NetworkWorld Blogger/Attorney, Michael Cooney posted an article on January 25, 2012 about the release of a US Federal Judicial Center report titled "Juror's Use of Social Media During Trials and Deliberations" (PDF).
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Federal Judicial Center Reports on Juror Social Media Issues
NetworkWorld Blogger/Attorney, Michael Cooney posted an article on January 25, 2012 about the release of a US Federal Judicial Center report titled "Juror's Use of Social Media During Trials and Deliberations" (PDF).
Friday, January 20, 2012
This and That in Court Tech - January, 2012
During the past month we have found quite a few interesting bits of information that we would like to share with our readers below.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Federal Bankruptcy Courts Provide Online Chat Help
I have often told acquaintances that one goal of court automation is to allow court staff to be able to have enough time to answer the telephone. But now the courts have another option. The December, 2011 edition of the US Federal Court newsletter, The Third Branch has an article on Bankruptcy courts describing their implementation of online chat titled "Chat Live Now!"
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Data Visualization
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Graphic from Wikipedia.org |
One excellent example was posted by the authors at Computational Legal Studies that presents "The Development of Structure in the Citation Network of the United States Supreme Court". This two minute online video of a growing "network diagram" representing the early relationship of cases is fascinating.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Maricopa County ICJIS Director Job Announcement
We received the following message yesterday to pass along to our community:
Maricopa County (located in Phoenix, AZ) has an outstanding
career opportunity for ICJIS (Integrated Criminal Justice Information System) Director. The successful candidate
will establish and oversee a project management agency to coordinate the
planning, development, implementation and maintenance of and ICJIS system for
Maricopa County. Salary range: $101,296 - $157,019/Yr.
Job Posting/Online Application - http://agency.governmentjobs.com/maricopa/default.cfm?action=viewJob&jobID=400409
Benefits Overview - http://www.maricopa.gov/benefits/pdf/benefitsoverview.pdf
Mobile Legal Services
Our good friends at Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute (via Rob Richards) posted a very interesting article on December 22, 2011 regarding the potential for the use of mobile telephone messaging/SMS for legal services. The author, Sean Martin McDonald (founder of frontlinesms.com), argues that the ubiquity of mobile telephones provides great potential for many legal services including legal client intake and referral, client and case management. And I would add training and document verification as other possibilities.
Bridging "the last mile" between the clients and legal services (including courts) are important. The author concludes the article with the following:
"I don’t think any of this will square me with my property-law professor. I’m not sure I’ll ever fix property law. But I do think that by reaching out to new populations using the technologies in their pockets, we can make a difference in the way people interact with the law. And even if that’s just a little bit, even if it just enables one percent more people to protect their homes, start a business, or pursue a better life, isn’t that worth it?"Hear, hear!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Hey US Postal Service - The Courts Need This!
We're all back at work at the NCSC and want to first wish everyone a good and productive 2012.
Over the break we heard of several services offered by the Postal Service in Switzerland that would be extremely useful to the US Courts.
The first service is called IncaMail (PDF document link) that provides secure encrypted e-mail. An interesting aspect is that "during the initial (first time) registration, both the e-mail address and the physical address of the user are verified by sending an activation code."
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The Twelve Days of Court Tech
With attribution to the original "Twelve Days of Christmas" and song; and thanks to my good friend Ken Lobenstein who authored this, the CTB presents: "The Twelve Days of Court Tech" for the holiday season.
Friday, December 16, 2011
The Evolving World of Case Management: Taming the Unpredictable
Case management systems are not only for courts. The concepts are being used in many industries including insurance, health care, and even airport management systems.
Monday, December 12, 2011
US Federal Courts Internet Education/Training Offered
The November, 2011 edition of The Third Branch federal courts newsletter contains articles on three new internet services.
The first article announces that the judiciary has created "a free-of-charge website the offers training for the federal Judiciary's Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service."
The article continues: "The site, which launched in mid-September, features data from real cases in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York filed over a six-month period in 2007. The training site can be accessed via “What’s New With PACER” on the PACER website home page, www.pacer.gov."
A second article "Contemporary Issues Teach Teens about Federal Court System" describes an eduction website that"is offering several new courtroom simulations for use by high school teachers and federal courts that address contemporary issues and teen-related situations. They also teach students about the importance of jury deliberations and the relevance of the federal court system to their lives.
Two recently added simulations deal with Miranda warnings and counter-protests at funerals. Others deal with the legal conflicts arising from social media, texting while driving, teen house parties, and student protests. The simulations are available, with videos, podcasts, and interactive tools on-line at www.uscourts.gov/EducationalResources.aspx that are ready for immediate classroom and courtroom use."
And last, there is a quick note regarding an online series of podcasts on "landmark" cases. The note states that "(e)ach episode explores a different landmark case as a law professor discusses the case’s background, key arguments, and the decision.
New episodes will be available each month at uscourts.gov/landmarks."
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
PDF Isn't Permanent.
Recently I received an E-mail solicitation for a product called PDF Security Removal. As many of you know, there are settings that work with Adobe Reader that supposedly keep a PDF document from being printed or saved. So one more "advantage" of PDF electronic documents to serve as the permenant case file record is now obsolete.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The Electronic Judicial Bench
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Hon. Chief Judge Lee E. Hayworth |
Starting in 2009, the judges of the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida working in conjunction with the Clerk of Court in Manatee County created a system "designed for judges, by judges".
Monday, November 28, 2011
Lots of IJIS Institute Announcements
Many announcements from the IJIS Institute:
Announcement 1:
NEW Information Sharing LinkedIN Group Announcement 1:
Please join the IJIS Institute’s new LinkedIN Group: Justice & Public Safety Information Sharing. The Group is a technology forum for practitioners and industry from the state, local, and tribal justice and public safety communities. The forum encourages organizations and individuals to share information about cross-agency, cross-jurisdictional, and cross-sector information sharing. Participants will discuss and share information on technology and standards to facilitate and assist one another to achieve information sharing. In just three weeks, 376 of your industry colleagues from across the country have joined the information sharing discussion.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
There's an App for That Court
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1st Judicial District of PA Android QR code |
First, from The Pennsylvania Record legal journal (www.pennrecord.com) in an article from October 14, 2011:
"Are you an attorney looking for easier access to upcoming civil trial dates? How about simply a member of the general public looking to learn more about the judicial system in the City of Philadelphia?
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Iterative Implementation
In recent years I have become less and less convinced that courts have the ability to foresee all of the process/workflow, document, and data sharing BEFORE they install a new case or document management system. These new systems have substantially more capabilities and flexibility that is not available in first or second generation case management systems. The new system brings many more new capabilities and possibilities. The old thinking about how things should be done in general does not apply and the design/specification efforts are wasted.
Therefore in recent years I have often advocated an “iterative approach” that has a new system first installed in the court with base/default capabilities. THEN, after experiencing the new system environment, the court adjusts both the system workflows/presentation and their business processes (and ideally organizational structure) to take advantage of the new technical capabilities. Visually presented, these are the two outside arrows of the Court Technology Framework diagram in action.
The system is therefore chosen based on the tools and potential, and not on how closely it fits the existing or imagined situation. This in turn means that new court automation system installations are not a 6 month but rather a 12-24 effort. And budgets and staff resources must be provided to support the effort over that time.
Many of you know and have viewed the wonderful TED Conference presentations that are available online. One presentation on point is called “Build a tower, build a team” by Tom Wujec. I hope you enjoy it.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Signing Documents on Your iPad?
As many of you know, Apple iPads are already widely adopted by the judicial community. One issue/desire that has arisen is the ability for judges to "sign" documents. But unfortunately the late Steve Jobs rejected the idea that a "pen interface" was needed as standard equipment in opposition to the Tablet systems previously released by Microsoft.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Maryland Chooses Statewide CMS & E-Filing Vendor
In a press release on November 3, 2011, it was announced that the State of Maryland Judiciary has selected Tyler Technologies' "Odyssey® court management system as the single, integrated environment for managing and reporting court information".
According to the announcement:
"The contract between Tyler and the State of Maryland is valued at approximately $45 million, which includes software licensing fees, professional services and a multi-year maintenance agreement. The MDEC Project will use several Odyssey modules, including Case Manager, Enterprise Content Management, Financial Management and e-Filing.
Maryland’s search for a judicial technology partner was anchored by three strategic goals: 1) enhance public safety by more rapidly sharing high-quality data in support of better decision-making; 2) increase access to the courts by providing an easy-to-use system that’s available anywhere, anytime; and 3) support the fair and efficient administration of justice by using a system that improves overall court operations, including better scheduling, reduced delays and better-informed decisions."
Friday, October 28, 2011
Eight Rules of E-Filing: Conclusion
The goal of this series was to expand the thinking about E-filing beyond the delivery of static civil case documents via a web server (the most common system). E-filing must support all case types and the transition from a paper records to an electronic records foundation.
In turn, electronic documents do not have to be restricted to the limitations of paper documents. Formats, organization, and data capture/extraction can all take advantage of the dynamic environment that electronic information allows. In other words, as I often teach in classes and seminars, better information can and will result in better decisions and in turn, justice. And while this goal will never be fully realized, E-filing and related technologies will move us closer.
Last, for your convenience, the entire series of articles have been compiled into a PDF document that can be downloaded. (see the "File" command in the upper right corner to download or make a copy)
Links to all of the articles in the series:
Introduction
Rule Number 1: All documents created by the court are stored in the electronic document management system (EDMS) are designated as “the official record”.
Rule Number 2: User authentication must be designed into the overall e-filing solution.
Rule Number 3: Design Backwards
Rule Number 4: Court document creation must be integrated with the CMS.
Rule Number 5: Efficiency. E-filing should facilitate more efficient court processes and decisions.
Rule Number 6: E-Filing Must Support the Self-Represented
Rule Number 7: E-Filing Should Support Government to Court Communications
Rule Number 8: E-filing and “Paper on Demand”
In turn, electronic documents do not have to be restricted to the limitations of paper documents. Formats, organization, and data capture/extraction can all take advantage of the dynamic environment that electronic information allows. In other words, as I often teach in classes and seminars, better information can and will result in better decisions and in turn, justice. And while this goal will never be fully realized, E-filing and related technologies will move us closer.
Last, for your convenience, the entire series of articles have been compiled into a PDF document that can be downloaded. (see the "File" command in the upper right corner to download or make a copy)
Links to all of the articles in the series:
Introduction
Rule Number 1: All documents created by the court are stored in the electronic document management system (EDMS) are designated as “the official record”.
Rule Number 2: User authentication must be designed into the overall e-filing solution.
Rule Number 3: Design Backwards
Rule Number 4: Court document creation must be integrated with the CMS.
Rule Number 5: Efficiency. E-filing should facilitate more efficient court processes and decisions.
Rule Number 6: E-Filing Must Support the Self-Represented
Rule Number 7: E-Filing Should Support Government to Court Communications
Rule Number 8: E-filing and “Paper on Demand”
Thursday, October 20, 2011
This and That - October, 2011
CTC-2011
The conference was a great success again this year. For education session presentations and articles go to: http://www.ctc2011.org/Attendees/Program-at-a-glance.aspx and then click on the session name.
Registration Still Open for Privacy and Public Access Conference
Our partner, the Center for Legal and Court Technology has openings for the 8th Conference on Privacy and Public Access to Court Records to be held in Williamsburg, Virginia from November 3-4, 2011. For more see the conference website at: http://www.privacy.legaltechcenter.net/aspx/Conferences.aspx
The conference was a great success again this year. For education session presentations and articles go to: http://www.ctc2011.org/Attendees/Program-at-a-glance.aspx and then click on the session name.
Registration Still Open for Privacy and Public Access Conference
Our partner, the Center for Legal and Court Technology has openings for the 8th Conference on Privacy and Public Access to Court Records to be held in Williamsburg, Virginia from November 3-4, 2011. For more see the conference website at: http://www.privacy.legaltechcenter.net/aspx/Conferences.aspx
Monday, October 17, 2011
Florida Senate: Make non-efilers in courts pay a 3.5% surcharge?
Cross-posted at Gavel to Gavel blog
I mentioned last week that the Florida Senate was going to meet tomorrow (October 18) and that the agenda included an item entitled
I mentioned last week that the Florida Senate was going to meet tomorrow (October 18) and that the agenda included an item entitled
Presentations on issues related to electronic filing of court documentsI came across a (possibly) related piece of legislation: SB 410 of 2012. The bill contains two provisions:
(1) A litigant who is required to electronically file a court or other legal document in a court of this state, in the Division of Administrative Hearings, or in the Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims shall pay a surcharge in addition to any other cost incurred if the litigant files a paper document instead of electronically filing the document. The surcharge shall equal 3.5 percent of the cost of filing the document electronically.
(2) This section does not apply to a litigant who is indigent as determined by s. 27.52, Florida Statutes.
The obvious question is "who is required to electronically file a court or other legal document"? SB 170 of 2011, signed into law in June, requires prosecutors and public defenders to e-file documents with the clerk of court and report back on March 1, 2012 on the implementation of the program to the legislature (click here for prior posts). A 2009 statute (SB 1718) required the clerks of court to implement an electronic filing process by March 1, 2010.
Live coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee e-filing presentation can be found here.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Eight Rules of E-filing: Rule #8
Rule Number 8: E-filing and “Paper on Demand”.
E-filing (and more specifically electronic documents) provide flexibility in the ability for judges and staff to consume content. A widely held view (see note 1 below) is that if the judge is better served by printing documents; they should be allowed to print the documents that are needed for the work at hand. But when done working with those documents they are recycled and/or shredded. They aren’t maintained as the official record.
E-filing (and more specifically electronic documents) provide flexibility in the ability for judges and staff to consume content. A widely held view (see note 1 below) is that if the judge is better served by printing documents; they should be allowed to print the documents that are needed for the work at hand. But when done working with those documents they are recycled and/or shredded. They aren’t maintained as the official record.
Monday, October 10, 2011
CTC-2011 - What Did You See? (Updated -11/10/11)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQGryXz2L4xpgS76xdJm89PNvDMUqtN_CeTO55ZrRvJBixQMtfu0RskZS7-ZDh8ZR6iy4VbbfWD3sBLrtDj7kfbHZqnb1YbTy7u315BSC9SvY0eGDxJtSYJfFORGA6RBdABbwgdVefOg/s320/korea-virtual-courtroom-lg.png)
http://www.ctc2011.org/Attendees/Program-at-a-glance.aspx
(Click on the session title to open a window with links to the presentation(s) if available).
I for one very much enjoyed Korean Judge Hoshin Won's presentation on tablet and surface computing including a tour of their e-Courts Experience Center. A picture of a virtual courtroom concept demonstrating touch-screen and "tele-presence" technology in their e-Courts Experience Center is shown above.
A video of the e-Court Experience Hall and presentations are available at:
http://www.ctc2011.org/Attendees/CLCT-program.aspx
What did you see that you would like the CTB readers to know about? We invite you to share your experiences by posting a comment below.
Monday, October 3, 2011
CTC-2011 Daily Update
For up-to-date information as to what is happening in Long Beach, California go to CTC Daily Update web page at: http://icmelearning.com/ctc/mailer/daily-update.html
Hope to say hi to many of you this week!
Hope to say hi to many of you this week!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Eight Rules of E-Filing: Rule #7
E-Filing Should Support Government to Court Communications
But criminal and other cases involving human services and
other government departments and programs are a different animal for E-filing. In criminal cases the attorneys are
continually looking for procedural mistakes and other errors in order dismiss
cases and free or reduce the penalties for their clients. In other words, the attorneys truly embrace
their adversarial role with court procedures as well as the opposing side. As a result, and along with funding challenges,
there are only a handful of criminal case E-filing systems in the USA today.
The vast majority of E-filing systems focus upon
civil case matters. While there are many
reasons I believe that besides vendor funding, this focus greatly reduces project
political risk to the courts. Judges have
more discretion in managing civil cases and the parties can agree to work
together to support new systems and procedures for everyone’s benefit. In fact, this is how court E-filing started in 1990 in the
Delaware Chancery Court.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxX0OW_4V5tFvJeJTP55_DxgAZX3h9xPhvVoVaE0dKUH2TsM3E6wU5ayfhZyyBmD-NVLnmqavE3KtpF3tycLj2I9m1xT9okcXY5mDd_zNiJsvkGIdSHa7S8kL0TfLE2XqhrVymspSdgA/s1600/unicorn.png)
Friday, September 23, 2011
Court Automation Funding Compilation Report
Our NCSC Technology Department's excellent summer intern and future law school student, Ms. Emily Whitaker, scoured the Internet and legal research resources to compile a list of state court automation funding. We can report that the majority of state courts have implemented some type of automation support fee or fund. The results were compiled into a PDF spreadsheet format and are available at:
http://www.ncsc.org/Services-and-Experts/Areas-of-expertise/Technology/2011-Technology-Survey-Results.aspx
http://www.ncsc.org/Services-and-Experts/Areas-of-expertise/Technology/2011-Technology-Survey-Results.aspx
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