Paperless Lawyer Network by James W. Martin, P.A.

The Hillsborough County Clerk announced that e-filing became available on August 17, 2009, in the business litigation division.  More information is available at the Clerk’s website. Documents regarding e-filing procedures and standards may be downloaded at that site. The Clerk’s policy defines the Official Court Record as “The electronic file maintained on the Clerk’s server and any physical item or document permitted to be filed in paper format. When a document filed in paper format is scanned and uploaded to the Clerk’s server, the electronic file shall constitute the official record.”

The Florida Supreme Court adopted e-filing standards on July 1, 2009, which will used by Clerks of Court throughout Florida to implement systems for electronic filing of pleadings, motions, and other papers with the courts. You can download the standards as a PDF by clicking here.

The standards state: ” Electronic court records shall constitute the official record and are the equivalent to court records filed in paper.”

The standards define the Florida Courts E-Portal and state: ”All filers of court records, lawyers and non-lawyers, would use the E-Portal for secure access to all courts for electronic access to the court including e-filing.”

The standards require that submissions not be more than 25 MB in size, be searchable, and meet other technical requirements. In addition, they require that documents be in Times New Roman font size 14 or Courier New font size 12, which is the standard for appellate documents, but is generally a larger font than used in trial court filings.

Faxes will not be allowed as a means for filing.  Files must be in PDF, XML or word processing file formats.

Each person who files documents with the Clerks of Court will be given a unique identification in the system, and all documents filed with that identification will be presumed to have been filed by that person.  (This probably means you need to safeguard your unique identification and not let anyone else use it, much like your personal signature.)

The standards state: “All documents filed electronically must be printable as paper documents without loss of content or appearance. A mechanism must be provided to ensure the authenticity of the electronically filed document. This requires the ability to verify the identity of the filing entity and the ability to verify that a document has not been altered after the time it was transmitted by the filing entity.”

There will probably be more discussion about this provision: “4.1.14. Exhibits Every implementation of e-filing must accommodate the submission of non-electronic documents or exhibits. Examples of articles include such documentary evidence as court approved forms, executed wills, and non-documentary items such as cassettes, video tapes, weapons, drugs, etc. Each exhibit that is filed in a proceeding before the Court shall be in its original form or such form as permitted under Florida Statutes or court rules pertaining to the admission of evidence, except for copies of exhibits that are submitted as attachments to pleadings, unless otherwise agreed by the parties of record.”

The standards provide that: “By signing the Electronic Filing Registration Form, a filer consents to receive notice electronically, and waives the right to receive notice by personal service or first class mail of any document filed electronically, except with regard to service of a complaint or summons or other filing that requires personal service.”

The standards provide for s-slash signing: “Judges are authorized to electronically sign all orders and judgments indicating the signature as (s/ Jane Doe, Circuit Court Judge).” I wonder if PDF-signature-stamp signing is ok?

The Court set this standard for wills, deeds, etc.:  “Original documents (Death Certificates, etc.) or those that contain original signatures such as affidavits, deeds, mortgages and wills must be filed manually until the court has determined the digital format by which these issues are addressed.”

Today we celebrate Independence Day. The day we became a country instead of a colony. The day we wrote on a single piece of paper what we stand for, what we live for, what we would die for. The most signficant event in our country’s 200 years was writing down words on a piece of paper.

Have you ever seen that piece of paper?  Did you travel to Washington DC as a child and tour the National Archives? Did you see the Declaration of Independence? Was it under glass to protect it from oily fingers? Were the lights turned down to keep it from disintegrating? As a nation, we treasure that piece of paper as a symbol of our freedom and independence. We protect that piece of paper as if its loss would mean loss of our freedom.

But we know that loss of that paper would really have no effect on our daily lives. We know there are many copies of that piece of paper. We know it was dispersed throughout the world. We know that it is printed in every social studies and history textbook in America. We know that the words written on that paper will survive. But we protect the original nonetheless. Why do we do that?

I think it’s because the existence of the original validates the copies.  The original, in its fragile condition, is proof of the history that created it. The National Archives’s custody,  mounting under glass, and housing of it in a marble building provide proof of its authenticity.

As paperless lawyers, we need to keep in mind the power of an original piece of paper, the signficance of important writings, and the need to preserve, protect and authenticate them, not because they are the Declaration of Independence of our country, but because they are documentation of the rights and duties of our clients.