eFiling and eBilling Systems (Steven Sizemore) (permalink)

E-Billing

Definition

What are E-billing systems?

Electronic billing is the electronic delivery and presentation of financial statements, bills, invoices, and other related information sent by a company to its customers.  Certain electronic billing applications provide the ability to electronically settle payment for goods or services.  Customers of banks and billing companies can use the internet or the phone to conveniently remit payments as well as access their billing information.  This service is often supported by customer service representatives that are contacted directly by the consumer to facilitate payments or receive general assistance in regards to their questions or concerns.  The two forms of electronic billing are referred to as:

1)      EIPP – Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment

2)      EBPP – Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment

EIPP^[1]

EBPP^[2] 

EBPP is the process by which companies bill customers and receive payments electronically over the Internet.  EBPP allows consumers to view and pay bills electronically.  The idea is that consumers have a significant number of bills that need to be paid on a regular basis.  Two models of EBPP have emerged as a result of the technology, these are:

1)      Direct Model

2)      Consolidator Model

The Direct Model

Bills produced by an organization are made available through that organization’s website.  This model works well if the recipient has reasons to visit the biller’s website other than to receive their bills.  In the freight industry, for example, customers will visit a carrier’s website to track items in transit, so it is reasonably convenient to receive and pay freight bills at the same site. 

The Consolidation Model

Numerous bills for any one recipient are made available at one website.  This is most commonly done at the wesite of the bank where the consumer transacts business.  Banks refer to these sites as Bill Pay sites and encourage their customers to enroll in and pay all of their bills via this medium.  In most cases the actual task of consolidation is performed by a third party that specializes in bill payment systems.  The principal attraction of consolidation is that consumers can receive and pay numerous bills at the one location thus minimizing the number of login IDs and passwords they must remember and maintain in order to pay their bills.  Consolidation is extrememly popular and is considered to be one of the most secure forms of online bill payment. 

EBPP provides billing companies the ability to demonstrate to their customers that they are technologically advanced companies with a primary concern for customer convenience, security and satisfaction.  In addition, EBPP can produce substantial savings to traditional print & mail billing and payment remittance as well as significantly reduce the use of paper.

NACHA^[1] 

As a result of the increasingly new technology computers have introduced to the consumer and business world, consumer protection agencies have been created to protect consumers and businesses from potential issues pertaining to this new technology.NACHA is a not-for-profit association that represents more than 11,000 financial institutions through direct memberships and a network of regional payments associations, and 585 organizations through its industry councils.

NACHA develops operating rules and business practices for the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network and for electronic payments in the areas of Internet commerce, electronic bill and invoice presentment and payment (EBPP, EIPP), e-checks, financial electronic data interchange (EDI), international payments, and electronic benefits services (EBS).The ACH Network facilitates commerce electronically by serving as an efficient, reliable and secure payments system.

NACHA, led by member depository financial institutions and payments associations, fulfills this purpose by managing the development, administration, and governance of the Network and by providing superior services and value to its members as the industry association responsible for ACH payments.To ensure that the ACH Network is efficient, reliable, and secure, NACHA shall execute its responsibilities consistent with sustaining the following Network characteristics:

Ø      Governed by depository financial institutions;

Ø      Provides value to depository financial institutions;

Ø      Universally accessible by depository financial institutions;

Ø      Based on rules, regulations, and standards that apply to all depository financial institutions and participants, and that are aggressively enforced;

Ø      Functions in a batch-processing environment;

Ø      Transacts value-dated recurring and spontaneous payments that satisfy business case requirements;

Ø      Employs robust approaches to measure and mitigate risk;

Ø      Accommodates the exchange of payment-related information;

Ø      Recognizes the global nature of commerce and electronic payments.

What Does NACHA do?

Rule Making

 NACHA provides the legal foundation for the ACH Network through the development and enforcement of the NACHA Operating Rules. Rules and guidelines are established for all participants in the ACH system and ensure that the Network infrastructure, applications, rules and enforcement are consistent with processing payments in a secure, reliable, and efficient manner, and that financial institutions have access to effective risk management tools.

Education

 NACHA educates its direct members, the regional payments associations, and the public through a diverse offering of conferences, workshops, teleconferences, and publications. Topics covered include ACH fundamentals, Rules updates, risk management, global payments, electronic check, electronic billing and payment, and more. NACHA also offers the Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) program exam each October to individuals seeking industry credentials.

New Payments Applications

 NACHA develops new payments applications through an open and disciplined process that measures the impact on all Network participants, including originators and receivers, and is responsive to the priorities of depository financial institutions.

Risk Management

 NACHA develops and implements a comprehensive risk management framework for the Network that covers requirements prior to origination, ongoing origination requirements, and enforcement, and ACH Operator risk mitigation services. NACHA also works to create and implement a robust set of risk management tools to reduce risk and improve ACH quality that are consistent with the risk management framework.

Member Communications

 NACHA promotes and consistently communicates the value and best uses of electronic payments to depository financial institutions and their customers through marketing, public relations, and education. Additionally, NACHA broadly engages key external audiences to communicate the value proposition of the Network and ACH Payments.

Marketing

 NACHA actively promotes the value and use of electronic payments through educational materials, events, speaking engagements, advertising, and television and radio promotions. Additionally, NACHA coordinates the annual Direct Deposit and Direct Payment (May) national campaign, highlighting the benefits of Direct Deposit for payroll, pension, and Social security payments.

Regulatory and Government Relations Issues

 NACHA establishes and maintains formal relationships with key industry audiences, including the Federal Reserve System and the U.S. Department of the Treasury and responds expeditiously to regulatory and government relations issues. 

Online Banking

Electronic bill payment is now a very common feature of online banking allowing a depositor to send money from his demand account to a creditor or vendor such as a public utility or a department store to be credited against a specific account.  The payment is optimally executed electronically in real time, though some financial institutions or payment services will wait until the next business day to send out the payment.  The bank can usually generate and mail a paper check or bank draft to a creditor who is not set up to receive electronic payments.

 

 The majority of large banks offer various convenience features with their electronic bill payment systems such as the ability to schedule payments in advance to be made on a specified date, the ability to manage payments from any computer with a web browser, and various options for searching one’s recent payment history.  Most banks also allow their customers to integrate the electronic payment data with accounting or personal finance software. 

Limitation

Typically, US financial institutions formally prohibit the use of their consumer electronic bill payment systems for payments to any tax authorities, collection agencies, or recipients of court-ordered payments like child support or alimony.  Any organizations or individuals outside of the United States are also usually excluded.  Payments to government agencies for utilities such as water are usually permitted.

 

Electronic bill pay systems fall into two categories, “pay-anyone” services and restricted biller list services.  In a pay-anyone service, the provider will facilitate a payment to the payee regardless of whether they have an electronic connection with that payee or not.  If they cannot deliver the payment to the payee electronically, they will print and mail a paper check on the payer’s behalf.  The largest providers of electronic bill pay services can deliver about 80% of their payments electronically, so 20% of payments facilitated by the large pay-anyone services are still made by mailing a paper check to the biller.  This is the primary reason why some billers in a pay-anyone service require as much as a 5 day lead time for the payment to reach the payee.

 

Restricted biller list payment services allow the payor to pay any biller that is in the provider’s network, and in these services where the provider has an electronic relationship with the biller, the payments will be delivered electronically.  A good example of a popular restricted biller site is MyCheckFree.com.

 

 One of the main requirements in e-commerce is the ability to accept a form of electronic payment.  This form of electronic payment is referred to as Financial Electronic Data Interchange (FEDI).  FEDI has become increasingly popular over the last number of years due to the widespread use of the internet based shopping and banking.  Banks are also being required to process all check transactions via an electronic medium due to the implementation of Check 21. 

Financial Cyber-mediaries^[4]  

Many of the mediaries permit consumers to establish an account quickly, and to transfer funds into their online accounts from a traditional bank account (typically via an ACH transaction), and vice versa, after verification of the consumer’s identity and authority to access such bank accounts.  Also, the larger mediaries further allow transactions to and from credit card accounts, although such credit card transactions are usually assessed a fee (either to the recipient or the sender) to recoup the transaction fees charged to the mediary.

 The speed and simplicity with which cyber-mediary accounts can be established and used have contributed to their widespread use, although the risk of abuse, theft and other problems is associated with them. 

Payment Service Provider^[5]

A payment service provider (PSP) offers merchants online services for accepting electronic payments by a variety of payment methods including credit card, bank-based payments such as direct debit, bank transfer, and real-time bank transfer based on online banking. Some PSPs provide unique service to processes other next generation methods (E-Payment Providers) including eWallets (PayPal), Cash (Western Union), prepaid cards or vouchers, and even paper or e-check processing.

 

Typically, a PSP can connect to multiple acquiring banks, card, and payment networks.  In many cases the PSP will fully manage these technical connections and relationships with the external network, and bank accounts.  This makes the merchant less dependent of financial institutions and establishing these connections directly, especially when operating internationally.

Development

Electronic billing has now been integrated into the mainstream of the management of outsourced legal work. Although insurers were in the lead in purchasing e-billing systems from e-billing vendors and setting up e-bill management programs for outsourced insurance defense litigation, the corporate legal department community has embraced e-billing as the preferred process for bill management in general. What is often not clearly understood and appreciated by the recently initiated is that e-billing encompasses more than the transmission of legal bills in real time from the law firm to client. The e-bill transmission process is merely the first step, albeit an important one, in a wholesale shift in the dynamics of outside law firm management. The real value to be derived from e-billing is the opportunity to massage data generated from the process and use it as the foundation for practice management applications. ^[6]

 

Law firms that use e-billing create computerized invoices that conform in their arrangement of entries and their data file format to a preset model, most often LEDES, which stands for Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard. Information on the standard is at www.ledes.org.  The Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard is a set of file format specifications intended to standardize bill/invoice data transmitted electronically ("e-billed") from a law firm to a corporate client. It is abbreviated LEDES and is usually pronounced as "leeds".  LEDES was developed by the LEDES Oversight Committee (LOC), which was led by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Members of the committee include law firms, corporate legal departments, electronic billing vendors and time and billing software vendors. The LOC was incorporated as a California non-profit mutual benefit corporation in 2000. ^[7]

 

Into this standard LEDES format the firm enters numeric codes that describe actions taken on behalf of clients. These codes also conform to a preset format, usually UTBMS, which stands for Uniform Task-Based Management System. Details on those codes can be found at the ABA Litigation's site at: www.abanet.org/litigation/litnews/practice/uniform.html.  The corporate or law firm sends its e-bills over the Internet to a service provider, which processes the files to comply with the requirements of the firm's clients. Usually the service provider maintains a Web site on a server that can be accessed by both law firm and client. ^[8]

The E-Billing Systems Progression

The fundamental principles that are at the foundation of all e-billing systems are:

Ø      Formatting of all legal bills into the uniform legal electronic data exchange standard LEDES (http://www.ledes.org/.)

Ø      Electronic transmission of bills in real time from the law firm to the client.

Ø      Creation of a secure communications loop to preserve attorney/client privilege

Ø      Construction of an electronic rules engine to monitor conformance with rules of engagement and bill management guidelines.

Ø      Electronic validation and/or rejection of bills through application of rules engine.

Ø      Electronic submission of approved bills for payment

Ø      Data generation

E-billing systems represent a progression that builds upon those foundation principles. There are three levels in that progression:

1)      Transmission systems which adhere to the fundamental principles and leave it to the client and law firm to implement their own bill management program once the bill has been transmitted, scrutinized by a rudimentary rules engine and flowed through to the client with no capturing or categorizing of data.

2)      Bill review systems which capture and categorize data through application of rule engine, providing the client with an assortment of analytical tools to review the bill in detail in-house or through referral to a third-party external bill reviewer/auditor and, where appropriate, recommend modifications as well as reductions in conformance with the rules of engagement, bill management guidelines and generally accepted principles (GAPs) of bill review.

3)      Performance measurement systems which massage the data generated through bill review into data management banks. The client utilizes the data to comparatively measure and evaluate case/matter and law firm performance and develop pro-active bill management programs. ^[9]

The leading providers of e-billing services which offer a web site which can be accessed by the law firm and client are: DataCert (www.datacert.com), Tymetrix (www.tymetrix.com) and Serengeti (www.serengetilaw.com), and TrialNet (www.trialnet.com) ^[10]

 

Serengeti Tracker

Serengeti Tracker provides all of the features necessary to efficiently manage both outside counsel and law department spending. Providing all of these tools in one system eliminates the inevitable data discrepancies, duplication of effort, and integration problems that arise when trying to get multiple software systems to work together. Plus, Tracker allows you to leverage the spending information provided directly by your firms to simplify a number of critical tasks such as: budget to actual spending review, law firm accrual collection, and internal vs. external cost comparisons.  Unlike most electronic invoicing systems, Tracker makes it possible for all law firms and vendors, small and large, foreign and domestic, to submit bills to you electronically. Tracker accepts invoices in both the industry standard LEDES format, as well as any other file format (e.g. Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, JPEG Image).

CT TyMetrix 360°

CT TyMetrix 360° provides comprehensive, end-to-end electronic invoicing. Invoices are submitted by law firms, programmatically tested for data integrity and compliance with the client's outside counsel guidelines, automatically routed according to a client-defined workflow and presented in an intuitive and flexible on-line review interface. Invoices are "reviewed by exception," easily adjusted and approved or rejected. Payment files may be created within the application and downloaded for further processing or the application may be programmed to generate and transfer a payment file to client file specifications. Invoice status is 100% apparent at every stage to law firms via a secure web site and to in-house users via intuitive and robust search and filter tools. Task-based and financial invoice data is aggregated and available for reporting. Click here for a video presentation  of web based tools.

TrialNet®  

Outside law firms can upload their bills directly to the system, where they can be reviewed for accuracy, reconciled against cost projections, and approved for payment. This valuable tool not only saves you money through improved cost controls, but also provides instant, comprehensive reporting and analysis tools so you can better understand your legal costs and overall budget picture. Our E Billing system is comprehensive, user-friendly, and integrates easily with your existing accounting system. Our E Billing System provides access to:

Billing File Creation & Management, enabling you to open billing files, administer and approve law firm rates, set critical billing rules and verify legal invoices against your fee & expense guidelines;

Law firm E Billing, allowing your law firms to upload, pre-audit and edit their bills on line before submitting them - preventing errors that can hold up billing and payment;

Law firm E Billing, allowing your law firms to upload, pre-audit and edit their bills on line before submitting them - preventing errors that can hold up billing and payment;

Financial Analysis Tools, including online review and approval of invoices, budget tracking, reporting on cost patterns, performance, and much more;

Matter Management Tracking, integrating data about particular claims through TrialNet's Matter Management platform with the E billing system for accurate billing and complete analysis of all aspects of a case.

DataCert's ShareDoc®

ShareDoc® is the backbone of DataCert's invoice submission network. It gives firms and vendors the ability to submit detailed invoices in a variety of formats including Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard (LEDES1998B), Data Clearing House (DCH), and PeerPoint. These invoices contain information including matter, vendor, header-level invoice data, as well as fee and expense codes, timekeeper, timekeeper rate, description, number of hours, etc.

Electronic Invoicing Benefits

Ø      Take control of the invoice process by eliminating paper-based invoices

Ø      Standardize and simplify the billing process

Ø      Enforce billing guideline compliance

Ø      Reduce delivery time from days to minutes

Ø      Eliminate double-billing, overcharging and neglected invoices

Ø      Collect invoice data for analysis

Ø       No network infrastructure to build or maintain

  What the Law Firm Gains                      What the Corporate Client Gains ^[11]

* Lower Administrative Costs      * More Efficient and Complete bill review

* Faster Payments                                    * No need for third party auditors

* Better-informed clients                           * Ensured law firm compliance with billing guidelines

* Generally compatible with existing     * Better information about current status of matters
    time and billing systems                         * Rich data source for budgeting and
* More work for the best firms         management reports 

Electronic Billing: The future trend, the future innovation ^[12] 

Growing acceptance

Today, about 20% of all business-to-business invoices are sent electronically.  This number is expected to rise to 62% and even more.  “With the internet, you can talk about things line by line, you can partial-pay, negotiate terms online, link to procurement and sales processes,” Avivah Litan, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Standford.conn.Electronic billing is entering the mainstream, thanks to inexpensive, web-based systems requiring no installation of hardware or software.  Recent surveys of ACC law departments (80 percent of which have five or fewer lawyers) bear this out:  Five years ago, electronic billing was rare; today about 15 percent of law departments are using electronic billing, with an additional 15 percent planning on it.  

Why Rock the Boat?

What is driving the rapid adoption of e-billing in a profession that is notorious for slow acceptance of new technology?

Savings and control

Law departments with e-billing report savings of 5 to 15 percent or more of their outside legal spending which, when compared to system costs of 1 percent or less, make a compelling business case.  Law departments gain control by having instant access to what they are spending and where.  E-billing generates up-to-date reports with a couple of mouse clicks—a vast improvement over the fire drills traditionally triggered by queries from management, auditors, or the board’s audit committee.

 

Law departments also use e-billing data to create more realistic budgets, including projected legal spending for specific products or business units.  Together with matter management, e-billing opens better views into the ocean of corporate legal work, enabling the law department to take preventive measures in areas of increasing legal spending and exposure.  Historical spending/results data provide a solid foundation for negotiating fixed and other alternative fees—and help to identify top-performing outside counsel, enabling you to allocate work more effectively.

 

 Finally, a well-designed e-billing/matter-management system covering the law department and all of its firms can provide accurate, complete, and auditable information so that the law department can certify to upper management that it satisfies Sarbanes-Oxley and other compliance requirements.  Time savings is a major, but often overlooked, bonus of e-billing.  How much time do you spend routing, filing, and looking for paper bills and other documents?  How about reentering information into databases?  Automated online processing of bills and budgets eliminates time wasted handling paper and generally simplifies the flow of information; giving in-house counsel more time to address the day’s other pressing priorities. 

Reasons for the E-billing system acceptance

Ø      A single e-billing/matter-management system is much easier to use and presents more consistent data than multiple systems with varying degrees of integration.  Multiple systems also run the risk of generating inconsistent data, a compliance nightmare.

Ø      A combined e-billing/matter-management system can solve one of the key problems with any system keeping the information current.  By tying the acceptance of bills to the law firms’ submission of other required information (e.g., budgets, exposure estimates, and regular status updates), in-house counsel can ensure that they are working with complete and current information.

Ø      Reports provide a more complete picture of projects managed by the law department, including status, deadlines, and results, as well as spending.

Ø      Project teams have all key information in one place, accessible to authorized users, whether in the law department or outside firm.  This comes in handy when preparing for conference calls with outside counsel, budget meetings or internal client meetings.

Ø      An encrypted online matter-management system is also generally more secure, easier to maintain, and more useful than a paper file stored in someone’s office.  Such security also ensures protection of the attorney-client and work product privileges, providing a much higher standard of privacy than unencrypted email currently used by many counsel.

Ø      Adopting a single system makes it easier to transfer key information when there is turnover in the law department or outside firm.  It also facilitates compliance with document retention policies.

Ø      Documents previously generated by or for the law department, such as commonly used forms, can be shared across multiple law firms online, so that outside counsel don’t waste time and money reinventing the wheel. 

Bon Voyage: Will the System You Choose Be Around in the Future?

As happens with most new technologies, e-billing vendors are consolidating.  Some vendors have been sold to larger companies.  Others have left the business.  Recent surveys show that for some vendors, many of their customers would not recommend their systems, clouding their long-term viability.  Several years ago, Hummingbird Ltd. created shockwaves throughout the legal software industry when it announced that it would stop selling and supporting the Law-Pack® matter management system has been used by most Fortune 100 law departments and many smaller law departments.

Although you can’t predict the future, your due diligence should include an assessment of the growth and future prospects of potential vendors.  One key indicator of stability is growth rate:  How many law departments and law firms have come onto the system during the past two years?

 

Find out whether the vendor is experiencing steady growth, struggling to maintain its current position, or declining.  Also request information about changes in management, ownership, revenues, debt, and profitability, with an eye on whether the trends are positive or negative.  Management’s general plans for the future may be illuminating.  Ask about plans for both the business entity and the technology, and assess the extent of control by outside investors or a parent company that may step in to discontinue an underperforming platform.

 

Finally, talking with other system users should make it clear whether the vendor has a growing platform with enthusiastic users and provides system enhancements that respond to their needs.  The frequency and the scope of past upgrades, as well as plans for future upgrades may be good indications of whether the vendor has the necessary resources to meet the evolving needs of the profession.  Your careful assessment of these factors will help ensure that you will be able to reap the benefits of a system long after you select a vendor. 

Are You Ready to Catch the Rising Tide?

As companies expect their law departments to manage outside counsel more systematically, electronic billing has become an essential management function.  In addition to saving time and money, today’s technology gives in-house counsel better control over the work being done by outside counsel, as well as helping the law department meet its growing compliance obligations.  If you take the time to understand your e-billing options and perform thorough due diligence before selecting a system, managing your legal spending can be smooth sailing for years to come.

 Advantages and Disadvantages

E-Billing System
Advantages	Disadvantages
Streamline paper and/or payment remittance costs: This system offers direct cost savings by eliminating paper and postage.	The majority of businesses are still relying on paper money for most of their daily transactions, even though services with all its advantages, is currently offered at the market.
Includes a database that is configured to store account information of a plurality of customers in a database	Electronic payments do not contain information in a convenient form offer limited benefits to biller and companies have not actively promoted this approach.
To generate additional revenue: The significant cost of processing 16 billion standard bills each year has prompted several technology companies to investigate ways to capture some of this business.	Billers must continue to send out paper copies of bills every month, a costly process, and the remittance information is not returned along with  payment, making it difficult for billers to reconcile their accounts receivable
Developers of e-billing system have proposed offering their services to billers for about $0.32 per transaction. In addition system operators will not charge customers and banks will be assessed at most- a small fee.	Industry sources estimate that, on average, it costs a biller about $.90 print and mail bill and to process a customer's personal check and remittance information.
By improving  customer service and providing with a much affordable fee structure, e-billers hope that there will be more participation	Because of the resistance of both billers and customers to using existing automated systems, electronic bill payment has thus far achieved only limited popularity.
E-billing can be expected to speed up the collection of funds: Delivery of bills and remittances are not going to be subject to delays in the mail and customers will be able to pay their invoices electronically via electronic funds transfer.	If e-billing is adopted on a large scale, the main beneficiaries will naturally be the system operators, who stand to earn sizable revenues and potentially high profits on their investments. Moreover, given the historical resistance of individuals to banking innovations, it is unlikely that a large share of a billers’ customers would immediately forgo writing checks
An e-billing service should prove attractive to households that already own personal computers and internet access. These households would save postage	For households that do not already own a personal computer, the cost of purchasing this equipment and monthly internet access could be a deterrent to participating in an e-billing system.
Due to the fact that time of payment receipt is more predictable under electronic system than under a paper-based system, households could pay bills closer to the due date and still avoid late fees.	Should households believe that e-billing permits companies to create detailed databases on their spending patterns, they may be reluctant to adopt this payment innovation. They may be afraid of not having their information protected from possible hackers.
Based on the high cost of acquiring new accounts, firms may be willing to bear added expenses of providing some extra benefits in order to solidify existing customer relationships. As a result, billers may offer e-billing as a payment options even if it is more costly than the traditional billing process.	No cost equals (means) unawareness (no awareness): For some e-billing systems, law firm managers may not realize that a specific e-billing system is being used by their firms because, unlike different vendors, there is no charge to use the system. E-billing does not rise to awareness of many because this system does not necessarily cause the firm to change its internal bill approval procedures; it is conceivable that only billing clerks at some firms need to know that e-billing is happening.

Questionnaire ^[13]

1)      Law firms total, and how many of our firms, submit electronic bills through your system?

2)      Which law departments are on your system?  Which law departments have stopped using it and why?

3)      Which law departments using your system are receiving electronic bills from all of their law firms/other vendors (large and small, foreign and domestic)?

4)      How long before we will receive electronic bills from all of our firms?

5)      How long are training sessions (law department and law firm)?  How does the vendor conduct them?

6)      What is required for law firms to submit their bills (LEDES, non-LEDES, UTMBS codes, user/rate lists, bill narrative terms, customizations)?

7)      What specific bill audits do you provide?  How do our reviewers handle them? How do you avoid false positives (audits that waste reviewers’ time)?

8)      How do you handle bills in foreign currencies, VAT, and occasional paper bills?

9)      How do you track law department time and expenses?  How do you transmit invoice approval data to our A/P System for payment?

10)  How do you enforce budget requirements and manage budgets?

11)  How do we build and reforecast our law department budget from the information in your system?

12)  How is the history of data modifications auditable for compliance purposes?

13)  How can we create customizable reports in the system?  How do we export our data for further analysis or presentations?

14)  How can we process and report on important non-billing information from our firms (documents, status, deadlines, exposure estimates, results, and so forth)?

15)  How does your system enforce our requirements of budgets, exposure estimates, regular status updates, and so forth?  Are such requirements tied to the acceptance of bills?

16)  What specific upgrades have you implemented during the past two years?  What are your plans for future upgrades?

17)  What security, backups, and disaster recovery plans do you have in place to safeguard our data?  What guarantees do you make regarding system uptime?18)  What is the total system cost to the law department, and to all of our law firms, in the first, second, and third years?

19)  How many new law departments and law firms have you added to your system during the past two years?  Are you profitable?  Who owns your company, and what is their commitment to your e-billing platform? 

Frequently Asked Questions from Wesleyan University ^[14] 

Ø      I pay my tuition using the 10-month payment plan administered by Key Education Resources.  How will E-Billing affect this?

Ø      Once you have signed up for the monthly payment program (MPP), you will receive printed bills from Key according to the budget you have established.  You need to review your Wesleyan E-Bill to ensure that your MPP budget covers all of your expenses.  When additional charges appear on your Wesleyan E-Bill, you can pay that balance

Ø      May I still receive a paper bill?

Ø      Wesleyan University has designated E-Billing as the official system for distributing Student Account Statements.  If a student or the person primarily responsible for paying student bills is unable to use the E-Billing system for a specific reason, a student may apply to receive paper bills each term by submitting a Paper Bill Request Form, (available online at the Student Accounts Web site —ww.wesleyan.edu/student accounts) or by submitting a written request to the Student Accounts Office, demonstrating the need for.

Ø      Can I see immediate account charges or credits on the E-Billing Web site?

Ø      No. The E-Billing system simply delivers the current bill electronically.  Please see the

Ø      I do not feel comfortable making payments online. How should I pay my bill?

Ø      You can still view the Student Account Statement online without having to make online payments. Your best options are to print the bill and mail in your payment stub and check to the address on the printed bill, or to come to the Student      -- Accounts cashier window in North College. We hope that you will try the online payment feature of the Wesleyan E-Billing system. It is quick, convenient, secure (certified by VeriSign, the nation’s largest online payment verification provider), and you won’t have to pay

Ø      Do I need a certain type of computer, software, or Web browser to use E-Billing?

Ø      You can use the Wesleyan E-Billing system from any Macintosh or PC running Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.1. or newer,

Ø      Can I have my E-Bill sent to my personal e-mail account instead of my Wesleyan e-mail account?

Ø      All students at Wesleyan University are automatically provided an official Wesleyan e-mail address upon admission. University policy requires all students to regularly check messages sent to their Wesleyan e-mail address. In the E-Billing system, students also have the option to add a secondary e-mail address for E-Billing notification by updating their User Preferences. Once a second e-mail address is entered and saved, notification

Ø      Do you accept credit cards?

Ø      Wesleyan University does not accept credit card payments for undergraduate or graduation____

Interview with David Cambria, Director of Operations, Law Department, Aon Corporation ^[15]

E-Billing: A Critical Component for Effectively Managing Global Legal Operations

Editor: Please tell us what Aon does and the origin of its name.

Cambria: Aon was named after the Gaelic word for “oneness.”  We bring together leading professionals working across multiple disciplines to provide risk management service, insurance, reinsurance brokerage, human capital, and management consulting.  We have approximately 500 offices in 120 different countries. The law department is made up of approximately 250 professionals working from 17 countries.

Editor: How is Aon's legal department structured?

Cambria: There is a central reporting line up to Cam Findlay, our Executive Vice-President and General Counsel, who manages the legal department out of our headquarters in Chicago.  In addition to our headquarters in Chicago, we have three additional regional offices that oversee our international operations and report directly to Cam.  They include our London office which handles the work in the UK region, our Rotterdam, Netherlands office which works on our European and Middle Eastern matters and our APAC office, which oversees our legal matters in Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.  

Editor: What challenges does Aon face as a result of managing its legal department on a global scale?

Cambria: Much of Aon’s growth and geographic reach has come through acquisition. Many of these acquisitions had very mature operations.  They had become very accustomed to doing things a certain way and because of that, had institutionalized different process and technologies to advance their operations.  On top of that we have the added challenge that multiple languages and multiple time zones present. Cam determined very early on that much efficiency were to be had through implementation of uniform process for data collection, standardization of our operations and better visibility into the individual global offices.  Furthermore all the things that make Aon an exciting and dynamic company to be a part of (different customs and cultures combined with a diverse workforce) also mean that there are a lot of factors to consider in every decision.  For example, how does the implementation of a new process or policy mesh with local laws, customs and work style.  Tactically a global rollout of any new initiative means paying particular attention to the logistics involved in operating globally.  Requirement gathering, system design and training all take on added complexity when you throw multiple languages and expansive geographic reach into the mix. Finally, we all know that no change is easy, especially one with a global reach.  Commitment and leadership at the highest levels of the organization is a necessity to facilitate a change of this magnitude.  Luckily for us, through Cam’s vision and leadership we were able to build support and excitement for our global initiative throughout the entire executive suite.

Editor: How does an electronic invoicing and legal spend management solution allow Aon to achieve those objectives?

Cambria: We have various accounts payable systems, collecting data in many currencies, which complicated our ability to operate with a centralized program.  We were also dealing with various types of invoices ranging from very detailed invoices to those with little information.  By incorporating an e-billing system into our operations we have been able to enter invoices into a centralized location in a consistent manner.  That has greatly improved our data collection process and allowed us to make better decisions with respect to managing the legal department - thanks in large part to the richness and granularity of the data.

Editor: What were your main criteria in selecting an electronic invoicing and legal spend management vendor?

Cambria: When looking for a vendor, we knew that we would need to partner with someone who could negotiate through some complex problems.  Aon has grown through considerable acquisitions of companies that had their own IT systems and methods for managing their invoices.  We needed someone who could work with us and help us integrate those systems into one common platform for the entire company.Given our international presence, we also needed a system that could operate with multiple currency types and respond to the compliance needs of our different offices.  For example, a rule limiting the price for copies to 10 cents per page makes sense in the U.S. but that would not translate well in our UK or Rotterdam offices.  Also, the program had to take into account the different tax requirements at the national, state or provincial level within the countries where we operate.  Other compliance issues we had to consider include the data privacy issues in Europe, and local rules concerning the adjustment of final invoices.  Since DataCert has worked with other clients with global operations, they understood these intricacies and could help provide a solution that would allow us to comply with those requirements while working with the invoices in a manner we were accustomed to.

Editor: Why was it important to integrate your legal spending management solution with matter management and accounts payable systems?

Cambria: We were very interested in having a system that provided a consistent perspective of our yearly legal expenses on a real time basis.  When dealing with multiple time zones, locations, and languages, it does not make sense to have a manual system for data collection.  We knew that we would be better off with a system that automated the process so we could focus more on the data as it entered the centralized location. With this in place, I am able to pull up our legal expenses at any time across the country.  Additionally, it allows us to estimate what is probable with respect to our contingent liabilities.  Tying our e-billing, matter management and accounts payable system into our e-billing system provides richness and granularity to those numbers.

Editor: What improvements have been made to the business processes as a result of implementing DataCert's Advanced Invoice Management System (AIMS)?

Cambria: If you think about e-billing as a multi-tiered solution to improving spend management, then you need to look at the entire operation from workflow through reporting.  As for work flow, it has allowed us to automate that process.  It moves the data throughout the organization in a more streamlined and simple fashion.  AIMS allows me to set approval chains, work flow rules and all sorts of processes that make everything more efficient.  We are then able to gather more detailed information for billing analysis and make more informed decisions on what a particular matter should cost and whether it makes sense to settle sooner rather than later.  Lastly, insights into outside counsel spend and matter trends allow us to more actively manage our relationships with outside counsel.

Editor: What AIMS features have proved to be the most beneficial for Aon's legal department business process?

Cambria: The ability to handle multiple currencies and to apply location-specific rules to our invoices has been most valuable.  The system’s automated adjustments reduce the time we spend reviewing invoices, which is another added value.  If you consider the number of law firm invoices we receive on a worldwide basis, they all use their own formats and contain different information.  The ability to convert them into a consistent format has also proven invaluable.  It offers certainty that our invoices contain higher levels of information and detail.

Editor: Aon's e-invoicing and legal spend management solution is set up in a unique manner. Please explain how Aon uses a hosted solution, yet still retains its data behind the corporate firewall. What security advantages does this give Aon?

Cambria: We use a hosted provider for our AIMS system and maintain the majority of our data inside our firewall for added protection.  Our invoices are sent in an encrypted format which we are able to decode once they pass through our firewall.  Aon personnel can then access the information from any of our locations. Our IT security group examined the entire system before we implemented it.  Once they understood how the system worked with respect to our internal IT infrastructure, they were satisfied with the solution’s security, safety and risk mitigating components.  The security advantages of this type of architecture are consistent, allowing monitoring combined with ease of access for our global user base.

Editor: Is Aon able to report on its legal spending? If so, what reports have been the most valuable for operation savings?

Cambria: We have not been using the system long enough to be able to benchmark our specific results.  However, during my career as a consultant I have seen how valuable the reports generated through an e-billing system can be.  For example, by understanding in which phases of litigation you are spending the most money, you can then reevaluate your strategic planning around early case assessment in order to save money.  The reports also allow you to track how many hours are being billed on each matter across all of our offices (a feat near impossible with manual review).  By tracking how many matters a law firm is handling, we are better able to manage the work being done so that more routine projects are handled by associates rather than partners.  It allows you to be more proactive with outside counsel.

Editor: What is Aon’s anticipated percentage of savings per year since you have implemented your legal spending management solution?

Cambria: We expect to save between three and seven percent and expect that savings to grow over time as we have more of our legal expenses pass through the system.  By having fewer people reviewing the invoices, fewer man hours spent locating lost invoices, and less money spent on copies and postage we will also see more soft cost savings.  Taken together these savings will grow exponentially over time.

Editor: So far, has the AIMS system met your expectations?

Cambria: It has. During the sales process, I appreciated the management of expectations on both sides.  We were then able to evaluate the product and develop a road map to fit its features and functions into our spend management planning.  We have been able to develop a partnership with DataCert where we can both work together to develop solutions to our problems.

Editor: What advice would you give to companies interested in e-invoicing and legal spend management solutions?

Cambria: For those considering implementing an e-billing solution, the return on investment is absolutely there because of the real savings that you will realize in both hard and soft costs.  Go for it!  E-billing implementations are straightforward but not necessarily simple.  In order to maximize the benefits of e-billing you have to start with a strong and consistent process in place for managing invoices, and outside counsel.

If a legal department does not have the subject matter expertise in-house to implement this program, go out and get an outside consultant.  We used Huron Consulting Group, and their experience and expertise proved invaluable as we worked through the various aspects of the implementation.  It was an investment well worth it.  Remember everyday you are not live with e-billing is a day you are not realizing savings.  Once e-billing comes into place and is linked to various systems such as matter management and A/P, there will be a whole new group of people in the organization who will be interested in the information the system can provide.  For instance, the law department will be able to manage costs, internal auditors can test internal controls, and accountants will have integrity built into the reporting system.  Finally in-house clients suddenly realize that they now have insight into past and future spending trends and will be able to manage them before they happen.

E-Filing

Definition

What is an Electronic Case Filing System? ^[16] 

Electronic Case Filing System (ECFS) is an automated system that is designed to allow parties to submit, view, process, and exchange information electroncially regarding cases that are being handled by the courts.  ECFS was initially designed to enable Law Enforcement Agencies to submit Offense Reports to a District Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution.

Many courts are exploring significant upgrades to Electronic Case Filing Systems that will enable them to cut costs and improve efficiencies with the processing of cases.  Several courts across the counrty are currently in discussions about the possibility of creating a collaborative project via a TechShare Program.  This would enable several courts across not only county lines, but state lines to communicate and share information regarding histories of individuals that have been arrested, case hostroies and other important documentation that would improve the legal process within our country’s court system.In addition to the current functionality available in ECFS, many courts are requesting that the following features be incorporated into future versions:

Ø      Bail Bond Management

Ø      Trial Management

Ø      Plea Management

Ø      Appeals Management

Ø      Court Proceedings

Ø      Judgment and Sentence

Ø      Warrant Management

Ø      Victim Management

Ø      Reporting  

File and serve legal documents without leaving your desk ^[17] 

Why spend your valuable time copying, collating and delivering legal documents when One Legal offers a better alternative?  Just select our reliable online court filing, service of process or court research options and let us take care of these costly, labor-intensive steps for you.  Choose from:

Ø      Court Filing – Choose goFILE®, which offers physical delivery of your court filings on a same-day basis*, or directFILE®, our lowest-cost electronic court filing service. directFILE is available only in courts that allow you to eFile court documents.

Ø      Service of Process – One Legal guarantees timely, professional service of process with a first attempt on a same-day, 48 hours or 72 hours basis. Choose goSERVE® to have your documents delivered in person, or directSERVE®, our eService option that lets you serve 100 or more parties simultaneously.

Ø      Court Research – Through our goSEARCH® service, our staff will go to the court, pull the file, copy the requested case file and fax, mail or overnight the copies to you.

One Legal, Inc. – Electronic Court Filing Firm - Joins eFiling for Courts (Press Release pdf) ^[18]

Development

The term electronic filing has many meanings, and depending on whom you speak with, you will likely learn a new definition. In various courts throughout the U.S., and within the legal community, we find that there are many aspects of electronic filing. The causes for the wide variation in meanings are due to different philosophies of the developers, different laws governing each state, and the methods used to address the issues. More firms are going digital, eliminating as much paper as they can and working to reap efficiencies from those processes, according to data reported by respondents to Accounting Office Management & Administration Report (AOMAR) 2008 CPA Firm Practice Management Survey.  According to the American Bar Associations Legal Technology Resource Center, electronic filing or e-filing is a method of filing court documents that uses an electronic format rather than a traditional paper format. Parties convert their documents into the file format designated by the court and file their documents via email or over the Internet. Filing systems range from systems created and supported by the specific court to systems outsourced to private vendors. By reducing courier and copying fees, use of paper, and staff time, E-Filing can be a tremendous cost savings. ^[19]

Twenty-six states have adopted court rules enabling e-filing statewide or in at least one court, according to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). By the end of 2007, all federal courts are expected to offer e-filing. The Court Management/Electronic Court Filing system (CM/ECF) is currently in 98 percent of federal courts, 92 district courts, 93 bankruptcy courts, the Court of International Trade, the Court of Federal Claims, and several others. ^[20]

E-filing systems currently being implemented have at least three operational components to them:

1)      The ability to file pleadings and other court documents, including new actions, through a courts ponsored Internet interface;

2)      The ability to electronically access the court's docket, and retrieve copies of court filed documents; and

3)      The ability to track case progress, and scheduling information online.

With over 90 million cases filed in the nation's 17,500 courts every year, more than 1.5 billion documents are generated in U.S. state courts. Increasing storage and handling costs force courts to cut corners to deal with this ever-increasing mountain of paperwork. More than $2.5 billion is spent annually on storage alone; $11 billion is spent on delivering documents to the court; court personnel expenditures associated with paper filing account for as much as 90% of a court's operating budget. Overworked judges, court administrators, court clerks, and attorneys are forced to deal with the delays of a paper-based system. Files get lost, time is spent shuffling paper, cases are delayed, and most importantly, justice is delayed. ^[21]

The American Bar Association recommends the following providers of E-Filing services:

Counterclaim 

Counterclaim's openEFM is an open source electronic filing system that court systems may purchase. Counterclaim has developed innovative judicial information management solutions to help courts deal with this judicial logjam. The counterclaim solutions allow court staff and attorneys to use their time more efficiently. From the desk of the attorney to the desk of the judge, judicial information travels electronically. Cases and documents are no longer lost, less paper is generated, and workflow becomes more efficient as less staff is needed to handle documents.  Click here for a video presentation

CXCorporation

CXCorporation's CXn is a court-specific case management, electronic filing, and electronic internet docketing system.  CX Corporation is an advanced court technology "Research and Development" Company. CX has developed many new innovations in the trial court arena. Our primary focus in product development is to provide the most advanced technologies to the trial courts. We design our technologies and services to complement the practices of law and the courts while maintaining the respectful tradition of the legal industry.

E-Filing

E-Filing's EDAR system is a electronic filing and docket management solution that court systems may purchase. E-Filing's One Click E-Filing allows attorneys and others to quickly create and file court documents. E-Filing offers state-of-the-art technology that allows attorneys to process important legal documents electronically online. Filing cases electronically reduces the cost of filing drastically, eliminating much of the paper handling involved, and allows the courts to function more efficiently. In addition, E-Filing.com's electronic filing process makes it possible for documents to be submitted to the courts twenty-four hours a day from any location with Internet access.

LawPlace 

A web-based electronic filing solution that court systems may purchase.  To use directFILE® or directSERVE®, you simply log in to the One Legal system, upload your documents and in seconds your assignment is sent through our secure gateway. There's no need to print, collate multiple copies and hand deliver your documents, saving you both time and money. Other benefits include:  Immediate order confirmation from One Legal; file-stamped copy upon acceptance by the court clerk, Advance filing fees for easier billing, 24/7 status updates through our online system, Unlimited pages for a low, flat fee, Later deadlines - in some jurisdictions, when the court is closed, Serve one or 100 parties simultaneously.

LexisNexis File & Serve 

An Internet-hosted electronic filing and docket solution for law firms and court systems.

Improve access to documents and maximize court resources:

Ability to maximize resources, Documents immediately available online, Judicial-grade security. Courts across the country are using electronic filing with LexisNexis File & Serve to improve litigation management:

Ø      Improve access to information

Ø      Increase court efficiencies

Ø      Customize features to meet your courts unique needs

An Internet-hosted solution with no need to purchase, install or download software, LexisNexis File & Serve offers:

Ø      Online case file management and storage

Ø      An automated intake process

Ø      Online Clerk and Judge Review capabilities

Ø      Judicial level infrastructure security

Ø      And complete integration with CMS/DMS applications

Ø      Solutions for self-represented litigants

Improve litigation support and gain more control over case file management: File electronically with the court, Serve all parties electronically in seconds, Access documents-in your cases and others in the online repository, Stay on top of case activity with monitoring tools.

LexisNexis® File & Serve Case-Based E-service

Law firms use LexisNexis File & Serve Case-Based E-service to gain more convenience and control over managing key support functions throughout the litigation life cycle, including service of pleadings and the exchange of documents throughout the discovery phase and beyond.

LexisNexis File & Serve Case-Based E-service offers the following benefits:

Streamline delivery of court-filed and other litigation-related documents.  Traditional service typically involves lots of people moving lots of paper—which can mean added cost and risk for law firms. With LexisNexis File & Serve you streamline delivery—law firms serve documents electronically using a secure, password-protected Web site.

Ø      Law firms post documents to a shared online case file

Ø      Firms receive immediate notification when documents are served and can access them online

Improve access to documents and other important case information. LexisNexis File & Serve offers you much more than quick, no-hassle service. It also improves the way you access case file information:

Ø      Access proof of service online

Ø      Law firms share an online case file repository

Ø      Available via a password-protected Internet connection 24/7

Enhance case monitoring. LexisNexis File & Serve also helps you stay on top of case activity:

Ø      Create automated Alerts to monitor new activity in the online case files

Ø      Search the online case files—yours and others in the File & Serve repository

LexisNexis® File & Serve Court-Based E-filing and Service

File & Serve helps law firms gain more convenience and control over key support functions throughout the litigation life cycle, including the filing and service of initial pleadings and the exchange of documents throughout the discovery phase and beyond.

File & Serve Court-based E-filing and Service offers the following benefits:

Streamline delivery of court-filed and other litigation-related documents.  Traditional filing and service typically involves lots of people moving lots of paper, which can mean added cost and risk for law firms. File & Serve allows law firms to save time and reduce errors by implementing electronic filing and service via a secure Web site.

Improve access to court documents and other important case information.  File & Serve offers you much more than quick, no-hassle filing and service of process. It also provides 24/7 access to documents, court records, proof of service and more in a searchable, password-protected online case repository.

Enhance case monitoring.  File & Serve helps you stay on top of new activity in online case files with automated email alerts.

Courts across the country are improving access to documents and maximizing resources with LexisNexis File & Serve e-filing solutions. Real time access to publicly-available court documents for: The general public, Media organizations, Researchers, Law firms not involved in e-filing or e-service cases and offers them the opportunity to get real-time access to publicly-available court documents in courts across the country.

Tybera

Tybera's eFlex is a electronic filing product that court systems may purchase. eFlex allows attorneys using standard tools such as MS Word or WordPerfect to create court filings and then, through the use of its web services, submit their filings to the court. eFlex is an eFiling product built on recommendations published by COSCA and NCSC, using the LegalXML ECF v1.1 proposal. All case types are accepted whether criminal, civil, or juvenile. eFlex supports the option to include individual digital signatures as well. The entire filing is secured for document integrity, long term evidence protection and authentication. Courts control the collection of filing fees because eFlex can integrate to multiple payment systems. Filing fees are processed and communicated to the CMS automatically and are then reported to the court accounting system and the clerk's daily journal.  Clerk review procedures can either be automated or configured for clerk intervention. Additional features such as auto-conversion to PDF and TIFF with the ability to apply court seals, digitized signatures, and date & time stamp can be included as well. In addition to the web interface, eFlex supports two-way automation, which allows the court to accept filings, assign a date, judge, and docket time, and then send a digital receipt back to the attorney. Attorneys also have the option of integrating eFlex into their case and document management systems for complete end-to-end automation

Electronic filing is no longer a dream. Sending lawsuits, motions, decisions and orders via email is a reality on the verge of revolutionizing how lawyers and courts interact. E-filing will also help courts manage the mountains of paper filings and retained records. 

E-filing is a symbiotic relationship, which will benefit litigants and court systems alike. In large cities, courts are overwhelmed with personnel and storage expenses for the millions of documents filed and saved by clerk's offices. In the same way attorneys no longer need large offices and rooms for case law, courts will store data electronically and thereby reduce the need for space and personnel to care for and provide public access to court files. The ability to store and access filings, motions, decisions and orders in electronic format should allow courts to spend money on more pressing needs and concerns than mere storage space.

While the cost benefit to litigants remains to be seen, the fiscal impact on courts should be substantial and a great benefit to all concerned. The question is not whether these e-filing systems will work. They are clearly the future of our court systems. The key to the implementation and use of these systems will be to make them as user friendly as possible.

E-filing has substantial advantages over traditional paper filings, and the full-scale adoption of this efficient process will lead to even more radical changes in the judicial system.  No one system will fit every county or state, as various state and county customs, practices and rules will dictate some flexibility and require approval by State Supreme Courts. Nevertheless, e-filing is here to stay. How attorneys adapt to it and whether the public accepts it will depend on court officials and attorneys working together to make the systems user-friendly. But once e-filing is in place, paper filings and trips to the courthouse will be as outdated as the horse-and-buggy. ^[22]

Outcomes

E-Filing Systems in our Society: Finally embraced? 

E-Filling System in the Legal System: Expansion in State, Local, and Federal Courts

Sharing Knowledge, Sharing a Story 

In order to first describe what the future trends are for E-Filing Systems, it is important to point out the dramatic impact aroused there from.  A study, titled “How Much Information” published in 2000  by the faculty and students at the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California - at Berkeley - reported the following: The world produces between 1 and 2 Exabytes of unique information per year, which is roughly 250 megabytes for every man, woman, and child on earth. An Exabyte is a billion gigabytes, or 1018 bytes. Printed documents of all kinds comprise only .003% of the total. Magnetic storage is, by far, the largest medium for storing information and it is the most rapidly growing, with shipped hard drive capacity doubling every year. Magnetic storage is rapidly becoming the universal medium for information storage.

It is - at first- startling to read that only .003% of the unique information produced annually by the world is in printed documents. Startling or not, the statistic provides a perspective of what information currently exists only in electronic form. It also raises a serious question of why we only beginning to hear about electronic filing now

Future Trends

Courts 

E-filing is on the rise in state, local, and federal courts. Courts have a series of choices to make when planning e-filing: voluntary versus mandatory participation; alternative business approaches of e-filing; single e-filing service provider versus multiple providers; and packaged versus in-house solutions.

Number of States Adopting E-filing Court Rules

Twenty-six states have adopted court rules enabling e-filing statewide or in at least one court. Most states started with a pilot project and then expanded to statewide e-filing. By the end of 2007, all federal courts are expected to offer e-filing; the implementation process takes about ten months.  The Court Management/Electronic Court Filing system (CM/ECF) is currently in use in 98 percent of the federal courts: 92 district courts, 93 bankruptcy courts, the Court of International Trade, the Court of Federal Claims, the Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, and the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the 10th Circuit. Almost 27 million cases are on CM/ECF systems, and more than 250,000 attorneys and others have filed documents over the Internet. Most of the courts that have implemented or are in the process of implementing CM/ECF have made the electronic record the official record of the court and expect filings to be made electronically unless good cause is shown.

Voluntary versus Mandatory Participation in E-filing

A common approach to e-filing by courts has been “Build it and they will come,” Believing that attorneys would use e-filing if it were available. People are generally not motivated to do something different if the usual situation produces the usual results. A few courts have achieved widespread adoption through education and on-site training at law firms and paralegal schools, supported by toll-free or online help or tutorials. Other courts have achieved only a relatively small degree of participation through strictly voluntary participation. A number of jurisdictions have achieved widespread adoption starting with a single complex case (e.g., mass tort), a case type with many parties (e.g., construction or shareholder litigation), or a single judge’s caseload. Unable to cope with a high volume of paper filings or seeking merely to demonstrate success, the jurisdictions were motivated to mandate e-filing in one case or case type, and then expand it to others. In some jurisdictions, e-filing was presumptive,” requiring good cause for not using it or making appropriate allowances for special situations. In all jurisdictions mandating e-filing, provision –

Law Firms 

An important incentive for lawyers and court staff to use an electronic filing system is the ability to electronically deliver documents as official service copies. These rules are intended to apply to the routine subsequent service of documents following service of process on defendants (service of process will still require a process server or sheriff to physically serve or subpoena parties). Having service performed electronically enhances the efficiency of the legal process. Jurisdictions that currently require a certificate of service may be able to eliminate this requirement for documents served electronically because the service recipient information is automatically included as part of the electronic transaction for parties served electronically. Consent by registered users to accept electronic service may be optional or required depending on the scope of the court’s e-file project. Consent will also depend on the tiers of functionality provided by the service provider.

People 

On balance citizens should be markedly advantaged with the widespread adoption of e-filing. Citizen access to governmental agencies and judiciary will be broadened, and invoking the processes of the agencies and the courts will be made much easier and less expensive for most individuals. Interaction by private citizens with governmental agencies and the judiciary will be much more convenient and less time-consuming. On-line payment of traffic tickets, filing of small claim actions, obtaining permits (or certificates or licenses) and other interactions that now cause the loss of a half-day to a day of work are being transitioned to on-line.65 Consequently, citizens can avoid personal appearances, time-wasting queues or other inconveniences

E-Filing – On the path towards its acceptance? 

Successful implementation of e-filing requires careful planning by the court and education of the bar.  A number of courts have made e-filing available, but it may not be widely used unless the court develops a strategy to encourage its use in the jurisdiction or mandates its use. E-filing is surely “the wave of the future” and will save money and time for both courts and attorneys.

E-filing is not about simply making it possible to transmit information electronically. It is about a change in the basic infrastructure used by citizens and the government to deal with one another. If the government continues enthusiastic adoption of electronic information technology, radical changes are going to occur. Since the creation of courts and administrative agencies, many political candidates have campaigned and won elections by promising massive changes in the way the government services the people. Most of those same politicians have failed because of the strength of these governmental institutions and their resistance to any effort to change them. Turf wars between branches of government and among agencies have hampered even the most obviously needed effort to coordinate the actions of the myriad of local, state and federal bodies—all created to meet the same perceived need. Maybe the potential of e-filing will serve as the missing catalyst for such coordination. Maybe e-filing will inflict the most powerful blow yet against the desire of many to stop government intrusion into the life of citizens. Will e-filing be the catalyst, the intruder or both? It’s too soon to tell.

E-File & Serve – For Cost-Saving Purposes 

The illustration below outlines the filing and service of one 15-page document on one opposing attorney and is based upon U.S Mail, FedEx or Legal Runner Service. When the process and cost of electronic filing and electronic serving is compared to the traditional process and costs of filing and serving, the convenience and savings are undeniable!