Paydown accounts

A paydown account is a pre-paid fund from which filing fees can be drawn when an e-filing is made on Judici E-Filing.  These funds are held in specific non-standard bonds in the court's case management system, much as when the Circuit Clerk holds money in a Trust Fund.

The linkage between such a bond and an attorney is indicated on the Edit Attorney screen in the court's case management system:

Why should the court allow the use of paydown accounts?

Without them, the only payment option for filing fees will be credit card, which:
  • Requires the filer to pay a service fee to cover the associated costs.  This could discourage participation in e-filing.
  • Requires the payor to re-enter their card info every time they need to pay filing fees.

How to set up a new paydown account

If the Edit Attorney screen doesn't indicate a non-standard (NS) account, there a couple of ways to set one up:
    • Click the button to add a new account.  You will be asked for the necessary payment information and a new NS account will be set up.
    • Add the attorney to an existing NS account (as when multiple attorneys in the same firm share one account.
Either way, it is prudent to make the Payor in the bond record indicate the actual source of the money.  So if attorney Jane Jones funds her paydown with a check from her employer, Mason, Burr & Cochrane, the payor should reflect the firm's name.  This will discourage attorneys from continuing to use the account if the change employers.

It is also highly recommended that you make sure that the attorney's record indicates their firm's name, as an additional reminder to change any firm-funded paydown in the event that they change employers.

Adding money to a paydown account

The easiest way to do this is to search for the attorney who is giving you additional funds, and use the Edit Attorney screen to add the additional amount.

If an attorney changes firms, how are they prevented from using their old firm's paydown account?

In order to be able to use any e-business services, including e-filing, the attorney's record in the case management system has to contain the same e-mail account as is associated with their Judici account.  So when they put in their new e-mail address in Judici, they won't be able to do much of anything until they update the court using a revised e-business registration form, available here.  When the court edits the attorney to change their e-mail address and firm name, they will see that the NS bond needs to be removed or changed if it has a payor other than the attorney themselves.  

Is it a lot of work to maintain such accounts as filings are made?

No.  Judici E-Filing and the court's case management system do all of the work of moving and distributing the appropriate filing fees once the filing is approved. 

Providing auditors information on paydown accounts

Paydown account balances are indicated on a Pending Bond report.  In the sample below, note the entry for the Wyse, Ford & Stanley paydown account, as well as the subtotal of all such accounts, shown at the end of the report:


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