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Law.com reports on December 13 plaintiffs attorney Steven J. Newton filed a potential class action alleging that File and Serve is illegal.  The defendants are LexisNexis Courtlink Inc., Fulton County State Court Chief Clerk Mark N. Harper, State Court Chief Administrator Stephani R. Searcy, Fulton County Superior Court Clerk Cathelene "Tina" Robinson, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners and the State of Georgia.

 

In addition to class certification, the suit also requests an injunction barring further collection of the File & Serve fees.  According to Newton's complaint, filing fees and costs for civil actions are set by statute, and -- unless specifically authorized -- no other "fees, assessments or other charges may be assessed or collected."

 

The File & Serve fees, he argues, amount to a "litigation toll booth" that imposes unauthorized fees. The filing rules also violate state and federal constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection, since some legal documents cost more to file in Fulton courts than in other jurisdictions.

 

Newton adds that the original order establishing the program in Fulton State Court, issued by the clerk of the Supreme Court, does not bear the signature of any high court justice, and there is no indication that it has been approved by a majority of the court.

But his biggest gun, he said in an interview, may be a Georgia statute stating that "[a]ny pleading or other document filed in any court of record may be prepared on letter-sized paper; and no clerk of any court of record shall refuse to accept for filing any pleading or other document for the reason that it is on letter-sized paper."

"They've illegally taken away the ability to mail in pleadings in Fulton County," he said.  Newton also notes that attorneys must subscribe to the online system for access, and he is not mollified by the public access terminals in the clerks' offices, he said.  The case, in the Northern District of Georgia, is W. Phillip McCurdy, et al v. the State of Georgia, et al, 1:07-CV-3098.   full story

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