eLitigation
eFiling & Docketing
eFiling Superior Court Procedures & Guidelines
Superior Court Proper eFile Procedures
Superior Court eFile Guidelines
File & ServeXpress™ Resources
Directives, Rules & Standards
Administrative Directive 2012-3 Designation of Cases Filed as Civil Miscellaneous for e-Filing
Administrative Directive 2011-4 Civil Appeals Designated for Electronic Filing
Administrative Directive 2010-2 Elimination of Paper Files for Matters Using LexisNexis E-File
(now File & ServeXpress™)
Administrative Directive 2009-4 Designation of Judgment Cases for e-Filing
Administrative Directive 2007-6 E-file Administrative Procedures
Administrative Directive 2003-7 E-File Administrative Procedures
Superior Court Civil Rule 79.1 E-Filing
ABA Standard on Electronic Filing Processes 1.65
eFiling In The Superior Court
Delaware Courts have lead nation in use of electronic filing. Delaware courts added to their legacy of leadership in the use of electronic filing when the Superior Court of Delaware expanded the required use of e-filing for legal documents in several key areas of litigation. The expansions, together with use of e-filing for all civil, criminal and family cases in the Delaware Supreme Court establish Delaware courts as a leader in the use of e-filing technology.
On November 29, 2007 Administrative Directive 2007-4 issued by Superior Court's President Judge, expanded e-filing to all new civil complaints, mechanic's liens, and mortgage cases filed with the Prothonotary in any county, whether subject to Alternative Dispute Resolution or not, were to be filed and/or served electronically using the File & ServeXpress™ e-filing system. ( This requirement did not include civil appeals, involuntary commitments or civil miscellaneous proceedings.)
The directive expanded the use of e-filing in Superior Court to all major categories of civil cases. Delaware Superior Court was the first in the state to adopt e-filing in 1991, and this change means that more than 1.8 million Court documents annually will be electronic. This is expected to save an estimated 9 million pieces of paper annually, enough to stack as high as a 300-story building every year.
Then in January 2008, the Court expanded e-filing directing that all new Civil Complaints, Mechanic's Liens, and Mortgage cases filed with the Prothonotary in any county, whether subject to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) or not, were to be be filed and/or served electronically using the File & ServeXpress™ e-filing system.
Our eFiling Background
Electronic filing is nothing new for the Superior Court of Delaware. Delaware was the first state in the nation to implement an electronic docketing and filing system for civil cases in the United States. That system was called the Complex Litigation Automated Docket or CLAD, and went into effect in 1991.
The system provided the court, counsel and litigants with filing that was quick and efficient as well as optimized the related document storage and lowered related costs. More then 200,000 electronic CLAD transactions were filed to CLAD which provided immediate access to the filings prior to our current Web environment.
On January 9, 2003, the President Judge signed Administrative Directive 2003-1 (stay ended January 27, 2003) and Administrative Directive 2003-2 (rescinded by Administrative Directive 2003-8) which directed the transition and migration to a new electronic filing (eFiling) system pursuant to the court's Civil Rule 79.1. The court's service provider for this browser-based electronic filing system was LexisNexis™ (now File & ServeXpress™). On January 27, 2003, the existing CLAD cases were converted to LexisNexis™ File & Serve (now File & ServeXpress™) e-filing system.
E-filers must register with current service provider File & ServeXpress™. Complete details on registration and filing fees, requirements, and other issues are available from the provider as well as training for filers and users. Contact them to arrange this by calling attorney customer support at 1.888.529.7587. Public access to the documents is available on computer terminals in the Prothonotary's Office.
In July 2003, the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association released a proposed draft for Court Use of Electronic Filing Processes (Proposed Standard 1.65).
On August 12, 2003, the President Judge signed Administrative Directive 2003-7 (Designation of Certain Non-arbitration Cases for e-filing) and Administrative Directive 2003-8 (e-file Administrative Procedures) which expands the use of e-filing in Delaware.
On October 6, 2003, the Superior Court began accepting new non-arbitration complaint cases electronically in New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties. With the expansion of electronic filing to Superior Court non-arbitration cases, Delaware will continue to be at the national forefront of judicial and legal case management.
On April 1, 2007 ,the President Judge signed Administrative Directive 2007-2 (Designation of ADR Cases for -filing Pursuant to Superior Court Civil Rule 79.1) which expanded e-filing to all new civil actions filed with the Prothonotary that are subject to the court's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) pursuant to Civil Rule 16 shall be filed and/or served electronically using the File & ServeXpress™ e-filing system. Eventually the -filing will apply to all Superior Court civil filings. Eventually the system will apply to all Superior Court civil filings. Administrative Directive 2007-4 expands the use of e-filing to all Civil Complaints including Mechanic's Liens and Mortgages. (This designation does not include Civil Appeals, Involuntary Commitments, or Civil Miscellaneous proceedings.)
E-filing administrative procedures were further defined in December 2007 in Administrative Directive 2007-6.
