So, you’re familiar with the U.S. District Court’s electronic filing system — you have to use it when you’re filing documents there. It works pretty well and it gets you out of messenger services for the most part.
You’ve also used Pierce County’s e-filing system and found it pretty easy. Maybe you’ve heard that King County Superior Court has an electronic filing system — but it’s optional, not mandatory, so you haven’t ventured to try it quite yet. Or, it could be that you have tried it, but since you still have to send the working papers in paper form to the court, you’ve decided it’s not that worthwhile for you.
You’ve asked the court and the clerk about the possibility of submitting working papers electronically, but until now, the opportunities of doing so were limited — so you stuck with the paper filing routine. Thought you’d have to be in that mode for a while until the court changed its ways.
We’re here to announce a pilot project that will test that very change to the court’s ways. King County Superior Court and the Superior Court Clerk’s Office have jointly developed a pilot project to test electronic delivery of working papers. The court and the clerk’s office conducted several focus groups of attorneys and legal support professionals earlier this year and incorporated their comments in the pilot structure. The pilot will encompass working papers for all types of motions scheduled before participating pilot judges in civil and family law matters.
Judge Wesley Saint Clair is chair of a court committee that developed the pilot project. Nine judges — six from the King County Courthouse in Seattle and three from the Regional Justice Center in Kent — have volunteered to participate. Judges Barnett, Darvas, North, Robinson, Shaffer and Trickey will be participating in Seattle. Participating at the Regional Justice Center are Judges Doerty, Middaugh and Yu.
All cases before these judges, except criminal cases, will be part of the pilot project. During the pilot period, attorneys and parties with cases assigned before the pilot judges will:
- E-file their documents using the clerk’s e-filing system.
- Submit working papers to a central email box established for this pilot and maintained by the clerk.
- Submit, as an email attachment along with their working papers, a proposed order in Word format.
Parties are strongly encouraged to opt-in to receive electronic service of e-filed documents, via the e-filing system.
Procedures are published on the clerk’s Web site, www.kingcounty.gov/ kcscc, with links to the participating judges’ Web sites. Attorneys in cases assigned to the participating judges are expected to participate in the pilot and should check with the assigned judge’s Web site before filing motion documents during the pilot period.
The pilot began April 14 and will run through at least June. The court and the clerk greatly encourage feedback, comments and constructive criticism from all participants during this pilot. For more information, please visit the clerk’s office Web site.
The court and clerk will track the savings and expenses relating to the pilot and evaluate the results near the end of June. It may be that in order to support the electronic delivery of working papers, the clerk will institute a fee to account for the copying that the judges might request of the clerk, e.g., for lengthy or complex motions.
This fee would be intended to cover those shifted expenses, but we anticipate it would still be less than the expense you incur for paper and envelope production, postage, copying and messenger services for working papers. We also will track other intended (and maybe some unintended) benefits.
Those who e-file and sign up for electronic service will be candidates to receive copies of signed orders electronically, much more quickly than via the mail service currently in place. Attorneys and litigants who are part of the pilot will have the opportunity to shape the future of electronic filing and e-working papers delivery by giving us your feedback as you participate in the pilot.
Electronic filing and delivery of working papers can be a wonderful efficiency in your practice and to the court and clerk. We’re hoping that the pilot will prove that to be the case. We encourage you take the opportunity to try it. After all, how often does the court change its ways?
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