E-FILING SET FOR STATE COURTS

Change Could Mean Millions in Savings;
Expanded Public Access

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld

By Michael Horne

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin will hold a public hearing on April 8^th, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. for the purpose of determining whether courts in this state should implement an electronic document filing system.

If approved, the measure would tremendously increase the amount of material available to the public, attorneys and those involved in court cases. It would free up countless hours of courthouse labor and would revolutionize document filing and retrieval systems. It would also make a lot of sense, which is part of the reason why it has taken the government years to implement the rule.

Electronic filing has been tested since 2005 for small claims cases in Kenosha and Washington counties. Supreme Court Petition 06-08 outlines how it could be phased in statewide for all cases. As I observed in a letter to the editor published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this morning, Wednesday, January 30^th, 2008, court officials say the pilot program is a success. I quote them here:

“Cost savings have already been realized because staff are not required to create paper court files, manually enter case information into the CCAP case management system, mail circuit court forms to the law firms, or receive and file paper documents for these cases.

“On the law firm side, enhancements have been added to allow firms to pay the filing fee electronically, allow attorneys to review the complaints more efficiently, give the firms access to the electronic documents through the court Web site, and add small claims forms that are less frequently filed.”

HOW BAD ARE THINGS NOW?

The current system for filing and retrieving documents in Wisconsin courts is archaic and inefficient. Yet it has received little scrutiny from the press or politicians. With the possible exception of a few jailhouse petitions, virtually every court document begins as an electronic file in an attorney’s computer system – until it is time to file the document with the court. At that point, the electronic file becomes a printed document which must be hand delivered or mailed to the Clerk of Courts for the county in which the case is filed. The clerk creates a paper folder, manually enters the outline of the case data into the state’s Consolidated Court Automation Program [CCAP], and stuffs the paperwork into the folder, which is then brought to the courtroom of the judge hearing the case. Anybody wishing to see the file – for example to read the text of the government’s complaint against a defendant – must go to the courthouse in person, go through security, find the appropriate courtroom and hope there isn’t a trial or hearing going on, since the folders are stored in open shelves in the open courtroom for open cases, and you can’t get at them if the clerk is otherwise occupied, in a bad humor, or nowhere to be found.

It gets worse if you want to have copies made of the file. In that case, you must convince the court clerk to accompany you in a quest to find a working copy machine among the handful available in the court. The machines are coin operated, and the clerk may not leave your side while you copy the documents. The cost is 25 cents per page, except in Probate Court, where they clip you for a buck a page – more for certified copies.

Can it get worse? Of course it can, and routinely does. Last year I followed a particular civil lawsuit in Milwaukee County Court. It was clear from CCAP that an important filing had just been made in the case by one of the parties. A client had a couple of million dollars at stake and dispatched me to the courthouse to review the filing. When I got to the courthouse and went through the hassle of security (remembering to stash my pocketknife in courthouse shrubbery, lest it be confiscated) I went to the courtroom and was told by the clerk that the judge had the document in her chambers, and that nobody was able to look at it until she was jolly good and ready.

With electronic filing, judges would not be able to prevent the public from reviewing public documents, which would be available 24 hours a day, and I wouldn’t have to carry rolls of quarters in my trousers to get a few stinking copies. There are countless other stories like mine. Let’s hear yours.