2002 a Break-Out Year for CM/ECF Implementation in Federal Courts

It will be a busy 2002 for the Federal Judiciary's Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) project. The 31 courts already operational with the new system are scheduled to be joined by 54 more by year's end.

CM/ECF is designed to replace aging systems in more than 200 bankruptcy, district, and appellate courts by 2005. The system now is in use in seven district courts, 23 bankruptcy courts and the Court of International Trade. It enables courts to create file documents in electronic format, and to accept filings over the Internet if they choose to do so.

Forty bankruptcy courts and six district courts currently are moving toward being operational in 2002. Groups of nine courts are scheduled to begin the implementation process every two months.

So far, more than 6 million documents in more than 1.5 million cases are on the CM/ECF system. Nearly 15,000 attorneys and others have filed documents over the Internet.

The national roll-out of the CM/ECF system for bankruptcy courts began in March 2001, and is scheduled to take two to three years. The national roll-out for district courts is to begin in mid-2002. The CM/ECF system for appellate courts is expected to be ready for use sometime in 2003.

The CM/ECF system uses standard computer hardware, an Internet connection, and a browser, and accepts documents in Portable Document Format (PDF). The system is easy to use — filers prepare a document using conventional word processing software, then save it in a PDF file. After logging onto the court's web site with a court-issued password, the filer fills out several screens with basic information relating to the case, party and document being filed, attaches the document, and submits it to the court. A notice verifying court receipt of the filing is generated automatically. Other parties in the case then automatically receive e-mail notification of the filing. To visit the CM/ECF website, go to www.uscourts.gov/cmecf/cmecf.html.

CM/ECF also gives courts the ability to make their documents available to the public over the Internet. The Judicial Conference recently adopted a set of recommendations relating to privacy and public access to electronic case files. The Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management is addressing the schedule for implementing the recommendations.