LexisNexis® File & Serve, an online service that enables law firms and courts to more quickly and easily exchange legal documents with electronic filing, today announced that it has become the first commercial service in the industry to electronically file and serve the equivalent of one billion pieces of paper.

The passing of this historic milestone means that, over the past decade of its use, File & Serve has diverted more than 5,000 tons of paper from unnecessary consumption, which ecologists estimate saved roughly 125,000 trees from harvesting for paper. This reduction in consumption translates into saving enough energy to power 4,000 U.S. households for one year, or decrease greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 30,000 tons.

While these numbers may only represent a small portion of the worldwide impact of reduced paper use, they illustrate the potential of electronic filing. Reducing the consumption of paper and the resulting resources in the document-intensive legal industry is a very practical way that legal technology can make a difference with environmental conservation.

“E-filing is not just a transformational process for the judicial system that provides a more efficient way to exchange information, but it is also inherently better for the environment,” said Tobias Hartmann, vice president and managing director of File & Serve for LexisNexis. “The courts and law firms that have implemented File & Serve have demonstrated that they can improve their efficiency and significantly lower costs while dramatically reducing the consumption of paper, energy and pollution at a time when our planet requires more responsible management of natural resources.”

File & Serve is an Internet-based solution providing online delivery and management of documents filed with the court and exchanged between attorneys. The technology is an example of the LexisNexis Total Practice Solutions and total court solutions strategy to provide legal and judicial professionals the most complete capabilities to more effectively manage the business and practice of law.

According to Hartmann, the one billion pieces of paper diverted to electronic filing through File & Serve can also be statistically illustrated with other interesting metrics, including:

• 181,000-mile long string of paper laid end-to-end;
• 417,000 banker’s boxes full of paper;
• 7-mile high stack of paper; and
• 7 trips around the Earth, if sheets of paper were laid end-to-end.

About File & Serve

File & Serve is used by more than 90,000 court personnel and legal professionals nationwide who file and serve an estimated 35 million documents annually into nearly 2 million cases. Courts, law firms and litigants benefit from e-filing and e-service with quicker and more efficient delivery of documents, improved access to information and enhanced case monitoring. The public also benefits by a court’s ability to more efficiently manage documents and the reduced costs for document storage and administration.

Electronic filing within File & Serve is paid through transaction fees, so there are no charges to the Court. In addition to Courts, litigants benefit from e-filing with more control over case file management, quicker and more cost efficient filing and service, improved access to information and enhanced case monitoring. The public also benefits by a Court’s ability to more efficiently manage documents and reduced costs for document storage and administration.

About LexisNexis

LexisNexis® (www.lexisnexis.com) is a leading global provider of information and services solutions, including its flagship Web-based Lexis® and Nexis® research services, to a wide range of professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic markets. A member of Reed Elsevier (NYSE: ENL)(NYSE: RUK) (www.reedelsevier.com), LexisNexis serves customers in 100 countries with 13,000 employees worldwide.