June 29,2009 IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Division has transitioned from using digital certificates to a UserID/Password based access system for the COURTS on-line program. Read full notice.

Quick Link to the COURTS on-line Program What is COURTS on-line? Who can apply for this access? How can my company apply? What are the requirements for participation? What are the benefits? Security Issues Questions and Contact Info? COURTS on-line application forms  COURTS on-line preview (PowerPoint demo)   Frequently asked Questions Document   COURTS on-line Proceedings Codes

What is COURTS on-line?

COURTS on-line, is a secure Internet website that provides authorized subscribers access  to the Division's  database from the comfort of their homes or offices using VeriSign ™ digital certificates, a unique system of identity authentication.  Subscribers are able to view detailed information relating to their firm's cases and hearing lists. Authorized subscribers can also use the system to e-file legal pleadings. For more details, please see the subscriber benefit section.

Who can apply for this access?

• Law Firms currently registered with the Division

• Insurance Carriers and approved Self-Insurers registered with the Division

• Court Reporting Firms currently under contract with the Division

• Physicians that appear before the WC Court

 How can my company apply?

If your firm is interested in participating in this program, please complete a COURTS on-line Internet Access Application form. This form consists of two parts - the Designation of a Contact Person and Subscriber Applications form.

COURTS on-line Internet Access Application:   PDF   MS Word

Before the Division can process the application, we will need for your firm to designate a contact person, an individual with a managerial title. This can be done by completing the Designation of a Contact Person form. It will be the contact person’s  responsibility to approve the list of users for your firm, advise us on the electronic filing access level for every subscriber, notify us whenever there is a change to this list and receive notices from the Division regarding technology issues. The Subscriber application forms need to be completed and signed by each applicant as well as the contact person.  Please note that if the contact person wishes to receive a digital certificate, he or she will also have to complete a subscriber application.

If your company is already participating in COURTS on-line but you would like to add or remove a subscriber, or change information (name, e-mail address, e-filing access level) for an existing subscriber, the firm's COURTS on-line Contact Person must complete a COURTS on-line Subscriber Change Form.

COURTS on-line Subscriber Change Form:   PDF   MS Word

 Requirements for participation:

Subscribers to COURTS on-line need to keep in mind that the minimum requirements for the obtaining a digital certificates and using the COURTS on-line site are the following:

• A VALID AND UNIQUE E-MAIL ADDRESS: each individual subscriber must have his or her own personal computer with a unique valid e-mail address belonging solely to that individual. The Division will use this e-mail address to communicate with you. 
  
  To make sure that e-mail  messages from the Division of Workers’ Compensation are delivered properly to your inbox, you should add the following domain names to your e-mail safe list: "dol.state.nj.us" and “oit.state.nj.us”.
   

• EMPLOYER APPROVAL: the subscriber must be designated as an authorized participant by their employer.
   

• INTERNET BROWSER AND SETTINGS: 
  We recommend that you use Internet Explorer (version 6.0 is recommended, not 7.0). Netscape version 4.7 (or higher) is also acceptable, but not recommended as some of the document templates and images on the site may not appear correctly. Firefox version 2.0 or higher is acceptable.
  
  You must be able to open and download documents from the Internet.  ActiveX controls must also be set to "enable" or "prompt".

• INTERNET CONNECTION:  If your current Internet connection is through a phone connection and you envision using the electronic filing program extensively, we would suggest that you consider upgrading your firm's service to broadband (cable or DSL) to avoid response time problems typically associated with dial-up service.

• PC SETTINGS:  Your screen resolution should be set to at least 800 x 600. If the setting is anything less than this, you may have to scroll left - right to see the full document template. To check your screen resolution (also called desktop area), right-click from your main desktop, select properties and then settings.

• OTHER SOFTWARE:  You musthave Adobe Acrobat installed. This software is available as a free download from the Adobe.com website. We recommend version 5.0 or higher. If you are using Adobe Acrobat version 6.0, you should check to make sure that you have version 6.0.1 or higher.

 Benefits to Subscribers:

Insurance Carrier/Law Firm access
Court Reporting Firm access
WC Forensic Experts (Physicians) access

Carriers/Law Firms:

  Instant access to virtually all pending case data including, but not limited to the following:

• Dates pleadings were received and processed by the Division

• Names and attorneys of all parties involved in a particular case

• Listing of all proceeding dates and results

• Lien information (TDI, Medicaid, child support, etc.)

• Related case information

  The ability to view Judicial calendars for any given day or look up data for single cases. 

  On-line access to a petitioner’s prior judgments, dismissals and pending cases. Currently, in order to obtain this information, one has to write to the Division and wait for staff to manually retrieve the data, a process that can take up to several weeks.

  Access to scheduling information of forensic experts who frequently testify before the court

  For law firms participating in the electronic filing program - the ability to electronically file certain legal pleadings and receive notice of electronically filed legal pleadings through the COURTS on-line website.  See the COURTS on-line Electronic Filing webpage for additional details.

  For those carriers participating in the electronic filing program - the ability to receive notice of e-filed documents through the COURTS on-line website. You can view, sort and print the documents. Participation in this program also enables you to electronically designate respondent counsel to handle cases on behalf of your company.  See the COURTS on-line Electronic Filing webpage for additional details.

  Security:  Individual subscribers will only have access to the cases that belong to his or her law firm or insurance carrier, thus ensuring the confidentiality of case data.

Court Reporting Firms

  The ability to download and print Judicial calendars for any given day.

  Access to case status information (open/closed) and  Decision Details (date, award, type of decision and fees awarded).

  Security:  Individual subscribers will only have the ability to view information on the cases that have been assigned to their firm, thus ensuring the confidentiality of case data.

Workers' Compensation Physicians

   Physicians will be able to conduct a search by petitioner's social security number, claim petition number or petitioner's name to obtain information about the status of a pending case (open/closed) and if closed, the date of closure.

  Security:

Nothing is more important to us than the confidentiality of the Division of Workers’ Compensation’s data. The following will outline the various security measures we have taken to ensure the integrity of our system.

Firewall

Data is secure from unauthorized access through use of the latest firewall technology.

Digital Certificates
Access to COURTS is enabled through the use of digital certificate technology.

Digital Ids (or certificates) are the electronic counterparts to driver licenses, passports, and membership cards. You can present a Digital ID electronically to prove your identity or your right to access information or services online.

For purposes of COURTS on-line, the user obtains a VeriSign digital certificate from the State of NJ. After the user provides the requested information and password (shared secret), the certificate is activated and made available for downloading. When the user logs on to the COURTS on-line web site, the digital certificate is automatically presented to our server which in turn authenticates the validity of the certificate and confirms the identity of the user. Access into COURTS on-line will be granted only if the certificate is valid and the user has been pre-approved by his employer to utilize this program.

Encryption

The connection between the subscriber's computer and our server is protected from eavesdropping through industry-standard encryption technology — Secure Socket Layer (SSL) with encryption keys of up to 128 bits, depending on your browser.

  Questions?

If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact:

Shravani Kosnik NJ Division of Workers' Compensation PO Box 381 Trenton, NJ 08625-0381 Tel: (609) 777-1926 Fax (609) 984-2515

For digital further information about the electronic filing program, please visit the Electronic Filing page.

  COURTS on-line preview 

If you have any questions about the use of digital certificates or with using the COURTS on-line site, you may find the answers in the
COURTS on-line Frequently Asked Questions document   

You may also be interested in previewing the COURTS on-line Powerpoint tutorial, which goes into detail abut the various screens and functionalities of the program.  Please select one of the following PowerPoint™ presentations. Click on :

Law Firm/Carrier/Self-Insurer Demo

Court Reporting Demo