Idaho Supreme Court’s 2011 CLERK’S CONFERENCE WELCOME TO ISTARS DOCUMENTS

1. Idaho Supreme Court’s 2011 CLERK’S CONFERENCE WELCOME TO ISTARS DOCUMENTS Presenter: Margaret Lundquist, Ada County

2. INTRODUCTION: Margaret Lundquist, Ada County Deputy Clerk for 12 years, Exhibits/ Evidence Clerk for 7 yrs, back-up to Appeals Clerk, working w/ISTARS docs for 6 years. SUGGESTED SKILLS AND/OR PERSONALITY TRAITS: • Good working knowledge of Microsoft Word • Experience with merge codes; Outlook / mail merge is helpful. • Patient • Persistent • Tenacious • Creative • Desire to please others • PATIENCE

3. WHAT CAN ISTARS DOCS F7 DO? • It can insert ISTARS case information directly into a word document….case numbers, party names, addresses, charges, hearing dates, etc. • It can make automatic ROA entries. • It can print out sets of documents (2 ways) • Many items entered in an ISTARS case can be printed in a word document

4. Takes a document from this:

5. To this!

6. LIMITATIONS: Yes • If the information entered in ISTARS is wrong, it’s going to be wrong on you Full Court / Docs F7 document as well. • Attorney addresses should be updated regularly to avoid returned mail. • You can have all the hearings for the case print to a document, but they’ll only print once. • Solution – Use the AllHearings option in one place on • the document then cut and paste to where you want the • rest.

7. Example: THIS IS YOUR NOTICE OF TRIAL SETTING AutoROAStartNotice of Trial Setting AutoRoaEnd The above-entitled matter has been set for trial before the Court and a jury for: AllCourtHearingStart CourtHearingType……..CourtHearingStartDateLong @ CourtHearingStartTime Judge: CourtHearingJudge AllCourtHearingEnd THIS IS YOUR NOTICE OF TRIAL SETTING The above-entitled matter has been set for trial before the Court and a jury for: Pretrial Conference……..Wednesday, October 12, 2011 @ 04:00 PM Judge: Deborah Bail Jury Trial……..Tuesday, October 18, 2011 @ 09:30 AM Judge: Deborah Bail

8. DOCUMENT USERS: • Notify your docs go to person if there’s something in our document that you change regularly. • I like to add multiple options; if this time you use A. but not B or C, B and C can easily be deleted. Or you can chose to load several more specific documents. • Notify them if attorney mail comes back. • If requesting a new document be loaded; provide a current document with clear indications of what you want to be entered automatically, exact wording and where. • Be open to slight deviations to accommodate the merge codes, work together until you get a document that works the way you want it to. • Be aware that sometimes, with slight changes to the system, merge codes stop working the way they used to and you’ll need to notify your Docs person to have them updated, typically just re-entering the code will suffice.

9. ISTARS DOCUMENTS INSTALLER: the go to person! (you’re someone who likes to be needed). Your documents may start like this:

10. You’ll add merge codes and prompts:

11. And the clerk’s will print out this:

12. WHO CAN WORK ON ISTARS DOCUMENTS: Each county will have their own policies for who they want to work on the documents; Ada County limits access, currently two people. We name our documents in either upper or lower case titles so we can distinguish who prepared the document, we try not to make changes to each others documents if possible; they may be set up in an exact format to fit a specific form. If you’re interested, check with your supervisor. If you’re already set-up to service ISTARS documents by Supreme Court, you should have access to the SAMPLE DOCUMENTS and MERGE CODES in the Full Court / ISTARS documents server.

13. HOW TO’S: • When setting up a document a copy and paste sheet is useful, I also use the autocorrect option in word; NP for NeedPrompt and EP for EndPrompt are very helpful for adding in prompts. • • Save in the FULL COURT SERVER that’s been setup by Supreme Ct. • for you • • Save your document as Rich Text Format • To load the document in Istars: • • Click on the Table then • OR • • go to File…down  to Table Maintenance, a new menu bar will appear click on General Tables down  to Forms over to Forms Maintenance and the forms maintenance screen will appear.

14. The ISTARS table maintenance screen will appear. • Click on new Click on new to load the document

15. Go to Document File: • 1) Scroll to the document that you saved in the New Istars Docs/Full Court file. • 2) Name the Document: a descript name is useful to others using it. • 3) Document used by: does it have specific merge codes or is it generic? • Print document for: choose • File copies #___ • Save • Close • Test • Re-test 2). Name the document 1). Click on the drop down box and scroll to the document you saved as a Full Court/ New ISTARS Doc. 3). Who’s using the document? Is it criminal or civil specific or generic?

16. TROUBLESHOOTING: • If you get a Not Rich Text Format message, but you know you saved it as Rich Text Format. • Try: dropping periods…..hyphens ….or ….parenthesis etc. in the title when saving either place ….sometimes they’re OK, other times • they’re not. • Also try: re-saving the long way….start with a fresh document (no hidden formats) or just wait until the next day, you may see something you missed with a fresh pair of eyes. • Remember, PATIENCE! •  If you get Gibberish to the ROA: • Re-enter: AutoROAStart Notice of Hearing AutoRoaEnd • ^ all caps ^ cap and lower case

17. HELPFUL HINTS: • Get in the habit of using merge codes for your CourtClerkName and CurrentJudge; these can change …. and if you’ve used the merge codes to begin with the changes are automatic and a huge time saver. • If you make a typo…start again from the beginning...don’t just backspace, especially on Names and addresses, auto correct and Need Prompts. • Use a tested copy and past sheet…..really useful on names and address, headings, caption setups, etc. • Copy and paste from merge code sheet, but be sure you test them. • Names and address: I like to pull in both attorneys and party names addresses, it’s usually easier to cut the excess than to add (unless it’s a very large case, then you may want to use an attorney only document so it won’t freeze your program). Have multiple options available so the clerk can make that call. • AutoROAStart Notice of Hearing AutoRoaEnd Use a font size 2 for the space between Start and Notice so you don’t see a full space left before the Notice on the ROA.

18. The NeedPromt code will bring up a box: You’ll need to add the information it asks for

19. The AutoROAStart Notice of Trial Setting AutoRoaEnd will also bring up a box; you can make changes in the box, add a date to the Notice of Trial Setting (June 10, 2011)…………you can also change the Judge or ROA date before clicking OK or cancel.

20. USING TABLES IN YOUR DOCUMENTS: • Using tables in your documents is a great way to keep information isolated to one area. Often the merge code is much longer than the actual data to be merged into the final document; the tables confine the data to one section.

21. NAMES AND ADDRESSES: a good example for the use of tables. • I like to pull up both attorney names and addresses and party names and addresses; I feel it’s easier to cut the extras out than to add them in. • Drawback – sometimes on a really large case, when you have 20 or 30 parties on a side, pulling in every ones name and address can freeze your program; having a document which just pulls in attorney names works best. Then quickly check for pro se litigants and add in their information once the document comes up.

22. SETS AND MULTIPLE DOCUMENTS: • Documents can be printed as sets or singles. • Sets: commonly used for criminal cases; can be set to print as batches or bulk mailings. • Advantage – great for mass mailings, you can set multiple cases to print. • Draw back – you can’t bring up the document before printing to • make changes. • Multiple documents listed as one: this option is often used by our in court clerk’s, we also have some appeals documents set up this way. • Advantage – you can view the document before printing. • Drawback – if you just want to print one page, you need to be careful to select current page before printing, or the whole thing prints out.