Electronic Filing: Is Your Firm Prepared?

As increasing numbers of law firms realize the benefits of electronic filing. And as more and more courts encourage ' and in many cases mandate ' its use ' law firms are moving quickly to adopt practices in order to prepare for ' and take full advantage of ' the e-filing revolution. After having used electronic filing for nearly 3 years, I have seen firsthand the benefits it can deliver in terms of increased control over the delivery, management and cost of filing and serving.

Various forms of electronic filing have been available to the legal community for more than a decade ' systems that went beyond fax filing and simple (vulnerable) e-mail. The federal government is rolling out its own system for e-filing in all of its district courts as well. With mature Internet technology, and recent improvements in security, usability and functionality, several providers, including LexisNexis and a handful of smaller companies, are bringing court-sanctioned e-filing into the mainstream.

Initially piloted at the state level to help manage complex litigation such as asbestos cases in Delaware, Ohio, and Texas, e-filing is now also commonly used in more general case types such as domestic relations, landlord-tenant, and probate. My introduction to e-filing was in 2001 as the Baltimore City Circuit Court saw an overwhelming volume of paper in asbestos litigation.

Virtually anything that happens in a lawsuit can be filed electronically, from complaints through all the subsequent motions, exhibits, and other documentation. In terms of costs, a typical electronic filing may cost under $15, not including filing fees. Compare this with the cost of a courier and the overhead involved in copying and mailing paper documents, and you see why e-filing is being embraced by law firms of all sizes. It also becomes easier to track and manage the costs for your case with the ability to assign billing codes. And with round-the-clock access to the Internet, it doesn't matter whether the courthouse is across the street, across the state, or across the country ' or that the courthouse doors physically close at 5 p.m.

Over time, our law firm, like others, has developed an entire infrastructure to make sure traditional, paper documents are prepared, filed and served on time. In most cases, modifying the firm's existing infrastructure to accommodate e-filing is quite simple. For example, in our firm, the same people who are responsible for paper filing handle electronic filing. In larger firms, that might be legal secretaries and paralegals, or younger associates, and in smaller firms it may even be more senior attorneys who appreciate the convenience and want more control.

In fact, the principal difference between traditional, paper-based filing and electronic filing is that when a document is ready to be filed, instead of printing, collating and stapling it, placing in into an envelope, calling a courier, and dropping it off at the reception desk, you merely go to the e-filing Web site, select the document you want to file, indicate the parties to be served, and hit “submit.” Then, unlike in the paper-based world, you get immediate confirmation that the document has been received ' an online filing receipt and proof of service ' virtually eliminating any uncertainty about whether it made it to the correct destination by the intended deadline.

Within the court, the clerk has review authority over electronic filings, just as in the paper world, and the ability to verify information about the sender, the recipient and the date. All of this information accompanies the electronic filing in the same way that a postmark or clerk's stamp accompanies paper filings.

And when it comes to signatures, courts have changed the rules in recent years to facilitate e-filing. Federal and state courts now accept a typed name in place of a hand-written signature. Since access to e-filing systems is password-protected ' the same as access to account balances through ATMs, for example ' written signatures are not considered necessary.

Procedural rules regarding e-filing, such as those regarding additional paper filing, vary from state to state. LexisNexis File & Serve, the system our firm uses, offers a link to many of these rules available to anyone without charge through its Web site: www.lexisnexis.com/fileandserve/rules.

Many firms have found it useful to designate a two-person tag team to serve as key contacts for others within the firm about e-filing practice. Typically, these tag-teams are made up of an executive sponsor and an associate or even senior secretary or paralegal. The executive is responsible for shaping company policy about e-filing and for encouraging its use; the user-level contact tends to help answer practical, day-to-day questions about e-filing practice. In my situation, a partner and I drove the project. While members of a law firm's IT department may become involved, this tends to be the exception rather than the rule because e-filing is an external service. [Editor's Note: As with most computer-related processes, the amount of IT involvement depends upon the sophistication of the users in a given firm. IT personnel know which users in the firm can be trusted to handle e-filing on their own or with little guidance, and which users will need some (or extensive) hand-holding until they get comfortable with the process.]

Courts do not require any sort of certification for law firms to file documents electronically, but different options exist for training law firm staff on e-filing procedures. The Federal courts, for example, provide an electronic wizard that walks users through each step of an e-filing submission. Individual vendors offer training in the use of their systems, but in general, these systems are easy to use and training takes under an hour. In addition to standard training, LexisNexis also offers case management training that enables users of the LexisNexis File & Serve system to stay on top of case information. For example, because copies of motions are available at the same time they are filed with the court and not 2 days later through the U.S. mail, we learned how to set up alerts so that we are notified immediately of new case activity ' in our cases and other related online cases.

Many people mistakenly assume that implementing an e-filing system is time-consuming and expensive; in fact it is neither. In terms of IT infrastructure, all that's required for a law firm to file documents electronically is Adobe Reader (to view .pdf files) and some sort of scanning package in order to submit digital images of exhibits. Both PCs and Macintosh platforms are typically supported, as are Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers for accessing the e-filing system. The LexisNexis File & Serve system we use even eliminates the need for Adobe Acrobat writer because it automatically converts Word or WordPerfect documents into .pdf files when we submit our filings.

Nationally, asbestos litigation has historically been an extremely paper-intensive practice. In Baltimore City, and several other jurisdictions, however, e-filing has revolutionized the practice of asbestos litigation. e-Filing has transformed a litigation that was buried in a sea of paper to one that is now at the forefront of the electronic age. While e-filing is not without its growing pains, all users have 24-hour access to the entire case docket with the ability to review, file and serve pleadings, motions and correspondence from anywhere there is Internet access. Gone are the days of searching for a case file to find that important motion that's needed to prepare for a hearing. Now, with e-filing, reviewing all court papers filed by your firm or others is a mere click away. e-Filing has proved to be a true asset for the effective management of the more than 15,000 asbestos cases that are pending on the Courts' docket in Baltimore City.

Getting Started

In summary, electronic filing is here to stay, and with it comes the full complement of benefits that digital technology has yielded in many aspects of business and daily life. From a process standpoint, adhering to the following guidelines can help ensure that your firm gets the greatest benefit from e-filing:

• Assign a two-person tag team ' an executive sponsor and a user-level point person ' to serve as key contacts for others within the firm about e-filing practice, training, and procedures.
• Train the entire staff ' including attorneys ' in how the system works. Part of this should include familiarizing users with revised local rules of procedure for electronic filing in order to comply with the court's requirements. Done properly, training should only take between 60 and 90 minutes.
• Establish policies and practices for your firm's use of e-filing, eg, mandate electronic filing for all cases of a certain type, or establish a “rule of preference” for electronic (vs. paper) filing in all cases where the court allows it.
• Involve your accounting department. With e-filing, the hassle of check approvals is eliminated, but you may want to set up a process for paying against electronic bills and establish procedures for re-billing clients for the appropriate e-filing fees.

As increasing numbers of law firms realize the benefits of electronic filing. And as more and more courts encourage ' and in many cases mandate ' its use ' law firms are moving quickly to adopt practices in order to prepare for ' and take full advantage of ' the e-filing revolution. After having used electronic filing for nearly 3 years, I have seen firsthand the benefits it can deliver in terms of increased control over the delivery, management and cost of filing and serving.

Various forms of electronic filing have been available to the legal community for more than a decade ' systems that went beyond fax filing and simple (vulnerable) e-mail. The federal government is rolling out its own system for e-filing in all of its district courts as well. With mature Internet technology, and recent improvements in security, usability and functionality, several providers, including LexisNexis and a handful of smaller companies, are bringing court-sanctioned e-filing into the mainstream.

Initially piloted at the state level to help manage complex litigation such as asbestos cases in Delaware, Ohio, and Texas, e-filing is now also commonly used in more general case types such as domestic relations, landlord-tenant, and probate. My introduction to e-filing was in 2001 as the Baltimore City Circuit Court saw an overwhelming volume of paper in asbestos litigation.

Virtually anything that happens in a lawsuit can be filed electronically, from complaints through all the subsequent motions, exhibits, and other documentation. In terms of costs, a typical electronic filing may cost under $15, not including filing fees. Compare this with the cost of a courier and the overhead involved in copying and mailing paper documents, and you see why e-filing is being embraced by law firms of all sizes. It also becomes easier to track and manage the costs for your case with the ability to assign billing codes. And with round-the-clock access to the Internet, it doesn't matter whether the courthouse is across the street, across the state, or across the country ' or that the courthouse doors physically close at 5 p.m.

Over time, our law firm, like others, has developed an entire infrastructure to make sure traditional, paper documents are prepared, filed and served on time. In most cases, modifying the firm's existing infrastructure to accommodate e-filing is quite simple. For example, in our firm, the same people who are responsible for paper filing handle electronic filing. In larger firms, that might be legal secretaries and paralegals, or younger associates, and in smaller firms it may even be more senior attorneys who appreciate the convenience and want more control.

In fact, the principal difference between traditional, paper-based filing and electronic filing is that when a document is ready to be filed, instead of printing, collating and stapling it, placing in into an envelope, calling a courier, and dropping it off at the reception desk, you merely go to the e-filing Web site, select the document you want to file, indicate the parties to be served, and hit “submit.” Then, unlike in the paper-based world, you get immediate confirmation that the document has been received ' an online filing receipt and proof of service ' virtually eliminating any uncertainty about whether it made it to the correct destination by the intended deadline.

Within the court, the clerk has review authority over electronic filings, just as in the paper world, and the ability to verify information about the sender, the recipient and the date. All of this information accompanies the electronic filing in the same way that a postmark or clerk's stamp accompanies paper filings.

And when it comes to signatures, courts have changed the rules in recent years to facilitate e-filing. Federal and state courts now accept a typed name in place of a hand-written signature. Since access to e-filing systems is password-protected ' the same as access to account balances through ATMs, for example ' written signatures are not considered necessary.

Procedural rules regarding e-filing, such as those regarding additional paper filing, vary from state to state. LexisNexis File & Serve, the system our firm uses, offers a link to many of these rules available to anyone without charge through its Web site: www.lexisnexis.com/fileandserve/rules.

Many firms have found it useful to designate a two-person tag team to serve as key contacts for others within the firm about e-filing practice. Typically, these tag-teams are made up of an executive sponsor and an associate or even senior secretary or paralegal. The executive is responsible for shaping company policy about e-filing and for encouraging its use; the user-level contact tends to help answer practical, day-to-day questions about e-filing practice. In my situation, a partner and I drove the project. While members of a law firm's IT department may become involved, this tends to be the exception rather than the rule because e-filing is an external service. [Editor's Note: As with most computer-related processes, the amount of IT involvement depends upon the sophistication of the users in a given firm. IT personnel know which users in the firm can be trusted to handle e-filing on their own or with little guidance, and which users will need some (or extensive) hand-holding until they get comfortable with the process.]

Courts do not require any sort of certification for law firms to file documents electronically, but different options exist for training law firm staff on e-filing procedures. The Federal courts, for example, provide an electronic wizard that walks users through each step of an e-filing submission. Individual vendors offer training in the use of their systems, but in general, these systems are easy to use and training takes under an hour. In addition to standard training, LexisNexis also offers case management training that enables users of the LexisNexis File & Serve system to stay on top of case information. For example, because copies of motions are available at the same time they are filed with the court and not 2 days later through the U.S. mail, we learned how to set up alerts so that we are notified immediately of new case activity ' in our cases and other related online cases.

Many people mistakenly assume that implementing an e-filing system is time-consuming and expensive; in fact it is neither. In terms of IT infrastructure, all that's required for a law firm to file documents electronically is Adobe Reader (to view .pdf files) and some sort of scanning package in order to submit digital images of exhibits. Both PCs and Macintosh platforms are typically supported, as are Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers for accessing the e-filing system. The LexisNexis File & Serve system we use even eliminates the need for Adobe Acrobat writer because it automatically converts Word or WordPerfect documents into .pdf files when we submit our filings.

Nationally, asbestos litigation has historically been an extremely paper-intensive practice. In Baltimore City, and several other jurisdictions, however, e-filing has revolutionized the practice of asbestos litigation. e-Filing has transformed a litigation that was buried in a sea of paper to one that is now at the forefront of the electronic age. While e-filing is not without its growing pains, all users have 24-hour access to the entire case docket with the ability to review, file and serve pleadings, motions and correspondence from anywhere there is Internet access. Gone are the days of searching for a case file to find that important motion that's needed to prepare for a hearing. Now, with e-filing, reviewing all court papers filed by your firm or others is a mere click away. e-Filing has proved to be a true asset for the effective management of the more than 15,000 asbestos cases that are pending on the Courts' docket in Baltimore City.

Getting Started

In summary, electronic filing is here to stay, and with it comes the full complement of benefits that digital technology has yielded in many aspects of business and daily life. From a process standpoint, adhering to the following guidelines can help ensure that your firm gets the greatest benefit from e-filing:

• Assign a two-person tag team ' an executive sponsor and a user-level point person ' to serve as key contacts for others within the firm about e-filing practice, training, and procedures.
• Train the entire staff ' including attorneys ' in how the system works. Part of this should include familiarizing users with revised local rules of procedure for electronic filing in order to comply with the court's requirements. Done properly, training should only take between 60 and 90 minutes.
• Establish policies and practices for your firm's use of e-filing, eg, mandate electronic filing for all cases of a certain type, or establish a “rule of preference” for electronic (vs. paper) filing in all cases where the court allows it.
• Involve your accounting department. With e-filing, the hassle of check approvals is eliminated, but you may want to set up a process for paying against electronic bills and establish procedures for re-billing clients for the appropriate e-filing fees.