New “Chip” Credit Cards Will Change Usage Liability for Courts

The COSCA/NACM Joint Technology Committee has issued a new resource bulletin, “EMV and Credit Card Liability: What Courts Need to Know”.  As discussed last year in a CTB article, this mandatory change is coming in October, 2015.

Fantastical – A Natural Language Calendar App

At the beginning of 2015 we (not so boldly) predicted that this was the year that we would see applications that use a more natural interface such as speech and pen input.  Here is one cool new program that could guide our CCMS development plans.

CTC 2015 Registration Begins with a One Day Sale..Monday April 13th

The Court Technology Conference (CTC) 2015 will take place September 22–24 in Minneapolis, and its education program and exhibit hall will attract judges, court administrators, court technologists, court managers, and other justice-system professionals from across the country and across the world.  CTC 2015 online registration opens Monday, April 13 and for that one day only registration is steeply discounted to $600!  

The CTC 2015 education program will focus on six tracks: e-Bench and Judicial Tools; Electronic Court Records Management; the Management of Court IT; the Judiciary in a Virtual, Mobile and Social World; Access to Justice; and the Courthouse of the Future. Go to ctc2015.org on April 13 to get our best deal on CTC registration.  No special code is required, but this is a one-day sale, so mark your calendar!

The link again is: http://www.ctc2015.org/

A CCMS Smart Document Receipt Concept

Recently I have been working on the concept of a “smart receipt” that would be generated by a CCMS for either E-filing or “in-person” filing.  I share my ideas in the article below…

E-Filing Project Updates Noted

We learned about several electronic court filing projects this week thanks to Mark Schwartz at OneLegal, Bonnie Carver at File & Serve Express and Google News.  The projects involve courts in California, Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio, and Texas.

Bankruptcy Courts Report Savings and other Benefits from Electronic Noticing

DeBN Logo Developed by the
Bankruptcy Court for the
Central District of California

Via press release on February 19, 2015, we learned about the US Bankruptcy court electronic noticing system.  They write:

"While business is increasingly conducted using smart phones, tablets and laptops, debtors who file for bankruptcy protection continue to receive paper copies of court notices and orders by regular mail — a practice that consumes both time and money. Thanks to a new program available through the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC), debtors in participating courts now have the option of receiving court-generated notices and orders electronically.

New JTC paper makes case for judicial tools

Judicial Dashboard screenshot, courtesy Wisconsin Court System

The Joint Technology Committee (JTC) has released a new resource bulletin, “Making the Case for Judicial Tools.”

Standards for Jury Management System Requirements

The Joint Technology Committee has developed a national standard for jury management.functional requirements that serve as a great starting point for courts developing or acquiring a new Jury Management System.

This and That in Court Tech – A Frozen February, 2015 Edition

Our regular compilation of news and notes regarding the world or court technology follows.  In this edition we note the new CTC 2015 topic survey, Pennsylvania online payments, password technology replacement, online dispute resolution recommendations in the UK, more on court related scamming activity, more AmCad fallout, and the ServeCon conference.

Electronic Briefs Explained

Probate Court Judge Don Wilkes,
Ms. Lisa Joyner and Ms. Kristie Pope
Candler Co., Georgia

Attorney Ms. Elizabeth “Ellie” Neiberger wrote a terrific article for the Florida Law Journal (February, 2015 Volume 89, No. 2, page 46) titled “Judge-Friendly Briefs in the Electronic Age”.  She starts the article with the advice “(t)he golden rule for any type of writing is ‘write for the reader’.  Appellate judges read a lot, and how they read is changing.”

2014 CITOC Innovation Award – North Carolina Electronic Protective Order System

The following article provides some of the project details for the CITOC award winner submitted by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts.  In their submission they wrote that:

“On June 24, 2013, Alamance County became the first county in North Carolina to implement the Electronic Protective Order System (EPOS) which greatly increases the safety of domestic violence victims and allows for streamlined, efficient processing of domestic violence orders initiated from a secure, non-public remote location.

CITOC Announces Innovation Awards

The national Court Information Technology Officers Consortium (CITOC) and the Conference of State Court Administrators honored the following courts with awards in December, 2014 during their annual conference.

•  Innovation in Business Process Award 2014: Superior Court of California, Orange County

•  Innovation in Technology Award 2014: North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts

The Hagan Manifesto on PDF's

Used with permission from Ms. Hagan

Our favorite Law Design blogger, Ms. Margaret Hagan, has posted her “short manifesto” on “Law’s PDF Problem”.  I agree with her observations and offer some additional commentary.

Ms. Hagan is doing some excellent work in examining how legal systems have been designed (or not designed) over the past few years.  Her recent post looks at the problem of legal (including court) information being “buried in PDF’s”.  She notes:

The Courtroom Tablet - Microsoft Surface Hub

 

Image from Microsoft

One of the most interesting thing that was announced by Microsoft earlier this week was the Surface Hub 84-inch 4K interactive display (there will be a 55” size also).  Talk about a tablet!  This is one device that has the potential for everyone in the courtroom to see and use. 

This article from Engadget.com describes the systems features.  It includes a the pressure sensitive stylus that allows the user to change colors and line thickness, built-in cameras with Skype for Business video and desktop conferencing, and the ability to wirelessly connect with any “Miracast-enabled device” so that when Windows10 is released, one will be able to download images from the screen to save for archive/evidence.

It was reported that it will be available later in 2015.

This and That in Court Technology - January 2015

A new CTB template and other court technology news is noted in this month's post.

New Court Technology Bulletin Template

You might notice that the CTB looks different.  In celebration of its fifth year as a Google Blogger blog we decided the go with a new cleaner look.  There is a new blog masthead thanks to one of our talented NCSC graphics designers, Elizabeth Maddox.   We have also gathered all of our links and resources together on one page so that there is a “one-stop” place to find things that are useful to the court technologist.  We hope you like it.

2015 – The Year We Can Talk about Using Automation the Way Judges (and People) Actually Work

Lenovo Yoga AnyPen

Apologies for the long title, but it is becoming clear that automation has finally caught up to the way judges actually work, by speaking and writing with a pen.

Internet Access to Court Records Upsets Canadians

According to an article in The Globe and Mail newspaper, “(o)ver the past year, close to 100 people have complained to the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII), after coming across legal decisions that mention their names through Google searches.  The rulings are public information, but most are shocked to see the details of their court cases – often family law, criminal or immigration matters – on the Internet for anyone to read.”

Supreme Court of the US Chief Justice Notes Technology in Year-End Report

In his tenth report, Chief Justice John Roberts focused on information technology in the US Courts (PDF).

Orange County, California E-Filing Benefits Reported

Orange County Courthouse

In response to our earlier Court Technology Bulletin article regarding the difficulty in quantifying the benefits of E-filing, we heard from the Judicial Council of California regarding a recently submitted report to their legislature on the topic.

This and That in Court Technology – December, 2014

Nevada Chief Justice Mark Gibbons

Notes and article links about E-Courts, Wearable Evidence in courts, a settlement about inaccurate court data in a credit bureau, monitor twisting, smartphone driver’s licenses, a “Moneyball” approach to crime prosecution, E-filing at Michigan appellate courts, the Texas Bar online legal education website, Ms. Sharon Nelson, and upcoming conferences in this month's This and That.

A Recommended E-Courts 2014 Session

Having just returned home from the excellent E-Courts 2014 conference, I would like to recommend a particular session on digital preservation.

E-Filing Benefits are Hard to Quantify

With E-courts 2014 coming next week, we share some thoughts on the difficulty in quantifying the benefits of E-filing.

Faster WiFi Coming Soon to a Court Near You

Faster 802.11ac Wireless networks are coming.  Time to start planning.

This and That in Court Technology - November, 2014

Bananas Foster French Toast at E-Courts

Time again for news from the wide, wide world of technology for courts.

Court Case Management Systems Part 16 – Reports and Statistics

Originally, court case management systems were justified based on their ability to produce court management reports and statistics for policy makers.  They have generally achieved these goals but there is more that CCMS should be able to do.

Lucas County, Ohio Releases CMS RFP

The Lucas County Common Pleas Court is looking for a court case management system.  Responses are due by December 30, 2014 with a mandatory pre-proposal conference to be held on November 18, 2014 at the Lucas County Common Pleas Court.  A $10,000 bid bond is required.

The RFP and all relevant information is available at: http://co.lucas.oh.us/bids.aspx?bidID=487

New Options in Courtroom Displays

Since we write about technology here, it is good to think about how to display the output in our courtrooms and elsewhere in the courthouse.

More This and That in Court Technology for October, 2014

This has been an especially busy month in Court Tech.  We share what we learned in this second edition for October, 2014.

Cloud Based Adobe Connect Integration with EchoSign

Courts looking for a combined video and electronic signature solution for warrants and similar communications can now look to Adobe for a possible solution.

The Greatest Keyboard Ever Made

The legacy IBM PC/AT keyboard is fondly remembered.

This and That in Court Tech – October, 2014

This month’s news and notes from the varied world of technology in the courts, legal system, and everywhere else.

Some Thoughts on Electronic Document Navigation

Many times I hear that electronic documents are too hard to work with.  In this article we explore some ideas to help address this perceived and real problem.

US Federal Courts Data Conversion Explained

Many of you may have read about the controversy regarding some of the US Federal Courts "losing" PACER case file information.  Fortunately, the Wall Street Journal clarifies.

Jury Social Media Responsibility Poster

Our friends at the Center for Jury Studies here at the NCSC have developed a poster for Jurors on their responsibilities regarding the Internet and Social Media.  You can download a PDF copy by clicking here.

Credit Card Payment Tech - Change is coming in 2015

Three new ways of paying by credit card are coming (well, two for our international court friends).  So courts should begin planning for this conversion in 2015.

Handwritten Signatures - Now a “Punch Line” – Part 3

A new example of a fake court document highlights the failure of current "visual" document validation methods.

A Huge End of August 2014 This and That in Court Tech

Lots of news from and for our court and justice corner of the technology universe.

Court Case Management Systems Part 15: Financials – Public Requirements

Part 15:  Yes, courts have to deal with money.  And the form of money has changed in recent years (and change too, of course).  We will discuss the implications for CCMS in this edition as well as something we missed in Part 14 of our series, surcharges.

e-Courts 2014 Education Program Agenda Posted

I just signed up for the upcoming e-Courts 2014 Conference, have you?

Data Conversion = Pain

For a number of years I have tried to advise courts not to convert data from their legacy systems into their new ones.  Here are my reasons why.

A2J Author Version 5.0 Released

The NCSC is very proud to share the following announcement of the important Access 2 Justice Author toolset that was first published on the CALI website

"The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) and the Center for Access to Justice and Technology at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law (CAJT) will be rolled out the new version of A2J Author® for the legal aid community on Friday, August 1, 2014 at 12 noon CST."

Indiana Courts Seek Electronic Filing Manager Proposals

The Indiana Supreme Court Division of State Court Administration is releasing a Public Notice of Contracting Opportunity (PNCO) seeking proposals for an Electronic Filing Manager (EFM) and a basic Electronic Filing Service Provider (EFSP) for Indiana’s trial and appellate courts.  The PNCO is available at http://courts.in.gov/admin/3190.htm.

Division contact information is available within the PNCO document.  Responses to the PNCO are due September 15, 2014.

And BTW, nice website at http://courts.in.gov/  Congratulations.

E-Filing, E-Service News and More – July, 2014

Thanks to the LinkedIn e-Filing/e-Service of Court Documents group we learned about some new activities in this area.

Three Interesting Things

This week we share some interesting ideas that have come to our attention on Pennsylvania’s new online Dependency Benchbook, an online support calculator, and how to publish Internet Calendars with Microsoft Office Outlook.

This and That in Court Tech – July, 2014

Here is the hot and humid mid-summer news from the world of Court Tech.  We have notes about online and in-person training, courtroom technology bench configurations, New Hampshire chooses an E-filing vendor, CITOC, and an online multilingual dictionary that includes legal terms.

Montgomery County, Texas Justice Automation Program Highlighted

©2014 TexasCourthouseTrail.com - Dave Fulp

An interesting article was posted on Government Technology magazine's website (www.govtech.com), "Montgomery County Hoping to be Among First in Texas to Go to a 'Paperless' Justice System by Cindy Horswell of McClatchy News Service on July 2, 2014.

Court Case Management Systems: Financials Part 14 – Case Related Requirements

A "hi-tech" court counter

In the 14th part of our CCMS series we present Part I of our discussion regarding the case related requirements of court case financial tracking.

Texas Issues RFO for Cloud-Based CMS

The Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA) has issued a Request for Offers (RFO) for a statewide cloud-based trial court case management system.  The solicitation is available for download from the OCA's Procurement site (select the link for RFO 212-4-0672).

The OCA will host an Offeror's Conference in Austin on July 8, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. Central Time.  The deadline for submission of offers is July 25, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. Central Time.  See the RFO for more details.

US Virgin Island Courts Post Web Design RFP

The Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands is requesting the submission of bids from qualified web developers with expertise in web designing to provide website redesign services to the Court’s current website.

This and That in Court Technology – June, 2014

Time again for our compilation of news and notes from court tech and related subjects.  News about data dashboards, voice information systems, conference news, a court CCMS project contract, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales support for court automation, and the future of handwritten signatures.