Legal Question in Administrative Law in California

This is not a question capable of a yes or no answer. I suppose the starting point is to say that being electronic is not, in itself, a barrier to the document having legal effect. Let me give you a few examples:

1. Federal Courts require electronic filing of documents in most civil cases - this includes complaints, answers, motions, etc. -- and documents issued by the court and its judges will be issued and sent to parties and attorneys electronically -- by e-mail as .pdf files. Papers that are filed as hard copies will generally be rejected by the clerk.

2. California has adopted (effective 1/1/2000) the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, Civil Code sections 1633.1 et seq., which authorizes consenting parties to do almost any kind of commercial transaction without paper, including electronic signatures.

3. Certain formal instruments, including anything to be recorded such as a deed, must still be set down on paper.

4. Wills need to be on paper.

5. Many applications must be made on paper, e.g., an application for a liquor license.

6. State courts are in a slow and uneven transition to electronic filing. Court documents can be sent electronically (e.g., by FAX) but the means of acceptance and transmission rules vary. If I file papers in the state court in L.A., I FAX or e-mail them to a filing service across the street from the courthouse, and they print and hand-carry them over to the clerk for filing.

So, it's piecemeal, but moving in the direction of paperless.

Contact me directly if you have a specific circumstance to ask about.