A lawsuit brought by lawyers in two Vermont counties last month aiming to block the next round of a new electronic filing system for court records has been withdrawn.
As a result, the Odyssey Case Management System can be used in Franklin and Grand Isle counties.
The lawyers who brought the lawsuit and filed a motion for preliminary injunction all work for the Vermont Defender General’s Office in those two counties. They filed it on their own behalf and for their clients.
Named as defendants were Patricia Gabel, Vermont’s court administrator, and the state courts in Grand Isle and Franklin counties.
A hearing on granting a preliminary injunction to block the e-filing system had been scheduled for late last week, but has now been canceled.
Vermont Defender General Matthew Valerio referred specific questions about the reasons for withdrawing the lawsuit to the lawyers who brought it — including Steven Dunham, the supervising attorney for public defenders in Franklin and Grand Isle counties. Reached Monday afternoon, Dunham declined to comment on the decision to withdraw the case.
Asked if he supported withdrawing the legal action, Valerio replied that he did.
“I don’t know that it’s ended,” he said. “I think there were some legitimate issues in there that were mixed in with a stew of other despair.”
Valerio added, “It doesn’t mean that something won’t be brought again on a maybe different basis, or a better basis, or better facts.”
Gabel, in an email, declined comment on dismissal of the case.
According to Charity Clark, chief of staff to Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan, the lawsuit was dropped so quickly that her office did not need to file a reply to it.
The state’s courts have been rolling out the new electronic filing system in phases, starting with courts in Orange, Windham and Windsor counties in April. The implementation in the final seven counties — Caledonia, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orleans and Washington — is set for the coming weeks.
When the system was installed last spring in three counties, it drew some sharp comments from lawyers, including one who referred to it as a “hot mess.” Lawyers cited a lack of training for how to use the electronic filing system and concerns about a $5.25 fee for filing actions in civil, family and probate courts.
That filing fee was then suspended while court officials tried to renegotiate with Texas-based Tyler Technologies, the company that developed the electronic court records management system. According to the Tyler Technologies website, 28 states use its products.
Teri Corsones, executive director of the Vermont Bar Association, said this week that, based on feedback from attorneys, there have been improvements with the system, but there is still room to make it better.
“Training materials have definitely improved since the initial rollout,” Corsones said. “I think one of the problems with the initial training was it was geared to the more generic Tyler system than specifically to Vermont.”
