About Our Customers
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Municipal Court
About the Court
The Philadelphia Municipal Court is a court of limited jurisdiction with 25 judges, and as such is responsible for trying criminal offenses carrying maximum sentences of incarceration of five years or less, civil cases where the amount in controversy is $10,000 or less for Small Claims; unlimited dollar amounts in Landlord and Tenant cases; and $15,000 in real estate and school tax cases. The Municipal Court has initial jurisdiction in processing every adult criminal arrest in Philadelphia, and conducts preliminary hearings for most adult felony cases. Because, by statute, an individual does not have the right to a jury trial in Municipal Court, cases may be appealed to the Court of Common Pleas for a trial de novo. The current appeal rate averages approximately 3% or less. The Philadelphia Municipal Court has experienced many changes since its inception. The Court continues its growth towards its goal of excellence in providing timely and equal justice to all persons who have contact with the Court.
LT Court Tech Implementation
The Philadelphia Municipal Court was the first major jurisdiction in the country to integrate case management, document management, and electronic filing systems via the Internet. The project is titled Civil Litigation Automated Internet Municipal court System, or CLAIMS.
In 1998, the Philadelphia Municipal Court decided to implement a case management system to handle the 160,000 plus cases that were initiated each year. The goal was to have a system that would integrate case management, document management and electronic filling in a way that would permit the Court to operate in a paperless environment for all its case types. LT Court Tech was brought on board and in 2000 delivered CLAIMS, an integrated, fully customized, web-based system that included electronic filing, electronic commerce, online docketing, online processing, case management and document management. The entire system was capable of operating in a paperless environment, from case initiation, to return of service and through the disposition in the courtroom. All of the data entry, scheduling, docketing and disposition tasks are performed electronically.
The vision of operating the 4th largest court in the country in a paperless environment was a success. On April 23, 2008, CLAIMS hit their 5 millionth docket entry and have surpassed 750,000 cases filed.
This initiative has resulted in two awards for the Court:
- 2001 Winner - Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management - Neufeld Award
- 2003 ACT Intergovernmental Solutions Award.
Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board
About the Court
The Environmental Hearing Board functions as the statutorily established trial court of state-wide jurisdiction which hears certain environmental cases. It hears appeals from actions of the Department of Environmental Protection. Under appropriate circumstances, the Board can issue orders superseding actions of the Department. The Department of Environmental Protection also initiates certain types of legal actions before the Board. The Board holds non-jury trials and issues adjudications. The five Judges of the Board are appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation by the Pennsylvania Senate.
While it functions like a court, the Hearing Board's jurisdiction is limited -- it can review only final actions of the Department. But, since the Department has such extensive authority -- administering fifty or so statutes -- the Hearing Board is kept busy. Nearly 10,000 cases have been filed during the 25 years of its existence. Cases not withdrawn or settled proceed to a final Hearing Board decision, either in the form of an adjudication (where a hearing has been held) or an opinion and order (where a dispositive motion had been granted). All opinions of the Hearing Board, whether or not final decisions, are circulated immediately to a list of subscribers and are published on the Hearing Board's website. These opinions are published annually in volumes and they contain more than 2,500 opinions.
LT Court Tech Implementation
LT Court Tech developed a case management system for the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board in 1999 that provides basic case information and docketing. In addition there is a public access component that allows the public to view an online docket. An e-filing application was added to the system in 2002 that allows attorneys registered with the system to file legal documents and serve other counsel who choose to accept electronic service once they are registered. This system has been widely accepted by all participants involved and has virtually eliminated paper docket entries and eliminated the need for extensive copying.
Philadelphia Environmental Hearing Board
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas - Civil Mental Health Division
About the Court
The Courts of Common Pleas are Pennsylvania's courts of general trial jurisdiction. They have existed since the colonial charter of Pennsylvania, and are incorporated in the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. The Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County presently consists of ninety (93) judges who are currently assigned as follows: Trial Division, 67; Family Court Division, 20; and Orphans' Court Division, 3.
The Court of Common Pleas is supervised by a President Judge who is elected for a five year term by the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. The President Judge supervises the Mental Health Review Officer(s) who act on behalf of the Court in hearings pursuant to the Mental Health Procedures Act of 1976, as amended.
Since 2000, a total of 34,113 Mental Health Applications or Petitions have been filed. Of those, 25,955 were applications under §303 of the Mental Health Procedures Act of 1976, as amended. These Applications must be filed and heard within 120 hours of patients' initial periods of involuntary commitment. Importantly, hearings must be held by Mental Health Review Officers within 24 hours of the filing of the Applications. Therefore, within hours: 1) applications must undergo review and satisfy conditions for official filing; 2) hearings must be scheduled at one of five hearing sites; and 3) hearings must be conducted.
LT Court Tech Implementation
In 2001, LT Court Tech implemented an e-filing system for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania to provide electronic filing of civil mental health applications and petitions. The e-filing system provides a web-based environment that automates the preparation, filing and service of Civil Commitment Applications and Petitions. The registered user may fill out specific forms online that in turn create approved documents in PDF format and are submitted to the Court.
It also includes processes for reviewing Petitions and issuing Orders. The system is integrated with an external case management system.
The e-filing system provides very different functionality and data security for each e-filing role. Users have the option of uploading an exhibit or faxing it using a bar-coded coversheet generated by the application. The bar-coded coversheet uniquely identifies the patient and case for which the exhibit is to be associated, and loads it into the system.
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas - Civil Mental Health Division
