New Hampshire courts begin cloud-based pilot for criminal, civil cases

The cloud-based initiative ‘will allow us to extend our electronic capabilities and make digital evidence management statewide the next logical step in our e-Court development,’ says Superior Court Chief Justice Tina Nadeau.

In a deal with Thomson Reuters, New Hampshire’s Rockingham County Superior Court will begin a pilot project using a cloud-based system to handle documentation for all civil and criminal court cases.

Under the pilot, the court will use Thomson Reuters’ CaseLines exhibit presentation platform, which is designed to enable courts to make hearings more productive and efficient. After the pilot period, the goal is for the platform to be expanded to the entire court system, with county-by-county training for local attorneys.

The pilot is part of the New Hampshire judicial system’s e-Court Program Initiative, whose goal is to make the court system more efficient with virtual hearings and streamlined workflows.

Using CaseLines, all parties in a case can organize, share and present evidentiary documents and multimedia exhibits in a single system, removing the challenges faced when sharing by traditional methods such as e-filing, email or other unsecure methods, said Thomson Reuters. The platform also enables anyone with access to a phone and internet connection to be securely invited to upload to the case file.

The move to digitize the court system even further has come after the courts and attorneys were forced to work remotely during the pandemic, said Superior Court Chief Justice Tina Nadeau.

“We found during the pandemic that e-Court and e-Filing were crucial in permitting attorneys to work remotely and in allowing Superior Court cases to move forward,” she said. “This pilot program will allow us to extend our electronic capabilities and make digital evidence management statewide the next logical step in our e-Court development.”

Use of CaseLines is aimed at expediting those existing efforts – accelerated by Covid – that were already underway, she said.

The e-Court Program Initiative’s goals are to reduce costs, improve case processing productivity and streamline hearings.

With the pilot and expansion plans, New Hampshire will join Arizona as the only two states so far to adopt the digital hearing platform statewide, said Steve Rubley, president of Thomson Reuters’ government segment.

“New Hampshire has been a leader in the digital transformation of its justice system,” Rubley said. “We are delighted to support its ongoing efforts to transform its court operations, and to bring technology and digital capabilities to reimagine how the court system can better serve its people.”