Expert to American Bar Association: eFiling a Way Out of Budget Crisis for Courts
Posted by Eric Winkler on Thu, Jul 28, 2011 @ 11:00 AM
The American Bar Association (ABA) Journal asked 10 experts for their opions on how the nation's courts can navigate their way through what may be the most severe budget crisis they have faced to date. One of the answers that made the list of 10 recommendations was to embrace eFiling as a way to make courts more accessible and efficient.
Photo Credit: Carol Vinzant
The article notes that the National Center for State Courts estimates that the judicial systems in more than half the states face a financial crisis. ABA President Stephen N. Zack stated in the article, "The potential to lose the rule of law in our country is very real.”
Dorthy Brown, clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill, inherited a 2,100-employee operation that's only second in size to the clerk's office in Los Angeles County when she was elected to the position in 2000. Being a proponent of digitalization, Brown quickly introduced eFiling in Cook County. The county plans to have eFiling available for all civil cases except probate and condemnation by February 2012.
"We're not trying to take people's jobs away, but everybody's trying to save money," said Brown.
While Brown is reluctant to state actual cost savings, she does tell the ABA Journal that she's been able to reassign clerks and runners to other duties or simply allow attrition to do away with certain jobs, a luxury not shared by California courts issuing pink slips this month. In California, where the state has cut $350 million from the courts' operations budget, there's no time to wait for attrition to ease the budget crunch.
Brown's recommendation may motivate court executives across the state to consider a "spend to save" strategy in which they invest in an eFiling system in the short term with the goal of bringing long-term, sustained efficiencies and savings to their courts. Brown advises that the first step may be as simple as just being open to change.
"Just not being afraid of technology has been a big help," added Brown.