Breaking news! Electronic case filing is coming to Maryland!

As some of you may recall, I blogged last week about how electronic case filing in Maryland was “nowhere in sight.” It turns out I was wrong. Very wrong.

Since my posting I have had the pleasure of speaking with Chief Judge of the District Courts of Maryland Ben C. Clyburn and Angelita Plemmer, director of the Office of Communications and Public Affairs for the Maryland Judiciary. Together, Judge Clyburn and Ms. Plemmer educated me on the steps that have been taken and the continued progress that is being made toward implementing e-filing in Maryland.

Here is a summary of what I learned:

1.  The Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), through the Department of Judicial Information Systems and the Technology Oversight Board, has been working for nearly three years to acquire and implement a unifying court case management system with electronic filing.

2.  In order to avoid the pitfalls and perils of e-filing that have befallen other jurisdictions and courts, the AOC, with the help of a nationally known consulting company (MTG Management Consultants), spent much of the past three years studying other e-filing systems, appropriating funds and investigating potential vendors.

3.  The AOC is shooting for a “hybrid solution” whereby the AOC will provide basic e-filing capabilities  (e.g., filing, service of pleadings and papers, and document access) through one vendor/system, which will be augmented by other “certified” independent vendors who will offer additional services to firms desiring such features as notifications, automated billing and direct integration with law office systems. According to Judge Clyburn, these services “parallel the best practice of other state and local courts.”

4.  E-filing will be voluntary.  Judge Clyburn, who is also co-chair of the Maryland Access to Justice Commission, said that a voluntary system will help to ensure that the increasing number of pro se litigants have access to the courts.  A voluntary system will also ensure that sole practitioners and smaller firms are not put at a disadvantage.

5.  The AOC has proposed the following service fees: $5.00 per filing, FREE electronic service of pleadings with e-filing, and FREE document access for parties to the case.  Non-parties will have document access at a rate of 50 cents per page, which is identical for what it costs a non-party to make copies at the Clerk’s Office today.  The “certified” independent vendors will charge additional fees for the other features discussed above.

6.  The Timetable:  The AOC is getting set to release its Request for Proposals in July. Once the Request for Proposals is released the AOC will spend approximately six to nine months procuring vendors and awarding contracts.  Sometime after the procurement process, integration of the new system will begin. The goal is to have a “roll out model” implemented in Anne Arundel County by May of 2012. Anne Arundel County was selected as the ”test” jurisdiction primarily because of its size (i.e., not to big, not to small).  Once the “roll out model” is deemed a success, steps will then be made toward statewide integration, which will hopefully be completed in the next three to five years.

7.  Judge Clyburn, Ms. Plemmer and all of the other hard-working people involved in this process are seeking input from anyone and everyone. The plan and system will be formally presented to the MSBA at a conference in Ocean City in June.

Exciting news indeed! Stay tuned for more details as I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg.

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