E-Filing/Imaging and Large Files

In a recent project, I set a system rule for e-filing file sizes not being bigger than 20-megabytes upload into the document management system. 

Why am I against these “Jumbo” files?  I explain below…





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My reasons for limiting the size of the files are:

1. Uploading network bandwidth is almost always less than download speed.  Sometimes very significantly less. Users get very impatient waiting for large files to upload.  This affects the perception of the court’s e-filing capacity, system, and competence.
   
2. 20-megabytes is 200 standard text pages in PDF.  The King County, Washington Superior Court Clerk of Courts office had a rule they told me when I visited that if a document was larger than 200 pages a paper copy must be submitted.  This is because working with 200-page documents in PDF/electronic format is not particularly fun, because...
   
3. Scanning large documents is fraught with error because the clear majority of scanners aren’t designed to handle “Jumbos”.  And those that can are very expensive.
   
4. It takes time to open and download these “Jumbo” files.  And if one wants to just jump to a specific reference page to look at something then it is waiting and scroll.  Hopefully one would have bookmarked locations but that is rare from my experience.
   
5. And, download and saving lots and lots of 20-megabyte files fill up devices like tablets.  It is rare that a court has a good device archive control policy in place.  And it is especially rare for judge’s devices because often judges can be intimidating to clerical and technical staff.
   
6. What to do with the “Jumbos”?  I would recommend breaking them up into logical sections based upon format rules set for that specific filing.  

Another possible approach would be to have the full PDF formatted document but, I would also consider converting the documents into standard web pages that would load, have structure, and be easily searchable across documents.

And please share any ideas or strategies that you use for the “Jumbos” below.  I know that the other CTB readers would appreciate it.