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Starting From Scratch Paperless: E-Filing and Paper on Demand in the Colorado Courts

THE NEXT 90 MINUTES. What is E-Filing in the Courts?History of E-Filing in ColoradoWhy are People Comfortable with Paper?The Problems with PaperWhy do E-Filing?Current Status of E-Filing in ColoradoPartnering with a Vendor?Measuring Success17 Points of FailureFears to OvercomeMandatory vs

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Starting From Scratch Paperless: E-Filing and Paper on Demand in the Colorado Courts

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    1. Starting From Scratch Paperless: E-Filing and Paper on Demand in the Colorado Courts Texas Association of Counties 2006 Courts and Local Government Technology Conference Austin Convention Center—Ballroom B Wednesday, February 1, 2006, 8:30-10:00am

    2. THE NEXT 90 MINUTES What is E-Filing in the Courts? History of E-Filing in Colorado Why are People Comfortable with Paper? The Problems with Paper Why do E-Filing? Current Status of E-Filing in Colorado Partnering with a Vendor? Measuring Success 17 Points of Failure Fears to Overcome Mandatory vs Voluntary Lessons Learned: Technical and Business

    3. In College Football: Texas 42 Colorado __

    5. HISTORY/FUTURE OF COURT (E)FILING Everyone went to the courthouse for a social gathering prior to budget cuts. Suicide bicyclists dominate urban roadways. Courier via electronic car Faxing the documents E-Mailing the Documents Lawyers Access Internet Based System in which they key information transmitted to a CMS (including financials) and continue to attach documents. Litigants Access E-Forms and it is the data that is important, not the documents—data (and financials) which are transmitted to a CMS, and a document that can be reconstructed on demand in a limited paper world. Litigants use e-forms in a limited paper world, and the information is fully integrated with a CMS and other means of electronic/online legal research.

    6. History of E-Filing in Colorado: As All Things in Civilized World, It Began in Texas with Law Plus in 1998

    7. E-FILING IN COLORADO: HOW DID WE DO IT? RFP 1998: We have no money! CBA 1999 Evaluation and Decision Colorado Went Through Four Companies: Law Plus to JusticeLink to Courtlink to LEXIS. Renewed LEXIS for Another 3 Years July 31, 2000 First E-Filing Pilot Arapahoe County in 2000 Statewide February 2001 Renewed with LEXIS for 3 Years in 2005

    8. DEFINING THE PAPER CULTURE: WHY ARE PEOPLE COMFORTABLE W/PAPER? items 1-9 You can touch It. You can mark It up, scribble on It, and easily revise It. Can lug It with me everywhere I need to It is fast to scroll through You know where It is in the file You can mail It—and know it got mailed You can copy It Print It Again and Again and Again Take It Home

    9. DEFINING THE PAPER CULTURE: WHY ARE PEOPLE COMFORTABLE W/PAPER? items 10-18 Share It with Other People Black Out Sensitive Parts on It Seal It Forever It is Easy on My Whittle Eyes Staffing Needs to be Comfortable with It Written Signatures on It are Sure Signs of Authentication. I need to make sure that all individuals Can File the documents at the same time whether they have access to the Internet or not—It provides me those assurances. I Can Make It Look Pretty/Professional Paper is a constant—Everyone has access to It

    10. PROBLEMS WITH PAPER Too Much Of It: Space Limitations Intake Storage Multiple Times Retrieve Multiple Times It Gets Lost/Misplaced/Destroyed Sort Thru It Only One User at a Time (Unless Multiple Paper—which doubles the fun above) Distribute/Copy/Mail Time to Review Carry and Workers Comp Problems Public Access Difficulty-Pull-Retrieve Readability Of Information on It Not Easily Searchable

    11. E-FILING IN COLORADO: WHY DID WE DO IT? Nothing Else to Do—Already Had a Statewide CMS/PCMS and CJIS system. It is Always Fun to Screw Around with Judges. We were being held as ‘Slaves to Paper.’ Plus everything on previous slides.

    12. E-FILING IN COLORADO: WHAT IS IT? General Jurisdiction Civil, Domestic Relations, Probate and Water Cases Vendor Supplied--LEXIS Internet Based Funded by Fee Paid by Private Attorneys ($5/per Filing/Service) Extra Fee for Courts to Pay for Infrastructure Maintenance (85 cents/per Filing/Service) Fully Integrates With CMS on New and Subsequent Filings Vendor Collects Filing Fees and Distributes to State Judicial Inbound and Outbound, plus Service

    13. PROS AND CONS PARTNERING PROS Can get it done it the absence of resources ($, hardware, staff, time) They Support the Attorney Training, Marketing, Technical Support, Issue Resolution. They handle the court’s fee intake and collection. CONS You don’t control attorney support and/or implementation time frames. You don’t control modifications. You don’t control adaptation to National Standards

    14. E-Filing In Colorado: Is It Successful? 85% Adoption Rate in General Jurisdiction Civil 15,000 Judicial Orders Going Out/Month 53,000 New E-filings/Month Still Doing Paper System As Well, But Some Local Chief Judges Going Paper on Demand, Denver Probate Court Reduced Death Threats to MY STAFF and me

    15. GENERAL JURISDICTION CIVIL E-FILINGS THRU DEC 2005

    16. IN THE ABSENCE OF PAPER, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED 17 POINTS OF FAILURE AND BUSINESS/TECHNICAL REMEDIES: Points 1-10 LOSS OF ELECTRICITY AT VARIOUS SITES NETWORK LOSES CONNECTIVITY AT VARIOUS SITES NETWORK HARDWARE FAILURE AT VARIOUS SITES HEAVY DEMANDS ON WAN/LAN WWW FAILS ISP FAILS PRIMARY SERVERS FAIL AT HOST SITES OR ACCESS SITES SCANNING HARDWARE FAILS SCANNING SOFTWARE FAILS INTEGRATION SOFTWARE FAILS

    17. IN THE ABSENCE OF PAPER, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED 17 POINTS OF FAILURE AND BUSINESS/TECHNICAL REMEDIES: Points 11-17 CMS HARDWARE FAILS CMS SOFTWARE FAILS PERSONAL COMPUTER COMPONENTS FAILS ELECTRONIC FILE “MISPLACED” DAMAGED/CORRUPTED ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT INFO SECURITY IS COMPROMISED BACKUP DISKS FAIL

    18. PEOPLE GET USED TO DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY. THEY GET OVER IT!

    19. BANK TELLER TO ATM

    20. CASHIERING TO ONLINE PURCHASING/BANKING

    21. CHECKOUT CASHIER TO SELF CHECKOUT

    22. TYPEWRITER TO LAPTOP/TABLETS

    23. MONKS TO COPY MACHINES

    24. COPING WITH PAPER TO E-FILING

    25. FEARS TO OVERCOME (Kind of said the same thing…) Personal Failure Jeopardizing Jobs Looking Stupid—Embarrassed to be Trained Fear of Workplace Morale Problems Fear of Having to ASCII for More Money in Tight Budgets—We Can’t Afford It. Balancing Tech with Need For Bodies Don’t Trust It—Not Reliable—Things get Lost The Bar Will Never Pay For This. Ergonomic Screen/Mouse Issues: If users play with it they will go blind (from too much screen view). Inconveniencing Filers Due to Lack Equipment/Training Make me a TechnoClerk Rather than a Judge The Bar and Public Will Get Mad and What Does That Mean

    26. RESISTANCE TO E-FILING EXISTS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY AMONG THOSE WHO REFUSE TO LEARN ABOUT IT, USERS QUICKLY BECOME SUPPORTERS.

    27. JUDGES’ ATTITUDES TOWARD E-FILING ARE USUALLY A FUNCTION OF WHETHER THEY VIEW THE COURT AS SIMPLY THEIR CHAMBERS/STAFF OR THE ENTIRE COURT OPERATION AS A WHOLE.

    28. MANDATORY vs VOLUNTARY: A PURE TIMING ISSUE Mandatory PROs Eliminates the Dual World: One Electronic Record Achieve Benefits Quicker Like E-Service to All Parties Attorneys know Where it is Applicable 24/7/365 Access to ALL Parties Involved Voluntary PROs Adoption is a local decision—not forced Local Ownership Slow Adoption and Better to Acclimate to Paper Culture Changes Eventually Will be Mandatory

    29. Lessons Learned: Technical Proper Bandwidth Adequate PCs/and Monitors Adequate Courthouse Cabling Access to E-Documents Anywhere in the Courthouse (Court staff and Attorneys) Scanners must be Available (Need may Disappear) Adequate Vendor Servers Local Backup Servers to Replicate the Paper File Need Public Access Terminals Address Response Time Speed on the Bench Networking in the Mountains Maintaining Document Integrity/PDF/TIFF Word Processing/ISP Neutral Antivirus and Web Filtering Can Slows Internet Connections 24/7/365 Support Needs Increased

    30. DON’T AUTOMATE A BAD BUSINESS PRACTICE, IT WILL SIMPLY GET YOU BAD RESULTS TEN TIMES FASTER!

    31. USE AUTOMATION AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EVALUATE, REENGINEER, AND/OR RETHINK A CURRENT PROCESS.

    32. Lessons Learned: Business Pro Se Electronic Signatures/and Service Coping with Archived Cases Document Retention Schedules Changing Staffing Patterns Dealing with Paper and Electronic Systems Until Mandatory Redaction and Public Access Issues Adequate Training Coping with “Mildred” and Forced PC Use

    33. FUTURE OF E-FILING IN COLORADO: ANOTHER COUPLE OF YEARS Full Adoption to XML Standards Expanding Casetypes Migrating to New Technology Integrating with CICJIS Expanding to other Agencies Including Self Represented Filers Expanding to Out-of-State Filers Remaining Vendor Based Extending to Appeals Migrating to E-Forms

    34. WHY DO WE THINK YOU ARE READY FOR E-FILING? Is there a good business reason for doing electronic filing—or is it a vogue idea? Are the resources available? Is everyone committed to the idea? Is the infrastructure present? Is the bar committed to e-filing? Are the judges ready? Are we prepared to maintain dual systems for several years? Do we have proper staffing patterns in place? Do we have a public access policy in place?

    35. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME, AND GOOD LUCK. BE PATIENT, IT TAKES AWHILE AND BE PREPARED TO ABSORB SIGNIFICANT TECHNO-PAIN.

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