Florida’s Clerks of Court have begun statewide implementation of an electronic filing system that will enable attorneys to file lawsuits, pleadings, and motions online, as required in a new law passed earlier this year.
As part of the implementation process, Florida’s clerks are building an electronic portal that will serve as the statewide entry point for court recording and filing court documents. During September, the clerks participated in workshops to address the technical requirements necessary for interfacing with the electronic portal.
The clerks met with court officials over the summer to start work on standards for e-filing in probate courts.
“These days we’re all having to do more with less,” said Duval County Clerk Jim Fuller. “Moving to an e-filing system that offers efficiency and reductions in staff load and other costs simply makes the most sense for everyone involved in the process. Our world is becoming increasingly electronic and many of our clerks have been at the forefront of that trend by piloting their own e-filing programs within their circuits.”
Fuller said statewide implementation will bring the benefits of e-filing to attorneys across Florida “no matter what county they may be filing in.”
Prior to the passage of 2009 legislation requiring statewide implementation of e-filing, nearly 20 court clerks’ offices offered some level of electronic filing capability. Both Broward and Pasco counties already have e-filing systems dedicated to probate cases, and counties such as Manatee were approved to accept e-filings in civil and criminal cases as far back as 2001.
— Courtesy Florida Bar News