e-filing and e-service before the Hawai`i Supreme Court and the ICA John-Anderson L. Meyer

What is JEFS  JEFS allows eligible and registered attorneys and eligible and registered unrepresented parties to electronically file documents for all cases in the Hawai`i Intermediate Court of Appeals, for all cases in the Hawai`i Supreme Court, and for criminal cases in the Hawai`i District Courts. Other courts and case types will be added to JEFS as they are brought into the Judiciary Information Management System.  Documents filed through JEFS are subject to the requirements of the Hawai`i Electronic Filing and Service Rules, the Hawai`i Court Records Rules, and the rules that govern the court proceedings, including formatting, service, and sanction rules.

What is JIMS  The Judiciary Information Management System (“JIMS”), is the case management system developed by the Hawai`i Judiciary and implemented by the Hawai`i Supreme Court to record information and documents related to all cases filed in the courts of the State of Hawai`i.  As of September 27, 2010, the Hawaii Supreme Court and the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals began taking electronic filings (“e-filings”) through the Judiciary Electronic Filing System (JEFS).

Scope of e-filing  Pursuant to Rule 2.2 of the Hawai`i Electronic Filing and Service Rules, unless otherwise expressly provided in the rules or in exceptional circumstances that prevent a JEFS User from filing electronically, a JEFS User shall file each document as a.pdf document through JEFS for docketing and storage in JIMS, including documents that are sealed by court order and documents proposed to be submitted under seal or for in camera review.

Effect of e-filing  The electronic filing of a document is deemed complete for all purposes under any of the Hawai'i Rules of Court when a Notice of Electronic Filing (“NEF”) is generated by JIMS.  The record of each court case maintained in JIMS is the official court record. Documents electronically filed in JIMS are deemed original documents for all purposes under any of the Hawai'i Rules of Court. Printed or electronic copies of documents maintained in JIMS may be certified as true and correct copies of the documents in the official record of the case.  Except for documents conventionally filed (i.e., paper documents and physical exhibits submitted to the clerk for filing in the court record), a document filed through JEFS or JIMS for docketing and storage in JIMS is deemed filed at the date and time stated on the Notice of Electronic Filing.

Service of e-filed documents  Notice of Electronic Filing (“NEF”) automatically generated by JEFS and JIMS constitutes service of the electronically filed document to JEFS Users and non-JEFS users who have consented to electronic service. This NEF takes the form of an , generated by the JEFS which is automatically sent to JEFS Users and non-JEFS users who have consented to electronic service.  A filing party must provide conventional service of e-filed documents that are required to be served to parties who are not JEFS Users or who have not consented to electronic service.

Register and Login

JEFS Registration  Hawai`i attorneys whose status is “active," "active- government," "active-emeritus," or "active-judge" may register for electronic filing; any self-represented party (i.e., “Pro Se”) with an active case in the Hawaii Supreme Court or the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals may also register.  Once registered, a JEFS User ID and password will be sent to your primary address provided during the registration process.

JEFS Registration  Once you have registered, you may login to the JEFS website by entering your User ID (or primary address provided during the registration process) and password at the JEFS login page  Upon successful log on, you will be presented with the JEFS homepage from which you will be able to create cases in the ICA and the Supreme Court; submit filings on existing cases; manage existing cases; and manage your user profile.

Creating a case in the ICA

Case Initiation

Attach Documents for Filing

Attach Documents for filing

Complete the filing process  When you have added all documents to be uploaded, take a minute to review all of the information entered on the Case Initiation page to ensure that all data fields are complete and accurate.  Click the “Submit” button on the bottom right of the page and your case will be submitted.

Notice of Electronic Filing  When the case is created, you will see a new page with the Notice of electronic Filing, indicating that a new case has been created, and providing the ICA Case ID, the case title, filing date and time, the type of case, and what documents were filed.  There will also be an indication that notice will be electronically sent to the counsel of record you entered when creating the case.  If counsel or parties are not registered JEFS users, there will be a notice on the NEF requiring that those parties be conventionally served.  Print or download this NEF for your records.

Download filed copies of documents

Filing Documents in an Existing Case

Manage/Monitor Existing Cases

Download the Record on Appeal  All Records on Appeal are now being imaged by the Clerk of the Court and uploaded to the JEFS system for easy access by the appellate Court and all parties to the appeal.  The formal record on appeal will be uploaded by the Clerk of the Court and will be listed in the “Documents” section of the View My Cases page.  Note: to reference in your briefing a specific document and page in the Record on Appeal, you can cite to the Adobe page number within the Record on Appeal.pdf file. (e.g., “Adobe Record on Appeal at page 123”).

Download and Review Transcripts  Similar to the Record on Appeal, court reporters are now electronically filing transcripts requested by the parties to become part of the appellate record.  Transcripts can be viewed and downloaded the same way as any document on JEFS, by clicking the Adobe Acrobat icon to the left of the row listing the transcript.

Reviewing Milestones  The bottom-most section of the View My Cases page is the “Milestones” section, which provides automatically-generated milestone dates calculated in accordance with the HRAP. This list contains a listing of the default due dates for documents to be filed in the appeal. All due dates are calculated in accordance with the relevant rules, as calculated from the date of filing of the initial Notice of Appeal.  Note: you can quickly identify the default filing deadline for your appellate briefing in this section. ALWAYS double check these milestone dates for accuracy and consistency with any other notice filed by the Court. If there is a conflict between the “Milestone Dates” listing and the HRAP, the HRAP will govern, so DO NOT RELY SOLELY ON THE MILESTONE DATES IN JEFS!

Judiciary Website & Training 