Ride the Lightning

E-filing Comes to U.S. Supreme Court in November – Finally!!!

August 7, 2017

As the Washington Post reported on August 3^rd, the Supreme Court will begin using an electronic filing system for documents starting November 13th, a move other federal courts began decades ago.

Initially, attorneys will have to submit documents both electronically and on paper, the court said. Litigants who aren't represented by attorneys, mainly prisoners filing on their own behalf, won't submit through the electronic system, but their paper filings will be scanned and made available by the court. Once the system is in place, virtually all new filings will be available for free to the public, the court said.

Lower federal courts have been quicker to embrace electronic filing. Testing of an electronic filing system began in the late 1990s, with electronic filing available in nearly all federal courts by 2007, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Documents are available to the public through the PACER website, short for Public Access to Court Electronic Records. Accessing documents costs 10 cents per page, though that's capped at $3 a document and there's no cost for looking at opinions or viewing documents at public access terminals at courthouses.

The availability of electronic filing at the Supreme Court follows the debut of its redesigned website in late July. Improvements to the site better support electronic filing, the court said, ahead of the website's unveiling. In November, a link on the website's home page will allow the public to access case documents. Attorneys will have to register to file documents.

While it has been a long time coming, I'm glad this is almost here and that filings will be available to the public. Lawyers have been e-filing in other courts for a long time, so making this transition is likely going to be pretty easy.

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