Some attorneys in California are filing all of their court papers from their laptops. I’ve heard critics with questions about this even being possible. My own experience shows that it is possible. Here are my six tips for filing online with every county in the state of California. Keep in mind, I’m CEO for an online filing company. I have a bias, but I don’t mind saying what I like about other services.
1) Instead of trying to file through multiple court websites use a single vendor. These vendors cover courts across California. Some online vendors like Lawdex and OneLegal handle them all. Others like LexisNexis are on their way to directly handling most.
2) What can you expect? You’ll log on, fill out an online form, attach your documents, include credit card info, and press send. Once it’s filed you’ll receive back the date-stamped copy.
3) End-to-end electronic filing has arrived for only a few counties in California. So how do these companies deliver statewide? After you press send, your filing arrives with a document runner at an accredited attorney service firm. The runner prints your filing and walks it to court. At our operation we call this last-mile filing or online filing. Some lawyers call a variation of it sneaker net. Once filed, the runner scans the date-stamped copy to post an image for you online. You’ll also receive the original by mail.
4) So how is payment arranged? You’ll pay a service fee for the each job (plus any court fees) by credit card. A good rule of thumb is that the online filing shouldn’t cost you much more than you’d pay today for a one-off court filing using a decent runner service. In California this cost hovers around $50.00. A 10% fee is typically added for advancing court fees. The court runner pays the court directly.
5) How about deadlines? Same-day filing online is available statewide. I’ve seen last-mile filings regularly filed within an hour. But I’d recommend sending it by noon. Any later than that and I’d recommend contacting your runner directly to confirm that they can meet your deadline. Also, stay alert to the fact that same-day service is not common with all providers in all counties.
6) How about service of process? You can initiate service of process and court filing together from the same website. Like online filing, your serve arrives with an accredited process server. They print it, serve it in-person, and send you back the proof of service. I’ve heard complaints that this essentially means we’ve entered a brave new world of jurisprudence in which lawyers can just go ahead and sue people over the internet.
Well . . . that’s true.
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