electronic Filing & Service for Courts

Georgia Appellate Courts Move toward eFiling

It appears the Georgia Appellate Courts are moving toward eFiling

Looks like it will cost from $93,000 to $150,000.

The courts are using Fairfax, Va.-based TriVir as their vendor for developing the new system.

Expect the system for the GASCT to go live 1/1/2008. GACoA is unsure of live-date.

This will be interesting to follow....

Straight from the Bench: A Judges View of eFiling

The Honorable Hilton M. Fuller, Superior Court of Fulton County, GA electronically filed this statement regarding why the Court had mandated electronic filing in the Brian Nichols vs State of Georgia case:

1. Through the use of electronic filing, the court and the attorneys in this case have equal and immediate access to all pleadings, orders and other documents the instant they are filed. There is no longer a need to wait for mailed copies or to request paper copies from the clerk’s office This feature is especially efficient in cases involving out-of-state counsel.

2. When documents are e-filed, all parties are served instantaneously through the LexisNexis File and Serve electronic filing system. There can never be a question of when or if a party was served: the system preserves the notification of service, as well as the date and time each party is served.

3. The clerk’s paper file for a case of this nature is likely to be so large that its sheer size will render it unwieldy for practical use. With electronic filing, the record is maintained online, so that there is no longer a necessity to spend time poring over a lengthy case file to find a document or even to locate a reference sought in a particular brief.

You can read the entire statement here: Download ga_supct_brian_nichols_case.pdf

Fulton County, Ga., Court Chooses LexisNexis File & Serve To Manage E-filing in High-Profile Murder Trial

Service to Allow Real-Time Electronic Access to Trial Pleadings
DAYTON, OH, May 12, 2005 - LexisNexis U.S., a leader in comprehensive and authoritative legal, news and business information and tailored applications, has been selected to implement LexisNexis® File & Serve to manage the filing and access to documents in a high-profile murder trial before the Fulton County (Ga.) Superior Court.

Media interest is expected to run high in the trial of Brian Nichols, 33, who is accused of the March 11, 2005, fatal shooting of Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes and three other court and law enforcement personnel before escaping the courthouse, where he was being tried for rape. Nichols was indicted on May 5 and the first hearing was held Wednesday.

Clerk of Court Juanita Hicks said, "LexisNexis File & Serve has been in use in Fulton County civil courts since 2000. Based on its successful performance there, the court has decided to implement LexisNexis File & Serve for this trial, making it the first criminal trial offering e-filing in the jurisdiction. That’s important because it will help us manage the number of filings and the expected demands for copies from media during the trial. Once filings are electronically accepted by my office, copies are immediately available through the LexisNexis File & Serve system from anywhere at any time. Copies will also be available at the Clerk’s office."

In the last 12 months alone, over 50,000 documents have been filed and served electronically in Superior court. Fulton County State Court also uses LexisNexis File & Serve for civil cases, and 130,000 documents have been filed and served in that court in the last 12 months. Documents are stored in their original form and automatically converted to a PDF format.

"These murders have had a tragic impact on the court itself, and court officials have chosen LexisNexis File & Serve to help mitigate the increased burdens placed on its staff during this trial," said Michele Vivona, chief operating officer, LexisNexis, in charge of the LexisNexis File & Serve operations. "Prosecutors, defense counsel, and the court benefit from having more control over the filing and service process, and along with the media will be able to see documents at almost the same instant that they are filed or served."

Georgia: Fed Courts Prepping for Mandatory E-Filing

From the Fulton County Daily Report, February 1, 2005

Just 15 minutes before the federal clerk s office closed Jan. 24, two runners for law firms found themselves barred by a broken sprinkler from delivering a last-minute court filing. They were absolutely in a panic, U.S. Clerk of Court Luther D. Thomas recalled. The burst sprinkler had set off the building s fire alarms, causing the elevators automatically to descend to the ground floor and remain there. As the runners contemplated how to clear a security barrier on the 15th floor and whether to climb 22 flights of stairs to the clerk s office, Thomas said, we thought we were going to have a little bit of a scene.

I ve got to get up there, one runner told the clerk. My law firm won t understand. That kind of last-minute race to the courthouse to meet filing deadlines before the clerk s office closes at 4:45 p.m. can be avoided now with electronic filing an optional system that becomes mandatory on July 15 for the 12,000 to 15,000 attorneys who are members of the federal bar in Georgia s Northern District. Under the electronic system, attorneys can file documents anytime prior to midnight and meet court deadlines for that day. Electronic filing of court documents became an option for lawyers practicing in the Northern District last July. But court administrators are now requiring members of the federal bar, including attorneys admitted pro hac vice, to obtain a login and password that will permit them, beginning July 15, to file electronically all documents except for initial complaints and criminal indictments. An order last year by U.S. District Judge Orinda D. Evans, the Northern District s chief judge, will require, by July, that the vast majority of court documents be filed electronically. Except for initiating documents in a case, those filed under seal or those filed by pro se litigantsoall of which still will have to be filed on paper filings will have to be made electronically. Unless our procedures allow you to file manually, you can t show up [with a paper filing] without the leave of the court, said Chief Deputy Clerk James N. Hatten. Computerized case filings also will allow attorneys to file 24 hours a day, seven days a week from anywhere in the world, Hatten said.