Supreme Court to expand electronic filing in 2020

CONCORD, NH - As part of its plans to expand the scope of electronic filing (e-Filing), the Supreme Court today announced that recent amendments to the Court’s Rules and Supplemental Rules regarding Electronic Filing will bring changes regarding notices of appeal and self-represented parties. 

   The amendments, which take effect on January 1, 2020, will require notices of appeal and other case-initiating documents (appeal petitions, interlocutory appeals, petitions for original jurisdiction, and motions to extend time to file an appeal document) to be filed electronically.  The amendments will also require self-represented parties and non-lawyer representatives to file documents electronically in Supreme Court cases commenced on or after January 1, 2020.

   According to Tim Gudas, in-coming Clerk of the Supreme Court, “The expansion of e-Filing to virtually all filings and all filers lays the groundwork for increased efficiency and improved access to justice by streamlining the case-initiation process, allowing self-represented parties to view their cases and to file during non-business hours, and establishing a reliable and verifiable method of electronic service to and from self-represented parties.”

   The recently adopted amendments will change e-Filing procedures as to cases commenced in the Supreme Court on or after January 1, 2020, but not for cases commenced before that date, as the following summary shows:

Cases Commenced in the Supreme Court prior to August 6, 2018

   Attorneys, self-represented parties, and non-lawyer representatives must submit all documents conventionally (non-electronically).  Parties must also serve and be served conventionally.  At the request of a party, or on the Supreme Court’s own motion, a case may be converted to e-filing.

 Cases Commenced in the Supreme Court on or after August 6, 2018, but prior to January 1, 2020

   Attorneys must submit all documents through the Supreme Court’s e-filing system, with the exception of case-initiating documents.  Self-represented parties and non-lawyer representatives must submit all documents conventionally.  Attorneys must serve documents on each other through the e-filing system.  Self-represented parties and non-lawyer representatives must serve and be served with documents conventionally.  However, a party may file a written motion with the Supreme Court to request permission for a self-represented party or a non-lawyer representative to submit documents in the case through the e-filing system.  If the Court grants the motion, or decides on its own motion to require a self-represented party or a non-lawyer representative to submit documents in the case through the e-filing system, that self-represented party or non-lawyer representative will thereafter be treated as a registered e-filer in the case for all purposes, including the electronic filing and electronic service of documents.

Cases Commenced in the Supreme Court on or after January 1, 2020

   Attorneys, self-represented parties, and non-lawyer representatives must submit all documents, including notices of appeal or other case-initiating documents, through the Supreme Court’s e-filing system.  Every person who is registered in the e-filing system must serve and be served with documents electronically.  Certain self-represented parties, including incarcerated persons and those who have been placed under guardianship, are exempt from e-filing.  Other self-represented parties may file a request to be excused from e-filing on the basis of hardship.

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