The Atlanta Lawyer December/January 2020 | Page 19

e-filing law was to find out that some
counties in Georgia have only switched
to e-filing for cases that were filed after a
certain time frame. While this does not
seem like a major issue, it can be confusing
for an unwary attorney or paralegal.
I discovered this pitfall rather haphazardly.
I drafted a motion to intervene in a case
filed in a county with this rule. I looked
up the civil action number, double checked
it, then gave the motion to my paralegal.
She filed the motion to intervene, and
I received the e-filing confirmation. I
thought I successfully intervened in my
case; however, a few days later I realized that
I had not successfully intervened. Instead,
my paralegal filed my motion to intervene
in the wrong case. Upon investigation, I
discovered that the county that I was filing
into had two cases by the same plaintiff, and
one case was e-filed, while the other case
was not (what are the odds?). As with all
things in the law, even when you are e-filing
in Superior Court under a mandatory
e-filing regime, it is important to double and
triple check your case names and numbers.
State Court
Filing across State Courts can also be
irregular. Part of this is because the counties
have the option to choose their private
e-filing vendor. Th e ch oice us ed to be
between Odyssey and PeachCourt. But now
there is a new provider, File & ServeXpress.
The State Court of Fulton County has
issued a standing order switching to File
& ServeXpress as its e-filing vendor. As of
January 1, 2020, every party in a civil case
is required to file using File & ServeXpress
in the State Court of Fulton County.
While the presence of a new provider is not
necessarily a bad thing, in the transition
period, I experienced issues. I had a case
that was initiated via File & ServeXpress,
and while I was in the process of signing up
for the vendor, my client was served. For
some reason, the Entry of Service for my
client was filed without me knowing, even
though I had already filed a Special
Answer. I had no idea, until opposing
counsel called me to discuss the case. Talk
about terrifying. Practicing attorneys
should also be aware that counties with
e-filing in both Superior and State
Courts can have different providers.
I always check the list located here:
https://www.gabar.org/efiling.cfm.
Magistrate Court
The new mandatory e-filing law does
not apply to Magistrate Courts, but I
am still constantly surprised when I
have to mail documents to Magistrate
Court.
This confusion is, of course,
my own fault. The law is not confusing,
but every time I need to hire a courier to file
a motion to open default in Magistrate
Court I think “I thought e-filing was
mandatory.” One can dream.
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