While it might make court operations more efficient and speed service for parties in cases, significant impediments remain to requiring self-represented litigants to give up paper filing and instead use the court system’s electronic filing portal.

A workgroup of the Florida Court Technology Commission’s Portal Subcommittee has been looking at whether, as part of the Supreme Court’s effort to convert the state’s courts entirely to an electronic system, pro se parties could be required to electronically file instead of paper filing. Those litigants now have the option of using either.

A member of the workgroup, Tampa attorney Murray Silverstein, said a review of filings show about 75% of self-represented litigants (SRLs) use paper filing, which slows down the handling of cases in an increasingly electronic court system. A more detailed look at eviction filings in Palm Beach County showed in September 3,066 of 7,488 overall filings were in paper.