Please note that these materials are provided for historical purposes only. The information presented is out of date and may be neither accurate nor useful. External hyperlinks may no longer be valid. For current court technology information, please see the new Court Technology Bulletin.
Filing over the Internet: An Experiment in New Mexico
The Department of Justice is the nation’s law firm. With more than 7,500 practicing attorneys, speed and ease of communication is a major issue. With the widespread availability of increasingly sophisticated technology, Department of Justice attorneys, federal agency counsel, and other participants in the litigation process have expanded their reliance on the electronic exchange of information. To take advantage of varied communications technology, the Department of Justice initiated a Justice Performance Review Laboratory titled the Electronic Document Exchange Laboratory (EDE Lab) in June 1996. Consisting of members from various components of the Department of Justice, as well as representatives from some federal agencies and the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, the Lab is charged with analyzing issues related to the electronic exchange of documents in the government litigation setting.
The electronic filing of pleadings and court documents is a major area of study. Beginning in June 1997, the EDE Lab, along with the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of New Mexico, joined the clerk of the court for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico in testing the Advanced Court Engineering (ACE) electronic filing project. Developed by the staff of the court, this paperless filing system allows attorneys to file pleadings, access the court docket and case files, and receive notice of judicial action through the Internet. The U.S. Attorney’s Office began filing selected active civil cases on the system in June 1997.
The New Mexico system incorporates EDI (electronic data interchange), PDF (portable document format), ODBC (open database connectivity), and HTML (hypertext markup language). The attorney uses commercially available software such as Microsoft Windows with Adobe Acrobat and Netscape software. The underlying philosophy of the system development is to provide open standards and avoid narrow market proprietary solutions.
The core ACE system has been developed in Visual C++. The designers selected Visual C++ for its speed, its ease of development, and its ability to handle the complex integration requirements for these projects (e.g., RSA encryption, TCP/IP [transport control protocol/Internet protocol] socket programming, EDI formatting, HTML parsing, etc.).
Following are the current steps involved in electronic filing. Unless a form is being submitted, the attorney prepares his or her pleadings on the computer and saves them in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. The attorney connects to the Internet and accesses the court’s electronic filing Web page and, when prompted, logs in and enters the appropriate password. The attorney selects the case number, the document type (e.g., motion to compel), and the names of the filers and provides other descriptive information depending on the type of document. Most of the case and counsel identifier information is available on pull-down menus. If the document is a form, the attorney fills out the form. When all of the necessary information has been entered, the attorney clicks "submit" to transmit the document and its identifying information.
The document is sent over SSL (secure socket layer) protocol, which verifies the source/destination, encrypts the message during transmission, and assures message integrity. The document is received by the Web server and passed to the court-written routines using a NSAPI (Netscape application program interface) DLL (dynamic link library). No data is written to disk on the Web server, which is on the Internet or "hot" side of the network. The DLL routine receives the message in "clear" text, so it re-encrypts it (using RSA technology) and forwards it to the ACE server via the TIS (Trusted Information Systems) Internet firewall. The ACE server receives the message on the "safe" side of the Internet from the firewall and decrypts it. It then parses the HTML multipart form and converts it to EDI format.
The "filed" record includes the filing date/time and the court digital signature. The system also logs the filing in the database for rapid access. The EDI file is stored in a directory tree that includes the case number (year/type/number). The system also assigns a unique file number by looking up the next available number for the case. The ACE server replies to the filing party via the Internet. The system uses the identifying information supplied by the attorney as the initial identifying information in the case index (the pleading is immediately available for display once it is received by the court). The electronic filings are also hyperlinked to related documents. For example, a motion for summary judgment is hyperlinked to documents in opposition and any decision that is rendered by the judge. All of this information is available for viewing at the desktop of the attorney.
It is hoped that development of this or similar paperless court filing systems will allow all participants--court, counsel, and party alike--more immediate access to case files and court information. It is also expected to reduce the hard costs of filing paper documents, from postage costs to travel expenses related to distribution. The ability to search the docket for pleadings and information and store and sort large amounts of information is likely to produce time and cost savings for all who may need the documents.
Nonetheless, many questions remain unanswered. Will the speed and accessibility truly save time and money? Will these types of systems improve access to the courts for a greater number of people? Will the systems provide courts and litigants better case management tools? Will the system work efficiently as ever larger numbers of litigants use them? As we begin to test this system, at each stage of the test we have the opportunity to analyze the true impact of this new tool on the day-to-day work of the judicial process and to create a workable system that aids all participants.
What Does It All Mean?
The above article contains many terms and abbreviations that many individuals may not understand. For additional information about these terms or other terms related to PCs and data communications check out:
- http://www.ora.com/reference/dictionary/. This site’s comprehensive dictionary provides complete descriptions of complex terms.
- http://www.pcwebopaedia.com/thetech/. This site is another good resource for technology definitions and examples.
Jeanette Plante is a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. She may be reached at (202) 616-6459, fax (202) 616-6647, or by e-mail at Jeanette.Plante@usdoj.gov, or contact Mitchell Elfors, Assistant Systems Manager, United States District Court, District of New Mexico, (505) 248-8120, fax (505) 248-8124, or e-mail Melfors@nmct.fed.us
