Having already identified the high level requirements for the database, your
next task is to create a list, or inventory, of the data points you want to
capture. That inventory will include three things:
entities, or the things you need to track.
attributes, or the defining characteristics of the entities
relationships, or the way the various entities interact
Inasmuchas this is a project for a course, you should have access to some
supporting materials that will help you identify all of those components and
the elements which make them up. For example, you mention three things you
need to track: clients, attorneys and cases. That's a start.
We call the things that your database will track "entities"/
Because both clients and attorneys are people, you'll probably be better off
with a single table of "people" in which all people are tracked. "Client"
and "Attorney" refer, not specific types of people, but to ROLES that people
can play at any given time. In other words, it is possible for a single
person to be an attorney in one case, but be the client in a different case.
In addition, you need a table to track cases. In this table, you will list
the individual cases by Case Number, Case Type, jurisdiction and whatever
else might be relevant to a case.
Other tables you'll probably need include "AttorneySpeciality", which is a
list, or roster, of legal areas in which attorneys may specialize,
and a table to list jurisdictions, a table to list fee levels, and so on.
Each kind of thing you need to track will need a table.
Some of the most important tables will be junction tables, which is a
specific kind of table that allows you to define relationships between other
tables.
One of these will be a CaseClient table which will track Cases and the
Clients involved in them. Another will be a CaseAttorney table which will
track Cases and the Attorneys involved in them.
The next step will be to identify each of the defining characteristics you
need to track for your entities. We usually call these attributes.
For example, for clients and attorneys you'll need to track first name, last
name at least, plus any other defining characteristics of importance to your
law firm. Possibilities for such attributes might include things like Date
of Birth, if that is relevant to your business requirements.
As you identify the entities you need to track, and the attributes of
importance to your database, you'll start creating the different tables for
them.
Each table will require a Primary Key, which is a field which has a unique
value for each record. In Access, the most appropriate datatype for Primary
Keys is the Autonumber, which automatically creates new values each time a
record is started in the table.
When you need to identify the relationships between your tables, you'll
insert Foreign Keys into the related tables, pointing back to the Primary
Keys, so that you can identify which records are related.
Here's a link to a Powerpoint presentation and sample database that might
help you get started on these basic concepts.
http://www.gpcdata.com/downloads/saugpresentation.zip
Once you get your tables defined and set up, you can move on to setting up
forms to manage the data in them.
