Florida lawyers are continuing to file scanned electronic documents that do not conform to the required text-based PDF/A format.

Members of the Florida Courts Technology Commission’s Portal Subcommittee on August 18 discussed ways to get lawyers to comply, including better education efforts, warnings of problems than can ensue from not filing in the proper format, and perhaps charging a fee when the statewide e-filing Portal must convert non-conforming documents into the PDF/A format.

PDF/A has been approved by the Supreme Court as the format for the electronic-based court system, including for the storage of electronic court records. So far, 10 of the state’s 67 clerks of court have converted their case management systems to accept and store PDF/A documents and the rest, complying with a Supreme Court order, are converting to PDF/A.