Committee hears housekeeping amendments to electronic filing rules, plans extension to lawyer-discipline cases

The committee discussed housekeeping amendments to the judiciary’s electronic filing rules and a forthcoming extension of the e‑filing regime to lawyer‑discipline proceedings. Former Justice John Dooley, who appeared remotely, described the amendments as “a true housekeeping amendment” tied to the judiciary’s move to an electronic case file and e‑filing beginning in 2020. He said the revision removes the phrase “court generated” from the rules to cover documents that come from outside the court but are submitted for a judge’s signature. “The court will say, when the decision comes out, please, counsel, prepare an order for me to sign,” Dooley said. The amendment broadens the rule to cover such non‑court‑generated documents that are sent to the court for signing. Dooley also said the work includes operational instructions published on the judiciary’s website and that the remaining substantive addition is planned soon: extending electronic filing rules to lawyer‑discipline proceedings, after previously unresolved operational questions were addressed. He said the amendments on lawyer discipline are expected to be presented to the Supreme Court for consideration “pretty soon.” Committee members thanked Dooley and asked only clarifying questions; no objections were voiced and the conversations described the amendments as routine updates tied to multi‑year e‑filing implementation. The committee did not record any formal objection and will expect further filings when the lawyer‑discipline extension is ready for Court consideration.