MEMO
TO: Joint Procedure Committee
FROM: Mike Hagburg
RE: Order 16, N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. Orders, Electronic Filing Pilot Project for the District Courts
Court Administrator Ted Gladden in a memo, attached, has suggested that the Committee discuss electronic filing in the district courts. Mr. Gladden reports that some attorneys have started seeking to file documents electronically in the district courts.
The Supreme Court initiated an electronic filing pilot project in March 2003. All indications are that electronic filing in the Supreme Court is working well and has been well accepted by attorneys.
For purposes of discussion, Staff has drafted a proposed electronic filing pilot project order, which is attached. The proposed order is based on the Supreme Court's own electronic filing order, which was developed internally by Court staff. The proposed order would allow electronic filing of all documents except for initial pleadings.
If electronic filing in the district courts (and the allied concept of electronic service) is accepted, a fairly large scale revision of the rules eventually will be required. Such a revision would be comparable to the one completed several years ago which added commercial delivery to the acceptable forms of service.