NY courts push statewide e-filing.

• Position: E-RECORDS

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State court officials in New York are pushing for mandatory electronic filing of documents statewide.

Thomson Reuters reported that litigants have been able to e-file in many parts of the state for the past 10 years, but just two years ago, some New York City courts began requiring electronic documents.

Former Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau released a report last June asking the state legislature to pass a bill requiring e-filing in almost all courts in the state, according to Thomson Reuters. She said the move would result in 'hundreds of millions of dollars" of savings for the court system and litigants.

Several New York counties have followed Pfau's lead and recently made e-filing mandatory in their courts. For example, Thomson Reuters reported that:

* All probate and administration proceedings must be filed electronically in Surrogate's Court in Chautauqua, Erie, and Monroe counties.

* All contract, tort, and commercial actions, regardless of the amount of money disputed, must be filed electronically in Manhattan State Supreme Court.

* All cases in Supreme Court in Westchester and Rockland counties must be e-filed, excluding matrimonial, election law, Mental Hygiene Law, and Article 78 proceedings.

* Brooklyn's Supreme Court has gone paperless for commercial actions in which $75,000 or more is in dispute, and all...