Underlying the diversity of the words electronic filing is a debate over whether electronic filing can or should be accomplished by the government or whether it can be better accomplished by private industry. Regardless, the court's primary mission is to resolve disputes. Members of the public who find themselves in the middle of a dispute are primarily concerned with cost and time. Cost and time are only increased by jurisdictional diversity. As a result, the public is demanding new and creative solutions to old problems.
Electronic filing is the transmission by computer of a court pleading to the clerk of the court.
The filing should contain all necessary case management and financial information in electronic format. It should facilitate electronic document management for the litigant, the lawyer, the clerk and the court. This element has been the subject matter of 90 percent of the effort. However, this element is perhaps the easiest to solve. The original focus on the transmission has been by telephone access to a wide-area network or by fax.