Florida courts making the switch to electronic files

During a court case, many people have to access a given document – from attorneys on both sides, the judge, jury and other appointed officials. As such, if a court system were to invest in electronic document management, that could make various tasks like eDiscovery and communication between the parties much simpler.

With the benefits in mind, the various members of Florida's court system have recently begun converting files to electronic documents. As of August 31, lawyers are now required to convert and send court motions to each other via email. According to the News-Press, the new policy will save Lee County $1 million.

"Notices of hearings, motions, petitions, memorandums of law – all those things will now be sent between the lawyers via email," Naples lawyer and member of the Florida Courts Technology Commission Laird Lile told the News-Press. The latest deadline covers noncriminal trial courts and appellate cases, though criminal cases will be included on October 1, 2013. That is also the date all other documents will need to be filed via electronic means as well, the newspaper reported.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal detailed that attorneys need to file information including their primary and up to two secondary email addresses to facilitate document sharing, and lawyers must update their signature blocks to include their primary address.