an attorney
informs a service that he only wants to be notified when a lead has a personal
injury case type, a
legal case value above $30,000 and addresses only within the state of
California. This information
is a set of criteria the attorney wants to be satisfied before he gets
notified. If the incoming
information meets or exceeds his pre-determined threshold, then he is notified
by his choice of
communication (e.g., email, phone, SMS messaging). Continuing from the current
example, the
legal case type and address may be considered lead information while the legal
case value may be
considered a case evaluation. In another example, if a service determines the
set of criteria is
satisfied, the service may notify the attorney via email and/or phone. On the
other hand, an
administrative assistant may be inputting a lead's information and the
notification module 140f is
configured to recognize the set of criteria has been satisfied and an email is
automatically sent
notifying the attorney of the lead. While the notifications may be tailored,
the attorney may have
obligations to respond to every lead even when no notifications for a given
lead are received.
Notifications and responding to leads are further described in the Exemplary
Method section
Exemplary Method 200 as Conducted by System 100
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Referring now to FIG. 2, system 100 is configured to implement method 200,
which may be
adapted to incorporate the capabilities, functions, systems, and interfaces of
the present invention.
Method 200 includes functional blocks 202-212. These functional blocks are
steps that perform
actions including assignments, decisions, assessments and other like
functions.
In step 202, a set of lead information is received by the lead management
module 140a.
This lead information may also be stored and managed in the lead management
module 140a. The
lead information may come from various sources. For example, a lead may fill
out a form on an
attorney's vvebsite. The information provided in the form is sent to and
received by the lead
management module 140a. In another example, a service may receive a phone call
from a lead.
An operator from the service may use the lead management module 140a to
receive the set of lead
information that he/she inputs. Once the set of lead information is received,
the process may
continue to step 204 or step 206, sequentially or simultaneously.
In step 204, a case evaluation is generated by the case evaluation module
140b. In order to
generate a case evaluation, at least a sub-set of the set of lead information
is used as a query. For
example, the party type, state of incident, legal case type (e.g., a sub-set
of the set of lead
information) may be used as a query for the search module 123. Next, the
search module 123
executes the query against content database 124. The search module 123
retrieves a set of data
related to the query. The set of data may include cases and/or metadata
associated with the cases.
This data may then be aggregated, formatted and, ultimately, displayed to a
user. An exemplary
system and method for evaluating cases is described in U.S. Pat. App.
12/188,117 entitled
"Systems, Methods, Software And Interfaces For Reporting Results Derived From
Jury Verdict
Summary Content, Court Documents And Other Analytical And Litigation
Materials." This
application is incorporated by reference herein. An exemplary interface
displaying an exemplary
case evaluation is illustrated in Figure 3 and described in the Exemplary
Interfaces section. If the
process chooses step 204 initially, then the process advances to step 206. On
the other hand, if the
process chooses to simultaneously execute steps 204 and 206, then the process
moves to step 208.
In step 206, a set of additional information is retrieved. In order to
retrieve a set of
additional information, at least a sub-set of the set of lead information is
used as a query. For
example, the address and the full name (e.g., a sub-set of the set of lead
information) may be used
as a query for the search module 123. Next, the search module 123 executes the
query against
content database 124. The search module 123 retrieves data related to the
query. For instance,
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given the full name "Charlie Sheen" and an address that includes the city of
"Beverly Hills," the
query including "Charlie Sheen and Beverly Hills" may be formed and executed
against content
database 124. Exemplary data may include the home value for Charlie Sheen's
residence, the
average household income within the area of Beverly Hills, an average
education level within
Beverly Hills, and an average age demographic. The data may then be
aggregated, formatted and,
ultimately, displayed to a user. An exemplary interface displaying exemplary
additional
information is illustrated in Figure 3 and described in the Exemplary
Interface section. After steps
204 and 206 have each executed, the process advances to decision box 207.
In some embodiments, one or more of the set of lead information, the case
evaluation and
the set of additional information may be analyzed. At decision box 207, a
decision needs to be
made as to whether analyzing one or more of the set of lead information, the
case evaluation and
the set of additional information occurs. If analyzing occurs, the process
continues to step 208. If
no analyzing occurs, the process then moves to step 210. Each step is
discussed herein.
In step 208 the one or more of the set of lead information, the case
evaluation and the set of
additional information is analyzed. Various analytics may be calculated with
the abovementioned
information. In one example, analytics may be done to determine the conversion
rate on different
types of cases. A conversion rate is the ratio of visitors who convert casual
content views or
website visits into desired actions based on subtle or direct requests from
firms, marketers,
advertisers, content creators and the like. If the prospect has visited a
firm's website, an example of
a conversion action might include submitting an initial information form about
his/her legal case.
For instance, solo practioner, John Doe, is looking to expand his practice
from criminal defense
into estates and trusts. The lead information may be kept, aggregated and
analyzed to determine
the conversion rate of all the cases and/or a set of case types. In another
example, the initial case
evaluation may be used to compare against the actual settlement award and/or
outcome. In yet
another example, the duration and completeness of a case may be compared to an
average duration
and completeness of similar cases. The completeness of case may be an action,
event and/or where
the case stands within a given legal procedure. An average completeness of
case takes into account
all the cases for a given legal cause of action and is an action, event and/or
stage of the case where
the case is considered complete (i.e. settles, wins, loses, etc.). For
example, if the average duration
of a criminal defense case is seventeen (17) months and the average
completeness of a case is
attending a pre-trial hearing then an attorney may compare the average with
his case and use this
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knowledge for future cases. In addition, additional information regarding a
set of leads may be
aggregated and a median calculation may occur of average income, average home
value ranges,
average education level and the like. Consequently, these exemplary analytics
may be done to
inform a practitioner's strategy regarding website search, marketing and
branding. Referring back
to the solo practioner example, Mr. Doe may choose to adjust his marketing
strategy once he
realizes, via the analytics, that the estates and trusts practice area of his
firm has a steady
conversion rate (e.g., an exemplary rate for determining how many leads
progress into contractual
clients) increase as compared to the criminal defense area. Therefore, Mr. Doe
may choose to
focus his search strategy, marketing and website branding in the area of
estates and trusts rather
than criminal defense. Additionally, an extension of the previous example may
also occur. Using
cases, dockets and keywords, an analysis may be done on the size of the market
including a further
analysis with the conversion rate of the practioner and/or firm within the
market. Exemplary
markets may be practice area markets including but not limited to legal,
financial, tax, accounting,
scientific, healthcare and the like. For example, one analytic may use cases
and dockets to
determine how many dockets are filed and cases are concluded each year in
Dakota County,
Minnesota within the estates and trusts practice area. Then, an exemplary
conversion rate may be
calculated to determine how many of those dockets/cases either contacted the
given firm via
website keyword search, phone call and/or email. Next, a comparative analysis
is done to
determine how much of the estates and trust practice area market the given
firm is occupying. For
instance, if the market shows that only five (5) dockets are filed a year on
estate and trusts in
Dakota County and the solo practioner has three (3) of the five (5) then the
solo practitioner has
60% of the market. However, since three (3) cases may not be an optimal
workload, the
practitioner may choose to expand his current practices areas and/or seek
additional thriving
practice areas using the analytics described above. Furthermore, if the
practioner has a high
conversion rate for the leads that come in but the overall number of leads is
low, the practioner may
choose to update his search strategy within the search engine, extend his
marketing to present his
additional practice area and/or brand his website to promote his areas. Once
step 208 completes,
the process then executes step 210.
In step 210, a display signal is generated and transmitted by the delivery
module 140e. The
display signal is transmitted via the transmission channel 150 to access
device 130. Additionally,
information included in the display signal may ultimately be displayed to the
user, for example, in
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the browser 1383. An exemplary interface displaying information included in a
display signal is
illustrated in Figure 3 and described in the corresponding Exemplary Interface
section.
In some embodiments, a notification step may take place. Specifically, in step
212, a
professional is notified when a set of criteria is satisfied. For example, a
threshold associated with
additional information may be set by an attorney who only wants to see leads
that have an average
household income of $100,000 or greater. In the same example, the attorney may
have a threshold
for only cases in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. This threshold is associated
with the set of lead
information. In yet the same example, the attorney may also want a threshold
for the case value to
exceed $30,000. This threshold is associated with the case evaluation.
Continuing from the
previous example, if all three of the thresholds are met or exceeded, then the
set of criteria is
satisfied and a notification is sent to the attorney. This notification may be
by email, phone,
electronic communications and the like. While the attorney may customize
notifications, the
attorney may have obligations to respond to every lead even when no
notifications for a given lead
are received. For example, the attorney may receive five (5) potential leads
in a day. The leads are
inputted in the lead management module 140a. At some point, the notification
module 140f
determines that three (3) of the five (5) leads meet the attorney's criteria
and consequently notifies
him to personally contact the three (3) leads. The attorney may have an
ethical and/or a personal
obligation to respond to all leads. For instance, the attorney may choose to
be notified to
personally follow-up on certain leads. However, the attorney may choose to
handle the remaining
leads by sending a template email, via the lead management module 140a and/or
the notification
module 140f, stating that the attorney wishes them the best of luck in the
lead's case but does not
represent the lead at this time.
Exemplary Interfaces
Figure 3 show an exemplary interface 300 for system 100 and method 200. FIG. 3
illustrates an exemplary display 1381 associated with a browser 1383. The
exemplary display 1381
has two main sections including a statistics section 310 and a leads listing
section 320. The
statistics section 310 contains information, some in the form of graphical
representations, regarding
a firm's metrics. For example, at the bottom of the statistics section 310 is
a showing of total
contacts and average monthly contacts including a breakdown by the type of
contact (i.e., email,
call and chat). In another example, a graphical depiction is shown regarding
the number of contacts
between the weeks of September 3rd and September 24th. The graph also may
display the total
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contact numbers for each person instead of firm-wide. In addition, other
graphs and/or statistics
may be shown with respect to how many people are being directed to the firm's
website, how many
people are searching for the firm and/or case types that the firm handles,
videos including the firm
and advertising including the firm. The leads listing section 320 consists of
a listing of leads and/or
leads with their corresponding practice area, assigned attorney if applicable,
the date the lead
initiated contact and the type of contact (i.e., email, phone, and chat). When
a user selects a lead, a
series of information is further shown to the user. For example, a user has
selected the "Jessica
Perez" lead within the leads listing section 320 to display the following
areas: a set of lead
information 320a, a case evaluation 320b and a set of additional information
320c. The exemplary
set of lead information 320a contains information about the lead and/or
information associated with
the lead. Continuing from the previous example, the set of lead information
may include name,
address, phone number, mobile number, email, practice area, date of initial
contact, date of last
contact, status, assigned attorney, notes and the like. This information may
be inputted by a service
personnel and/or a firm member such as an attorney andlor administrative
assistant. As described
earlier, the set of lead information is then used to generate a case
evaluation and/or retrieve a set of
additional information. Once the case evaluation is generated and/or the set
of additional
information is retrieved, a display signal is transmitted via a transmission
channel 150 to access
device 130 and information associated with the display signal may ultimately
be displayed to the
user.
Referring back to the example, information associated with the display signal
may be the
case evaluation 320b and/or the set of additional information 320c. In this
exemplary interface
300, the exemplary case evaluation 320b includes information on trends
including a percentage of
cases settled or won by plaintiff or defendant. In addition, an average case
award value and/or last
award value may be displayed. Furthermore, one skilled in the art would
appreciate that a user may
want various levels of information regarding a given case. For example, the
case evaluation 320b
may also include information regarding a profile and/or information, if known,
of an entity such as
the judge and/or opposing counsel on the case. For instance, in third (P)
degree assault cases
before Judge Smith, there may be information showing that Judge Smith orders
thirty (30) days in
jail and no fees over fifty percent (50%) of the time for this type of
assault. As previously
mentioned, U.S. Pat. App. 12/188,117 entitled "Systems, Methods, Software And
Interfaces For
Reporting Results Derived From Jury Verdict Summary Content, Court Documents
And Other
14
CA 02811421 2013-04-02
Analytical And Litigation Materials" describes other exemplary embodiments for
case evaluations
and is herein incorporated by reference. A profile for a judge and/or opposing
counsel may include
current and previously held positions, the law school that was attended, the
location of the law
firm/court, and the like. Exemplary profiles and profile creation are
described in various patents
and applications including U.S. Pat. No. 7,333,966 entitled "SYSTEMS, METHODS,
AND
SOFTWARE FOR HYPERLINKING NAMES," U.S. Pat. App. 11/960,054 entitled "SYSTEMS,
METHODS, AND SOFTWARE FOR HYPERLINKING NAMES," and U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,571,174
and 8,001,129 each entitled "SYSTEMS, METHODS, INTERFACES AND SOFTWARE FOR
AUTOMATED COLLECTION AND INTEGRATION OF ENTITY DATA INTO ONLINE
DATABASES AND PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORIES." The application and patents are
herein
incorporated by reference. In addition, the profile and/or statistics may not
be shown directly on
exemplary interface 300. Instead, a link may navigate the user to such
information. The technique
of using a link to navigate to information is well known to those skilled in
the art. The exemplary
set of additional information may include household income ranges, home value
ranges, marital
status, occupation, children status, and education level. While some
information may have come
from the lead, additional information may come from other sources before being
retrieved and
ultimately displayed to the user. For example, the household income range
information may come
from the U.S. Census Bureau. Furthermore, once the lead information has been
assessed,
additional embodiments may include, within the display 1381, a notification
button 350. This
notification button 350 may be to schedule an appointment and/or send a
notification via email,
phone, and/or any messaging service. In FIG. 3, the notification button 350,
when selected,
navigates the user to FIG. 4, an additional display screen 400, wherein the
user may schedule an
appointment with a specific attorney.
The embodiments described above and in the claims are intended only to
illustrate and teach
one or more ways of practicing or implementing the present invention, not to
restrict its breadth or
scope. For example, the lead evaluation module 140 may be stored elsewhere
besides the memory
122. Any location within the server 120 where data might be temporarily and/or
permanently
stored is acceptable. In another example, information is not displayed in
segregated areas such as a
set of lead information 320a, a case evaluation 320b and a set of additional
information 320c. The
information may be more integrated into one large area containing various
types of information. In
another example, FIG. 1 shows browser 1383 and display 1381 as having the
ability to display
CA 02811421 2013-04-02
simultaneously. However, in operation, some embodiments may present them at
separate times.
The actual scope of the invention, which embraces all ways of practicing or
implementing the
teachings of the invention, is defined by the claims and their equivalents.
16
