This and That in Court Technology – September, 2016

Attendees enjoying e-Courts

We share news about the e-Courts 2016 Conference, the Federal Courts test of prisoner electronic access kiosks, news in the search for a quiet keyboard - now in portable form, questions raised about Australian use of court videoconferencing, a Blockchain notarization service, and a new court podcast in Florida.

NCSC Court Tech Positions Announced

The National Center for State Courts - Court Consulting Services Division in collaboration with Technology Services has openings for two positions:



1. Senior Court Technology Consultant, Band W316; Salary depends on qualification.
2. Principal Court Technology Consultant, Band D418; Salary depends on qualification.

Positions are open until filled; however, for first consideration, submit applications by Monday, October 3, 2016 until 5:00 pm. EDT.

To apply for any of these positions, go to our web page at: www.ncsc.org/jobs and click on NCSC domestic jobs. First time users will need to register before applying.  Positions are being advertised internally and externally at the same time.

Argentina's Center for Judicial Information

For many years I have been an admirer for the Argentina Judiciary’s Center for Judicial Information website.  I think that it is one of the best judicial websites in the world and it is one that should be studied and monitored by other judiciaries.  Via our good friend, Mr. Luis Maria Palma, President of E-Justicia Latinoamerica and a Vice-President of the International Association for Court Administration we were able to contact Ms. Maria Bourdin, who late last year was named as head of their Ministry of Communication and Open Government.  She was kind enough to answer our questions and share information regarding their excellent court website.

CSI Announces Intellidact LBX™ Machine Learning Technology

I am happy to share a press release from one of our leading court technology vendors this week.  CSI has been working with courts for more than 20 years in support and the development of automated redaction technology.  Their new system provides a powerful way for courts to bridge the gap between paper and electronic data.  Congratulations to our good friends in Orlando for this significant achievement.

The full press release follows below:

Michigan Releases Statewide E-Filing RFP

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_Island_Light_(Michigan)

On August 25, 2016, State Court Administrator Milton L. Mack, Jr. announced:

“I am pleased to report that the Michigan Supreme Court released a Request for Proposals (RFP) today, seeking a vendor to supply a statewide system that will allow litigants to file cases electronically from anywhere at any time.  The RFP also asks that vendors submit proposals for an electronic document management system so that courts can receive and manage e-filed documents.

Release of the RFP is a major step forward in our efforts to help trial courts across Michigan benefit from the potential improvements in efficiency that e-filing can provide, including reduced handling of paper files and reduced need for manual data entry of case information.

Law and Courts in an Online World Conference – Melbourne, Australia

I am happy to announce that I will be speaking along with good friend Judge Dory Reiling and many others at the Law and Courts in an Online World Conference that will be held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, November 8 & 9, 2016.  They have announced that an early-bird discount fee for the conference is available until August 31.

South Carolina Courts Seeks IT Director

We learned today that the job announcement for the South Carolina Judicial Department IT Director has been released. The closing date for application is September 9, 2016.  The announcement job responsibilities description starts:

"Under limited supervision, the Director of Information Technology is a member of the executive management team and is responsible for providing leadership in the development of technology solutions to support SCJD's mission, goals, and objectives."

The full job announcement with submission instructions is available online here.

This and That in Court Technology – August 2016

In this edition of "This and That" we share E-Courts conference updates, US Federal Courts updating their E-filing rules, IJIS Institute Mid-Year Update Meeting, the ABA Future of Legal Services report, information regarding the new Microsoft Two-Step Authentication app, and last a handy home improvement app I recently used.

Storage, SSD’s and the Future of Court Records

A recent article stated “SSD prices plummet again, close in on HDD”.  Translated that means that solid state “flash” storage that runs much faster than traditional hard disk drives (HDD’s) is closing in on price parity.  But what does this mean for court records?  We discuss and speculate below.

Judge John Tanzer and eJudiciary

Our good friend, Sir Henry Brooke posted an excellent post on the impact that fellow jurist John Tanzer had on the adoption of IT in the English courts.