Leobit
Legal Case Management Platform
Legacy System Modernization for a Leading Criminal Case Management Solution
ABOUT
the project
Client:
Location:
USA
|MO
Company Size:
Industry:
Solution:
The platform is a leading civil and criminal case management software tailored for defenders and prosecutors within the US judicial system. Its primary goal is to streamline workflows, drive cost efficiencies, and enhance the effectiveness and agility of legal teams. With its cloud-based storage and robust search functionality, legal professionals can efficiently enter, archive, search, retrieve, and generate reports on case information.
Moreover, the software offers time-tracking capabilities and generates statistical reports for analyzing work distribution across case types, tasks, and team members. Additionally, its seamless integration with various software applications, including law enforcement and court RMS, calendar, and email tools, further accelerates operations and minimizes the risk of errors.
We’re delighted to have assisted our client in modernizing their legacy system while ensuring uninterrupted service for their users. The client heeded our advice, resulting in the development of new features as cloud-native modules, which harness the capabilities of containerization and emerging technologies.
CUSTOMER
The customer is an eminent US-based business and government solutions provider, offering defenders and prosecutors an advanced tool for streamlined court case management. Boasting a substantial client base of over 500 organizations within the legal sector and a remarkable user count exceeding 13,000, they have solidified their position as a leader in the industry. With over three decades of experience, they have optimized the operations of numerous prosecutor and defender offices within the US judicial system.
BUSINESSCHALLENGE
Initially developed in the 1990s, our client’s software solution was due for an upgrade to enhance speed and user experience by migrating legacy code to modern technologies and incorporating new features. The client also wanted to optimize the system interface for easier navigation and to lighten the administrative workload associated with user onboarding.
However, executing a seamless migration presented a significant challenge. As the client’s web application supported critical operations in government and legal sectors, any disruption during the migration could have led to significant consequences, including delays in legal processes. Maintaining uninterrupted functionality throughout the migration process was paramount to ensure continuity of operations.
WhyLeobit
The company found Leobit through Clutch and was impressed by our expertise in Angular and Azure cloud development, which aligned perfectly with their needs. Our collaboration began with a small project focused on process automation, where we demonstrated our reliability as a vendor. Satisfied with the results, the client engaged Leobit for a larger project involving reengineering a legal case management system and developing new modules. This marked the start of a long-term partnership that proved mutually beneficial for both parties.
Project
in detail
Our collaboration started with a team of 5 experts, and as the client was satisfied with our work, we expanded to 4 teams comprising 19 experts. Two backend development teams focused on migrating code and components while our UX designers revamped the system interface and created new features. Working closely with designers, our front-end developers skillfully implemented the redesigned features.
Code Migration
Our primary goal was to transition the codebase from ASP.NET Forms to Angular 11 without causing any disruption to the client's critical system, which serves the government and legal sectors. To achieve this, our experts rewrote the legacy codebase, module by module, ensuring seamless integration with Angular while enhancing performance using TypeScript.
A crucial aspect of the migration involved integrating a wide range of UI components from the legacy system into the new framework, such as forms, buttons, modals, settings pages, maintenance pages, search functionality, user profile pages, services pages, menus, and navigation. By carefully incorporating these UI elements, our development team ensured that the system retained its core features while leveraging the capabilities of the new framework.
API Endpoints Modifications
While migrating the legacy code to the new framework, our team encountered legacy API endpoints on the backend that required careful handling. API endpoints serve as the entry points for communication between the frontend and backend, enabling data retrieval through requests.
We meticulously evaluated each endpoint to determine the most appropriate approach for handling it within the new Angular framework. For some endpoints, we replaced outdated implementations with new ones, while for others, we replicated them and made necessary adjustments to align with Angular's framework. This approach enabled us to use the existing backend infrastructure while ensuring compatibility with the new front-end framework.
Constructing an Advanced Search Engine for the System
The existing search feature, built with ASP.NET Web Forms, proved slow and inefficient, hindering effective data retrieval for prosecutors and defenders. To tackle this challenge, our team developed a new search engine from scratch, using modern technologies and a new design. We focused on simplifying the search process for users, allowing them to input queries, apply filters, and easily navigate results.
We integrated the Azure Cognitive Search service into the system, establishing a dedicated database known as the Index within the Azure environment. Unlike before, where the entire database was queried, the new search system relies on this Azure Index database. It contains a carefully filtered subset of records tailored to match user preferences and search patterns. This ensures that only relevant records are retrieved, optimizing search efficiency.
The revamped search functionality has delivered remarkable improvements in system performance. Previously lengthy search times have been reduced to an impressive 1–2 seconds, giving users swift access to the information they need.
Media Editor Development
Our customer faced a challenge handling lengthy video recordings, such as those from police body cameras, which needed modifications like trimming, highlighting specific elements, and blurring faces or objects. Previously, such modifications were made using separate third-party applications, potentially violating legislation in case of data leakages. To address this challenge, Leobit experts suggested consolidating audio/video editing tasks within the client’s ecosystem to ensure compliance with legislation on sensitive information.
Our solution was to develop a comprehensive online video editor. We used modern technologies like .NET 8, Docker & Docker compose, React, and Azure Blobs. By integrating with Azure AI Video Indexer, we enabled users to extract valuable insights from videos, including automatic translation and multi-language support.
The media editor’s key features include face and object blurring, annotation drawing tools, and AI-powered caption extraction and editing allow users to perform all necessary actions seamlessly within the platform.
Victim Portal
We developed a cross-platform mobile and desktop application specifically designed to provide victims with access to case information and facilitate communication with their legal counsel. This application functions as a separate microservice, communicating with the main application through an API. Our main challenge lay in seamlessly integrating this microservice with the core application while ensuring the secure storage of data in the primary database.
To address this challenge, we employed a multitenancy approach, enabling the application to connect to various client environments in production. This architecture ensures flexibility and scalability, accommodating different client needs effectively.
The app gives victims access to the essential case details, including evidence, and facilitates seamless communication through feedback mechanisms. Previously, feedback collection relied on disparate methods like Google Forms, emails, or letters. Now, victims receive timely notifications prompting them to provide feedback directly within the app.
Additionally, the app features an embedded calendar displaying court dates, locations, and attendance requirements, offering victims clear visibility into their legal proceedings. Furthermore, users can access documentation FAQs and even send subpoenas to court, all within the app interface.
On the administrative side of the main app, we implemented functionalities allowing administrators to manage user texts, FAQs, victim profiles, document generation, and access permissions. Moreover, administrators can configure session durations, ensuring security by setting expiration limits for access.
Technology Solutions
- Migrating front-end from ASP.NET Forms to Angular 11 by rewriting the application module by module, adhering to Angular’s specific syntax, and leveraging TypeScript to optimize the code
- Using Azure Cognitive Search to simplify the search process for users, allowing them to input queries, apply filters, and easily navigate results
- Integrating with Azure AI Video Indexer to highlight specific elements, blur faces or objects, and easily add closed captioning in multiple languages
- Employing a cloud-native approach for developing new modules allowed us to use modern technologies and enhance the system performance
- Adopting a multitenancy approach to enable new cloud-native modules to connect to various client environments in production
Valuedelivered
- The adoption of Angular resulted in notable enhancements in page load speed and overall system performance, resulting in a more efficient and seamless user experience
- By implementing Azure Cognitive Search, we successfully reduced the loading speed from an average of 1 minute to 1–2 seconds
- Implementing CI/CD allowed for streamlining development, reducing costs, and cutting manual efforts