Federal Courts to Go Online

In January, Fresno’s federal court will join a nationwide system that is slowly moving its paper-choked courthouses into the electronic world. The changes will mandate electronic filing of all court documents — both civil and criminal—and make it easier for lawyers and the public to read and file legal cases. In the process, they will eliminate thousands of pages of paperwork that swamp the system daily.

Fresno is part of California’s Eastern District, which stretches over 34 counties from the Oregon border through Kern County. Candice Hutcheson, training coordinator for the Fresno changeover, estimated that 7,500 cases and 200,000 documents are filed in the Eastern District annually. She said the switch will eliminate most of that.

Hutcheson has scheduled training sessions this week for attorneys and their assistants. Across the nation, more than 150,000 lawyers have signed up for the system, which will allow filing 24 hours a day and end the rush to beat the 4:30 p.m. deadline when the clerks’ offices close, said Barbara Kimble of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts in Washington.

The new case management and electronic case files system (CM/ECF) will replace outmoded filing systems in more than 200 district courts and bankruptcy courts nationwide, saving time, money, and paper, officials have noted. Kimble said thus far, 51 district courts across the nation, plus the Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Trade, are accepting electronic filing. Forty others, like the Eastern District, are implementing it. In addition, 76 federal bankruptcy courts—including Fresno’s—have implemented the system, and 94 others are preparing to, Kimble said.

Attorneys practicing in U.S. District Court will be able to file directly with the court over the Internet, and each attorney is being assigned a unique password and identification. Officials said the system will use standard computer hardware, an Internet connection and a browser, and will accept documents in Portable Document Format (PDF).

Filers prepare a document using conventional word processing software, then save it as a PDF file. After logging onto the court’s Web site with a court issued password, the filer will enter basic information relating to the case and document being filed, attach the document and submit it to the court.

A notice verifying court receipt is generated automatically. Other parties in the case then automatically receive e-mail notification of the filing. There is no additional fee for filing documents over the Internet, but existing filing fees apply. The electronic case filing system will be available to the public 24 hours a day, unlike the clerk’s office, which is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The system also will allow the court to make the documents available to the public over the Internet, with privacy concerns being addressed by a standing order to redact Social Security numbers and other sensitive information. Hutcheson said the office will continue to accept paper filings for cases that are not handled by attorneys and for prisoner civil rights cases, which account for nearly half of the civil complaints filed in the Fresno division. The cases will be scanned into the electronic system by court employees.

In prisoner cases, Hutcheson said, the state is represented by the Attorney General’s Office, and that office will file its responses and all other paperwork electronically.