The Legal Technology Institute is an independent technology consulting and research organization to the legal profession, based at the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law. Coupled with the Uniform Citation Number System, courts are attempting to become more productive with less paper. Electronic filing is a hot issue with several mainstream vendors vying for market share. Many courts are attempting to implement electronic filing into their existing case management systems, which often involves hefty investments in both financial resources and human resources. With the onslaught of the Internet and the multitudes of people migrating to online information, the public is demanding access to public records, both within the court systems and within state and federal government.
Many courts already provide information to the public at the courthouse public access terminal.
Those providing remote access usually provide the same information as the public terminals. Providing court record system access is the least expensive of these four issues, yet usually takes a back seat to the other three. To date, EPA has been a low priority due to low demands for such access. The advent of widespread Internet usage has changed that factor dramatically. The Yankee Group also reports that Internet access is the No. 1 reason consumers buy computers.