Opening Scene: Dusty banditos are trying to jump Bogie's claim in "Treasure of the Sierra Madre." But in this sequence they're sombreros keep the desert sun off their Brooks Bros. suits and expensive Hartman briefcases. Dialogue: After confused discussion between the banditos about the strange word "Faxes" the rough-voiced leader shouts back to Bogie: "Faxes. . . We don' need no steenkin' Faxes!"
By law, all pleadings and motions filed in a United States District Court must be signed by an attorney of record or by the litigant appearing pro per. Fed Rul. Civ. Proc. 11(a); http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/Rule11.htm. United States District Courts in all states now require counsel to e-file substantially everything, effectively requiring e-signatures on every court document that is filed.
In the Eastern District of California, attorneys' e-signatures under Rule 11(a) and mis-use of e-signature privileges are specifically covered by Local Rules 7-131(c) and (d), insuring the integrity of the process. http://www.caed.uscourts.gov/caed/staticOther/page_459.htm And after at two years of experience with the system, our Judges, US Magistrates, court staff, attorneys, and paralegals would NEVER willingly go back to the old ways (which included fax-filing options).
In complex cases, California State Courts can order the parties to use Case Home Page, a well-run private, user-supported e-case management service that also requires e-signatures. (http://www.casehomepage.com). I am litigating a class action lawsuit and at least 12 related individual cases in San Diego County that would be logistically and economically impossible without the help of Case Home Page.
By taking advantage of off-the-shelf IT products (including video-conference capability), the Bench and Bar have cut our previously HUGE environmental footprint while providing user-friendly, fast, accessible, and substantially more economical service to our clients.
I'm prejudiced, of course: I helped beta the Eastern District Court's e-filing and case retrieval systems and take proud ownership of what my colleagues, our Judges, and the Court's consulting and resident geek staff members accomplished at extremely low cost to the Taxpayer. I beta tested a number of browsers running Linux (I think I used Yellow Dog and Red Hat for the tests), Windoze XP (both native and using a PowerPC compatible emulator), and MacOS 9 and X in a number of configurations using dial-ups, DSL, T-1 and T-3 access points. The Court's IT staff was a joy to work with and, as a Federal Bar Assn. Member, I'm really stoked to have been a part of the process.
So faxes? " . . we don' need no steenkin' Faxes!"
