Execs Say Open Courts Law Would Invigorate Legal Tech

Twenty executives from companies and organizations involved in legal research, docket research and legal information wrote Speaker Nancy Pelosi in favor of H.R. 8235, the Open Courts Act of 2020. The letter does not explicitly call for passage of the act, notes Bob Ambrogi on LawSites. It is advisory, and not intended as lobbying. The letter does take exception to a lobbying effort by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts that claims the cost of implementing “free PACER” would be $2 billion. The signatories say that modernizing PACER would dramatically reduce its operating costs. “The Open Courts Act would invigorate the legal technology ecosystem,” their letter says. “By making federal court materials freely available, the OCA would eliminate a major barrier to entry faced by the numerous entrepreneurs who dream of improving the way Americans find justice.”