Our Mission
To develop, sell and support the best legal software ever created.
The Past
The CrimeTime project was born in 1992 on a long ride from Auburn, California to
Pelican State Prison on California’s northern border. Dan Koukol and Leonard Tauman, two Placer County Public
Defenders, pondered the absence of a computerized criminal sentencing program. Dan,
a computer guru and sentencing expert, claimed that he could domesticate California
sentencing. Len, sensing a fool’s errand, goaded him forward.
In 1996, Miriam Liskin, a respected and widely-known application developer and author
of more than 17 computer software books, joined the team. Later that year, California
CrimeTime was released. CrimeTime quickly developed a broad subscriber base of county
agencies and private attorneys. The California Judges Education and Research Group
(CALJER) selected CrimeTime (along with West’s Law Desk) as one of two applications
to teach Judges efficient and constructive use of computers. We trained the CALJER
judges who, in turn, trained their colleagues.
California CrimeTime evolved from a sentencing calculation tool to a feature-rich
criminal law utility. We added "what-if" features, allowing practitioners
to consider various possible dispositions. Elements and collateral consequences
were added in 1998. This led to CrimeFinder, which allows a user to identify related
crimes carrying chosen collateral consequences and sentences. Statutory and case
law support for each calculation, analysis of various sentencing issues, abstracts,
and more sophisticated reports were developed and integrated over time. To accommodate
large computer networks, we created a unique deployment tool that allowed network
administrators to install CrimeTime on many workstations simultaneously without
having to visit the target workstation. The California State Bar Association approved
CrimeTime training for accreditation. Today, 51 of California’s 58 counties,
including all the large counties, are CrimeTime subscribers.
In 1998, we began to develop the "Federal Guidelines" version of CrimeTime.
We used everything we learned during the development and roll out of California
CrimeTime, and we released Federal CrimeTime in June, 2002, incorporating all the
tools now available on California CrimeTime. The result is comprehensive and impressive.
Near the end of 2002, we developed and began to market Federal and California versions
of PocketLaw™, an application designed for the Pocket PC. PocketLaw features
all the crime data used in our other applications, and can do just about everything
but multiple count calculations and reports.
In 2006, with CrimeTime well established statewide, Dan Koukol started a private practice and
quickly became known as one of the most respected defense lawyers
in Placer County.
The Present
In 2011, CrimeTime introduced a simple crime lookup tool for the iPhone and iPad devices. Without
any marketing whatsoever, the application became a must-have for easy reference within the majority
of California justice departments. An android version was released shortly after. Both the android
and iOS versions of the app are being rewritten as we speak to give the app a fresh look.
The (Near) Future
In terms of new products, there is no end in sight. We have developed a case management
module that integrates our existing applications, and those to come, with a powerful
system that uses bar codes to identify files, call up cases, and request a variety
of actions. For a given client, information will only be entered once; the system
remembers and applies it to any other documents or tasks that require the same information.
The user will be able to create letters, motions and forms from our templates, and
then print, fax or e-mail them with just a click. Behind the scenes, our system
keeps track of each task for billing purposes.
We are working on specialized tools for California and Federal probation departments
that will streamline the preparation of Pre sentence Investigation Reports (probation
reports). Look for expanded functionality in our mobile products as we further
integrate those applications with our desktop tools, as well as expand their usage into
the every day needs of people in the field.
There is more to come. Our small, uniquely skilled and highly motivated staff has
one goal in mind: To develop, sell and support the best legal software ever created.
If we can conceive it, we can achieve it.