Courtroom Technology Center
The North Carolina Business Court
is similar in
many respects to the Delaware Chancery Court and the Commercial Courts in New
York. The unique nature of the Business Court and its docket of complex
litigation makes it the ideal laboratory for the use of courtroom technology
The North Carolina
Business Court is an ongoing "courtroom technology" pilot project
for
the implementation and use of courtroom automation.
The Court began its
implementation of the courtroom technology project in the spring of 1999 and officially
went on line in January 2000. The rapid development of
the project is attributed to the combined insight of North Carolina's superior
court judges and key panels of the North Carolina Bar Association.
The Bar Association's Technology Committee continues to play an active role in the advancement and implementation of this project.
The technology in this court is
available for use by all jurisdictions in North Carolina. Please contact the
court at
info@ncbusinesscourt.net
for scheduling and other information.
Technology
Support
Follow this link for instructions on how to use the Business Court's
technology and answers to frequently asked questions
The Automated Court System.
The Business Court technology
project is divided into four primary areas of focus.
- Electronic Filing and Internet
Access.
- Case and Document Management.
- Courtroom Presentation.
- Trial Judge Resources.
Electronic Filing and Internet
Access.
The North Carolina Business Court web site consists of two independent
servers. The first is a simple system to house the web site, while the
other is dedicated solely to electronic filing and Internet-based case
management.
These servers are hosted and
maintained by the NC Business Court staff with consulting and support provided
by the project's ISP (Internet Service Provider), the CxCorporation [formerly
TRCC, Inc.].
The DNS entries
www.ncbusinesscourt.net
and http://court.ncbusinesscourt.net
are the property of the NC Business Court and are used solely for convenience in
dealing with the continued changes in the Court's web services during product
development. This is not a commercial web site.
The Court uses the cx2000 Electronic
Filing System developed by Steve Winsett of the CxCorporation. Cx2000 is an integrated software
system that seamlessly integrates the electronic file into a host of Court
resources. Use of the system provides cost
savings and convenience that is shared by both the Court, counsel and the public. With electronic filing,
documents may be filed from any location that has Internet access.
This process is accomplished with
an attorney e-filing program that uses the Internet as the information carrier.
The court server handles the processing and time stamping of the filing, in addition
to notifying opposing counsel and other parties in the case. The filing is then placed on the
Court's web site and introduced into the Court's case management
system.
Case and Document Management.
The case management module of the
cx2000 system allows Court personnel to manage electronic filings,
the court calendar and other case information. Parties are
automatically notified of scheduled hearings, and the Court's web calendar is
updated instantly.
If you wish to determine the
Court's availability, you can simply access the Court's calendar on the web
site.
Courtroom Presentations.
A specific effort has been given
to the application of technology in the courtroom. The Court's selection of
technological equipment eliminates
the need for litigants to bring supplemental equipment into the courtroom and
provides on-line resources to all parties.
The courtroom system provides a variety of state of the art technologies
controlled by a simple
touch-screen display. One program offers many
presentation options such as video, electronic documents, electronic slide shows
and the display of paper documents and 3-D objects. The system also provides
electronic zoom and on-screen pen marking capabilities in addition to one touch capturing of the displayed exhibits.
The courtroom podium houses all media that
have been filed electronically in a case. In addition, the podium allows
for the presentation of video tapes, documents on diskette or CD-ROM
and, eventually, audio tapes.
Trial Judge Resources.
The cx2000 system provides a
judge's tool that not only interfaces with the courtroom system but also
integrates resources which provide instant access to a variety of specialty
libraries and tools. Some of these tools include: processing jury instructions, bench book
reference, legal research tools, calculators, and court communication.
The
North Carolina Business Court
200 South Elm Street Suite 200
Greensboro, North Carolina 27401
Telephone 336.334.5252 Facsimile 336.334.5162
E-Mail
info@ncbusinesscourt.net