TECHNOLOGY

New Website Launched

The Court launched its newly redesigned website on October 25, 2012. The new website features a user-friendly look and feel that enables the Court to deliver well-organized information to the public, allows for easier navigation across the site, and provides quick access to a wide variety of resources and information about the Court. For the first time, the Court’s website is searchable and offers a read-aloud service via BrowseAloud.

The Court developed the new website exclusively for the Central District and is designed to serve the unique needs of our users. The website was built on a judiciary-wide template now used in over 30 federal courts, making it easier for users who conduct business in multiple districts to locate items of interest more quickly. The website redesign was based on a comprehensive assessment of the current website, and included extensive input and feedback from attorneys, trustees, judges, Court staff, and the public. The new website represents a major step forward in the Court’s effort to improve customer service and provide a rewarding online experience for our visitors.

Auto Discharge Program

In May 2012, the Clerk’s Office went live with the Auto Discharge program district-wide. The program reduces labor by eliminating about five to seven minutes of manual review and processing for each case. About 63 percent of chapter 7 cases are automatically discharged, and the rest of the cases are manually reviewed because they require further action. The pilot phase for the Auto Discharge program ran from May 15, 2011 through August 24, 2011. During this phase, 3,834 cases were discharged district-wide. Program adjustments, event modification and user training issues were addressed during this phase to ensure the discharges were not issued prematurely.

Storage Area Networks (SANs) Installed In Remote Location

The installation of two Storage Area Networks (SANs) at a remote location on August 1, 2012 represents a major step forward in the Court’s emergency preparedness efforts. One of the two SANs, which are large-scale storage systems that can be shared by multiple servers, houses all of the Los Angeles Division’s network user data and application data, while the other replicates both the division’s SAN and virtual server at a remote Disaster Recovery site. In the event of an emergency that compromises the Court’s network, IT staff will be able to reactivate the network from the remote site, allowing the Court’s operational and administrative tasks to resume with minimal data loss and interruptions. Network data from all five divisions will be replicated to the SANs by late 2013.

IT Committee Established

In 2012, the Court established the Information Technology (IT) Committee, a joint advisory body composed of judges, attorneys, and Clerk’s Office staff. The committee’s mission is to strengthen the Court’s commitment to excellence in Information Technology by providing strategic direction, promoting innovation, and ensuring support to constituents through the use of reliable technology.

Court Upgrades To CM/ECF Version 4

The Court upgraded to CM/ECF v4 in 2012. External users are now able to view certain types of attachments to docket entries that were not displayed in previous versions. As mandated by the Judicial Conference, the PACER fee also increased from $.08 to $.10 per page, with the cap remaining at 30 pages. CM/ECF v4 performs better than previous versions when running the Claims Activity Report.

Court Rolls Out Automated Work Distribution Program

In 2012, the Court began phase-in of CM Assist (CMA), a program designed to help quality control documents while automatically distributing and balancing the workload based on available staff. The program was also developed to measure and enhance productivity with detailed reports, which provide statistical data in the areas of accuracy and timeliness. Staff from the Western District of Oklahoma, where CMA was developed, and the Middle District of Pennsylvania visited Los Angeles in July 2012 to train Operations supervisors from throughout the district in the use of the program. When fully implemented in 2013, CMA will allow staff to be more productive and accurate and increase Clerk’s office efficiency.

CM Filing Agent Allows Users To Assign Logins To Support Staff

The Court implemented a new CM/ECF feature, known as CM Filing Agent, on July 16, 2012. CM Filing Agent enables registered CM/ECF users to assign logins and passwords to support staff filing electronic documents on their behalf. Registered CM/ECF users no longer need to share their personal CM/ECF password and login with employees, and employees provided with their own logins and passwords can work in CM/ECF simultaneously. Registered users can access CM/ECF reports to view filing activity for each of their registered employees. CM Filing Agent also enables the Court to identify the CM/ECF filers that are error-prone and need additional training. A public notice, email blast, and tweet announcing the availability of Filing Agent and the related electronic training modules were all sent out on June 21.

Mechanism Created For Reporting Allegations Of Fraud, Waste, And Abuse

To enhance the public’s continued trust and confidence in the Judiciary, the Clerk’s Office developed a policy for reporting allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement of resources in the workplace. Judges, chambers staff, and Clerk’s Office staff can report allegations through a secure form available on the Court’s intranet site. All submissions are considered confidential and are conveyed to the Clerk of Court and/or Chief Judge, as appropriate.

Annual IT Security Training

The Court’s annual end-user IT Security Training was offered through the Court’s internal online training system for employees. The mandatory training introduced basic computer security concepts and good security practices for protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of court information technology records and systems. The training is part of the Court’s ongoing efforts to educate staff about common tactics hackers use to breach security (including social engineering, phishing, and spyware) and preventive measures to guard against these tactics.

Java Training

During the week of February 13, 2012, the Court held an introductory Java training course for IT Developers at the Los Angeles Division. Titled “Java Fundamentals for Non-C Programmers,” and led by instructors from AcademyX Computer Training, the class taught the basic structure and syntax of Java and the use of object-oriented principles in Java applications. A total of 20 people participated in the course, with seven from the Central District and the rest from other bankruptcy, district, and pretrial court units. The attendees received a solid foundation in Java, and the information they acquired will help the Court manage the Pro Se Pathfinder project, as well as prepare for the next generation of CM/ECF.

Drupal Training

During the week of September 10, 2012, members of the Communications Department and an IT Developer attended Drupal training in the Los Angeles Division. The Clerk’s Office used Drupal, the same open-source content management software that powers WhiteHouse.gov, to develop the Court’s new website. Drupal provides the Court with a powerful and useful engine for updating and managing the website’s content. During the training, staff learned how to fully utilize the advanced features of Drupal, and learned about best practices and available resources for the program. Two days of the training focused on the skills required by content editors, such as creating basic pages, views, and themes. The rest of the week was devoted to more complex skills required by IT professionals, including installation and configuration of modules, creating and managing views, site administration, working with MySQL databases, troubleshooting, performance, and security.

New Wireless Network In Central District Courthouses

In June 2012, the Clerk’s Office completed the WiFi project, which made Dynamic Circuit Network (DCN) WiFi available in each of the Central District’s five divisions. Staff from the Network Management Department installed wireless access points in sufficient number to provide coverage for all chambers, courtrooms, and conference rooms in the district. Judges can use the network to access files on the bench, print files on network copiers from any device with wireless capability, and carry out any task they would perform on a desktop PC.

Court Attends 2012 Technology Users Group Conference

From June 26 through June 28, 2012, executives, supervisors, and IT staff attended the Ninth Circuit’s 2012 Technology Users Group (TUG) Conference in Los Angeles. Clerk of Court/Executive Officer Kathleen J. Campbell, Chief Deputy of Administration Steven A. Sloniker, and 21 Clerk’s Office employees represented the Court. Panel discussions on the first day addressed cyber attacks, IT cost containment, and the mobility and consumerization of IT. Chief Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas, and Circuit and Court of Appeals Executive Cathy A. Catterson also discussed court technology. On the second day, breakout sessions and vendor presentations encompassed a wide variety of new tools that are available to courts. The concluding half-day session included presentations on Windows 8, cloud computing, and social media.

IT Staff Complete Windows 7 Support Training Classes

As part of the Court’s project to upgrade the district’s PC operating systems from Windows XP to Windows 7, 25 IT staff members attended a five-day Windows 7 support training class. Staff from divisional offices traveled to Los Angeles to attend. Successful completion of “Troubleshooting and Supporting Windows 7 in the Enterprise,” a Certified Windows Training Course, provided Court employees with the ability to support the Windows 7 operating system and solve technical troubleshooting problems in the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2007 networking environments. The class provided professional training for Court staff in troubleshooting startup issues, hardware device and device driver performance issues, network connectivity issues, and operating system and application issues in a Windows 7 environment.

Some senior IT staff also attended “Planning and Managing Windows 7 Desktop Deployments and Environments,” a second five-day course designed to teach desktop administrators how to configure, design, and manage the Windows 7 environment. The course provided professional training for Court staff in managing PC desktop environments and designing a standard Windows 7 image, as well as planning and deploying applications and updates to Windows 7 client computers.

Four-Digit Dialing Introduced

In April 2012, the Courtroom Technology team completed the upgrade of the Court’s phone system with the Session Initial Protocol (SIP) project. The upgrade connects the entire district through the network, so any staff member can reach another by dialing his or her four-digit extension. Prior to the upgrade, phone calls between divisions had to be made as long distance calls, and incurred long distance charges. The Courtroom Technology group also plans to connect video hearings through the network with the SIP project in the near future.

Chief Judge Carroll Expands Video Hearings

In 2012, Chief Judge Peter H. Carroll continued to hold hearings at the Northern Division by means of videoconference from his Los Angeles courtroom. The video hearings included all chapter 7 related matters, including adversary proceedings. To assist the Northern Division with ever increasing filings, Chief Judge Carroll increased his chapter 7 caseload in the Northern Division by 182 percent in 2012, and heard chapter 7 matters from Santa Barbara two days a week. This represented an increase from 7.2 percent of chapter 7 cases filed in the Northern Division to 25.5 percent of those cases. Parties attending these hearings appeared at the Northern Division, the Los Angeles Division, and by telephone.

Video Capabilities Added To Presentation Training Room

In October 2012, the Clerk’s Office configured the Presentation Training Room 952 in Los Angeles to enable video training capabilities. Staff members in other divisions can now attend training sessions and meetings virtually, without incurring travel costs. Microphones are also embedded in the ceiling of the room, eliminating the need to pass microphones around as speakers change.

Court Continues To Provide Information To The Public Through Twitter And YouTube

The Court continues to utilize social media to disseminate information to the public using its Twitter and YouTube accounts. Established in February 2011, the Court’s Twitter account has over 485 Twitter followers and the Clerk’s Office has posted nearly 1,200 tweets.

The Twitter account, @cacbnews, provides real-time updates, including public notices and announcements of estate sales, Court closures, and Court publications. Since Tweets are limited to 140 characters, the Court shortens the URLs of links using Go.USA.gov, a URL shortener that allows government agencies to create short, trustworthy URLs that end with a “.gov” extension. Some shortened links, primarily public notices, are also used to send email blasts to the Court’s registered CM/ECF users. According to data from Go.USA.gov, public notices have been accessed via the shortened URL over 2,300 times. The Court’s YouTube channel, CACBTV, continues to feature English and Spanish-language educational videos on bankruptcy and is readily utilized by the public.