Appellate motions available online July 1

Indiana appellate courts will make motions filed in non-confidential appeals available online next month. The Indiana Supreme Court authorized motions filed by attorneys on and after July 1 to be available to the public online at MyCase.in.gov and Appellate Case Search.

Motions are legal documents filed by each side in a disputed matter which are written requests to the Court. The following are examples:

• Motion of extension of time to file brief
• Motion for oral argument
• Motion to withdraw appearance

The online free access to motions is being announced after recommendations from the Task Force on Remote Access to and Privacy of Electronic Court Records. The Task Force studies best practices and policies on Internet access to electronic court records. The Court considered the Task Force recommendations and unanimously approved the following:

• Only motions written by attorneys will be posted online (due to attorneys’ ethical requirements to follow court record confidentiality rules)
• Motions written by non-lawyers will not be posted online at this time
• Motions filed after July 1 will be available; archived motions will not be online

The Court also directed public notice be given to attorneys regarding the new policy. Attorneys sometimes file motions with medical or personal information. For example, an attorney filing a motion to withdraw appearance may go into detail regarding a serious personal health matter. Previously, that information would likely only be seen by the Court. Such details may not be necessary and the Court urges attorneys to be aware of the public availability of appellate motions filed after July 1.