All active CARES users can always find all of that office's appointments in their Cases > My Appointments screen. Users may also request limited access to appointments outside of their own CARES office for the following reasons:

I have been assigned as a Case Consultant on this appointment. (Note, this is only necessary for case consultants who contract directly with OCR because CC members of an attorney's office already have automatic access to the office's appointments.) More on this
I am this attorney’s approved OCR Mentor.
I am providing litigation support on this appointment (e.g., education or appellate support).
I am second-chairing a contested hearing with pre-approval from OCR.
I am providing coverage for the appointed attorney.

Keep reading, or jump to:

Overview (approval, activities, invoicing, allocation)
How do I request access to an appointment outside my office? (incl. canceling requests)
How do I respond to a request for access? (incl. revoking access)
Relevant Frequently-Asked Questions

Overview

The appointed attorney must approve or deny requests for access to their appointment. Approved requests allow the case consultant, mentor, litigation support, or coverage attorney to enter their own activities on the requested appointment, which will appear in the "Other Offices' Appointments" tab of their My Appointments list for easy access. Their office will also be able to view (but not edit) the Profile tab with child parties, Involved Persons tab, and Associated Appointments tab. They will not have new access to any other part of the appointed attorney's office or to any unapproved appointments.

Appointed attorney sees all activities and determines permission

The Case Consultant, Mentor, or others granted access to an appointment can enter their own activities for that appointment, and the appointed attorney's office can find everyone's activities in the Activities tab. As usual, each user may only edit their own activities. When approving a request for access, the appointed attorney decides the requester's Permission Level to view activities: approval may include permission to view everyone's activities on this appointment (seeing everything anyone has entered just like an office member, but only for this appointment) OR the approval may limit the requester to view only their own activities (the appointed office's activities are hidden to the requester).

Invoicing is always independent

Each office will continue to generate independent invoices and each office's activities will appear only on their own invoice as usual. In other words, even though a contractor may be granted access to enter activities in another office's appointment, everyone's activities can only ever appear on their own office's invoice and each office will only be paid for its own activities. There is no need to wait on the Case Consultant, Litigation Support attorney, or others granted access to your appointment to enter their activities when it is time for the appointed attorney to invoice. More on invoicing in CARES

All activities impact the Appointment Billing Allocation

All activities entered on an appointment continue to draw down its Appointment Billing Allocation as usual regardless of who entered them, and requesting additional funding with sufficient time before invoicing remains the responsibility of the appointed office. OCR views all forms of litigation support as an important resource and investment, and OCR recognizes the value of these supports when processing requests for additional funding. More on monitoring funding

How to respond to a request for access:

Only the appointed attorney may approve or deny requests for access to their appointment. When someone makes such a request, the appointed attorney receives an automatic email notification with the name of the requester, case number, reason for the request, and optional notes from the requester. They will receive an automatic email reminder of any pending requests every 3 days. The appointed attorney and requester will also receive an email confirmation if the requester cancels the request before you approve or deny it (no further action is needed/possible on canceled requests). Notifications include a link to your appointment in CARES as a shortcut. Please note, this process is the same even if you accidentally closed the appointment before handling the request. More on this

To process the request, click the link in the email notification to navigate directly to your appointment's Requests for Access tab. (Log in to CARES before clicking the link.) Alternatively, reference the case number in the email notification and navigate to your appointment manually via Cases > My Appointments as usual. (If you do not see the Requests for Access tab, look for a small arrow to the right of the tabs you do see--click it to scroll to more tabs):
In your appointment, the Requests for Access tab shows a red icon next to the request to indicate that it needs your attention:
Click on the blue name of the requester in the appointment's Requests for Access tab. Enter your Decision either to approve or deny the request, then complete the pop-up window:
- - Enter optional Decision Notes to explain your decision--the requester will see your notes in the automatic email notification you each receive.
  - If you approve this request, choose a Permission Level: "Can View Others' Activities" means the requester and any users in their office may also view the activities your office saves to this appointment; "Can View Own Activities Only" means your office's activities will be hidden from the requester's office. Either way, the appointed office will be able to see everyone's activities. (Please note, you cannot update this permission later unless you revoke access and approve a new request.)

After your decision is saved, an automatic email notification goes to you and the requester, and the red icon will disappear from the Requests for Access tab (no more action required). The request will show a Decision Date and Current Permission summary for quick reference. You can always view requests in the appointment's Requests for Access tab; click on the requester's name to reference its details.

- - If you approve the request, the requester's office can now view (but not edit) this appointment's Profile tab with child parties, Involved Persons tab, and Associated Appointments tab. They can enter activities with optional notes and attachments; you can review these in the Activities tab. Each office must continue to generate independent invoices and each office's activities will appear only on their own invoice as usual. More on invoicing in CARES
  - The appointed office must continue to monitor the Appointment Billing Allocation as usual; all activities draw down the allocation. More on monitoring funding
  - If you deny or revoke access, no additional actions are possible and the requester has no access to this appointment (unless you approve a new future request).

The appointed attorney may revoke access at any time after approval. Navigate to the appointment's Requests for Access tab (pictured above) and click on the name of the requester. In the Appointment Access Request pop-up, click the blue "Revoke" button at the bottom. This removes the case from the requester's My Appointments list and ends their ability to access the appointment and its activities. Their independent invoice will still capture any of their un-invoiced activities, and they will receive another automatic email notification saying access was revoked.

The appointed attorney usually does not need to revoke access upon appointment closure; if access is never revoked, the appointment behaves the same way for the requester as for the appointed office--it remains accessible to them, which may be helpful for their future reference. No one may enter new activities after an appointment is closed, though, so you may want to check in with anyone accessing your appointment before closing it to make sure their activity entries are already complete.

Relevant FAQs: