Injunction Sought Against Georgia Courts & Lexis-Nexis

ATLANTA (CN) - Attorney Steven J. Newton seeks a preliminary injunction and added Fulton County as a defendant in his federal class-action lawsuit that claims Lexis-Nexis Courtlink is operating an illegal, mandatory electronic filing system in cahoots with Fulton County Superior and State Courts and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Newton said he is asking for an injunction because the defendants "bilk the heck out of folks."

Newton said he requested the preliminary injunction to prevent the courts from charging excessive fees while the case is pending.

He said he added Fulton County as a defendant to "remove any doubt on the question of whether naming the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, as the governing body of Fulton County, and the individual defendants in their official capacity, was sufficient to state a claim for relief against Fulton County."

The Atlanta attorney claims, "The defendants have been charging litigants and their counsel in Fulton County Superior Court and Fulton County State Court fees for filing documents and pleadings using their electronic filing system in excess of those authorized by Georgia statute and in violation of other Georgia statutes. Without any statutory authority, defendants charge litigants and their counsel fees - in some instances $11 for each electronic filing in those cases designated for mandatory electric filing pursuant to orders issued by the Superior and State Courts of Fulton County and a pilot project seemingly and or unwittingly approved by the Georgia Supreme Court."

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