It may be hard to imagine any process still being paper-based these days, but that’s how the legal system worked in Texas until recently.
“Before we had e-filing in the state, everything was very much paper-based,” said David Slayton, executive director of the Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA). "And that meant basically attorneys and litigants who represent themselves having to deliver documents to the court in paper form."
Legal parties had to mail or hire someone to courier documents to the courthouse, and clerks then had to process the paper and get copies to judges. Ensuing orders were also routed via paper.
There was also the issue of storing all that paper. “Of course any document that was filed with the court was filed and stuck in some file room or warehouses for older files,” Slayton said.
“Before we had e-filing in the state, everything was very much paper-based,” said David Slayton, executive director of the Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA). "And that meant basically attorneys and litigants who represent themselves having to deliver documents to the court in paper form."
Legal parties had to mail or hire someone to courier documents to the courthouse, and clerks then had to process the paper and get copies to judges. Ensuing orders were also routed via paper.
There was also the issue of storing all that paper. “Of course any document that was filed with the court was filed and stuck in some file room or warehouses for older files,” Slayton said.
