What may seem like a prosaic venue — a procedural rules amendment case at the Supreme Court — is the setting for some frictions generated by the shifting of Florida courts to electronic documents from paper ones.

One particular issue is the practice by lawyers, particularly in probate and guardianship cases, of filing papers or scans of papers that have the signatures of clients or third parties not represented by the attorney. Attorneys can file using electronic signatures, but many practitioners are reluctant to use electronic signatures for clients or unrepresented interested persons involved in cases.

Other issues include that the filer is considered a signer of a document and the requirement to file a notice if a scanned document is filed.