Imagine: You’re late for work and going 10 miles-per-hour over the speed limit to try to shave a few minutes off your commute, when you’re pulled over. The police officer gives you a ticket, but it’s more expensive than you anticipated. You want to take care of the matter quickly, though, before the late fees start piling up, so you e-mail the judge listed on the back of the ticket and set up a payment plan.

And just like that, the matter is taken care of—without the need to appear in court or spend 20 minutes on hold trying to get through to a clerk. This is the future as imagined by Court Innovations, a startup spun out of the University of Michigan’s law school.

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MLive covered the launch of online platform to resolve minor offenses in Bay County. The innovative program was first piloted in the 14A District Court in Washtenaw County and then launched in thje 74th District Court in Bay County on Aug. 25, 2014.

How can you resolve a minor civil infraction or a traffic ticket without stepping foot in a courtroom? Use the Online Court Project.The first-of-its-kind technology was designed by J.J. Prescott and his team to help people who have been charged with minor offenses interact with courts online, without needing to hire an attorney.

J. J. Prescott is a law professor at the University of Michigan and co-director of the Empirical Legal Studies Center.

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