The Practice of Using Initials and Pseudonyms in Legal Filings
A practice done by many layers for the past many decades, many attorneys have filed their lawsuits with just their initials, aliases, and pseudonyms. This method has been constantly practiced as a way to hide the identities of their clients as well as the identities of the opposing parties.
However, as a result of all the mystery and hidden names, it can be sometimes be extremely difficult to locate who exactly is being sued and therefore difficult to recover damages that a court may issue for the plaintiff to go retrieve himself.
Tarrant County, Texas’ Efforts to Eliminate the Practice
In Tarrant County, Texas, District Clerk Tom Wilder is trying to get rid of this old practice once and for all for the benefit of the public in being able to file the lawsuits that come in properly. As of a right now, If there is any question as to what is the real names of the parties, the person questioning the name must receive go to court and ask a judge to issue an order forcing the litigants to verify their identifies by using their full names.
Anonymity Concerns in Divorce Cases
The issue of maintaining anonymity for the parties is directly a concern for divorce cases. The Star Telegram reported that a number of divorces and family court cases involving high-profile litigants, including Texas Rangers co-chairman Bob Simpson, could not be accessed by searching digital court records. However, because the divorces were filed and signed with the party’s initials, this made searching for their identities even more complicated. The fact that there was a small computer glitch
did not help their endeavor in locating the actual people involved in the divorce lawsuit.
Investments in Case Management Systems
With over 140 full time and 25 part time staff members working at the District Court office,
employees are still expected to handle over 60,000 new case filings per year. With that mind, time is valuable and limited and the employees need to work in as efficient a manner as possible. Having to spend time locating divorces based their initials that may or may not be the actual initials is time
consuming and costly to the office.
In terms of the case management system used, the county has already spent millions of dollars trying to build a new management system that would avoid computer glitches as well as provide a better method of cataloging past divorce cases.
If you’re looking for a divorce lawyer, contact Scroggins Law Group.
