E-Filing - An Idea Whose Time has Come - And Here It Is Again!

Way back in the dark ages, say 1996, the Futurelawyer announced an important Rule change, spearheaded by a Committee on which he proudly served, the Court Technology Users Committee. Back then, I wrote:

"The Florida Supreme Court, at the urging of the Court Technology Users Committee of the Court, and from the Clerks of Court, has adopted new amendments to Rule 2.090 of the Rules of Judicial Administration, and Rule 2.060 thereof, which recedes somewhat from the restrictive amendments adopted in 1996. (Amendments to the Rules of Judicial Administration..No. 81,638, July 17, 1997).
In its opinion, the Court acknowledged that it had received much criticism for the original ruling, primarily because of the requirement that any electronic filing be followed by a paper filing. The Court had adopted the rule changes recommended unanimously by the Court Technology Users Committee, which retain the requirement for Court approval of any electronic filing plan prior to implementation. The new Rules, however, provide for the eventual elimination of backup paper filings once a system has been shown to be operating reliably."

Now, fast forward to April 27, 2005, and an actual plan for efiling has been approved by the Florida Supreme Court as submitted by Jed Pittman, Pasco County Clerk of Court. A web-server interface will accept documents filed over the Internet, under a plan created and sold by LexisNexis. The system will automatically transfer the documents to the Clerk's system. The system may only be used by registered Florida Bar members, and there will be fees for using the system. Only documents deemed to be public records will be available on the Net, and the filed documents will be considered copies for the attorney's files. The official records will be kept by the Clerk. For the time being, the old  "file a paper copy within 90 days"  rule will stand, and the Supreme Court may order that follow-up filing not be required,  once proof of concept is established. Who said the wheels of justice grind slowly?
:-)
Rick