The Problem:
Court technology, processes, standards, and records are not standardized. Not even county-to-county, much less state-to-state. No one has created the complete, does everything, software package.
The Business
Build a software system that works for every court. State system only.
Doableness
Anyone in the know is laughing right now. “Never.” “Impossible.” “Bahahaha.”
Courts vary in type, size, activity level, policies, unwritten rules, and the laws that govern their operation. By and large, courts everywhere are operating their own technology infrastructure. Some state courts are completely automated (very few) and some are still on paper and pen (also very few). Most have put in place some level of automation. However, there is little standardization, in large part because of the vast differences between courts. That’s where the opportunity lives.
In essence, you will build a framework, as opposed to a software application. Put another way, your application needs to have near infinite flexibility. (Isn’t it obvious I’m not a programmer.) Right now, county governments everywhere hire IT companies and staff IT departments to deal with all of this, piecemeal. They say, “I’m County Government, I need X, Y, & Z.” The IT folks are paid by the project or the hour so they are only too happy to build what County Government says it wants. No one, that I know of, has built the optimal system, essentially on spec.
My Thoughts
It’s slightly ambiguous, I know. It’s very conceptual, and not very specific. Such is life. This is a many billion dollar market. It can’t be too specific. Start building, see where it gets you.