Will County Circuit Clerk Pam McGuire announced that her office is working on a proposed pilot project for the electronic transfer of the record on appeal in cases originating in Will County. 

“We are excited to become a partner with the Third District Appellate Court on a pilot for sending electronic appeals records," McGuire said. "This will help expedite the appeal process, as the panel of Justices reviewing the record and the parties involved in the case will all have access to the electronic record simultaneously.

“The attorney/party preparing their brief will no longer have to wait for one party to finish reviewing the record to begin writing their brief," she added. Each Appellate Court justice has the option to make their individual notes on their electronic copy of the file, while the original record remains intact. 

“One of the features we are looking at will be a search tool the filing parties and Appellate Court justices to use to look up words, phrases and names through the common law or ROP. This will afford them the ability to search for key information and to have it instantly," said McGuire.

“Our office prepares between 500 to 600 appeal records on a yearly average, this will be a huge cost saving for the county and our office as it will reduce the need for our office to physically make a security paper copy for our record, save staff preparation time and it will reduce the associated postage expense while promoting Will County’s 'Go Green' initiative," she added. "Most importantly the record will arrive at the Appellate Court sooner”.