Voluntary electronic filing is now open in Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II. The program, which began in August in District III, is expanding in anticipation of a mandatory program that begins July 1, 2021.
Sept. 2, 2020 – In 2019, the Wisconsin Supreme Court began a pilot project to expand appellate court eFiling beyond the filing of just briefs and appendices.
Sheila Reiff is clerk of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals
As part of this project and as of Aug. 31, 2020, Court of Appeals District II – which serves most of southeast Wisconsin – now accepts electronic filing of almost all documents.
Court of Appeals District III, which serves the northern half of the state, has accepted eFiled documents since Aug. 3. Many attorneys are familiar with electronic filing in the circuit courts, and the process has been working smoothly. Over 100 cases were converted from paper to electronic in August.
Please note several important points about the pilot project:
-
Electronic filing of appeal briefs, no-merit reports, petitions for review, and responses is still mandatory for attorneys, even those who choose not to participate in the pilot project;
-
Attorneys and self-represented parties participating in the pilot project do not need to file multiple bound copies of briefs with the court;
-
The notice of appeal under Wis. Stat. section 809.10 is still filed in the circuit court. The notice should state clearly (preferably in bold) that participation in the pilot project is requested;
-
A document will be considered filed on a particular day if it is submitted to the eFiling system by 11:59 p.m. and subsequently accepted by the clerk upon review.
-
The $20 eFiling fee will be waived during the pilot project.
Please check the appellate eFiling website for updates on when the other districts will be open for eFiling.
If you have questions, please contact the office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals at (608) 266-1880 or at clerk@wicourts.gov.