Too Many E-s’!!! E-Service, E-Courtesy, E-Filing AND E-Discovery

Holy cow, a person can barely take a breath without a new e-something beginning… Please keep in mind that e-SERVICE or – more accurately called – service by e-mail takes effect on September 1, 2012 for most of us.

E-FILING does NOT become mandatory until April 2013 – but it is optional right now and I urge you to give it a try.  A lot of people are confusing the two things, they aren’t the same and aren’t really connected. E-Filing deals with FILING your pleading with the clerk. E-Service deals with SERVING your pleading on opposing counsel. The third E- that support staff will have to deal with is E-Courtesy which deals with COURTESY COPIES of pleadings or things like proposed orders being submitted to the judge.

So, in most cases, you will e-serve your pleading on the other side, e-file your pleading with the clerk, and maybe e-courtesy your pleading to the Judge.

E-Discovery is a whole other subject and in a lot of cases, has more to do with the attorneys than the support staff.

You can find e-Courtesy information here: https://miamifrp.com/miami-dade-county-ecourtesy-submission-service/

You can find e-Filing information here: https://miamifrp.com/links/e-filing-tutorials/

You can find e-Service a/k/a Rule 2.516 information here: https://miamifrp.com/rule-2-516/

One question commonly asked of me is, “do you have to use the same e-mail address for E-Filing as you did for your Notice of Designation for E-Service.” Not really, the two aren’t tied together. E-Filing accounts have to be made in the attorneys name – using the e-mail address they have on file with The Florida Bar. It may or may not be the same “primary” address you are using on your Notice of Designation.

Also, a lot of people have asked if there were software methods to help you simplify the Rule 2.516 E-Mail Service process and guess what? There is!!!! In another post I’m going to provide you guys with this great option I found called LiteServe…