Committee Discusses CM/ECF at 2004 Annual Spring Meeting

The Court Administration Committee met to a standing-room only house at the Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. on April 17, 2004. The first order of business was to introduce the Court Administration Committee, which was formed last year with the first meeting chaired by Co-chair Richard Kipperman of San Diego, Calif., and a chapter 7 panel trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California. The committee's goal is to provide a national forum for improving the relationships between the practitioners and the administrative officials necessary to the court functions. (Office of the Clerk, AOUST).

Gary Bockweg, Chief Technology Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, brought attendees up-to-date on CM/ECF nationally:

• CM/ECF is progressing very well in both implementation and development
• 91 bankruptcy courts are in the implementation process (72 already "live")
• Approximately 4-5 new courts per month are on both start and live
• 150,000+ attorneys trained and registered; 75,000 have filed
• 4 million CM/ECF docket entries in March
• In bankruptcy courts allowing electronic filing in March:
  • 41 percent of all document filings were made electronically by attorneys
  • 66 percent of all petitions were filed electronically by attorneys
  • On target to have all courts operational in 2005.

Kathleen Farrell, Clerk of Court for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, provided some "helpful hints" for using CM/ECF. In addition to her role as clerk, she serves on the two technology and facilities advisory committees, one as a member and one as liaison, and on two technology subcommittees working on CM/ECF. Her hints included:

• Call the clerk with suggestions for modifications.
• Make use of all of the reports.
• Don't get too creative, use the court's dictionary.
• Take advantage of having 24/7 access to the court.
• The court's help desk is answered by a person between 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• You can go to the system and change your password so you can have the same password for multiple courts.
• Update your attorney profile and view your transaction logs to make sure your password has not been compromised.

Edward Cowen and James Kathadurian, consultants of BSI (formerly Poorman-Douglas), an outside servicing center used by the courts, provided a better understanding of the use of outside consultants for a more efficient use of the bankruptcy process. Highlights included:

• Effective use of the Web in a chapter 11 case
• Functions a claims administrator can perform today
• Selective issues relating to e-mails and electronic noticing