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Courts test new filing system
By ANDREW UJIFUSA
Assistant
Managing Editor
Local
courts will soon begin testing an electronic filing system that could speed
up the judicial process and make information available more quickly to
attorneys and clients.
Madison County has been
chosen to conduct a pilot program that will determine whether electronic
filings systems used by federal courts in Mississippi can also
be utilized in state courts.
In addition to being able to enter filings online, attorneys and litigants
could receive e-mail updates whenever the opposition in a court case enters
filings. A link in the e-mail would send the user to the online filing.
The system could also reduce expenses for attorneys and paperwork for state
courts.
The federal filing system is called Case Management/Electronic Case Filing
system (CM/ECF). The state Supreme Court recently authorized Chancery Clerk
Arthur Johnston and Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook to test the system.
Johnston said he and Westbrook will be
testing CM/ECF over the next four months using a program at the WIN Job Center in Canton. The
tests will utilize past cases in order to simulate actual court filings.
If the initial tests go well, then the courts could begin using live filings
during the first part of next year, Johnston told the
Board of Supervisors on Monday.
It is not clear yet how much the system would cost if it is installed.
The northern and southern federal districts in Mississippi, which
began utilizing electronic filings in 2002, will have to be modified in some
ways to fit state courts and their unique caseloads.
Previous court cases will not be included in the court information available
on any new electronic system.
Johnston and Westbrook recently spent two weeks in San
Antonio becoming familiar with the system.
One of the primary benefits of CM/ECF, Johnston said, is
the speed at which the local court system will be able to operate.
"I think it's going to speed up the ability of our judiciary to dispose
of cases," he said.
Madison County Chancery Court currently handles about 1,000 to 1,200 cases
every year. Westbrook's office handles 3,000 to 3,500 cases every year.
For attorneys and their clients, the new electronic filing system would give
them unprecedented, up-to-date access to information.
"The beauty of the system is, as soon as the other side files something,
you know about it," Johnston said.
Westbrook said that the system would allow her to communicate more
effectively with judges about scheduling and other matters, reducing
conflicts and streamlining everyone's calendar.
"It would allow the judges and the circuit clerk to interact on the same
system," she said.
Board President and District 3 Supervisor Andy Taggart, a practicing attorney
in Madison, said that the electronic filing
system has impressed him whenever he has dealt with cases in federal courts.
Whereas previous information exchanges would take as long as a week, the new
system would allow instant updates for clients, who could see the same
information as their attorneys without having to wait for it.
"Now, it can all be done within minutes," Taggart said. "The
client is seeing it at the same time the lawyer is."
Another benefit is that the new system would make information more readily
available and more uniform to the state Supreme Court.
He noted that several times, accurate statistics on judges and their
caseloads are not always available because of the different ways that
different chancery courts enter those numbers.
The CM/ECF system would eliminate these irregularities and create more
accurate numbers.
"With the new system, the Supreme Court will be able to gather that data
from their vantage point in Jackson from all
over the state," Westbrook said.
Court employees could also spend less time inputting case filings, since the
lawyers would be responsible for doing them electronically, and could focus
on other duties.
Johnston did say the system may turn out
to be impractical for state courts after the testing period is over.
But the federal electronic filing system should at least prove to be a solid
foundation.
"It's got good bones, and from those bones you could create something
different," Westbrook said.
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