MD Office of the Public Defender (MD OPD)

Client Background

MD OPD supports thousands of criminal and civil defense cases statewide, engaging a large network of on‑panel attorneys who submit time and reimbursable expenses for payment. Prior to this project, attorneys tracked hours and expenses in Excel and emailed reports and receipts to internal reviewers and payment processors, creating bottlenecks, version confusion, and limited visibility across the payment lifecycle.

Infojini was engaged by the Maryland Office of the Public Defender (MD OPD) to design and develop a complete digital solution that replaces their manual, Excel‑based expense submission process with a secure, automated, and workflow‑driven Power Platform application, improving usability, transparency, and operational efficiency across attorneys, reviewers, and payment processors.

Client Need

Objectives

Let attorneys create a case record and incrementally log time and expenses (with receipts) over the life of the case.
Digitize the workflow so submissions move from Attorney to OPD Reviewer to Payment Processor, with the ability to return items for clarification.
Enforce role‑based access and policy checks (e.g., maximum hours/day, in‑court categorization), and keep an auditable trail of changes.
Provide automated email notifications, a PDF approval artifact, and improved visibility into status and approvals.

Challenges

Manual Excel + email process with no incremental save/submit path.
No centralized system of record for hours, expenses, receipts, and approvals.
Policy enforcement gaps (e.g., thresholds for maximum hours/day not auto‑validated).
Limited transparency for reviewers/processors and no standardized PDF artifact tied to final approvals.
Licensing & identity complexity for internal staff and hundreds of external attorneys.

Our Solution

Infojini delivered a Microsoft Power Platform solution purpose‑built for MD OPD’s workflows:

Discovery & Planning
- Conducted workshops to understand current manual processes and pain points.
- Analyzed the full lifecycle of submissions, reviews, and approvals.
Application Architecture & Workflow Design
- Designed Power Platform architecture for all user roles.
- Defined multi‑stage workflow and key business rules.
Attorney Portal Development (Power Pages)
- Built secure portal for drafts, hours, receipts, and submissions.
- Added automated mileage calculation and structured forms.
Reviewer & Processor App Development (Model‑Driven App)
- Created dashboards for review, edits, and approvals.
- Added change‑tracking and mandatory PDF‑generation validation.
Admin Console & Configuration (Canvas App)
- Enabled onboarding via external Azure IDs and configuration screens.
- Added automated recalculation logic and domain value management.
Automation & Notifications (Power Automate)
- Implemented role‑based email alerts for all workflow state changes.
- Added routing rules to ensure correct assignment throughout stages.
Security, Environments & Deployment
- - Configured Azure AD security groups and Power Pages access..
  - Delivered Dev, QA, UAT, and Prod with secure service accounts.

See Our Solutions in Action

Realized Benefits

The new application streamlines submissions, enforces policy, and increases transparency across stakeholders. Attorneys can save work incrementally and submit once complete; reviewers and processors get role‑specific queues, change tracking, and a standardized PDF for payment processing. Admins centrally manage policies and lists without code, ensuring the system keeps pace with evolving rules.

Automated checks (e.g., daily hour thresholds across reports) improve compliance signals for reviewers/processors.
Mileage automation by date‑range rates reduces manual calculation errors and rework.
Change flags and auditability enhance trust and speed during clarifications and approvals.

Talk to Experts

Faster processing through an automated workflow replacing manual Excel and email.
Higher data quality with validations, standardized lists, and auto‑calculated mileage.
Policy compliance via max‑hours checks, proceeding types, and role‑based approvals.
Centralized control through an admin console for users, rates, and domain settings.