@Court Releases Open Source Connectivity Tool Kit, Sparking Innovation for Back-Office Automation Systems in U.S. Courts

    ALAMEDA, Calif., April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- @Court, a leading provider of
 Web-based litigation support services for legal professionals, today announced
 the release of its Connectivity Tool Kit (CTK) for back-office Court
 Management Systems. The move creates a new market for innovative Web-based
 applications that can enhance accessibility to America's judicial system while
 accelerating the courts' compliance with the increasingly mandated Legal XML
 standard. News of the release comes at a time when legislative mandates
 requiring electronic filing (eFiling) are creating a marketplace for a new
 generation of electronic courier applications connecting courts' back-end
 systems to the public. Legal XML provides a universal standard connecting the
 courts to service providers in an open market. Implementation of a true Legal
 XML compliant interface by Court Management Systems (CMS) and Document
 Management System (DMS) vendors and the courts will fuel rapid growth of the
 eFiling market. @Court's free, Legal XML compliant, open source CTK makes it
 even easier and faster for courts to deliver direct, open, electronic access
 to citizens and members of the judicial community.
     "A key element missing in eFiling is a universal interface that can
 connect all the Court's back-end systems to the new wave of Web systems
 designed to complement them," said John Healy, president and founder of
 @Court. "In a single package, the CTK puts the courts in the drivers seat of
 their own development with vendors. Together, these applications and Web
 interfaces have the power to stimulate a whole new era in the speed of justice
 and the courts' ability to extend open access to every citizen, 24 hours a
 day, seven days per week."
     The CTK includes multiple components for IT managers at the courts to
 connect their back-office systems to Web-based services, facilitating the
 court's ability to accept electronic filing (eFiling) documents. The Tool Kit
 includes configuration files, a secure Web server with third party Java and
 servlet software, a digital certificate for the web server to enable SSL
 connectivity and connection tools to facilitate integration with backend CMS
 and DMS. The CTK, available at www.atcourt.com, also includes full
 documentation for installation and configuration, sample connectors to
 back-end CMS/ DMS systems, and set-up instructions for the secure web server
 and eFiling storage recommendations. For court IT managers, @Court's CTK will
 spur innovation and allow them to extend their applications to the new
 generation of Web-enabled infrastructure.
     "I'm glad to see XML being put to work in this space; we will all benefit
 from a justice system that is more transparent, efficient, and faster," said
 Tim Bray, CEO of Antarcti.ca and co-inventor of XML. "LegalXML seems the
 obvious basis for interoperability, and I'm delighted that @Court is taking a
 real product to market that's built on these firm foundations."
     With the release of @Court's CTK, courts and software developers both
 stand to benefit from new and future services designed to accelerate the
 wheels of justice. The CTK is open source and free to all users and
 developers, and provides a solid framework for extending Web-based
 capabilities such as logging, error handling, and temporary storage. In
 particular, the CTK includes tools for processing Legal XML, which is poised
 to become the primary foundation upon which legal professionals and
 applications share information over the Internet. With the accelerated Legal
 XML integration possible with the CTK, courts can share tools proven in the
 marketplace, saving development time and increasing development efficiency. In
 addition, the CTK will help to create a community of developers who will use
 and enhance the Tool Kit as public property, increasing competition and
 propelling the growth of automation and eFiling in the nation's courts.
 
     About the @Court Connectivity Tool Kit (CTK)
     The @Court CTK is available immediately at www.atcourt.com. The kit is
 available under easy licensing terms for free to any developer, vendor of
 Court Management/Document Management Services or other professional working in
 the Integrated Justice marketplace.
 
     About @Court
     @Court is a leading provider of Web-based litigation support services for
 lawyers and court systems. The company's Legal XML-compliant electronic filing
 service is currently being tested by a select group of courts nationwide.
 Available later this year, it will enable lawyers to electronically submit
 legal documents to courts, saving time and money while increasing
 accessibility to the judicial system. All transmissions are protected by
 @Court's enterprise caliber security and encryption system, ensuring
 confidentiality for all parties. @Court's service is backed by production
 class infrastructure that retains all documents in a centralized, secure,
 hosted environment, ensuring reliability, eliminating the need for registered
 users to add hardware or software. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in
 Alameda, CA, @Court is Privately venture financed. For more information,
 either visit www.atcourt.com or contact the company at 510-522-4300.
 
     CONTACT:  Kaye McKinzie of Bairey & Bedford Public Relations, LLC,
 415-927-7365, or kaye@b2pr.com, for @Court; or John Jordan of @Court,
 510-522-4300, or jjordan@atcourt.com.
 
 

SOURCE  @Court