At Docketly, we believe in the idea that outcomes matter. From helping our clients measure and manage the quality of their service to showcasing your stellar performance as one of our rockstar attorneys, outcomes provide an opportunity for everyone involved to succeed!
To take the next steps in delivering superior client outcomes, providing you with greater transparency, and helping you feel in control of your performance results, Docketly will now share your Attorney Scorecard with you!
In short, your Attorney Scorecard is a visual collection of your actions and history from covering hearings through Docketly. This data is nothing new—we’re simply opening our books to help you feel empowered and better equipped to cover hearings in the future.
Understanding your Attorney Scorecard is essential to achieving the best possible outcomes, and these results are an easy way to see your experience, skills, and local knowledge in action!
In collaboration with our attorney network, clients, and legal professionals, we’ve built criteria around three major touch points when covering a hearing to showcase your performance: Preparation, Appearance, and Reporting.
This feedback is designed to empower you, giving you the tools to continue excelling in your court appearances. If you feel that your score doesn’t reflect your performance, let’s connect and discuss some small changes you could make to increase it.
Below, you will find tips for achieving a positive outcome, ways to prevent triggering a neutral or negative outcome, and a scorecard cheat sheet to guide you through each section of submitting a Hearing Report—where even small omissions can impact your outcome, regardless of how things transpired in court.
Before each hearing, make sure you’ve reviewed all the important documents, including Public Comments, Private Instructions, Settlement Guidelines, and Attachments. We go to great lengths to ensure our clients provide as much detail as possible—taking the time to review the details and instructions is key to preparing to appear.
Our data shows that our top-performing attorneys don’t wait until the last minute, either! They review these materials ahead of time to avoid missing any details. Reviewing your attachments earlier also allows you to reach out to Docketly if anything is missing or incomplete.
In other words, proper preparation helps you represent the client more effectively and confidently.
While this may seem like an easy one, it’s worth mentioning that showing up as instructed is crucial for a good outcome.
If the client schedules an in-person hearing, they expect you to attend in person. Even if you’re certain the court allows remote appearances, don’t assume—always confirm with Docketly if remote attendance isn’t mentioned. Failing to appear as instructed, or not showing up at all, can lead to negative results. If something urgent arises, notify Docketly as soon as possible.
It’s better to check with us before appearing how you’d like.
Submitting a complete and thorough report is an essential part of securing a good outcome and returning critical information back to the client.
Be sure to answer every question, including any follow-ups, and use the narrative section to add helpful details that expand on your responses. Skipping sections, only writing in the narrative, or leaving out information can negatively impact your performance.
It’s essential to prepare, appear, and report diligently to avoid triggering a negative or neutral outcome.
Below are examples of how you might trigger a neutral or negative outcome despite a stellar performance in court.
One of the most common issues is failing to review attachments or instructions thoroughly and in time to prepare adequately.
This includes not requesting missing attachments or seeking clarifications when documents are incomplete. It’s also important to double-check the hearing date, time, and location to ensure accuracy.
Over-communication is better than making assumptions—if anything is unclear, it’s best to ask in advance.
It is crucial to review every detail, from the court address to the room number. Overlooking important details can accidentally lead to a failure to appear, which can be damaging for all parties involved.
Appearing based on your preference, rather than following the client’s instructions, can lead to miscommunication and unfavorable results.
We go to great lengths to help clients to include their desired outcome or in-court directions in the Private Instructions section. Failing to review their Private Instructions section can often lead to an undesired outcome.
Reporting late or skipping the report altogether can create serious complications. Even if certain questions seem redundant or unnecessary, these questions are often directly linked to our client’s software and leave gaps in information if skipped or left empty.
Always upload related documents or indicate where the client can retrieve them. If follow-up actions are required, ensure that action items are clearly outlined in the “Next Steps” section, rather than including all the details in the narrative section.
Below is a guide to completing your hearing report to help you achieve better outcomes! We've separated the cheat sheet into sections that match what you'll find on a Hearing Report
Roll Call
Outcomes
Discovery
Settlement
Issues
Next Step
Discussion
Appear exactly as posted unless you have prior permission to appear differently.
If you are late, do not respond “yes” that you appeared at the date/time posted.
Giving us a heads-up that you were late will allow us to communicate clearly with the client.
If the court provides you with related documentation for such things as Judgment, Settlements, or Motions Granted, make sure to upload those with your hearing report.
If the accompanying documents are not available to you, avoid selecting “Other.”
Instead, indicate how the client can retrieve the documents.
It is essential for the client to know where and/or how to find their documents.
When the defendant appears, take time to gather all relevant documents, information, or details that might help the client beyond just this hearing.
Ask questions like: Has the defendant’s address changed? What is their bank account balance? What is their email address?
Discovering these key details will help the client in their proceeding hearings and help move the case forward.
Below are examples of Discovery information you will want to gather
Fill out the settlement details in your hearing report and upload any related documents.
If a Stipulation of Settlement was agreed to, include key details like the date of the first payment and the total amount.
If the Settlement documents are unavailable, explain how the client can retrieve them by selecting an applicable answer to help the client more easily find these documents.
Answering “Other” can lead to unnecessary ambiguity.
If the defendant disputes the debt, make sure to...
not only indicate it in the hearing report, but also...
identify the reason why the debt was disputed.
Answering the questions, Did the Opposing Party Claim Fraud? Did the Opposing Party Dispute the Debt? Did Opposing Party Claim Hardship? will help the client in future hearings.
This is possibly the single greatest way to positively impact your attorney scorecard!
By adding any follow-up actions the client needs to take, you're the client with actionable steps they can take—often these are time-sensitive to the case
Skipping this step will require extra investigation and may lead to important actions being missed by clients.
The Narrative is not where you type paragraphs worth of information after answering "No" to every preceding report question.
Instead, this section should be used to add context or fidelity to the questions you've already answered.
While it might seem easier to place everything in the Narrative, trust that the report questions offer a more regulated and efficient way to transfer information back to the client.
Alternatively, avoid leaving the Narrative too sparse.
Comments, such as "Def App" often create more confusion for the client
Here is an example of a clear and concise narrative that compliments the hearing report
“This judge makes it hard for appearance counsel, please include a Business Record Affidavit for attorneys to use in this court.”
Another example is shown in the screenshot below.
Below are a few “scenarios” attorneys may experience when completing a hearing report.
In this, we’d like to demonstrate the minor tweaks attorneys can make that can return important information to the client and help you achieve a positive score….which ultimately means more hearings for you!
You answered “No” to most or all of the questions from the preceding Roll Call and Outcome sections.
However, you entered all of your information in the Narrative, including details like...
Settlement Amount
First Payment
and Action Items for the Client.
While it’s wonderful you’ve gathered all of those details, bypassing the question fields and placing everything in the Narrative often triggers a neutral or negative attorney score.
HOW TO ACHIEVE A POSITIVE
To achieve a positive outcome, select appropriate answers and then use the Narrative to briefly indicate items that weren’t previously covered in the dropdown selections.
You did everything right—achieved the client’s requested Agreed Judgment and amount.
You even went a step further and indicated you didn’t have any documents to upload, which is okay as some courts don’t make those immediately available.
However, you selected “Other” from the drop-down menu when answering “Where Can the Client Retrieve the Documents?” and did not indicate in your Narrative where the client can find these.
HOW TO ACHIEVE A POSITIVE
To achieve a positive outcome, avoid selecting "Other" to the “Where Can the Client Retrieve the Documents?” question.
If you must select "Other", be sure to add the applicable Action Items or details in the Narrative.
You’re almost ready to submit your hearing report and have answered “NO” to the question, Are There Any Actions Our Client Needs to Take?
While including these details in the Narrative can be helpful, failing to answer “YES” to the question returns to the client that there are no follow-up actions to be taken—when in actuality there may be.
However, in your Narrative section, you’ve listed actions the client needs to take, possibly including due dates.
HOW TO ACHIEVE A POSITIVE
To achieve a positive outcome, take a moment to properly add an Action Item in the Next Steps section.
