Oakland County, MI, February 3, 2006 -- A pilot project exploring the use of online technology to create a "paperless" system in the Oakland County Circuit Court and the Clerk's Legal Division could lead to increased efficiency and shorter lines, said Ruth Johnson, Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds.

"eFiling is an exciting part of our efforts to provide easy-to-use online service rather than standing-in-line service," said Johnson at a media preview Friday. "Shorter lines mean faster service for everyone."

The eFiling prototype - a joint program of the State of Michigan, the Oakland County Circuit Court, the county's Information Technology Department and the Oakland County Clerk's Legal Division, is small in scope for now.

But the vision is that courts around the country will eventually use an entirely paperless system, allowing attorneys to electronically submit documents from their own offices.

In the Clerk's Legal Division alone, 2.5 million sheets of paper move through the system every year, Johnson said. Electronic documents would save on storage too - Oakland County is currently storing 600,000 case files dating back more than 30 years.

In the pilot project, eFiling will only be used in Judge Michael Warren's courtroom and only in civil cases. Attorneys who volunteer for the project must agree to file all documents electronically. They pay the same filing fees. Training is provided by Oakland County.

Later, the pilot may be expanded to include other judges and other types of cases.

Oakland County is one of a handful of courts pursuing the use of such technology, said Oakland County Circuit Chief Judge Wendy Potts. Some states already require eFiling and it is also mandated in the federal court system.

Judge Warren, who joked that he might require a "Starship Enterprise" - inspired desk to accommodate the new technology, said the eFiling program here is unique in that eFiling here means more than simply having attorneys email pleadings, and then having clerks print out paper copies.

Here, electronic copies are used throughout the court system. The judge is able to look at electronic documents- witness lists, exhibit lists and other pleadings - and will eventually be able to make his rulings - all without paper copies.

Warren held up two cardboard boxes filled with motions Friday - and then demonstrated how the same documents appeared online.

The cost of implementing the eFiling pilot program has been minimal, except for the investment of staff time, Johnson said.

The rewards will be great, including an increased efficiency in handling paperwork, reducing storage needs, a cost savings to the people and businesses of Oakland County, even conservation. "Just the savings on paper alone means about 5,000 reams of paper or 300 trees a year," Johnson said.

Thomas W. Cranmer, president of the State Bar of Michigan, and Dennis McGinnis, president of the Oakland County Bar Association, lauded the pilot program.

Maggie Fisher, office manager for attorney Deborah Gordon in Bloomfield Hills, has worked in law for more than 40 years.

"A lot of people fight technology," said Maggie Fisher earlier. "This is not just the 'waive of the future', the future is here with eFiling."

Gordon's office was the first to file a document electronically, on a really snowy Michigan day in late December. "We started out on typewriters with carbon paper," said Fisher. "I remember when we didn't have fax machines."