186 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
186 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
# Problem Statement & Complete Workflow: eLegal Filing
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**Source videos:** `videos/eLegal_JTI E-Filing Part 1-3.mp4`
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**Analysis date:** 2026-05-13
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**Model used:** ~google/gemini-flash-latest (full video upload, downscaled)
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---
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## 1. Problem Statement
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Filing a case through the county's eLegal portal is a **manual, multi-system, error-prone process** that requires a human operator to juggle three separate applications simultaneously:
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1. **Filevine** — the firm's case management system where complaint documents are stored and from which key data is read
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2. **eLegal (File & Serve)** — the county court portal where the filing form is filled out, fees are calculated, payment is submitted, and acceptance is confirmed
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3. **Outlook** — the email client that delivers an eLegal link to retrieve the accepted documents
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At every stage, the operator must manually extract information from one system, type it into another, click through unsearchable dropdowns, cross-reference PDFs against web forms, handle cryptic validation errors, and repeat. There is zero automation between systems. A single missed field or wrong dropdown selection causes a rejection that must be re-filled from scratch.
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This entire workflow — approximately 10–15 minutes of active work per filing for an experienced operator, longer for a new one — can and should be automated so that selecting "File" in Filevine triggers the full submission cycle to eLegal with zero manual intervention.
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---
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## 2. End-to-End Workflow (As Observed)
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### Phase A: Gather & Reference (before entering eLegal)
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| # | Step | System | Details |
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|---|------|--------|---------|
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| A1 | Open Filevine project | Filevine | Navigate to the correct case project (e.g., "10854 - Park Manor Apartments") |
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| A2 | Download source documents | Filevine → Downloads | Download Complaint, Summons, and Civil Case Cover Sheet PDFs individually from the "1. Pleadings & Filed Docs" folder |
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| A3 | Open Complaint as reference | Desktop → PDF viewer | Open the Complaint PDF to read/address/damages/zip code; keep it on screen for copy-paste later |
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**Pain points in Phase A:** Three individual downloads instead of one zip. The PDF serves only as a passive reference — data must be manually copied from it into eLegal.
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---
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### Phase B: Initiate & Populate (inside eLegal)
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| # | Step | System | Details |
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|---|------|--------|---------|
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| B1 | Click "Initiate a New Case" | eLegal Dashboard | Lands on the "New Filing" form with numbered sections |
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| B2 | Select court | eLegal → Court dropdown | Type a keyword (e.g., "Alameda") and manually scroll/select from an unsearchable list. Must know to select "Civil" specifically. |
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| B3 | Select case type | eLegal → Case Type dropdown | Scroll through a long, flat list. May need to cross-reference the Complaint PDF to determine if the case is "Limited" or "Unlimited" based on dollar threshold (e.g., "$10,000 to $35,000") |
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| B4 | Enter release zip & court | eLegal → Form field | Type zip code (e.g., "94544"), select the correct courthouse from the auto-suggested list. Auto-populates associated court location. |
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| B5 | Copy premises address | eLegal + PDF → clipboard | Highlight address in Complaint PDF, Ctrl+C, paste into eLegal. Repeat for City, State, Zip — four separate copy-paste operations |
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| B6 | Upload Complaint document | eLegal → Documents section | Select "Complaint" from a dropdown, then drag the file into a dedicated upload box |
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| B7 | Upload Summons | eLegal → Documents section | Add another row, select "Summons", drag matching file — must ensure Document Type label matches the uploaded file or the court rejects it |
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| B8 | Upload Civil Case Cover Sheet | eLegal → Documents section | Same pattern as above for the third required document |
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**Pain points in Phase B:**
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- **No search on dropdowns** — courts and case types require scrolling/typing partial matches from long lists
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- **Hidden logic** — distinguishing "Limited" vs "Unlimited" requires reading the Complaint PDF and knowing dollar thresholds
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- **Manual copy-paste** — every field from the PDF must be individually typed/copied
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- **Double-entry pattern** — select document type in dropdown, then find+drag the matching file. The system doesn't auto-match based on filename
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- **No bulk upload** — each document requires a separate row + selection + drag operation
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---
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### Phase C: Add Parties & Services
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| # | Step | System | Details |
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|---|------|--------|---------|
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| C1 | Select representing attorney | eLegal → Dropdown | Manually select the attorney (e.g., "Todd B. Hubbard") from a dropdown — no auto-population from login session |
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| C2 | Add Defendant party | eLegal → Parties section | Click "Add Party" → select "Defendant" role → enter Last Name, First Name from Filevine viewer |
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| C3 | Handle AKA/DBA defendants | eLegal → Repeat add party | If any defendant has an AKA or DBA, click "Add Party" again and create a separate entry with correct role — easy to miss |
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| C4 | Mark who we represent | eLegal → Checkbox | Select the checkbox next to the party being represented |
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| C5 | Skip additional services | eLegal → Services section | No process serving needed; leave unchecked (user explicitly avoids selecting it) |
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| C6 | Select payment method | eLegal → Payment dropdown | Choose credit card from dropdown, click "Calculate Fees" |
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| C7 | Handle fee calculation error | eLegal → Error state | May encounter a generic error with no indication of which field is wrong — must review all party data for typos or missing info |
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| C8 | Enter courtesy email | eLegal → Form field | Look up the project email in Filevine's "Vitals" section and paste it into eLegal |
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| C9 | Verify checkbox | eLegal → Checkbox | Check "I have verified my filing information" |
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| C10 | Submit filing | eLegal → Submit button | Click "Submit Filing" — status changes to "Pending" |
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**Pain points in Phase C:**
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- **No auto-populate attorney** — must be manually selected every time
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- **AKA/DBA as separate parties** is counterintuitive and creates an omission risk
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- **Generic fee calculation errors** don't identify the specific missing/wrong field
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- **Cross-system email lookup** — must leave eLegal context, go to Filevine Vitals, copy the email, return
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---
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### Phase D: Post-Filing — Retrieve & Archive
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| # | Step | System | Details |
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|---|------|--------|---------|
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| D1 | Check Outlook inbox | Outlook → Email | Find the "Filing ID [X] Accepted" email — does not contain actual attachments due to size limits |
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| D2 | Click eLegal link in email | Browser → eLegal login | Opens a new tab requiring authentication/login |
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| D3 | Download accepted documents | eLegal → View + Download | For each document listed, click the "View" eye icon → open PDF viewer → click Download → Save dialog. Repeat for every document. |
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| D4 | Upload to Filevine | Filevine → Documents folder | Drag all downloaded PDFs into "1. Pleadings & Filed Docs" — must ensure correct target folder |
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| D5 | Update case number | Filevine → Dates & Deadlines | Read case number from eLegal page or one of the PDFs, type into Filevine's "Case Number" field |
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| D6 | Update filing date | Filevine → Calendar picker | Select the date the case was filed from one of the documents |
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**Pain points in Phase D:**
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- **Documents are not emailed** — user must log into eLegal just to click through and download already-filed documents
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- **Per-document download loop** — View → Download → Save is repeated for each document
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- **Cross-system data sync** — case number and date must be manually typed back into Filevine
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- **Wrong-folder risk** — dragging files into the wrong directory in Filevine has no safety net
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---
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## 3. Complete Workflow Map
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```
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┌─────────────┐
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│ FILEVINE │
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│ (Case Mgmt) │
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└──────┬──────┘
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│ A1-A3: Download docs, open Complaint PDF as reference
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▼
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┌────────────────────────┐
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│ eLegal (Filing) │
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│ │
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│ B2-B3: Select Court & │◄── Unsearchable dropdowns
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│ Case Type │ Hidden logic (Limited/Unlimited)
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│ │
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│ B4-B5: Enter Property │◄── Manual copy-paste from PDF
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│ Info │
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│ │
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│ B6-B8: Upload Docs │◄── Double-entry pattern (select type, then drag file)
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│ │ No filename auto-matching
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│ │
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│ C1: Select Attorney │◄── Not auto-populated
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│ C2-C4: Add Parties │◄── AKA/DBA = separate entries (error risk)
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│ C5-C7: Services & Fees │◄── Generic error messages
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│ C8-C10: Submit │◄── Cross-system email lookup (Filevine Vitals)
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└────────┬───────────────┘
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│ C10: Filing submitted → status "Pending"
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▼
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┌────────────────────────┐
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│ OUTLOOK (Email) │
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│ │
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│ D1: Find acceptance │◄── No document attachments (size limit)
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│ notification │
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└────────┬───────────────┘
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│ D2: Click link → requires eLegal login
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▼
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┌─────────────┐
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│ eLegal │
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│ (Retrieval)│
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└──────┬──────┘
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│ D3: View + Download each document (loop)
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▼
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┌─────────────┐
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│ FILEVINE │
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│ (Archive) │
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└─────────────┘
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│ D4: Drag-drop all docs into folder
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│ D5-D6: Manually type case # and date back in
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```
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---
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## 4. What Automation Should Solve
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| # | Current Behavior | Desired Automated Behavior |
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| 1 | Download 3 PDFs one-by-one from Filevine | One-click export of all relevant documents from the selected case |
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| 2 | Open Complaint PDF, scroll to find address/damages/zip code | Parse the Complaint PDF via OCR/text extraction; auto-fill eLegal fields |
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| 3 | Manually select court from unsearchable dropdown | Auto-detect correct court based on property zip code or Filevine project data |
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| 4 | Manually scroll through long case type list, cross-reference PDF for Limited vs Unlimited | Auto-select the correct case type by matching property type + damage amount from parsed data |
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| 5 | Copy-paste address/city/state/zip from PDF to eLegal form fields | Auto-populate all location fields from extracted PDF data |
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| 6 | Select document type in dropdown, then find-and-drag the matching file | Auto-assign document types by filename match (e.g., "Summons.pdf" → "Summons") and auto-upload |
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| 7 | Manually select representing attorney each time | Auto-populate from logged-in user or case assigned attorney |
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| 8 | Add parties manually, risk omitting AKA/DBAs | Extract party data from Filevine project data; create all party entries including AKA/DBA in one operation |
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| 9 | Click "Calculate Fees" → generic error if something is wrong | Validate all required fields before submission; show specific inline errors |
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| 10 | Look up courtesy email in Filevine Vitals, paste into eLegal | Auto-populate from Filevine project data |
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| 11 | Submit and wait for email confirmation | Trigger post-submission document retrieval automatically upon "Pending" → "Accepted" status |
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| 12 | Click through eLegal link in email, log in again, View+Download each document one-by-one | Auto-pull accepted documents from eLegal directly into Filevine without manual clicks |
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| 13 | Manually type case number and filing date back into Filevine | Auto-sync case number and filing date from eLegal confirmation back to the Filevine project |
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---
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## 5. Target Outcome
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A single action in Filevine ("Automate Filing" button on a case project) should:
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1. Extract all needed data from the case project (parties, addresses, property info)
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2. Parse uploaded PDFs (Complaint, Summons) for address, damages, case classification
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3. Auto-fill and submit the complete eLegal filing form
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4. Wait for acceptance confirmation
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5. Retrieve all accepted documents from eLegal
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6. Archive them to the correct Filevine folder
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7. Sync case number and filing date back to Filevine
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**Total operator time:** ~5 seconds (click "Automate Filing") vs. **current: 10–15 minutes of active work per filing.**
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