TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Online Chat Program Now Available

On February 3, 2014, the Clerk’s Office launched the full version of its online chat program to the general public. Visitors to the Court’s website can now enter into real-time chat with a call center representative. The chat feature permits users to request procedural information about bankruptcy directly from representatives of the Court. Call center representatives answer commonly asked questions using pre-approved responses. Through the chat program, call center representatives are able to assist users with direct links to the Court’s Local Bankruptcy Rules and the most frequently requested forms. The program has been in use on a limited basis since August 2013, when it was made exclusively available to registered Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) account holders through an unannounced “soft launch.”

District-wide Migration to Windows 7

In April 2014, the IT Help Desk began migrating the Court’s computers to the Windows 7 operating system. As of December, approximately 750 of the Court's desktop and laptop computers had been upgraded to the new operating system.

Windows 7 provides a more streamlined and modern experience for court staff, and standardizing the operating system district-wide increased the Help Desk’s ability to assist users and troubleshoot problems. Using Windows 7, court staff can organize programs and files, customize and arrange the taskbar and desktop, and view and launch programs and files. Included in the upgrade was an update to Internet Explorer 9, which also includes improvements to performance and security.

The Clerk’s Office offered a Windows 7 training course to the chambers and Clerk’s Office staff by WebEx. The course familiarized attendees with the subtle differences between both operating systems, ensuring minimal disruption to court operations when the move was completed. The majority of the Court’s employees attended a session during 2014, and a recorded version of the course was added to the Court's Virtual University.

Digital Touchscreens Installed in the San Fernando Valley Division

On February 17, 2014, the Clerk’s Office installed six touchscreens in the San Fernando Valley Division: one large screen outside each courtroom and one small screen in each of the vestibules adjacent to the courtrooms. Digital touchscreens have largely replaced paper calendars in this Division. The monitors allow attorneys and litigants to look up their case assignments and view any tentative rulings. The touchscreens support the Court’s ongoing efforts to economize while saving labor and significantly reducing printing costs.

Case Management Assist Increases Efficiency

In 2014, the Court continued to maximize efficiency through use of Case Management Assist (CMA). Developed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, CMA is a quality review program designed to enhance daily operations and case management. Additionally, without reducing network or Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) speeds, CMA provides superior internal reports that enable supervisors, managers, and the Executive team to measure the productivity and accuracy of court staff and external users. Once all employees were trained, the Executive team evaluated CMA’s full capability and implemented measures to increase productivity. Throughout the year, managers and supervisors assessed the staff’s workload and productivity by analyzing multiple CMA reports. Based on these reports, managers and supervisors were able to re-assign the workload across divisional offices.

Also, on September 22 and 23, Management Analyst Vickie Alcala and Operations Manager Fern Campbell participated in a workshop at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Oklahoma regarding CMA and potential improvements.

The Court Tweets

In 2014, the Court sent approximately 300 tweets to over 600 followers from its Twitter handle, @cacbnews. The tweets consisted of public notices, notices of sale, system updates, and other topical information. Also, in March 2014, the Court began tweeting judicial opinions. The Court’s tweets are accessible via Twitter on the Court’s website. Since the inception of its Twitter account, the Court has sent over 2,000 tweets in an effort to improve communication to stakeholders.

IT Help Desk Support Expands with New Trouble Ticket System

In January 2014, the Clerk’s Office completed its deployment of Novell Service Desk (NSD), a software program also known as a “trouble ticket system” that maintains a list of technical issues. NSD, which replaces the Track-It! system previously used by the Help Desk, allows court employees to submit support requests by email. Once an email is received, a support ticket is automatically created and assigned to an IT Specialist to resolve. NSD also provides court employees with status updates by email in an effort to keep them informed of important changes. The deployment of NSD supports the Court’s Strategic Plan for 2014 – 2019 by allowing the Clerk’s Office to monitor its technology infrastructure and identify ways to improve performance and minimize court employee downtime.

The Clerk’s Office provided staff with training sessions to introduce the new NSD procedure. This IT Service Desk training showed staff how to contact the IT Help Desk for assistance by email and gave an overview of the IT Department's response process.

Financial Management Provider Functionality Added to CM/ECF

Changes to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedures and Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) relieved debtors of the obligation to file certification of completion from a financial management course, as long as the course provider directly provides certification to the Court. FRBP 1007(b)(7) now allows financial management course providers to notify courts when debtors have completed the financial management course.

Supporting the rule change, the Court modified CM/ECF to permit course providers to log in as external users and certify that debtors have completed the course by docketing the appropriate event. Additionally, the Court revised Official Form 23, “Debtor’s Certification of Completion of Post-petition Instructional Course Concerning Personal Financial Management” to reflect the rule change. As a result of the Court staff’s diligent efforts, the Clerk’s Office received more than 16,400 certificates of completion without any technical issues in 2014.

IT Security Awareness Alerts and Tip

In support of the Clerk’s Office’s ongoing efforts to provide relevant and continual IT security awareness training, the IT security officers continued to send IT security awareness alerts and tips to all employees. Examples included an alert notifying the staff of the security vulnerabilities of iDevices (iPhones and iPads), along with instructions on how to upgrade each device; an alert to the Financial Services Department on new U.S. counterfeit bills; and an alert to the staff regarding the Home Depot data breach. Emails were sent to users affected by the Heartbleed SSL vulnerability, including instructions for changing JPort and Prezi account passwords.

The IT security officers emailed awareness tips to the staff throughout the year. One email stressed the importance of using safe passwords and gave instructions on how to protect passwords. Another email encouraged staffers to opt out of providing personal information on social networking sites. Tips also covered the use of cloud services for personal data, reminding employees that court data should never be placed in the cloud; identifying insider threats; and reporting suspicious computer behavior. In conjunction with the IT Security Office of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) and the Court’s Communications Department, the IT security officers provided security awareness tips in the form of framed posters in each division.

Appropriate IT staff members received emails about avoiding cross-scripting vulnerabilities, identifying web server attack patterns, and forwarding security configuration guides for server operating systems.

The IT security officers attended webinars on a vulnerability scanning tool the AO uses to scan outward-facing court sites. In conjunction with the AO Security Operations Center (AO-SOC), the IT Department also implemented the use of Host Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS) software on all outward-facing servers to provide increased protection of these servers.

Additionally, the IT security officers completed the FY 2014 IT Security Training action plan and conducted IT security awareness training classes for all Clerk’s Office and chambers staff, including nonpaid employees. This mandatory annual training reinforces the critical role all employees have in protecting the Court’s network and data. This year’s annual IT security awareness training, provided as an Electronic Learning Module (ELM) created in cooperation with the AO, met the audit requirement imposed by the Guide to Judiciary Policy. To complete the training, employees were required to view a 40-minute ELM and answer the “Knowledge Check” questions at the end of each section. The IT security officers also updated the “Remote Access/Telework IT Security” and the “New Employee IT Security Awareness” training presentations.

Finally, the IT security officers developed an action plan for updating Court IT Security Policies to meet the new recommendations in the Guide to Judiciary Policy and to follow the Judiciary’s Security Framework. Several action items were completed, such as updating the access request forms and monitoring JPort activity for intrusion detection purposes.

NOVELL ZENworks

The Clerk’s Office increasingly “pushed out” software updates remotely to all of the Court’s PCs, saving time and labor. The IT security officers ensured appropriate security patches were pushed out in a timely fashion through Windows Server Updates Services, and used ZENworks to push out those patches which required special handling, such as the patch for the “zero-day” vulnerability in Microsoft Office. ZENworks was also used to push out the screensaver lock policy, which went into effect during this time period as required by the Guide to Judiciary Policy. The IT security officers reviewed and recommended implementation of appropriate security policies related to the iOS7 upgrade on all iDevices.

ZENworks Patch Management (ZPM) was implemented this year to automate the deployment of non-Microsoft (i.e., Java or Adobe products) critical and security updates to court desktop computers and laptops. The IT Department continues to use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) to ensure timely deployment of updates to Microsoft’s operating system and applications.

Finally, the IT security officers facilitated another security risk assessment, conducted by the Security Operations Center of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO-SOC), of a new outward-facing server. The Court’s development and network teams implemented all changes recommended by the AO-SOC in the security risk assessment.

IT Security Statistics

Throughout 2014, the Clerk’s Office continued to resolve several IT security issues on the staff’s desktop computers and laptops, educate court staff on current best practices and IT security vulnerabilities, and find and remove all prohibited applications.

Auto-Discharge and Auto-Closing Programs Modified

In June 2014, the Court released a modified version of the Auto-Discharge program throughout the Central District to comply with Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedures 4004(c). The program was modified to ensure that the debtor’s discharge was not affected by any delay in the commencement or conclusion of the section 341(a) meeting of creditors. The change increased the number of cases that were eligible for discharge by approximately 2 percent. Overall, the Auto-Discharge program provides a significant labor savings for the Clerk’s Office. About 71 percent of chapter 7 cases are automatically discharged through the program (up by 8 percent), and the remainder of the cases now are manually reviewed because they require further action. Between July 1, 2013 and May 4, 2014, 38,033 cases were automatically discharged district-wide.

The criteria for the automatic closing of a chapter 7 case has also been modified. The Auto-Closing program now looks for a chapter 7 trustee’s report of no distribution. If the case was converted from chapter 13 to chapter 7 and was discharged, the program also looks for the chapter 13 trustee’s final report and the order discharging the chapter 13 panel trustee.

Clerk's Office Upgrades to FTR Gold

In preparation for the Court’s transition from Windows XP to Windows 7, the Clerk’s Office undertook an upgrade of For The Record (FTR) Gold recording software to version 5.6. A cross-functional FTR Gold project team was established to manage the Court’s upgrade and Digital Electronic Court Recording Operator (DECRO) training. The project team worked closely with technicians at FTR Gold, an Australian firm, to implement the new version. Judge Scott C. Clarkson began piloting FTR Gold 5.6 in his courtroom in April 2014, and the pilot was later expanded to include Judge Mark S. Wallace. As part of the upgrade to FTR Gold 5.6, a new audio player, TheRecord Player, was installed on personal computers to enable playback of the new and previously recorded audio files. Beginning with the Santa Ana Division, each divisional rollout began with DECRO training on the new court recording features of FTR v5.6 in a simulated "live courtroom" training environment. Next, DECRO equipment was installed and sound systems were re-calibrated in all courtrooms. In 2014, the Santa Ana, Riverside, and Northern Divisions transitioned to FTR v5.6. The Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley Divisions will transition in 2015.

San Fernando Valley Division Goes Live with Check Capture Program

The San Fernando Valley Division began processing checks and money orders using a program called Check Capture in August 2014. Check Capture, a component of the Over the Counter Chanel Application (OTCnet), was already being used in the Northern Division. The Check Capture system scans the images of checks and money orders and electronically transfers the funds. With the implementation of this new procedure, checks and money orders no longer need to be prepared for deposit or retrieved by the daily armored pick up. Check Capture leverages technology to save time, cost, and reduce the probability of human error. The program will be phased in at the Los Angeles, Riverside, and Santa Ana Divisions.

Clerk's Office Promotes Secure Printing

In July 2014, the Clerk’s Office provided refresher training to court users on how to use the secure print function on the Konica Minolta copiers. The secure print function allows users to store password-protected print jobs in the copiers’ memory until the password is entered at the copier control panel. Each user creates a unique password when the print job is first submitted; ensuring that only the sender of the job can access the stored document. The secure print function is useful when printing documents that may contain sensitive or confidential information. This cost-saving feature encourages the use of network printers, rather than personal printers which require expensive toner, for sensitive or confidential information.

Clerk's Office Staff Members Attend 25th Technology Users Group Conference

From August 6 to August 8, 2014, Network Manager Francis Ha, Systems Integration Manager Sam Abram, Software Developer Christina Yip, Software Developer Ray Quon, Applications Developer Jessie Teng, Courtroom Technology Specialist Jose Fuentes, and Technology Specialist Brett Bolte represented the Court at the 25th Ninth Circuit Technology Users Group (TUG) conference held in Las Vegas. Many sessions focused on the theme of this year’s conference, IT security. The six staff members attended “The Cyber Threat,” a presentation about cyber-attacks and steps the Judiciary can take to protect its data and “National Security Guidelines and Security Updates,” in which the Chief Information Security Officer for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) Bethany De Lude discussed denial-of-service attacks. The group also attended a presentation about the benefits to be gained by migrating to the National Active Directory. At the Next Generation (NextGen) Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) session, the developers in the group learned about the NextGen Training Plan.

Externs Provided Individual Network Credentials

In August 2014, the Clerk’s Office began issuing unique active directory (network) accounts to externs, replacing the shared, generic network credentials externs previously received. The new individual network credentials provide additional security and user accountability. As required by the Guide to Judiciary Policy, externs completed an online IT security training course before receiving their individual credentials.

Network Availability and Reliability Improved

As part of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts’ (AO) wide area network (WAN) Diversity project to improve network availability and reliability within the Judiciary, new long-distance circuits were installed in the Los Angeles, Riverside, San Fernando Valley, and Santa Ana Divisions. In 2014, these four divisions were outfitted with two circuits, one primary and one backup, on separate long-distance carriers. Maintaining two circuits on different carriers reduces the likelihood of a full dynamic circuit network failure. The two circuits were also configured to provide added bandwidth for each division. The WAN Diversity project affects court sites with 25 or more staff members.

Court Switches to Tapeless Backup

On October 23, 2014, the Court transitioned to a tapeless system for backing up all divisions’ network data. The new system, a large storage area network (SAN) at an offsite location, will cut costs, save labor, and improve security. Previously, the Court backed up its network data on tapes, a labor-intensive process that had to be carried out locally at each division, required hours to complete, and relied on the mailing and storage of tapes to support continuity of operations in the event of a disaster. With the new SAN, network data from throughout the Central District is backed up automatically, from one location, in a fraction of the time required by the old process.