Code of Judicial Administration

CJA 04-0503. Mandatory electronic filing. Amend. Requires the electronic filer to use a personal identity with an e-filing interface, rather than someone else’s.
CJA 04-0508. Guidelines for ruling on a motion to waive fees. New. Establishes guidelines for ruling on a motion to waive fees. Requires use of court-approved forms.
CJA 11-0201. Senior judges. Amend. Removes reference to the Judicial Council’s attorney survey for certification of senior judges.

Utah Courts

View more posts from this author
5 thoughts on “Code of Judicial Administration
  1. Sara Bouley

    I agree with the proposed amendment to CJA 04-0503. I wonder if it would also be possible to assign docket numbers to documents that are filed with the district courts, as the federal court does. I have found docket numbers to be really helpful in terms of being able to quickly and easily identify previously filed documents that are being referred to in later filings.

     
  2. Leslie Slaugh

    The proposed change to rule CJA 04-0503 could be read as precluding an attorney from being assisted by the attorney’s secretary, associate, or paralegal. A possible alternative wording: “Each attorney of record shall use a unique and personal identifier provided by the filer’s service provider, and shall be responsible for all filings made using the attorney’s personal identifier as though personally made by the attorney.”

     
  3. Nathan Whittaker

    Re: CJA 4-503:
    Consider replacing “the attorney of record” with “an attorney of record.” This change would spare confusion when co-counsel is involved in a case.
    Nathan Whittaker
    Day Shell & Liljenquist, LC

     
  4. Craig Parry

    If the intent of the amendment to 4-503 is to disallow legal assistants from e-filing on behalf of an attorney, even with the attorney’s permission, it seems unnecessary and unwarranted. Counsel is already verifying the information in the document filed by virtue of her signature being affixed to the document. Requiring that the attorney be the one who actually types the keystrokes to efile adds nothing to this, any more than would requiring attorneys to personally type their own documents. I do not see the reason to require attorney time and fees to complete the ministerial act of efiling.

     
  5. Dallas Powell

    Here is my recommendation for wording changes:
    CJA 04-0503. Mandatory electronic filing. Amend. Requires the electronic filer to use a personal identity with an e-filing interface, rather than someone else’s when the documents presented to the court require an electronic signature by the party matching the personal identify, or when the court’s records need to include the identify of the filer of the documents.
    The generally accepted concepts here is that an electronic signature such as /S/ John Doe is only authentic when the name in the electronic signature matches the user account used to efile the document. This means that if an attorney enters a /S/ with their name, and they share their username and password with their legal assistant, the courts consider the attorney that shared that usernamme and password to be bound the document and the document is considered authentic.
    When a document is efiled to the court and there is no signature required, it may still be important for the court to know who sent the document to support a trail of accountability.