Dan Berexa's Tennessee Law Blog

Weak Economy Kills Electronic Filing in Tennessee State Appellate Courts.

                                         The Federal Trial Courts have utilized electronic filing (CM/ECF) for a number of years. The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee implemented the system in 2005. On June 1, 2008 the Sixth Circuit implemented e-filing. For years it appeared a foregone conclusion that e-filing would make its way into the state court system. In 2004, the Tennessee Supreme Court established a Task Force on Electronic Filing in the Appellate Courts. In January of 2006, the Task Force submitted its “Report and Recommendations” to the Court, along with  proposed Provisional Rule 46, Tenn. Sup. Ct. R., to establish a two-year pilot project for voluntary electronic filing in the appellate courts. The Appellate Court Clerk and the Administrative Office of the Courts then issued an RFP seeking vendors to implement the pilot project.

However, now it appears the e-filing project is another casualty of the weak economy and resulting state budgetary crisis. Recently the State Administrative Office of the Courts gave notice that the request for proposal for the e-filing pilot project was being canceled. The "present budgetary situation" and the receipt of only one RFP proposal were the stated grounds for the cancellation of the project. I suspect it was more of the former that killed the project.

It appears e-filing will not be a reality in the Tennessee State Court system anytime soon. 

Dan Berexa
Nashville, Tennessee

 

Technophobes - Is Knowing the Law Enough?

 Tom Shumate's recent blog post Are Technophobes Incompetent? discusses the duty of lawyer to keep up with current technology relevant to his or her areas of practice. 10 or 15 years ago, staying current and "competent" primarily meant keeping up with recent appellate decisions and legislative enactments. Now keeping up with technology is just as important to a lawyer (and the client) as keeping up with changes in the law. It is also clear that technology is evolving a much faster rate than the law, and it is more of a challenge to keep up with evolving technology.

Dan Berexa
Nashville, Tennessee

2008 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide

I just finished reading the 2008 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guide, published by the ABA's Law Practice Management Section ($79.95 list or $49.95 for ABA Law Practice Management Section members). The newly published guide is intended to be the first in a series of annual "Consumer Reports" of legal technology products for solo practitioners and small firms. The guide's authors, who are well published legal technologists, include lawyer Sharon Nelson, who is the past chair of the ABA's TECHSHOW Board and President of Sensei Enterprises, a legal technology consulting company in Washington D.C. The guide includes up-to-date information and recommendations on computers, servers, network and back-up equipment, legal software, printers, scanners, remote access, security products, smart phones and useful utilities. It is easy to read and includes recommendations of specific products. The guide makes for a nice overview of currently available technology. I recommend this resource to anyone that is involved in the purchase of technology for their firm or for those who want to have a basic understanding of what is available and how it may be useful to their practice. Click HERE to review the guide's Table of Contents.

Dan Berexa

Tennessee Code - Free Online

Remember, the Tennessee Code is available online. The Tennessee Code Commission had the foresight years ago to require that the publisher of the Official Edition of the Code, Michie/LexisNexis, make the Tennessee Code available to the public free online. The statutes are not annotated but the online version is a handy resource if you are away from the office, just need to take a quick look at a statute or have a matter where it is not practical to use Westlaw or Lexis. The code can be accessed through the Michie.LexisNexis.com website or the website for Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts www.tncourts.gov (look for TN CODE on the menu on the homepage). It has an index, is searchable, easy to navigate and statutes can be e-mailed or printed.

Dan Berexa