Delaware courts have added to their legacy of leadership in the use of technology and electronic filing with the announcement that the Delaware Court of Chancery has expanded its required use of e-filing for legal documents in all new cases and the Superior Court of Delaware has expanded the required use of e-filing for legal documents in several key areas of litigation. These significant expansions, together with use of e-filing for all civil, criminal and family cases in the Delaware Supreme Court, clearly establish Delaware courts as a leader in the use of e-filing technology.

According to Administrative Directive 2007-4 issued by Superior Court's President Judge on November 29, 2007, all new civil complaints, mechanic's liens, and mortgage cases filed with the Prothonotary in any county, whether subject to Alternative Dispute Resolution or not, shall be filed and/or served electronically using the LexisNexis File & Serve e-filing system. This requirement does not include civil appeals, involuntary commitments or civil miscellaneous proceedings.

The directive expands the use of e-filing in Superior Court to all major categories of civil cases. Delaware Superior Court was the first in the state to adopt e-filing in 1991, and this change means that more than 1.8 million Court documents annually will be electronic. This is expected to save an estimated 9 million pieces of paper annually, enough to stack as high as a 300-story building every year.

"In both of the expansions of electronic filing undertaken by Delaware's Superior Court this year, the assistance provided by LexisNexis has been excellent, and as a result the transition to electronic filing is taking place flawlessly and without any interruption of Court operations," said Superior Court President Judge James T. Vaughn Jr., "The Court looks forward to completing its move to electronic filing for all civil cases, with the help of LexisNexis, in the near future." (View Press Release.)

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