Minnesota civil litigators, their clients, and the public have been the beneficiaries of electronic case filing (“ECF”) in federal court for several years now. ECF has likely been a significant savings for firms and clients, has been useful for the news media, and has also been profitable for the court system (somewhat controversially). (Who loses out? The U.S. Post Office and Dunder Mifflin.)
Soon, we hope that a similar system will be devised for the state court system. For now, per the recent Minnesota Supreme Court’s order, the pilot program is limited to six select law firms (and opposing firms and parties).
What about public access?
A document electronically filed or served using the E-Filing System under this order shall be accessible as provided in the applicable court rules and statutes, including the Rules of Public Access to Records of the Judicial Branch…