Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court and Comptroller

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:
R.B. "Chips" Shore
Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court
941-749-1800

Attorneys File Cases Electronically in Manatee County

January 17, 2006- On December 28, 2005, Manatee County Clerk's Office became the first county in the state to receive Supreme Court approval to accept electronic court cases and records without the need for paper follow-up. E-Case initiation allows attorneys to initiate a civil case electronically and E-Filing allows attorneys to file pleadings and papers electronically in any existing case.

R.B. "Chips" Shore, Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller comments, "The benefits to our staff include a reduction in staff time spent on indexing, docketing and batch scanning. For our office, E-Case and E-Filing mean improved percentages on timeliness performance measures. And for our customers, fewer expenses and headaches. They will save money on postage, parking, runners, etc. Right now E-Case and E-Filing are just for attorney use. Our long-term goals include modules for pro se litigants or people who file cases on their own behalf without the aid of an attorney."

Kevin Kapusta and Mary Hawk, Attorneys at Porges, Hamlin, Knowles and Prouty, P.A. have E-filed with the Manatee County Clerk's office and add, "E-Filing will be a tremendous asset to attorneys as it will greatly reduce the time and expense associated with traditional court filing. Our staff finds that the procedures for e filing are easy to learn and very user-friendly."

To date, 11 law firms in Manatee and Sarasota Counties have established access to E-File. For attorneys to E-file with Manatee County, all that is needed is to be established in the Clerk's database with ID, password, a deposit for filing fees, and Internet access.

Right now, attorneys wishing to take advantage of E-Case must be receipt depositors with the Clerk's office in order to pay the filing fees. In the next few weeks, the Clerk will be able to also accept E-Case initiation with a credit card.