Insights to Building a Succesful E-filing Case Management Service: U.S. Federal Court Experience

Abstract

The U.S. Federal Courts Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) service is a very successful court automation system deployed throughout the country that integrated case management, electronic court case records and documents, and the electronic transmission and service of court records via the Internet. The authors briefly explain the history of automation development and indicators of success in these courts. The primary focus of the article is (a) on what capabilities and functions should be integrated into any modern court electronic filing and case management service; and (b) on insights as to key technical components, fundamental project guidelines, technical objectives, and non-technical principles and implementation techniques that were critical to achieving success. The ultimate CM/ECF goals that have been achieved are (1) that the entire U.S. federal court community (court, lawyers, government, public) are comfortable in totally relying on this service, and (2) that CM/ECF is the official record eliminating the traditional paper record.