e-Law — Meeting No.
7
I. A suggested (incomplete) framework
for analyzing the take-up of a particular e-law function (e-filing, for example,
in contrast to e-dissemination)
- Variables affecting
the pace and degree of take-up
- Institutional competence
and structure
- Some internal capacity
of limited competence can be a greater barrier than none.
- Is the function
in question dispersed or centralized?
- Dependency on other
units of government for key functions and/or resources
(U.S. House Law Revision Counsel > GPO, County courts > county government)
- Resources — Are there
the necessary financial (and, if necessary, human) resources? For transition?
For sustainability?
- Scale and distribution
of gains (and losses)
- Is this a task the
implementer already performs or a new one?
- Resistance by key
players (either internal, e.g., judges, or external, e.g., private sector
intermediaries)
- Pressure for innovation
from important outside constituencies (citizens, the organized bar, service
providers)
- Other factors?
II. The
case for e-filing (how it compares with digital dissemination)
- Why courts (and agencies)
find e-filing (in contrast to full-featured e-dissemination) compelling —
a win/win cost-benefit story
- Efficiency gains for
the public entity
- Efficiency gains for
the filer
- Other agency gains
from e-filing (post-filing)
- Other gains for the
public (less need for a lawyer?)
- Financing e-filing
- Cost savings
- Making filers pay
the old fees
- Making filers and
others pay for access to the resulting data
- Inducing e-filing (if
there are savings, more is better)
- Public information
as an externality (or revenue source)
- EDGAR (the early years
versus today)
III. Judicial
e-filing contrasted with the paradigmatic agency e-filing scenario
- An
introduction to the background and nomenclature
- The standard elements
of a court system
- Filers (who may well
include actors other than lawyers and other than the parties)
- Electronic filing
service providers (EFSP) (e.g., LexisNexis)
- Data transfer protocol
- Filing interface
- Electronic file manager
(EFM)
- Case management system
(CMS)
- Four agency examples
IV. Some distinctive e-filing issues
- Authentication
- Compliance with paper-oriented
legal rules
- Treatment of errors
- Error-checking?
- Undoing mistakes
- Training and support
- Technical failure
- Other?
V. Current Status with examples
- Federal Courts:
- State Courts
VI. Next week: Public access to
electronic filings
- Readings
- Assigned: Sudbeck,
CCJ/COSCA Guidelines for Public Access
- Background: US Judicial
Conference Privacy Policy
- Submission: Critique
the public access policy and procedures of your state (NY, CA, IL, MN, WA)
- November 21 (midnight):