News

Philadelphia Municipal Court Boosts Efficiency and Access in Its Civil and Criminal Divisions

June 26, 2000

PHILADELPHIA, June 26, 2000 — Philadelphia Municipal Court is introducing new technology and operating procedures in its civil and criminal divisions to enhance access to the judicial system and accelerate efficient case processing. Chief among the changes is the launching of an electronic filing system for small civil claims - a process that will be fully implemented by the end of the year. The title of the project is Civil Litigation Automated Internet Municipal Court System, or CLAIMS. Under CLAIMS, cases can be filed in any location from a personal computer through a secure Internet site linked to the court at: http://courts.phila.gov. The change is designed to ease the claims process for citizens and their attorneys while providing an alternative to a largely manual system that funnels tons of cumbersome paper into the municipal court system each year. The move to CLAIMS will involve the entire small claims process - starting with case initiation through disposition in the courtroom. CLAIMS is a comprehensive Civil Case Management Automation Project that was initiated by Municipal Court Administrative Judge Robert S. Blasi in 1998. Unlike any other system in a major metropolitan courthouse, CLAIMS is a Web-based system that fully integrates case management, document management and electronic filing. "We've been brought from the 19th Century directly into the 21st," Judge Blasi said. "We skipped the 20th Century when we made the leap from the age of pens, pencils and typewriters to quickly and efficiently conduct court business electronically - beginning now, and extending into the future." A Paperless Environment in Small Claims Court About 165,000 small claims filings were received by the court in 1999. Yearly new civil filing documents would stretch 300 miles if laid end-to-end. Because data entry, scheduling, docketing and disposition tasks are performed electronically, CLAIMS will permit the civil division of Philadelphia Municipal Court to operate in a paperless environment. First Judicial District Court Administrator Joseph J. DiPrimio, Esq., and a team of Municipal Court employees joined members of the Philadelphia Bar and Verilaw Technologies Inc. to bring the pilot project on line with the support of First Judicial District President Judge Alex Bonavitacola, Municipal Court President Judge Louis J. Presenza and Administrative Judge Blasi. The result is an integrated, fully customized, Web-based system that includes electronic filing, electronic commerce, online docketing, online processing, case management and document management. The first test case was successfully filed on April 13 when Judge Blasi and Project Director and Deputy Court Administrator Glenn S. Bozzacco, Esq., traveled to an attorney's office in Wayne, Delaware County. At 1 p.m., the attorney registered as the first electronic filing user and entered claim information concerning a small claim collection matter and submitted it electronically to Philadelphia Municipal Court for validation. The claim was confirmed by IT specialist Maria Criniti using a laptop computer from another remote site during a technology conference in Florida. On June 15, a trial list of 30 cases that were initiated electronically also were disposed of electronically in the courtroom without paper. 3-Part Plan: Procedural Changes in Criminal Division In a related development, Municipal Court is making operational changes to cope with a burgeoning number of criminal cases. In a comprehensive approach to meet the growing caseload challenge, the changes will be supported through automated case tracking and analysis. As a result of police and legal community initiatives, the number of new criminal filings increased by 10,000 cases from 1996 (66,000) to 1999 (76,000). A March 2000 report published by the Crime and Justice Research Institute for Philadelphia said increases for drug crime arrests in particular increased by 167% between 1996 and 1999, and that more and more of those arrests are being referred to court. Their projections indicate felony preliminary arraignments alone in Philadelphia could reach 60,000 cases annually. Misdemeanor and summary cases, which currently represent more than half of the Municipal Court caseload, are also expected to continue to increase. The Crime and Justice Institute report goes on to note that with more than double the number of new felony cases since 1996, "this increase in the volume of cases entering the judicial process is unprecedented in the last 20 years." Municipal Court leaders and staff developed a three-pronged strategy to further enhance productivity in light of the escalating numbers: • First, criminal trial and hearing schedules have been expanded. An afternoon list will be added in courtrooms where misdemeanor trials are heard. All cases currently are scheduled to begin in the morning. Aside from other advantages - decreased waiting time among them - the afternoon listings will accommodate continuances from the morning schedule where witnesses or other parties were unable to appear. In a related move, the court with the anticipated cooperation of the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defenders' Association will work together to provide additional personnel, space, judicial resources, materials and administrative backup to conduct more trials. A courtroom that had been used exclusively for protracted cases will now be dedicated to misdemeanor trials three days a week, beginning in June 2000. These measures will free up alternative continuance dates, better manage caseloads and facilitate hearings for detained defendants. • Second, an additional 11 a.m. "call of the list" in courtrooms where felony preliminary hearings are conducted will provide another opportunity for witnesses and others unable to be present in the morning to appear in court the same day. No felony cases will be dismissed or discharged for lack of witnesses prior to the second and mandatory listing. • Third, an automated program is under development to support the new scheduling plan and allow for greater flexibility and quicker response to changing system demands. The program will enable the court to better manage cases by providing tools to measure progress and further operational improvements. Both Common Pleas and Municipal courts are part of the automated program plans. By giving judicial and administrative leaders access to caseload details, the new system will allow for the analyses of many data elements including: numbers of cases, defendant information, case types and status, court schedules, charges and disposition data. The court will assess its operational performance with these new docketing and analytical capabilities. Flexible and tailored reporting for built-in and ad hoc evaluations also will be available. Speed and ease of use are key features of the new criminal case processing system, which will employ a fully relational database, fourth generation programming tools, a graphical and Web enabled display. Extensive training to provide in-house staff with the capability of making added functional improvements for years to come also is part of the plans. All of the changes were done in coordination with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. Both AOPC and First Judicial District leaders have pledged their support of the Municipal Court function as the judicial system's Philadelphia front line in overcoming the challenges of the massively increasing and numbers of criminal cases. Additionally, planning by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts has been begun for development of an integrated, statewide trial court case management system that will include both the First Judicial District Common Pleas and Municipal courts and is expected to include electronic case filing.