From the Detroit Free Press, 12/16/2004:
Electronic system will save lawyers and clients time, money
Taking someone to court in Eastpointe has become a lot easier in the past two weeks.
The 38th District Court is the first district court in the state to have electronic filing -- or e-filing -- available for certain types of lawsuits. The system will save attorneys and their clients time and money.
E-filing is already an option in federal and state courts, and the Ottawa County Circuit Court in Grand Haven, just west of Grand Rapids, is running its own pilot e-filing program. But the 38th District Court will be the only district court in the state -- until at least well into 2005 -- to have an e-filing system.
Lori Shemka, the administrator for the 38th District Court, said the e-filing system will save attorneys money they now spend on postage and couriers to deliver lawsuits to the court. But more significantly, she said, the new system will give them the ability to file lawsuits after court hours and will enable the court to process the lawsuits more quickly and more efficiently.
"We're going to give the state a gauge of what other courts may need, what would be appropriate," Shemka said.
A link to the e-filing site can be found at www.38thdistrictcourt.com
At the start, the program will be limited to general civil complaints -- cases where less than $25,000 in damages is sought. The system allows for online filing of the complaints, answers, jury demands and motions, as well as payment of the associated fees.
Fewer than a dozen lawsuits were e-filed in the first week of the pilot, but Mark Dobek, director of judicial information systems for the Michigan Supreme Court, hopes to roll out the system for all types of cases in all district courts next year.
"We'll probably take a look after 90 days to see what kind of utilization there is for it," Dobek said. "We know people probably don't know about it yet. If there was a statewide rollout, there would be a lot more fanfare."
The state bore the costs to launch the program. And because the state is managing the e-filing system, the program that would be the backbone for a statewide system is already in place. The state has discussed bringing e-filing to district and circuit courts for about two years. Dobek said there was one overriding reason why the state's newest district court jumped to the head of the line for the new technology: It asked.
Shemka said she expects the e-filing system to become a permanent fixture for the courts. She would like to offer online case searches and fines payment options in the future, but said the shape the system takes will depend on what the public wants to see.
"The only question is how the system is going to grow," she said. "This is going to expand in terms of the case types sometime in the future, so you can do small-claims filings and landlord-tenant cases. But beyond that, this will be a case where the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and the more feedback we get from the users, the more we can pass up to the Supreme Court so the system will grow accordingly."
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