electronic Filing & Service for Courts

Delaware Supreme Court to Implement E-filing

State’s top court to require appeals from trial courts to be filed electronically through LexisNexis® File & Serve

DAYTON, OH, October 10, 2005 - The Delaware Supreme Court has become the first appellate court in the United States to require electronic filing, effective this month, using LexisNexis File & Serve.

With the addition of the state’s highest court, Delaware continues its long history of being a technology leader. Delaware was the first state to implement e-filing in 1991, according to LexisNexis U.S., a leading provider of legal, news and business information services and the service provider for the Delaware superior court and Court of Chancery.

"Electronic filing is unquestionably beneficial to the Court and to the attorneys filing their appeals. It is more efficient and effective, and ultimately streamlines the litigation process," said Justice Henry duPont Ridgely, the chair of the Supreme Court’s eFiling Committee. Justice Ridgely was appointed chair of the eFiling Committee by Chief Justice Myron T. Steele because of his experience as President Judge of the Superior Court where electronic filing began. He now provides project leadership on behalf of the Supreme Court.

"The addition of the Supreme Court validates the degree to which e-filing has become a standard of operation for the courts and legal community in Delaware," said Michele Vivona, vice president and general manager of litigation services for LexisNexis. "The Delaware courts are an important example for other jurisdictions because of the volume and nature of cases they rule on," she noted.

In the last two years the equivalent of more than half a million documents have been electronically filed or served in cases before the Superior Court and the Court of Chancery. In the first phase of implementation, all appeals from these two courts shall be electronically filed. Other appeals will be added over the course of the next few months with all cases online within a year.

About LexisNexis File & Serve

LexisNexis® File & Serve gives courts and law firms greater control over case file management. With a robust and secure infrastructure, LexisNexis File & Serve provides improved access to case documents and streamlines the intake process. Online clerk review and judicial action improve court operations, while the online document repository enhances care, custody and control. Law firms benefit from improved document access, automated case monitoring, and the elimination of the physical delivery of paper.

Delaware: US District Court

From The Wilmington News Journal, March 6, 2005

All civil and criminal paperwork in U.S. District Court in Wilmington now has to be filed electronically or on a computer disk.

The new filing system, which went into effect last week, was mandated in an order signed by all four U.S. District judges early this year. It is designed to save the courts money and time, and attorneys said it will make their work easier, too.

"I think it is a great idea," said attorney Gregory B. Williams of the Fox Rothschild firm. Not only will the system make filings more convenient, it will help judges see pleadings and other documents more quickly.

At least 66 of the 96 other federal court districts already use an electronic filing system, and most of the remainder are working to bring one online, said Peter T. Dalleo, court clerk for the Delaware district.

The new system, which has been in the works at least a year, also will allow authorized users to conduct legal research over the Internet rather than having to visit the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building.

Publicly accessible computers still will be available at the court for research, and in many cases backup paper copies will be maintained.

Dalleo said officials expect to eliminate the paper backup once the system proves itself.

One downside of the new system is that federal courts have adopted new privacy rules that eliminate certain previously available information from all public court records.

That information includes the home addresses, dates of birth and other personal information that news organizations and others often use to identify criminal defendants.

Court officials in Delaware have trained more than 768 people on the new system since October.

Delaware

From the Delaware Law Weekly, February 2, 2005

Gov. Ruth Ann Minner has proposed a 2006 state operating budget that would provide $73.5 million to Delaware's judiciary in the coming fiscal year.

...

According to the state Budget Office, the proposed judicial budget represents a 6.6 percent increase over the courts' $68.9 million 2005 budget.

...

When he presented the judiciary's desired budget in November, Steele told the Budget Office that the judiciary was seeking funding only for inescapable costs that could not be reduced or eliminated; mission-critical needs; and requests by ancillary, non-judicial agencies such as the child advocate.

......

The capital improvement bill also provides $5 million for the judiciary's COTS initiative. Courts Organized to Serve, or COTS, is a commercial, off-the-shelf case and financial management system that will eventually replace the various systems currently used by Delaware's courts.

COTS will ensure that all of Delaware's courts have the necessary tools to manage their caseloads and to efficiently serve the public, according to Minner's budget proposal. Steele has said that 2005 will be a big year for the project.

In October, the Administrative Office of the Courts selected Affiliated Computer Services in Dallas to provide an integrated information system for all of the state courts, according to an ACS press release. When all of the system's components are up and running, the system will coordinate case and financial-management information, integrate case data, and provide electronic filing and Web access to court information.
Court officials began training on the new system late last year, according to Steele.

...