Here comes mandatory e-filing

Electronic filing of court documents in Illinois civil cases began with a five-county pilot project in January 2003 and has expanded to 15 of the state's 102 counties. In the 18th Circuit in DuPage County, one of the original five, e-filing became mandatory on Jan. 1 of this year, which raised questions and concerns about whether and how quickly this would spread to the rest of the state.

Just three weeks later, on Jan. 22, the Illinois Supreme Court announced e-filing would be required statewide and provided an implementation timetable: by July 1, 2017, in the Illinois Supreme Court and the five appellate districts, and by Jan. 1, 2018, in the state's circuit courts. Several states including neighboring Iowa already require e-filing, as do the federal courts.

Chief Judge David A. Hylla of the Third Judicial Circuit in Madison, who chairs the supreme court's e-Business Policy Advisory Board, applauded the step and predicted great benefits for the public. "It's a lot more cost-efficient, you're not killing as many trees, it takes a lot less time, and things get filed into the record a lot quicker," he says. "There will be some resistance, transitional work, costs, and bumps in the road. But when all is said and done, we will have a more efficient, cost effective, and user-friendly court system. The court system should not try to hold back the tide of technology, but rather embrace it." Read more in the March Illinois Bar Journal.

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Mark S. Mathewson

Member Comments (2)

What are you going to do to prevent hackers from destroying court files?

There are services that will install audio/video in a courtroom for a quick hearing for a small fee.
If we are going to "embrace technology", and be able to benefit clients with a savings, a rule allowing routine matters to be handled by that method at the expense of the attorney who wishes to employ the service would be a good start. Our embrace of technology moves forward at a snail's pace. No pun intended.

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