Frequent Fliers

Frequent Fliers

By David Wexler

Associate Editor

New technology allowing attorneys to submit legal documents online and gain immediate access to their files is changing how law is practiced in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

For lawyers like Varinia Van Ness, the county's e-filing system means no more waiting in long lines, spending hundreds of dollars on making photo copies of files and trying to race to beat traffic to make a 5 p.m. deadline.

"As soon as I learned about it, I'm like, 'I don't care how hard it is to learn, we've got to do it,'" says Van Ness of The Law Offices of Van Ness & Van Ness in Sarasota. "We knew it was going to be worth it."

Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court Karen Rushing plans to tout the benefits of e-filing Oct. 28 at the 2005 Bench Bar conference in Sarasota, which is centered around improving law by using technology.

Over the past year, Rushing has been encouraging law firms in Sarasota and Manatee counties to convert from the traditional method of filing court records to c-filing.

Sarasota County was one of the first counties in the state to offer e-filing capabilities. The clerk's office began promoting e-filing about two years ago, but officially began offering the service in April 2004. The Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court's office launched its e-filing service Sept. 1.

On average, Sarasota County receives between 300 and 330 documents a week through e-filing, out of about 3,000 total documents – 1,500 a day civil and 1,500 a day criminal.

"It's a small piece," Rushing says, "but we have to start somewhere."

E-filing enables law offices to submit documents to the clerk's office, then immediately receive a response on the status of the filing. If the transaction requires cash or a filing fee, there is a piece that allows attorneys to pay by credit card or through an escrow account.

As incentive for attorneys to e-file, Rushing offers lawyers an electronic look at their own case files 24 hours a day, which is permitted under the Florida Supreme Court moratorium on online access to court documents issued in March 2003. There are no transaction fees for using e-filing.

A great invention

In Manatee County's e-filing service, attorneys must first subscribe to the clerk's Web site. There is an initial setup fee of $50 per office, plus a user fee of $10 per month. Like Sarasota County, Manatee County's e-filing services provide attorneys with online access to images of pleadings in cases and allow attorneys to search by name, case number, case type, and open or closes cases. Through E-Case Initiation, attorneys can initiate a new case and pay the filing fees for that case.

Rushing says lawyers were slow to embrace the shift to the new paperless filing system.

"When we first started offering e-filing, it was used by more of the entrepreneur types," Rushing says. "It had a slow start and actually is still not being utilized extensively."

During the first several months, Rushing's office was only receiving about 50 e-filings a week. The clerk's office and the Sarasota Bar Association then began offering training programs to teach law firms how to use the application, actually providing training on-site at individual law firms. The training sessions were always filled to capacity, mostly with legal assistants and paralegals. The sessions helped alleviate concerns and answered technical questions, such as how electronic signatures work, how to convert documents into a PDF format and how to pay fees electronically.

Soon after the training programs were launched, lawyers began to recognize the advantages of e-filing, the word began to spread and the service began to take off, Rushing says. And as more people embrace the technology, the numbers will grow, Rushing says.

"As the systems get de-mystified and people recognize that they're really not difficult to use, those numbers will grow," Rushing says. "But it does take a little bit of a change."

Van Ness says she began e-filing a year ago after learning more about the benefits. She initially heard about e-filing through a Venice attorney and currently files between 15 to 25 documents electronically per week.

"I thought it was the greatest invention, and I couldn't wait to do it," says Van Ness, who practices criminal defense and personal injury law. "I'm actually the one who had to call them to hook me up because I was anxious to get going."

Van Ness says having immediate access to her files is the biggest advantage to e-filing. She says it also allows her to use less paper by accessing files from her computer at her office or home.

Rushing says e-filing benefits attorneys because they receive receipts instantly upon filing, they get notification quickly if there are any issues with the case and they can immediately receive the case number.

Venice lawyer Raymond Miller, says his legal staff began e-filing last year.

"We're using as much as we can," Miller says. "It's better because it's quicker and it saves us time. It's not as smooth as it could be and there are some snags once in a while because it's so new, but overall it's much better than having to file by person or by mail."

There are also several benefits to the clerk of circuit court's office.

"For us in the clerk's office, we are now verifying information that comes into us instead of first creating it then verifying it," Rushing says. "Because we capture it electronically, we can route it electronically, which allows processing of documents to occur much more quicker."

The federal government is already making the move into the electronic age, prohibiting lawyers from filing a suit unless it is filed electronically.

"It's just a matter of time before that filters down to the court level across the country," says Steve Albee, communications manager for the Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court's office. "E-filing is coming. It's out there. This will be the future of the courts."

conference

Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court Karen Rushing plans to discuss the past, present and future of e-filing during the 2005 Bench Bar conference from noon to 6 p.m. Oct. 28 at The Ritz Carlton, Sarasota. The conference, sponsored by the Sarasota, Manatee and Venice/Englewood Bar Associations, attracts lawyers and judges in the area. This theme of this year's conference is "Improving the Practice of Law with 21st Century Technology."