New Tool Eases E-mail to Counsel

The District of Utah recently added a new tool to CM/ECF for users inside and outside court. It allows easy access to all email addresses in use in a case. The tool is found in UTILITIES, MAILINGS, MAILING INFO FOR A CASE. The screen that appears has all the notice information for a case. This has been helpful for preparation of service certificates, envelopes or labels for notice purposes. Now, it is even more helpful for the many cases in which all counsel are registered e-filers and receive notice by e-mail.
Near the bottom of the information screen, there is a comma delimited list of all email addresses for the case.

And at the bottom of the information screen (just above this sentence), there is a "mailto" hyperlink ("Click here to prepare an email to all email addressees") which will open the user's email program and insert the comma delimited email address list into the email. The screen shot below shows the email that was created by the hyperlink.

Case Evaporates When E-Filer Fails to File Complaint

An attorney recently suffered the indignity of being the first to have a case number forfeited for failure to electronically submit a complaint. Current Utah CM/ECF procedures allow counsel to submit information in advance of a complaint filing so that a case number may be reserved and a case opened to receive an electronically filed complaint. In this instance, a case number and judge assignment was made on June 6th but the attorney failed, after several notices, to file the complaint. Finally, on June 11th, the case was closed and the attorney was barred from electronically filing complaints in the future.
Non Delivery of NEF Requires Evidentiary Hearing
An
article in the
Computer Law Review and Technology Journal analyzes an
Eighth Circuit decision holding that a lower court should have considered evidence to rebut the presumption of delivery for a Notice of Electronic Filing. The court held that affidavits presented raised issues of fact that entitled the appellant to an evidentiary hearing. The receipt of the NEF was critical to the issue of appeal timeliness.