Tag Archives: electronic service

Streamline, Organize, and Improve Your Office

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Be more productive

What if you could improve workflows? Leverage technology and automation to save time? Overcome procrastination? You can with Practical Time Management. This CLE offers over 30 ideas and strategies to help you take control of your workload, manage your busy schedule, focus on your priorities, and make your workday more productive. Accredited by the Oregon State Bar and available in audio and video format here.

Harness best practices

Not sure whether your firm is applying best practices to key office operations? Learn about automating client intake, documenting representation, modernizing the engagement process, and more in Best Practices for Client Intake, Engagement & Workflow. Combine this program with Best Practices for Docketing, Conflicts, Disengagement & File Retention to cover your bases.

Watch each CLE over lunch and earn 1.0 General/Practical Skills MCLE credits. Available now at On Demand CLE..

Get jiggy with eCourt

Understand common eCourt mistakes and master electronic service with eCourt Malpractice Traps and Oregon eService. Topics include: relation back of filings, UTCR amendments, upgrades to Odyssey eFile & Serve software, 12 common eFiling errors, key eCourt resources, using eService, service of process in the eFiling world, identifying eService exceptions, service contact issues, service by email, and courthouse dos and don’ts.

Trust Accounting – basic and advanced

From managing bank charges and avoiding impermissible cushions to reporting overdrafts and addressing client fee disputes, Trust Accounting Fundamentals covers all the basics of how to properly operate your lawyer trust account.

Want to delve deeper into the ethics of IOLTA? Advanced Trust Accounting will show you how to safely manage wire and EFT transfers, use layaway payment plans, collect “first and last month’s rent,” manage evergreen retainers and hybrid fee agreements, receive third party payments, barter legal services, pass on credit card transaction fees, handle unclaimed funds, respond to garnishments and liens, disburse settlement proceeds if your client is missing, and more – believe it or not!

Lucky 13

You’ll find 13 programs and a free eBook at on demand CLE. If it concerns law office operations, you’ll likely find it covered here.

Details for the detail minded

Q:  What does my on demand CLE purchase include?
A:  MP4 (video file), M4a (audio file), written program materials with presentation slides and resources, answers to polling questions addressed during the live CLE, MCLE Form 6 for self-reporting of MCLE credits.

Q:  How are the video and audio files delivered?
A:  Digital files are delivered instantly at checkout with your purchase confirmation email (look for the link). Download, stream, save to your Dropbox account, or send files to your mobile device or desktop computer.

Q:  How much do CLEs cost?
A:  On demand CLE programs are $25. The eBook, Tips for Improving Client Relationships, is free.  All transactions are handled by Selz and protected with industry standard security, including encryption. The Selz platform is also PCI compliant. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover accepted.

All Rights Reserved 2019 Beverly Michaelis

The Case for Oregon eService

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In the next issue of the Oregon State Bar Bulletin, I argue in favor of Oregon’s electronic service system – the “AndServe” of OJD eFileAndServe. Here are a few key excerpts modified for posting purposes.

State of the Art

OJD eFileAndServe is state of the art. When a document is filed, marked for service and accepted at the court, the system serves the selected service contacts by email. Included in the message is a hyperlink to the filed document. Filers receive proof of service via a service receipt/confirmation of filing acceptance and may also view the date and time a filing was opened by a service contact in the case.

Transmission of the email by the electronic filing system to selected service contacts constitutes service. Electronic service is complete when the system sends the email to the selected service contacts. UTCR 21.100(4) and (5).

Know the Rules! Written Consent to eService is Not Required

While using eService isn’t mandatory, making yourself available for eService is. UTCR 21.100(2)(a) requires entry of service contact information at the time of a filer’s first electronic filing in an action. Filers who appear in a case by eFiling documents which are accepted by the court are deemed to consent to electronic service. UTCR 21.100(1)(a). The only exception: documents that require personal service or service under ORCP 7. A written consent agreement between the parties is not required, a belief that some have promoted.

If you discover that an opponent has failed to enter his or her service contact information, make a phone call, write an email or send a letter. Keep in mind that approximately one-fifth of all respondents to a 2017 eCourt survey reported being unaware of the service contact requirements.

It Really is that Simple!

eService is accomplished in four easy steps:

  • Login to the system. From the “Filing Type” dropdown, select “eFileAndServe.”
  • Complete the filing details and save changes.
  • Select the parties you wish to serve from the Service Contacts box section.
  • Complete other data entry as needed and submit your filing.

The only difference between using eFile – which is mandatory for all Oregon lawyers – and eFileAndServe is a mouse click at login and selecting your service contacts. It really is that simple.

Prefer Service by Email?

There are important limitations on service by email – some practical, some rule-based. The forthcoming article contains a full discussion. But what about the fact that most lawyers serving by email are doing so contemporaneously with their filing submission? Does this matter?

When service is contemporaneous with filing, it means the other side is receiving a document that has not yet been accepted by the court. If acceptance is forthcoming, no harm no foul. If the document is rejected, the process must start over and a request for relation-back may be necessary.

A Better Approach

eService offers distinct advantages over service by email. Rather than sending large email attachments, lawyers who want to share information about a filing can forward the service receipt/confirmation of filing acceptance or copy the document hyperlink into a new message. This saves server space, provides proof of eFiling and eService, reduces the amount of material that must be saved to the client file and assures that parties are communicating only about accepted court filings. Document hyperlinks are active for 45 days and available 24/7 online. When retrieved, the link returns the official date-stamped document in the court register. These are just some of the features that make switching to eService worthwhile.

All Rights Reserved – 2018 – Beverly Michaelis

UTCR Amendments

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2016 features a host of normal cycle and out-of-cycle amendments to the Uniform Trial Court Rules.  All are effective August 1, 2016.  For a complete list, see the summary provided here, pages 1-5.  Key changes, including several to eCourt, are summarized below.

 eCourt

Confidential Attachments in Filings that are not Otherwise Confidential

  • If a filing is not confidential, but includes an attachment that is, file the attachment separately.  UTCR 21.040(2)(b), amended out-of-cycle on June 15, 2016 pursuant to CJO 16-027.
  • Filers must designate the attachment as confidential in the eFiling system and include an appropriate description in the filing comments field. UTCR 21.040(2)(b), amended out-of-cycle on June 15, 2016 pursuant to CJO 16-027.

Filings in Confidential Cases

  • If a case is confidential by statute or rule, documents filed in the case must not be designated as confidential.
  • However, if a particular document within a confidential case is itself confidential by statute or rule, it must be designated as such when filed.
  • For rules pertaining to Adoption Cases, see new UTCR 21.070(7).

UTCR 21.070(6), amended out-of-cycle; UTCR 21.070(7), newly added on June 15, 2016 pursuant to CJO 16-027.

Certificates of Service Incorporated with a Document Must Be Filed as a Single, Unified PDF

Certificates of Service are now part of the “single, unified PDF” requirement.  UTCR 21.040(2), amended out-of-cycle on June 15, 2016 pursuant to CJO 16-027.

Proof of Electronic Service

The amended rule requires a dated and signed certificate of service to be incorporated at the end of any document submitted electronically.

  • If the opposing party was electronically served by the eFiling system, the certificate must state that service was accomplished at the party’s email address as recorded on the date of service in the eFiling system and need not include the party’s email address or postal address.
  • If the opposing party was not electronically served by the eFiling system, the certificate must include the postal address at which the opposing party was served or, if served by email or facsimile.

UTCR 21.100(6), amended out-of-cycle on June 15, 2016 pursuant to CJO 16-027.

Electronic Service to Remain an Additional, Affirmative Step

The UTCR committee declined to amend UTCR 21.100 to make electronic service mandatory or to require simultaneous service by email.  See discussion, UTCRs effective August 1, 2016, pages 55-56.

Expedited Filings

A filer who submits an expedited filing must include the words “EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION REQUESTED” in the filing comments field.  The filer may “notify the court by email or telephone, as designated on the court’s judicial district website, that an expedited filing has been eFiled in the case.”  UTCR 21.070(5), amended out-of-cycle on June 15, 2016 pursuant to CJO 16-027.

Submission of Proposed Orders and Judgments

The out-of-cycle changes to UTCR 5.100 are described in the official explanation as follows:

  • The revision to UTCR 5.100 breaks the current rule into three parts: service, objection, and submission.
  • Subsection 1 requires service on the opposing party, and an opportunity for objection, as to any proposed order or judgment unless an exception applies. The rule is no longer limited to only those proposed orders and judgments submitted “in response to a ruling of the court.”
  • The service component also sets out specific notice requirements and lengthens the time between service and submission to 10 days from 3 days (current, if opposing party represented) or from 7 days (current, if opposing party not represented).  The notice requirement specifies that an opposing party has 7 days to object, with an additional 3 days for mailing, consistently with ORCP 10 C.
  • Subsection 2 relates to objections and is new.  It requires service of a written, dated, and signed objection within 7 days of the date that the proposed order or judgment was sent to the opposing party.  The drafting party may submit the opposing party’s objection to the court or the opposing party may file an objection by an identified date.
  • The submission part (subsection (3)) retains the current certificate of service requirement and also clarifies that a proposed order or judgment subject to subsection (1) may be submitted sooner than the 7-day period for objection, if the opposing party has stipulated to or approved the order or judgment, or the opposing party has objected and the objections are resolved or ready for resolution.  Additionally, proposed orders or judgments must include a “certificate of readiness,” certifying that the proposed order or judgment is ready for judicial signature or that objections are ready for resolution, and also stating the “readiness” reason.

UTCRs effective August 1, 2016, pages 58-61.

Register of Actions – Entry Date of a Document

The following apply whether or not a document is electronically filed with the court:

  • The filing date is the date that appears in the “date column” of the Register of Actions:  “For the purpose of ORS 7.020(1) and (2), the date that a document was filed displays in the date column of the register of actions for the case in the court’s electronic case management system.”
  • The “entry date” is the date when the event is created in the Register of Actions. “For the purpose of ORS 7.020(2), entry occurs on the date an event is created in the register of actions.”

UTCR 21.060(3), amended out-of-cycle on June 15, 2016 pursuant to CJO 16-027.

Staples and Backing Sheets Prohibited in Conventional Filings;
One Inch Margins Required

  • Pleadings and other documents submitted conventionally must be bound by paperclip or binder clip and must not contain staples.  Amended UTCR 2.010(3)(b).
  • If your document includes an attachment, the attachment must be bound in one packet to the document being filed using a paperclip or binder clip only.  Amended UTCR 2.010(3)(b).
  • The use of backing sheets is prohibited.  Amended UTCR 2.010(5).
  • All documents must have a one-inch margin on each side (except Wills and exhibits).  Amended UTCR 2.010(4)(d).

Consolidated Filings

A party filing any document applicable to more than one case must file the document in each case using existing case numbers and captions, unless otherwise ordered by the court or provided by SLR.  If filing conventionally into cases consolidated for hearing or trial, it is the filer’s responsibility to provide the trial court administrator with sufficient copies.  Amended UTCR 2.090(1).

CIFS

Access to Confidential Information Forms (CIFs) by Non-Parties

Non parties may inspect a CIF upon filing an affidavit of consent, signed and dated by the party whose information is to be inspected. The consent must state the dates during which the consent is effective.  Amended UTCR 2.130(6)(c).  Declarations under penalty of perjury may not be used in lieu of an Affidavit.  Amended UTCR 2.130(6)(d).

Use of CIFs in Additional Proceedings

Use of a CIF is now required in proceedings that are subject to the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Specifically, the amended rule adds citations to proceedings initiated under ORS 24.190, ORS 30.866, ORS 124.010, or ORS 163.763. Amended UTCR 2.130(2).

Notice of Termination, Substitution of Counsel, Application to Resign

Must now include “court contact information,” as defined in UTCR 1.110.  Amended UTCR 3.140(1).

Stipulated and Ex Parte Matters

Local judicial districts are expressly allowed to adopt an SLR designating when stipulated or ex parte matters must be filed conventionally.  Amended UTCR 5.060(1).

Trial Memoranda and Exhibits

Trial memoranda must be filed and served on the opposing party; the court may require parties to submit copies in a time and manner specified. Trial exhibits must be submitted as ordered by the court and not filed with the court.  Amended UTCR 6.050.

Jury Instructions and Verdict Forms Must Be Filed and Served

Jury instructions and verdict forms must be filed and served on the opposing party; the court may require parties to submit copies in a time and manner specified. Amended UTCR 6.060.

Dissolution of Marriage – Notices and Judgments

The notice of dissolution form required under ORS 107.092 is now available on the OJD website; filing multiple copies of the General Judgment of Dissolution is no longer required.  Amended UTCR 8.010.

Uniform Support Declarations/Affidavits Filed by DCS or DA

Uniform Support Declarations or DCS/DA affidavits must be filed and served within 30 days of service of a petition or other pleading that seeks child support or spousal support on other than a temporary basis, subject to the requirements of UTCR 8.040 or UTCR 8.050, when applicable, and in the absence of an SLR to the contrary.  Amended UTCR 8.010(6).  Also see amended UTCR 8.050(3) relating to judgment modification proceedings and amended UTCR 8.040(4) relating to Uniform Support Declarations accompanying a Motion for Temporary Support.

Limited Scope Representation in Domestic Relations Cases [New]

  • Requires attorneys who intend to appear on a limited scope basis to file and serve a Notice of Limited Scope Representation in substantially the same form as set out on the OJD website.  UTCR 8.110(2).
  • Requires attorneys who have completed all services under the Limited Scope Representation to file a Notice of Termination of Limited Scope Representation in substantially the form as set out on the Oregon Judicial Department website. UTCR 8.110(3).
  • Service in limited scope cases shall be made upon the attorney and the party represented on a limited scope basis.  [Service on the attorney ends when a Notice of Termination is filed.]  UTCR 8.110(4).

Arbitration Awards – Submission and Filing Time Extended

The time for submitting an Arbitration Award to the parties is extended from 7 to 28 days. Amended UTCR 13.210(5) and (6).  Amended UTCR 13.220 now allows for an extended filing time with the court of 42 days.

Amended Forms

The following forms were also amended:

All Rights Reserved Beverly Michaelis – 2016.