Most courts these days offer electronic filing systems by which attorneys can file and view litigation papers through the internet. This is a huge improvement from the systems that I needed to endure during the early years of my career which required in-person filing at courthouses. However, the speed of e-filing systems also makes it easy for attorneys to make mistakes while using such systems. It is often extremely difficult to correct mistakes since this usually involves filing a motion or seeking some other kind of court approval. However, courts should make it easier to fix e-filing mistakes, especially when there is no objection by any party.
E-filing is one of the most stressful parts of my law practice. When I need to e-file papers, I usually turn off my phone, minimize distractions, and focus entirely on the task at hand to ensure that mistakes are not made. In order to successfully e-file documents, an attorney or support staff needs to navigate to the right case, choose the correct filing type, upload documents, write appropriate notes about the documents, and complete other tasks to ensure that filings are submitted properly. If everything is handled correctly, the court will accept the documents, and usually, the other attorneys to a case will receive an email notifying them of the filing.
There are a few common errors that attorneys and staff make during the e-filing process. Sometimes, people file documents to the wrong case. This might seem like an easy mistake to avoid, but in some mass torts cases and in other matters in which an attorney or support staff needs to file many documents to numerous matters, this is an easy mistake to make. Another common mistake is when the PDF document to be uploaded has an issue that was not caught by the attorney.
For instance, I once had to file an answer in a case, and I scanned documents to be used for the filing. Unbeknownst to me, some of the pages got scanned out of order, so the PDF jumped around a bit. I accidentally filed the PDF with the errors in it, and I almost immediately recognized my mistake. Fortunately for me, litigants can usually amend a pleading once shortly after the initial filing without asking for court permission, so I filed an amended answer with a corrected PDF later that day. One time, I saw an attorney upload a deposition transcript that included the lawyer’s notes about the deposition in the margins. This lawyer presumably made this mistake since he did not thoroughly review the PDF before filing.
Perhaps the biggest mistake attorneys and staff make with e-filing concerns redacting confidential information court rules require attorneys to redact. One time, our firm had to e-file a document that contained confidential information. We redacted some information on the page, but we did not redact a given number since it was mislabeled, and we did not see the designation for this number on the list of confidential information that needed to be redacted. We later got a call from an adversary telling us that this was in fact an employee identification number that was supposed to be redacted under court rules. Our adversary asked that we substitute the document for a redacted version and that he would not object to our action.
We called the clerk about this error hoping the clerk would just let us substitute the document for a redacted copy. However, the clerk told us we would have to make an application with the court about substituting the document even though our adversary consented. It took hours to get the paperwork together even it would not prejudice anyone to just allow the documents to be changed.
Some courts have implemented systems to assist lawyers with e-filing, such as notifying lawyers if a document potentially has sensitive information that may need to be redacted. However, many courts still require burdensome processes to fix e-filing errors even though such errors are inevitable. When no prejudice would result, and all parties agree, courts should just permit parties to substitute documents to fix e-filing mistakes.
Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothman.law.
The post Courts Should Make It Easier To Fix E-Filing Errors appeared first on Above the Law.
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