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Vol. 71, No. 2, February
1998
Wisconsin's Voyage
to Computerized Courts
Electronic filing and recordkeeping
Imagine a lawyer working late at night putting the finishing touches
on a set of pleadings. A few more clicks of the mouse and the document is
on file with the court. 13
This is not possible in Wisconsin, but it is a routine event in some
other courts. In Delaware, for instance, in 1991 courts mandated that attorneys
file all documents in asbestos actions and complex insurance cases by modem.
Since then, more than 25,000 documents have been filed electronically. The
system permits lawyers to file lawsuits and retrieve documents without leaving
their offices. It enables judges to copy and paste from briefs and other
documents when preparing opinions. 14
A similar system used for motor vehicle and foreclosure cases in Prince
George's County, Maryland, also offers automatic date-stamps on documents
and electronic fund transfers. 15At the federal
level, courts recently amended procedure rules to permit electronic filing
in appellate, district and bankruptcy courts. 16
Of course, electronic filing works best if the court has an electronic
record management system. Like Wisconsin, other states are striving to develop
this ability. An Alabama court, for example, stores documents on disks,
and just one disk can hold a year's worth of records. The court no longer
needs to retain and store originals, thereby freeing courthouse space for
other uses. Record retrieval that previously took hours or days is now "accomplished
in minutes with a few keystrokes."17
The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has pioneered
"the use of the World Wide Web for providing docket listings, and access
to copies of documents filed with the court." 18Still
more ingenious, the court's dockets are created automatically when users
complete a set of computer screens. Judges and the parties have access to
case management reports, case and judicial calendars, financial reports
and motion tracking listings. 19
Electronic file management is faster, easier and more efficient - and
it is more prudent, too. In 1993 a district justice office in Pennsylvania
was fire-bombed and many records were destroyed. 20Fortunately,
the court possessed a computerized filing system, which enabled it to rebuild
all of the necessary files in a matter of hours.
CD-ROM briefs
Of all documents prepared by lawyers, briefs are accused most often of
killing forests. From early drafts through service and filing, briefs devour
reams of paper. Yet, even briefs cannot escape the tentacles of technology.
Some courts across the country have begun to accept CD-ROM briefs - an electronic
version of a paper brief with links to published cases, statutes, transcripts,
photographs, videotapes and any other authority or evidence that can be
stored on a compact disk. 21
R. Timothy Muth is a shareholder at Reinhart,
Boerner, Van Deuren, Norris & Rieselbach's Milwaukee office, where he
chairs the firm's Computer & Technology Law Practice Group.
Colleen D. Ball is an associate at the firm's
Milwaukee office, where she assists with computer litigation and chairs
the firm's Appellate Practice Group.
Both can be found on the World
Wide Web. Both authors were counsel to the Milwaukee Bar Association
which filed an amicus brief in the Flynn litigation. |
A CD-ROM brief allows the reader to move between the text of the brief
and citations to legal authorities or the trial record with the click of
a button. A judge pulls up the CD-ROM brief on a computer screen. As she
reads, the judge may see a citation to an interesting case that she would
like to skim - even though she is reading on her laptop at home, far from
the bound volumes of the Wisconsin Digest in the courthouse library.
She merely clicks on the citation to Vosberg v. Putney, and the entire
case appears instantly for her review. Or maybe the judge wonders just how
accurately the brief has paraphrased the defendant's trial testimony. Click!
She can see the transcript for herself. Perhaps the judge would like to
view the "inflammatory" videotape that allegedly prejudiced the
jury. She can watch that, too, on her computer screen while she is reading
the brief.
The advantages of CD-ROM briefs are readily apparent. They require little
space; they are portable; and the user can even print hypertext documents
while viewing them. 22 They are particularly
useful in complex cases and appeals. For that reason, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit (which handles numerous patent cases) and
the U.S. Supreme Court already have accepted briefs on CD-ROM, and many
federal courts are drafting guidelines for the preparation and filing of
these so-called "cyberbriefs."
Conclusion
For some, the journey to the courthouse of the future is all but over.
Funding fights have prevented Wisconsin from making the voyage at warp speed,
but it is well on its way. Hopefully, Wisconsin's computerized lawyers will
soon find a virtual welcome mat at the courthouse of the future.
Endnotes
1 Milwaukee County Judicial System Study,
March 31, 1994, at II-36.
2 In re Judicial Fact Finding, ¶
51, Case No. 90-CV-14944, Feb. 8, 1993.
3 Flynn v. Dept. of Administration,
Case No. 95-CV-805, slip op. at 4 (Dane County Circuit Court, April 23,
1996).
4 Id.
5 Affidavit of Cynthia Archer at ¶ 2,
dated Dec. 8, 1995, filed in Flynn v. Dept. of Administration, Case
No. 95-CV-805 (Dane County Circuit Court).
6 Id. at ¶ 4, Exhibit A (Letter
of May 3, 1993, from Gov. Thompson to Washington County Register in Probate
Kristine Deiss explaining the governor's 1993-95 CCAP appropriations request).
7 Flynn at 5.
8 Affidavit of Nathan S. Heffernan at ¶¶
3-4, dated Dec. 7, 1995, filed in Flynn v. Dept. of Administration,
Case No. 95-CV-805 (Dane County Circuit Court).
9 Flynn at 2-3.
10 Flynn at 29.
11 D. Wong, Judge Rubin on How to Run
an Automated Courtroom, Computer Counsel at 22 (Sept. 1993).
12 Interactive Computer Helps Arizona
Court Users, 78 Judicature 158 (1994); L. Weiss & J. Weaver, ATMs
Bring the Court to You, 32 No. 3 Judges' J. at 57 (Summer 1993).
13 A. Jacobius, Two More Courts Add Electronic
Filing, ABA J. at 20 (Sept. 1995).
14 Id.
15 Id.
16 F.R.C.P. 5; F.R.A.P. 25; F.R.B.P. 5005.
17 Electronic Filing System Helps Manage
Alabama Court Records, Lawyer's PC at 6, 7 (Aug. 15, 1995).
18 Email letter from Bill Kammer, Gray Cary
Ware & Freidenrich, San Diego, Calif. (Feb. 11, 1997) (on file with
NET-LAWYERS@eva.dc.lsoft.com;
re Electronic filing in federal courts).
19 Email letter from M. Sean Fosmire, Marquette,
Mich. (Feb. 14, 1997) (on file with NET-LAWYERS@eva.dc.lsoft.com;
re Update to Courts.net page re SDNY-BK).
20 S. Willoughby, Automating and Linking
Pennsylvania's District Justice Courts: A Success Story, Judge's J.
at 30 (Summer 1993).
21 T. Newman & S. Ahmuty, CD-ROM Briefs,
218 N.Y.L.J. (Sept. 3, 1997).
22Id.
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