Lawyers to have off-site access to Dallas County district court filings

Here's some cause to rejoice if you're a lawyer who likes to look at documents filed in the Dallas County district courts but you don't want to schlep down to the courthouse to see them. Dallas County Clerk Gary Fitzsimmons, while crossing his fingers, says that hopefully by February 2010, lawyers will be able to access filings in Dallas County's civil, criminal and family courts via their own computers. "There isn't an attorney that doesn't want off-site access. And I agree with them," Fitzsimmons says. "The district clerk understands that the Holy Grail for the legal community is off-site access." However, what attorneys will be able to see on their computers depends on which court a case is filed in, because the court clerks can scan in only so many documents related to older pending cases, he says. "If I'm able to get this up and running," he says, attorneys will be able to see "all family court files, most of the civil court pending files and pending cases, and criminal will be all of the 283rd [district court files] and all of the new documents as of January 1st." He hopes that once off-site access for lawyers is up and running, a system that allows the public access to district court filings will soon follow.
-- John Council