Complete
Advocacy
&
Productivity
Platform,
Revolutionizing
the
Case
Management
System
for
Public
Defenders
Productivity Platform,
Management System for Public
Defenders
EMPOWERING THE ZEALOUS
ADVOCACY YOUR CLIENTS
DESERVE
Public defenders are often forced to use frustrating software or spend countless hours creating their own reports, making it difficult to effectively serve their clients. ZLS is here to change that. Our powerful and intuitive cloud-based case management system streamlines the process and saves time, allowing offices to win more funding by providing dynamic data on their work. With ZLS, everything is organized and easily accessible, freeing public defenders to focus on advocating for their clients.
The magic in this job happens when we’re fully present on the task that’s in front of us. Making information easy to access and easy to enter isn’t just time saved, it’s getting your sanity back and getting to sleep well at night…For me, all of the functionalities of ZLS operate to reduce my anxiety and let me stop worrying about cases.
Other case management systems seem designed to track paper, not people. Our job is the opposite – it is to bring humanity into a paper-centric system. So I need a system that’s people-centric – that tells me about my clients’ cases across multiple courts, with multiple staff members, and the relationships between people within their life…There’s a lot of systems that can’t track that at all, but in a year of use with ZLS, we’ve built a mini-universe that mirrors our jurisdiction and gives us important insights.
ZLS is a robust system built specifically for public defenders to make both the administrative and legal aspects of our jobs easier. It is simple to use due to its intuitive functionality, which makes it perfect for offices with a full range of users, from those who are technology experts to those who are less tech-savvy. Our numerous duties as public defenders, like evidence review, conflict checks, and keeping detailed notes about your clients and their cases, are easier to handle with a client management system like ZLS.
Before ZLS, we felt like a chicken with its head cut off. It’s hard to exude an air of competence or professionalism if your office can’t even tell a court coordinator or a client which attorney is handling which case. ZLS has given us the tools to securely store evidence, collaborate with and cover for colleagues, and ensure that each case is documented in order to protect our clients and our office.
We reviewed so many possible case management systems for our office. Most were designed for private law firms and had unnecessary features we needed to work around, like billable hours. ZLS is designed for Public Defender Offices and prioritizes our needs. The pricing model also allows us to plan our budget ahead of time, rather than needing to estimate based on number of cases created or data storage amounts.
Selecting a case management system – the right one for us – was one of the most critical choices we had to make when we started our large, rural office. We vetted as many as we could and ZLS was the clear-cut winner. Their customer service is out of this world, and the product itself is so clearly built to address needs unique to public defender offices. It was one of the best decisions we made.
INTUITIVE
ZLS was created by public defenders, with constant feedback from real cases, to produce a truly intuitive experience for everyone on the defense team. That perspective was combined with experience in deploying enterprise applications and the latest user experience (UX) best practices to create the only case management system to offer PDX – Public Defender Experience. The result is a system with virtually no learning curve that saves time and helps clients rather than becoming just one more task in the overwhelming world of indigent defense.
COMPREHENSIVE
Existing case management systems often fall short in their ability to effectively manage and organize all aspects of a case, including digital evidence, email and text communications. They also tend to focus on the case itself, rather than the client, which can lead to missing important connections and insights.
ZLS is a powerful, cloud-based case management system built by public defenders, with input from real-world cases, that addresses these shortcomings. The system is designed to encompass everything that public defenders and their teams need to manage their cases, while also providing a holistic view of the client and their needs. It even utilizes advanced algorithms to suggest potential conflicts and surface key insights, including patterns in police reports from particular officers or how a certain expert tends to testify.
ZLS integrates all email communications directly into the client’s case and offers two-way texting, including automatic SMS court reminders, making it easy to stay in touch with clients. With unlimited storage, ZLS can handle the “digital tsunami” from the prosecution and keep digital discovery organized using customizable categories and tags. Team members can also review, annotate, and share notes from videos directly in the client’s case.
FUTURE-PROOF
ZLS is built using the world’s most popular and scalable web frameworks, which enables us to easily adapt to changing demands and ensure smooth operation at all times. By deploying microservices and scaling up computing power as needed, we can ensure that the system is always able to meet the needs of our users. And by hosting ZLS on Amazon Web Services (AWS), we can provide a powerful, secure, and reliable cloud-based platform that is designed to evolve and adapt to the future. With 99.9% uptime, you can trust that ZLS will always be available when you need it.
SECURE
As a system built for public defenders with the attorney-client relationship at its heart, ZLS has confidentiality and security integrated at every opportunity. This includes secure integration capabilities for industry leaders like Google and Microsoft, advanced code-security analytics, best practice implementation of Amazon’s Web Services (AWS) architecture including file versioning and data backup and disaster recovery, and the highest field-level encryption for the most sensitive pieces of information like personally identifiable information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI).
AFFORDABLE
Public defender agencies are often faced with limited budgets and a struggle to keep up with the vast resources that are poured into prosecutors and law enforcement. This has made it difficult for them to develop a modern, comprehensive case management system in-house.
Too often, offices are forced to rely on outdated legacy systems or settle for systems designed for other purposes, like customer support, sales, or civil litigation, that have been adapted to fit their needs.
ZLS was specifically designed to meet the unique needs of public defender offices, with a focus on affordability and ease of use. Our system is built with cost-saving features, such as document and file management, email and calendar integration, and text messaging, that eliminates the need for additional expensive services. And our pricing model is simple, with straightforward subscription tiers per user, making budgeting for ZLS easy and predictable. With ZLS, there is no upfront investment, and the hidden costs of maintaining servers, hiring IT staff, or ongoing custom development are eliminated.
Insightful
Public defenders need to prove their worth to funders and stakeholders, but traditional methods of quantifying their workload can be burdensome. ZLS offers a solution by providing dynamic reports that are tailored to the needs of public defender offices. These reports can include over ten specific report types and can be fine-tuned with customizable layouts and filters. Any report can be exported in Excel or PDF on demand for expanded flexibility and analysis. Additionally, ZLS provides no-code custom fields that allow for easy adaptation to unique jurisdictional or funder requirements. And with ZLS, when timekeeping is turned on, tracking workload effort is seamless and does not add extra burden to already overworked public defenders.
ZLS Subscription Packages
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| ZLS Core | ||||
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| People Management Suite |
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| Court & Event Management Suite |
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| Organization Management Suite |
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| Intelligent Conflict Check |
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| ZLS 360° Reporting |
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| ZLS Mobile WebApp |
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| Advance File Management Suite | 1TB | 10TB |
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| Two Way Text Messaging (Client/Client Family/Experts) |
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| NO FTA! (Automated Court Appearance Text Reminders) |
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| Task and Case Assignments |
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| Enhanced Time Tracking and Reporting |
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| Email Integration (Google Workspace/Office 365) |
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Who we are
Mohammed Al Rawi
Co-Founder
Mohammed has over 20 years of experience in leading information technology strategy, policy, innovation, and business transformation of large operations in both public and private sector operations, including transforming the infrastructure and technology operations of the largest local government in the nation. Currently, he is serving as the Chief Information Officer of the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office and the Commissioner and Chairman of the Innovation and Emerging Technology Commission for Los Angeles County.
He previously served as the Chief Information Officer at the Department of Parks and Recreation and before that served at the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors driving and managing countywide enterprise systems transformation. Prior to his public sector career, Mohammed led the Los Angeles Times’ information technology operations of their foreign operations during the Iraq War and its aftermath.
Mohammed is a nationally recognized innovator and transformative leader with proven leadership in successfully deploying multi-million-dollar transformational technology initiatives in highly complex public and private sector operations. Mohammed earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science summa cum laude from California State University – Los Angeles.
Ryan Wolfe
Co-Founder
Ryan has served as a Deputy Public Defender in Los Angeles since 2014 and has handled dozens of jury trials and juvenile adjudications. In 2016, he was recognized by his colleagues as Misdemeanor Attorney of the Year. Ryan has served in various roles to launch technology initiatives within his office, including serving on the steering committee to implement his office’s case management system.
Ryan attended USC Law where he received various awards including the Public Interest Law Foundation Student of the Year and Mason C. Brown Award for trial advocacy and commitment to public service. Before going to law school, Ryan began his career in technology as a business systems analyst by first leading a seven-person development team for a small business and then implementing enterprise-level systems at one of the largest mutual fund companies in the world.
He is also the vice-chair of the board of directors at St. Joseph Center, a leading social service agency in Los Angeles with a budget of $40 million a year and over 300 staff that empowers the homeless and working poor.
Deepak Budwani
Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer
Deepak is the Assistant Department Head/Chief Financial & Administrative Officer for the Santa Barbara County Public Defender’s Office where he is responsible for directing Fiscal, Information Technology, Legal Support staff, Human Resources, and Administration throughout all office locations.
Deepak has over 16 years of criminal defense experience managing technology operations in both the public and private sectors. In 2014, Deepak was recruited to build a new public defender’s office in Canyon County, Idaho. In less than 90 days, he helped design office space, interview and hire all staff, customize and implement a case management system, and negotiate all contracts.
Deepak’s experience working in a private law firm focused on criminal defense and civil litigation in Riverside, CA, prepared him well for his work in Idaho and now Santa Barbara. Deepak has garnered a national reputation through presenting at conferences and serving on various committees, including the Board of Directors at the National Association of Public Defense and the NAPD Workload Committee.
His experience in government budget administration, policy development, automating business processes, and implementing technology-based systems has helped catalyze change in public defense. Deepak was primarily responsible for the successful design and implementation of three separate case management systems, bringing each office from paper to paperless and increasing efficiency.
His firm understanding of criminal legal data has directly led to increased funding for public defense and improved outcomes for the indigent population.
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