Vt. Memo to the Bar, Mar. 19, 2020

SUPREME COURT OF VERMONT

OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR

PATRICIA GABEL, ESQ. Mailing Address

State Court Administrator Office of the Court Administrator

patricia.gabel@vermont.gov 109 State Street

Montpelier, VT 05609-0701

Telephone (802) 828-3278

FAX: 802 828-3457

www.vermontjudiciary.org

TO: Members of the Vermont Bar

FROM: Patricia Gabel, Esq., State Court Administrator

RE: Administrative Order No. 49 – Declaration of Judicial Emergency and Changes to

Court Procedures, Court Administrator Directive PG-11 & Miscellaneous Information

DATE: March 19, 2020

For your information, please find:

• Order Promulgating Amendment to A.O. 49

• PG-11 - Administrative Directive (Electronic Filing) Windham, Windsor & Orange Units

• Helpful links for Updates and Information about Odyssey and the NG-CMS Project

• Updated Court Forms

• Obligations Under A.O. 41

• eCabinet Registration

I. PROMULGATED RULE AMENDMENT

Order Promulgating Amendment to A.O. 49

This Order was promulgated on March 18, 2020; effective immediately.

This order amends A.O. 49, which declared a Judicial Emergency on March 16, 2020, in

response the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pursuant to the order, hearings for nonemergency matters, although generally suspended, may

proceed if litigants participate remotely and are not in the courthouse in the discretion of the

Superior Judge and the Court Administrator.

The Supreme Court in its discretion may hold oral arguments for summary or full-Court

proceedings by telephone or consider cases without oral argument.

II. COURT ADMINISRATOR DIRECTIVE

PG-11 - Administrative Directive (Electronic Filing) Windham, Windsor & Orange Units

This directive was signed on March 19, 2020.

The directive indicates that pursuant to 2020 Vermont Rule for Electronic Filing 1(d), the Court

Administrator is authorizing electronic filing to begin on April 20, 2020 in all divisions of

Windham, Windsor, and Orange Units.

Efiling will be done through Tyler Technologies service Odyssey File & Serve. The File &

Serve website is available at https://vermont.tylerhost.net/ofsweb. There is a self-help section that

provides information for electronic filers. There are free webinars available on how to use this

service at https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/news/efiling-webinars-begin-march-10th. Additional

user guides and information will be available on the Judiciary website prior to April 20, 2020.

III. MISCELLANEOUS

a. Helpful links for Updates and Information about Odyssey and the NG-CMS Project

For ODY Public Portal information: https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermontjudiciary/public-portal

For information about the Judiciary’s new case management project:

https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermont-judiciary/next-generation-court-case-management-system

b. Court Forms

Court forms are constantly being updated. Please refer to the judiciary website for the most up-to-date forms, https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/court-forms.

Please use the link below to report any form question, concern or issue

http://www.vermontjudiciary.org/website-feedback-form or you can access our Website Feedback

program at the bottom of each web page.

c. Obligation under A.O. 41

Attorneys are reminded that an “attorney must report to the State Court Administrator within

thirty days any change of the office mailing or electronic mail address” and that “[n]otice sent to a

reported address is sufficient even if not received by the attorney because of failure to report the

proper address or failure of delivery not caused by the court.” A.O. 41, § 4(c); see A.O. 44, § 1.

Please email those changes to JUD.AttyLicensing@vermont.gov. Your cooperation is very much

appreciated.

To ensure you continue to receive these emails, please add JUD.AttyLicensing@vermont.gov to

your Safe Senders list.

d. eCabinet Registration

Administrative Order No. 44 requires attorneys in active status to register up to three email

addresses in eCabinet for purposes of receiving notices of hearing and other documents. You may

include staff email addresses in the three email addresses that you specify. eCabinet registration is

required whether you practice in court or not.

If you have already registered in eCabinet, the email address(es) you provided as part of that

process will be used.

If you have not already registered in eCabinet, please go to

https://efiling.eservices.crt.state.vt.us/, click Register Now, and follow the simple prompts.

Attorneys will need their attorney license numbers to register. Helpful information about the

Attorney Email Registration process is also available on the Electronic Filing page of the judiciary

website at https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermont-judiciary/electronic-access/electronic-filing. Please contact jud.helpdesk@vermont.gov or call the Helpdesk at 802-828-4357 with any

questions in the meantime.

You are also reminded that you are required to update the email address(es) and other contact

information you have registered as soon as there are any changes, including changes to staff email

addresses you may have included with your registration. To revise the information, please go to

https://efiling.eservices.crt.state.vt.us/, log into eCabinet, click “Account,” choose “My Profile,”

and make the necessary changes to your contact information.

Notification to JUD.AttyLicensing@vermont.gov or in eCabinet of a change to your contact

information does not automatically notify the other. It is your responsibility to notify both. If you

are a member of the Vermont Bar Association, you will also need to separately notify the VBA.