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Maine Bar Rules to Require Lawyers to Provide an Email Address When Registering
Date: 5/17/2022
The Supreme Judicial Court announced today that amendments to the Maine Bar Rules will require all active lawyers to provide a single email address for electronic service in their annual registrations with the State of Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar ("the Board"). Annual registration statements may be filed online beginning July 1, 2022. Email addresses must be provided by the close of the registration period on August 31, 2022.
Amended Rule 4(a) provides that
Every lawyer admitted to active practice in Maine shall provide as part of the annual registration process required by Rule 4(b) an active, current email address for electronic service that will be used by other parties and the courts for electronic service of documents, notices, and any other records through any electronic court systems implemented by the Maine Judicial Branch and shall notify the Board immediately of any change in that address.
Users of eFileMaine, the Judicial Branch's electronic filing system, have been required to provide a service email address when filing documents in cases electronically since November 2020 when eFiling was implemented in Bangor courts and the statewide Business and Consumer Docket for most types of civil cases. The email address that lawyers will provide to the Board pursuant to the amended bar rules will be available in the EFS for lawyers to search and select the opposing counsel for electronic service. This address will be listed in the "Public Service Contact List," an email directory within the EFS, enabling lawyers to easily serve each other. Users of the EFS, including lawyers on the Public List, will continue to have the ability to identify additional specific service contacts from their firm for each case.
Attorneys with questions on this change may contact the Board or the electronic courts help team at the Maine Judicial Branch at ecourtshelp@courts.maine.gov.
For more information on eFileMaine and Maine eCourts, please visit the Judicial Branchs website here: www.courts.maine.gov/ecourts.