Supreme Court to allow electronic filing in November

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court will begin using an electronic filing system for documents starting in November, a move other federal courts began decades ago.

The court said in a statement Thursday that the new system will begin operation Nov. 13. The court says that initially attorneys will be asked to submit both electronic and paper documents. The court says that once the system is in place virtually all new filings will be publicly available for free.

The system has been in the works for some time. Chief Justice John Roberts said in a 2014 report that the court was developing the system, saying it “may be operational as soon as 2016.”

Electronic filing is coming on the heels of the debut of a new Supreme Court website in late July.