The District Court for the Northern District of Ohio was one of the first courts to test a CM/ECF prototype. The court has used the system since 1996 to handle an unusually large maritime asbestos caseload that had, at one point, 10,000 pleadings filed weekly, and now handles over 16,000 cases per year. The courts received such good reports from attorneys who used the new CM/ECF system. The courts found the new system cut down the notification of court entries, saved the courts considerable time and funds enabling them to deal with increased caseloads without putting on additional personnel.

By September 1999, the CM/ECF prototype system had become operational in district courts for the Western District of Missouri, Eastern District of New York, District of Oregon and bankruptcy courts for the Southern District of New York, District of Arizona, Southern District of California, Northern District of Georgia and Eastern District of Virginia. Those courts managed over 15,000 cases and 150,000 documents using CM/ECF. The Administrative Office for the United States Courts recognized the benefits of this prototype system. In 2000, plans for bankruptcy and district courts to receive CM/ECF system software and implementation began.

(Source: J-Net Home Page: The Third Branch, October 1999 -Volume 31, Number 10 November 1999)