electronic Filing & Service for Courts

Sprinkler floods court records room

A sprinkler malfunction flooded the records division of Mobile County's Probate Court, damaging millions of pages of property records and marriage licenses.

The records will not be lost for good -- there are backup copies in Mobile and in Montgomery.

Still, court officials will ask the County Commission this morning to declare an emergency so they can hire someone to try to clean the microfilm records before they are a complete loss, Probate Judge Don Davis said.

An excellent example of why courts should much more rapidly move to electronic filing

Alabama: Court requires online filing

From the Birmingham News, January 1, 2005

The federal court system in Alabama's largest district will go high-tech Monday, requiring all lawyers to file documents over the Internet.

The Northern District of Alabama will officially come online with federal courts across the country in no longer accepting just paper filings, but requiring lawyers to file by computer.

Sharon Harris, the district's deputy clerk, said the move gives lawyers access to a virtual courthouse. Attorneys who are registered with a login and password may file documents 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Registered attorneys will receive an e-mail notice of any activity in the electronic cases.

''It is mandatory,'' Harris said. ''If they want to practice in the Northern District, they have to practice electronically.''

Electronic filing is being hailed as a way for courts to reduce the thousands of paper documents stored at spacestrapped courthouses and the costs for postage and photocopying that was used to mail and fax court notices.

''It meets the need of the court in a better way,'' Harris said. ''This is a more efficient way of managing cases.''

For people who want to represent themselves and file their own lawsuits, they can still file at the courthouse with assistance from intake clerks, Harris said.

The public will still be able to gain access to documents, unless they have been sealed by the court, by going to a federal courthouse and viewing them on computer terminals in the clerk's office. The public can also keep check on cases for a fee through a case management Web site, www. uscourts.gov/ cmecf/cmecf .html.

For the past few months, lawyers have been attending training sessions to become familiar with the new requirement.

''Unfortunately, some of us old lawyers are being dragged into the 21st century,'' said Don Colee, who has been practicing since 1976. ''For a lot of us who are not totally computer literate, we're having to become that way. I guess I will find out how computer literate I am come January.''

Colee said that to get ready to file electronically, he had to purchase a new scanner.

Alabama: Federal court in Birmingham requires online filing

The Associated Press State & Local Wire, January 2, 2005

Alabama's largest federal court goes high-tech Monday, requiring all lawyers to file documents over the Internet.

By rejecting paper filing, the Northern District of Alabama will be connected with federal courts across the country. Eventually, all federal courts are expected to have electronic filing in place.

Federal courts in Montgomery and Mobile already have been accepting electronically filings. Bankruptcy courts also have the requirement.

The change gives registered lawyers access to a virtual courthouse, allowing them to file documents anytime with a login and password, said deputy clerk Sharon Harris in Birmingham. The registered lawyers will also receive and e-mail notice of activity in their cases.

"It is mandatory," Harris said. "If they want to practice in the Northern District, they have to practice electronically."

Electronic filing is being hailed as a way for courts to reduce the thousands of paper documents stored at space-strapped courthouses. It also cuts costs for postage and photocopying that was used to mail and fax court notices.

"It meets the need of the court in a better way," Harris said. "This is a more efficient way of managing cases."
Parties representing themselves without attorneys can file at the courthouse with assistance from the clerks, she said.

The electronically filed court documents will be available to the public on courthouse computer terminals unless they are sealed under court order.

For the past few months, lawyers have been attending training sessions to become familiar with the new requirement and it hasn't been easy for everyone.

"Unfortunately, some of us old lawyers are being dragged into the 21st century," said Don Colee, who has been practicing since 1976. "For a lot of us who are not totally computer literate, we're having to become that way. I guess I will find out how computer literate I am come January."

Colee said that to get ready to file electronically, he had to purchase a new scanner.

John Lentine, a Birmingham defense attorney who serves as resource counsel and liaison between the federal courts and lawyers who represent the poor, said the electronic filing will mark a tremendous change, involving new software.

"Most of us work on a computer to a great extent," Lentine said. "This is just something so different."

He expects it will get easier.

"It's happening all over the country," he said.