E-service change draws questions.

A seemingly innocuous change to the software that runs the portal that handles electronic filing for the Florida court system has sparked a controversy about whether the change was wise or authorized.

A software upgrade on June 20 changed the ways parties are selected for the electronic service system, which is part of the portal when a document is filed.

Before the change, lawyers involved in a case could add parties for the e-service list. Everyone on the list automatically received an emailed copy of the filed document, unless the filing attorney (or the attorney's staff performing the filing) went through the list to check off parties that would be omitted from getting the document.

Under the new system, automatic service is over. Attorneys must perform an extra step of checking a box that they want all parties served or go through the list and check which parties they want copied with the filed document--similar to what they did with paper filings. (Using the electronic service system is still voluntary and lawyers can continue to serve via email or regular mail.)

Officials for the Florida Courts E-Filing Authority, which oversees the portal and approved the software change, say the change mitigates the problem of attorneys and parties who only have a brief involvement in a case from being copied with all filings until the case is over if they can't get removed from the service list. There's only a slight increase in work for filing attorneys, they say.

"There were recommendations to make it more like the paper [filing] world where you have to select recipients instead of automatically selecting everyone on the list," said Putnam County Clerk of Court Tim Smith, chair of the E-filing Authority.

But others say the change now requires extra work every time a document is filed and raises the possibility that attorneys who try to go through the service list will omit a party who should have been served. They note that if filers decide to be cautious and check the "serve all" option, the software change has accomplished nothing except requiring an extra step for filers.

Questions have also been raised about whether the portal authority had the power to make the change without first getting permission from the Florida Courts Technology Commission. The FCTC is in charge of setting policy and coordinating the transfer of Florida courts from a paper-based to an electronic-based system.

All registered attorney users of the portal received an...