Judge Introduced Harry Potter House Points To Get Lawyers To Use Electronic Filing

// It’s 2023 and no one should be making paper filings unless they are in fact incarcerated. The technology is not difficult. PACER tries to make it unnecessarily difficult, but even with all its might it can’t render the process too onerous. It’s long past time for courts to mandate electronic filing to streamline the process and cut down on waste. Alas, some courts balk at forcing attorneys to do the right thing.

Up in Seattle, a former court clerk turned judge came up with an innovative plan to get lawyers to join the rest of us in the 21st century. From The Stranger:

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The idea for the point system emerged at the end of September. During a long day of sentencing hearings, attorneys kept handing [King County District Court Judge Fa’amomoi] Masaniai physical paperwork. After about five attorneys handed him paper, Masaniai made an offhand joke to his clerk: “Minus two points to Hufflepuff for using paper.”

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Public defenders? Those are the lawyers sorted into Hufflepuff right? While the author of the Stranger article suggests that’s taking on the role of “pushovers,” it’s really more about being loyal and good-hearted.

Judge Masaniai probably didn’t plan on getting into this level of granularity. All the judge wanted was a non-coercive way to nudge lawyers to stop using paper, offering points that were ultimately as meaningless as any Quidditch points that aren’t catching the snitch.

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But attorneys inevitably started sorting themselves because they’re insufferable.

The state prosecutors selected Gryffindor because they said they stood “for courage and honor,” Masaniai said.

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Nice try, Slytherin.

After two attorneys from two public defender divisions asked to sort themselves into Slytherin and Hufflepuff, the judge sorted private attorneys into Ravenclaw by default.

Not sure every private attorney has earned Ravenclaw, but fair enough.

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Once the attorneys established their houses, Masaniai started tracking the points using an online form. He gave all the attorney “houses” 25 points and started awarding and deducting points based on who filed motions on paper and who filed them electronically.

While Judge Dumbledore’s gambit succeeded in reducing paper filings, he ultimately worried that defendants may misunderstand the game and think that their rights were being compromised when their lawyer would lose house points and then they’d end up in Azkaban. By mid-October, the judge wrapped up the competition.

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The sad post-script is that ending the program has led to a decrease in electronic filings. Meaning this initiative didn’t provide a nudge to help build better habits… at least some statistically significant group of lawyers were filing electronically solely to earn fake house points for Hogwarts cosplay.

Muggles, man.

King County Judge Used Harry Potter House Point System to Gamify Court Filings [The Stranger]

Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

Topics

Courts, Technology