E-filing rules
July 1st, 2009 by Paul Garmer“The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” – Bill Gates
Communication is one of the primary tools that most businesses use today in servicing their customers. This is true for law offices almost more than anyone; since they are in constant communication with various organizations and individuals daily. Thus it is important to note that Texas has opened up a way of filing that takes the effort out of this form of communication and to service public access needs. This method is called “E-filing”, not to be confused with “electronic filing” which is in reference to the process of filing through fax.
The details of E-filing can be found at http://www.courts.state.tx.us/jcit/efiling/efilinghome.asp. Though several rules govern the process of E-filing there are some that you should be aware of. Such as: On both county and district documents that require signatures that are notarized, verified, acknowledged, sworn to or made under oath, these documents must be filed as scanned images. Any additional document that requires a similar signature or any affidavit must also be a scanned image. Additionally the court may also require these documents to be filed in the traditional manner with the district or county clerk. These rules are detailed in section 3 of the rules template from the Judicial Committee on Information Technology website.
Along with E-filing come the options and rules of E-service which is detailed in Section 5 of the E-filing rules template for both County and District courts. One of the most notable rules is that once a document has been E-filed it does not need to be E-Served unless ordered so by the court. A second notable rule is that a party may E-serve documents regardless of them having been E-filed. Lastly, one rule that varies slightly from the verbiage in O’Connor’s Texas Rules and that of the White paper detailing the county and district rules set is that: Documents can be E-served only when the recipient party has agreed to be served electronically or by court order. At the time of this article we have also been informed that Denton County has implemented E-filing but the rules have not been adopted so items like E-service may not yet be permissible.
Since many of our clients serve in the legal industry or have dealings within it; we thought it was best to make everyone aware of the option of E-filing/E-service as a way of easing and supporting your businesses’ communication. Since communication is very important we feel that it is our duty to pass along what we know to all of you. If you would like more information about E-filing and E-service we have included links to the resources that we used as reference materials for this article.
JCIT Electronic Filing homepage
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/jcit/efiling/efilinghome.asp#
E-Filing Rules template for District Courts
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/jcit/Efiling/pdf/Localelectronicfilingrulestemplate(districtcourt).pdf
E-Filing Rules template for County Courts
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/jcit/Efiling/pdf/Localelectronicfilingrulestemplate(countycourt).pdf