In an ongoing effort to modernize and create a more efficient and budget conscious court system, the Florida Supreme Court has recently adopted proposed amendments to existing rules and procedures related to the electronic filing of pleadings and papers with the Clerk of Court. Although electronic filing was previously permitted, it was never mandatory. Beginning September 1, 2012 this will all change.
By requiring electronic filing, the Court suggests that costs will be reduced, timeliness in the processing of cases will increase, and case management will be improved by providing the judiciary with the ability to electronically review any individual document in the court. In addition to the requirement of electronic filing of documents, the new rules also authorize the electronic service of all Court Orders to parties.
Realizing that electronic filing is an integral part of the Florida Courts Case Management program, the Supreme Court, on April 30, 2008, in conference, approved the “E-Filing Operational Policies, Florida Statewide Electronic Filing Portal” authorizing the Florida Courts Technology Commission (FCTC) to establish statewide standards for electronic filing. The “E-Portal” is a single uniform point of access for all state court electronic court filing.
The central rule adopted by the Florida Supreme Court is Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516 (Service of Pleadings and Papers). This rule was modeled after the current rule and includes many of the same provisions and requirements for service. However, the new electronic rule provides that all documents required or permitted to be served on another party must be served by e-mail. In addition, upon initially appearing in a proceeding, a lawyer must designate a primary e-mail address, and may designate up to two secondary e-mail addresses, for receiving service of documents from the Court and parties.
The rule permits a few limited exceptions to the electronic service requirement. A lawyer may file a motion to be excused from e-mail service by demonstrating that he or she has no e-mail account and lacks access to the Internet. Similarly, individuals who are not represented by an attorney may designate an e-mail address for service if they wish, but unrepresented parties are not required to use electronic service.
As can be expected with such reliance on technology and the internet, there will certainly be some issues to sort out. Fortunately, the new rules address some of these most important concerns: e-mail service is made by attaching a copy of the document to be served in PDF format to the e-mail, service of the document by e-mail is deemed complete when the e-mail is sent, and so that the receiver can identify the email, the e-mail must contain the subject line “SERVICE OF COURT DOCUMENT” in all capital letters, followed by the case number of the lawsuit. In addition, the body of the e-mail must identify the court in which the proceeding is pending, the case number, the name of the initial party on each side, the title of each document served with that e-mail, and the sender’s name and telephone number. Be careful with large emails as the e-mail and attachments together may not exceed five megabytes in size. Any emails that exceed this limit must be divided into separate e-mails and labeled accordingly; a practice that is certainly going to cause some confusion among senders and recipients.
So, will this new electronic filing system improve the efficiency with which litigation is conducted in the state of Florida? This is a question that will soon be answered, but in the meantime, there is one unavoidable benefit that we can rely on: a large step towards conserving the substantial amount of paper the legal profession consumes. Certainly at first we would expect a small learning curve, but in the end, this change will certainly be a welcome change from stuffing envelopes and making copies.
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