All active CARES users can always find all of that office's appointments in their Cases > My Appointments screen. Users may also request access to appointments outside of their own CARES office as well--learn more in Requests for Access from a Different Office. Below are troubleshooting tips for users attempting to request access to an appointment in another office.
If you cannot find the case, try these case search tips to make sure. If you still cannot find the case and/or appointment, contact the appointed attorney to confirm the case number in CARES. It is possible they have not yet created the appointment or they accidentally entered a case number error, both issues for the appointed attorney to address before your request. Do not appoint yourself to any case in CARES unless you are the court-appointed attorney.
If you are trying to request access to an appointment but the Request Access button shown above is "grayed out" instead of blue (meaning you cannot click on it), it may be for one of the following reasons:
- If you are not personally under contract with OCR (a current contract signed by you and OCR's Executive Director), the reasons to request access to an appointment do not apply to you. Only case-carrying attorneys (not their support staff) and Case Consultants who contract directly with OCR are able to request access to other attorneys' appointments. Where do I find my office's cases?
- If you are a member of the appointed attorney's office, you already have access to this appointment and do not need to request access. For example, Case Consultants who do not contract directly with OCR are already members of at least one attorney's office. Instead of requesting access, find the appointment in Cases > My Appointments and click on the appointed attorney's blue name to work on the appointment. More on this
- If the appointment is closed (the end date to the right of the "Request Access" button is in the past), you cannot request access to it because no one can enter activities on closed appointments. If you believe this appointment should be open, please try searching for the correct appointment again to make sure, then contact the appointed attorney to ask whether they need to reopen the closed appointment so you can enter activities.
- If you have already requested access to this appointment and are awaiting a decision, you do not need to request access again--instead, you will be notified via email when the appointed attorney makes a decision about your request. The appointed attorney will receive automatic email reminders of any pending request every 3 days. If needed, you can cancel your request by navigating to the appointment via Cases > Search Cases and clicking the red trash can icon by the appointed attorney's name. More on this
