Georgia court's citizen e-filing access question

DeKalb Georgia Superior Court Judge Robert J. Castellani probably expressed a bit of surprise last Tuesday when an attorney representing the parent company of LexisNexis asserted that the public has no constitutional right of access to the courts in an exchange Castellani on a motion for summary judgment in a case seeking to have Fulton County's e-filing document system declared unconstitutional. It's "the fourth iteration of a potential class action against Fulton County and its e-filing system," a Law Technology News article this morning says, charging that the Fulton court's requirement that documents be filed via the fee-based LexisNexis File & Serve system declared an unconstitutional violation of citizens' right to access the courts. The suit also says the Fulton court's requirement violates Georgia law that stipulates the method by which legal documents must be filed and constitutes an "illegal scheme" between the county and LexisNexis' parent company, Reed Elsevier, to "impose an unlawful mandatory e-filing system upon litigants in Fulton County State and Superior Court and to charge excessive and unauthorized fees in connection therewith."

Plaintiffs, the LTN article said, "include three attorneys; a non-attorney who, as administrator of his father's estate, 'has been subjected to the Lexis fees'; and a corporate entity, Best Jewelry Manufacturing, which was a party to a suit in Fulton County State Court in 2008." Their complaint says that LexisNexis charges administrative fees of between $7 and $12 for each document filed in addition to the courts' statutory filing fees, public access terminals at the courthouse allows pro se litigants to register and file documents without paying the fee….

Judge Castellani's response to Tuesday's assertion included citing the Georgia Supreme Court's 1984 ruling in Nelms v. Georgia Manor Condo Association (253 Ga. 410), which held that while the right to access to the courts is not unfettered, "it is axiomatic that an individual must have access to the courts in order to assert the right of self-representation provided by [the right to the courts provision]."