The Summer of 2019 is now upon us. Yankees fans are enjoying a somewhat comfortable lead in the American League East and a few pleasant surprises from players stepping in to starting roles. Mets fans are reading Tolstoy, attending the ballet, and following the early start to the Saratoga Race Course meeting. As we enjoy all of the pleasures that The Empire State offers and recharge our batteries during this special season, it's also important to keep one eye on developments in the law.

The Growth of E-filing. It took quite a long time for e-filing to take hold in New York state courts, but it is now picking up momentum. As of this writing, there have been 2,029,976 e-filed actions and 28,411,419 documents have been e-filed in those actions. The New York State Courts Electronic Filing System (NYSCEF) boasts 87,478 registered attorney users and 11,838 pro se litigants have also participated in e-filing. Of the 62 counties in New York state, 47 have implemented an e-filing program to date.

Under the May 31, 2019 administrative order of Chief Administrative Judge Marks (AO/137/19), e-filing is now mandatory in 36 counties in various categories of actions. Those counties and 11 additional counties have consensual or voluntary e-filing programs, which allow parties to consent to e-filing in various categories of actions. Mandatory and consensual e-filing is also up and running in the Surrogate's Court, the Court of Claims, and the New York City Civil Court. See Siegel & Connors, New York Practice §63A (6th ed., 2018) (discussing status of e-filing in New York state courts). If you have not yet participated in an e-filed action in the New York state court system, you are likely in the minority.