Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Vermont Bar Journal, Summer 2019

by Andy Stone WHAT’S NEW Vermont’s New Electronic Filing System The times they are a-changing. For the Vermont legal community, they will soon be a-changing fast. Preparations are well un- derway for the Vermont Judiciary to roll out a new modern electronic case management system that promises to have a transforma- tive impact on the practice of law and the ad- ministration of justice in this state. For some, the change will be welcomed and long over- due, while others may feel more challenged by some aspects of the transition, but all will feel its impacts in a myriad of ways. This arti- cle is intended to provide members of the bar and other interested readers with a brief proj- ect overview and some specific details about what to expect, when to expect it, and how it will affect you. The Vermont Judiciary has a pressing need to retire its legacy case management system which has served it well for three decades, but which is now antiquated, unsupported and poorly suited for the way the world and the courts do business in the 21 st century. To address this, Vermont has contracted with Ty- ler Technologies to implement its Odyssey Case Management System and associated www.vtbar.org technologies in our courts. Tyler is a Texas- based company specializing in software solu- tions for the public sector. The Odyssey sys- tem is currently in use in dozens of states, municipalities and other jurisdictions around the country and internationally. It has a prov- en track record of success and adaptability to a wide range of legal and business processes, and it will offer Vermont the essential tools it needs to move our court system forward. One of the key pillars in the Judiciary’s vi- sion for change is a transition to electronic document management rather than the tradi- tional paper-based processes on which courts have relied. Paper files are prone to loss and damage, require laborious archiving, must be physically transported and can only be viewed in one place at one time. These limi- tations have all-too-often dictated the speed at which the wheels of justice turn in Ver- mont. The integrated electronic document management functions of the Odyssey sys- tem, on the other hand, will create opportu- nities for improvements and efficiencies with many of our processes. For instance, cases may now be instantly transferred from one THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • SUMMER 2019 Superior Court unit to another when venue is changed, without needing to assign a new docket number or wait for a physical file to be delivered. Case parties and counsel will be able to access most case information, includ- ing documents online, rather than needing to request copies from the court. And all court users, including self-represented litigants, will have access to universal electronic filing in all units and all divisions. The new electronic filing system, Odyssey File & Serve (OFS), will replace the existing system, known as eCabinet, that is currently in use in several Superior Court units. OFS is a web-based platform that will be available 24/7 for filing all court pleadings in all units and divisions. Users may register as individu- als or as firm members and file documents by uploading them in PDF format. For agency attorneys and others with a specialized prac- tice who frequently submit one standard type of filing, OFS will offer some useful efficien- cies such as user-defined templates that save preconfigured filing settings to minimize du- plicative efforts. Registered users retain on- line access to all documents that they them- 27

Vermont Bar Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 Vermont Bar Journal, Summer 2019 | Page 27