Lawyers required for feedback on how their staff access the e-filing system
19. May, 2011 
3 Comments
A sub-committee has been set up by the Florida E-Filing Authority Board to undertake a study on who exactly in a law firm can use the system and how this will be done.
It was noted by Sharon Bock, a member of the authority board and Palm Beach County Clerk, that many paralegals and legal assistants will take over most of the electronic filing duties.
Presently the e-filing system is accessed by lawyers who use their Bar attorney number and possibly because lawyers want their staff to e-file on their behalf they have to give their staff their Bar attorney number to allow them to fulfil this duty. This is not good security practice.
Sharon Bock who is a member of the sub-committee which has been established also noted that there is a lot of responsibility on anyone using the system and the Authority is responsible for security and management of the system. However if the Authority had to lay down tight regulations on who can access the system then it could be said that we’re effectively running the different law firms instead of the law firms running the business.
Another member of the sub-committee charged with looking at how e-filing in law firms can be used by non-lawyers is Jim Jett who is a fellow board member.
Another sub-committee member and a Bar Board of Governers member is Laird Lile who serves on the Supreme Court’s Florida Courts Technology Commission and is an informal liaison to the e-filing board. Lile is seeking opinions from lawyers on who should have access and comments can be sent to him at lile@lairdlile.com.
Lawyers and paralegals are expected to sit on this sub-committee too.
Watch this space!
Hi, I'm Maria J.Gutierrez - 
Since a Florida Registered Paralegal has a Bar number, there is no reason why the attorney needs to give his/her bar number for e-filing. Instead the attorney should be allowed to register the paralegal with the Clerk of Court so that the paralegal can do the e-filing
The statement “Presently the e-filing system is accessed by lawyers who use their Bar attorney number . . .” is not true of most firms whose filing, electronic or otherwise, is conducted by staff. While Aida makes a valid point, those offices who do not have an FRP, do not have an FRP bar number to utilize.
The statement ” . . . and possibly because lawyers want their staff to e-file on their behalf they have to give their staff their Bar attorney number to allow them to fulfil this duty. This is not good security practice.” makes no sense whatsoever. What “security practice” is breached by the use of the attorney’s bar number, which is required to be on every document filed by an attorney and is publicly available on the FL Bar’s website?
Although I agree w/Aida comment above, that only works for offices who employ a FRP. I don’t understand what the issue is w/using the attorney’s bar number in that the bar number is required to be on any filing already – it’s not like it’s a SSN.