Few things have changed the way lawyers do business in New York more than the adoption of electronic filing over the last decade. In federal and many state courts, attorneys can now access court filings at any time, wherever they have an Internet connection, and can read decisions the moment they are filed. Implementing e-filing has presented an array of challenges, technological and logistical, that New York’s courts have met and continue to meet.
Southern District Bankruptcy Court Chief Judge Cecelia Morris led the push for e-filing on the federal side, where it is mandatory in nearly all cases. Beginning in the 1990s as clerk of the court, she was instrumental in bringing New York’s judiciary on board with e-filing. The current clerk of the Southern District Bankruptcy Court, Vito Genna, has also played a vital role in surmounting the technical obstacles.
