Section 102.1. Practice of Law before the Board

   (a) Attorneys in good standing admitted to practice in the State of Georgia, shall file, sign, and verify documents only by electronic means via ICMS. Only an electronic submission of documents via ICMS shall constitute filing, except as provided for in sections (i) and (j) or as otherwise provided in the Board Rules.

(b) Pro se litigants who are not attorneys in good standing with the State Bar of Georgia must file all documents with the Board in paper form with any Board office.

(c) The electronic filing of any document, form, or other correspondence by an attorney who is a registered participant in ICMS shall constitute the signature of that attorney under Board Rule 60(g) and O.C.G.A. § 10-12-2 et seq. The attorney whose login and password are used to accomplish an electronic filing certifies that the attorney and the attorney's law firm have authorized the filing.

(d) No attorney shall knowingly permit or cause to permit his/her login or password to be used by anyone other than an authorized employee of his/her law firm.

(e) No person shall knowingly use or cause another person to use the login or password of a registered attorney unless such person is an authorized employee of the law firm.

(f) Only the original of any form, document, or other correspondence shall be electronically filed with the Board. Duplicate originals shall not be filed with the Board. Where providing a courtesy copy in response to a request from an Administrative Law Judge or the Board, that document shall be identified clearly and prominently as a courtesy copy.

(g) When electronically filing any form with the Board, and when required by Statute, Rule, or form to serve a copy on an opposing attorney or party, a copy of the form or the ICMS equivalent of the form filed may be used for service.

(h) Service upon a party or attorney of any form, document, or other correspondence shall be by electronic mail. Whenever electronic mail is not available, service shall be by U.S. Mail.

(i) ICMS will be available during the Board's business hours of 8:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except state holidays. Known systems outages will be posted on the web site, and communicated by email, if possible. In the event of an outage preventing an electronic submission and the time for filing a document is at issue, the document may be filed in paper or by facsimile with any Board office. Any filing by facsimile transmission must be clearly labeled with the name of the claimant, claim number, and Board division or employee to whom the facsimile transmission is directed.

(j) Proposed consent orders, petitions for guardianships via Form WC-226a and Form WC-226b, claim initiating Form WC-14s where there is no social security number, Form WC-14s adding additional parties, and Form WC-12s, are exempt from section (a) and may be filed in paper only with the Board in Atlanta, Georgia.

(k) Any filing, document, correspondence, or form filed with the Board that is not in compliance with this rule shall be rejected.

(l) Upon request, or on its own, the Board, in its discretion, may grant exceptions to this rule.