The New York Appellate Division e-filing program has gone so well that the Second Department is expanding it again. After a limited start in March that only included appeals originating from Westchester County, and then Suffolk in July, the Court has decided to include all appeals from orders in the Ninth Judicial District beginning on December 3, 2018.
The e-filing system has not only worked well for the courts and attorneys who practice frequently in the Appellate Division, but it has also opened up previously hard to get case documents for public view. If there’s an Appellate Division case you’re interested in, you can now just go to the NYSCEF e-filing system and search for the case as a guest. No login or payment necessary, unlike the federal courts’ PACER system. Better access to the courts and case documents is always a good thing.
As the Appellate Division e-filing system evolves, there are a few changes I’d love to see, like being able to search for cases with specific issues or motions. But for now, the transition to appellate e-filing has gone about as well as could have been expected. And the Clerk’s Offices in each of the courts deserves plenty of credit for that.
