The Electronic Courthouse - Pilot Project

Thanks to the attorneys and their clients who have volunteered for this project, the Electronic Courthouse Pilot Project presents the first case to make use of the Internet as a potential alternative to the inefficient and expensive "paper chase" that now plagues lawyers and courthouses.

By stipulation (click here to see sample stipulation), the parties have agreed to make more accessible to the public the very same documents which are already of public record. This experiment is also intended to lighten some of the load on the litigators.

The attorneys have stipulated that service by e-mail to this Web site and the opposing party shall constitute effective service. This site will be also used to keep the attorneys in the case in compliance with the court's Order Setting Original Civil Case Schedule: appropriate reminder e-mails will be sent out a week in advance of any pleading or conference due date under the Order Setting Original Civil Case Schedule.

This Pilot Project is intended to complement the King County Electronic Courthouse Task Force headed by Roger Winters of King County's Department of Judicial Administration. By 1999 it is anticipated that King County will become a truly paperless court system. Having electronic court files available to the public means many things, including the following:

  • Savings in storage space and personnel
  • More than one person can access a court file at a time
  • Files can be accessed from any computer in the world rather than only at the courthouse
  • Text searches can be performed on the electronic records, like any other database
  • Useful files and forms can be downloaded and used by practitioners

The pilot project is a modest attempt towards that goal. It is hoped that more and more attorneys will follow this example, thereby acculturating themselves to the ways in which the legal system will soon become more streamlined and responsive to the public.

The electronic archives of the cases supported by this project will be made available to the King County court system once it goes on-line, thus reducing the number of paper files it will have to scan into its computers.


Special thanks go to the Plaintiff's attorney in this case, Thomas C. Bierlein, 5837 - 221 Place S.E., Issaquah, WA 98027, (206) 557-0301; Defendant's attorney Gary A. Maehara and SAFECO Insurance Companies, whose legal department is headed by Donald D. Skinner, SAFECO Plaza, Seattle, WA 98185, (206) 545-5682; and to their respective clients for helping make this pilot project a reality.

This project is designed, implemented and maintained by Seattle attorney Larry G. Johnson.

The Case:

IN KING COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT STATE OF WASHINGTON

Cause No. 95-2-11171-8

DEBRA ANN WEAVER, individually and the natural guardian for her two minor sons, TREVOR and TYLER WEAVER

Plaintiffs,

v.

ROBERT C. JOHNSON and MARIANNE JOHNSON, husband and wife; CYNTHIA LYNN, a single woman; Defendants.

Copyright (c) 1995, by Larry G. Johnson