This is a [[event:2013-09|LegalHack@OKCon 2013]] challenge

====== Case Success ======

Every case is unique.

It is often difficult for a lawyer to answer one of the most pressing question of his client: What are my chances of success if we go to court (or if I plea non-guilty)? The challenge is to provide lawyers and clients with an accurate //base rate// of success or //average amount// for a similar claim. At the end of the day, the decision is always taken by a judge on the basis of the evidence and arguments in front of him. However, when you have a database of thousands of these decisions, you can start seeing trends and probablities.

Law case databases like [[http://www.canlii.org/en/|CanLii from Canada]] (also see [[http://beta.canlii.org/fr/international.html|Beta Site]]) offer exhaustive decisions from a certain court for a certain period of times. What kind of metadata would allow easily to compile such statistics?

Example use cases:

  * **Criminal law:** What is the success rate of a //right to self-defense// strategy in case of assault? What is the average sentence? How many cases go to appeal?
  * **Civil law:** What is the base rate of success for a (//dommage-intérêts//) claim in case of property damages caused by a dog? In case of success, what is the average amount of damages granted by the judge?
  * **Building trust:** clients of lawyers could take more well-advised decisions when it comes to "should we try to settle out of court or not" (for civil law cases). 
  * **Research**: it can be extremely valuable for policy-makers and researchers to have the ability to easily cross reference a large amount of case data.

=== Hackathon goals ===

  - Create a database with parties names, status (plaintiff or defendant) and the result (who won the case);
  - Push the database forward by including the amount of the claim and the result;
  - Create a website where the user can query his chances of success;

We could start with these three goals regarding one specific legal action (example: civil liability claims for damages caused by an animal) in front of a specific jurisdiction (example: Cour du Québec). If the goals are too easy, the ultimate goal would be to extend to multiple legal actions or multiple jurisdictions.

====== Project =====

(screenshots or sketches up here)

Brief description of your hackday results goes here. Add sections below if you need more room.

Include links to your demo and/or [[http://debtpro.co/debt-relief-scams-tips-to-avoid-protect/|source]] code.

===== Data =====

  * Add any data sources you end up using in this project.

===== Team =====

  * Jean-Francois Ouellette

===== Links =====

  * Relevant documentation ...
  * Blog or forum posts ...
  * Tools you used ...
  
{{tag>status:concept legal needs:dev needs:design needs:data needs:expert}}