Frequently Asked Questions
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File a Case FAQs
Local court rules vary. Contact the court or check its website to determine if there are local rules governing this process.
You may have either saved the document as something other than a PDF, or you did not provide the full file path name. All documents must be saved and submitted as a PDF, with an extension of “.pdf.” In addition, be sure to provide the full path name when identifying the file during the upload process (e.g., C:\somedirectory\motion.pdf).
When a document is filed in CM/ECF, a notice of electronic filing (NEF for district and bankruptcy courts) or notice of docket activity (NDA for appellate courts) is automatically generated and emailed to the registered parties in the case. The NEF and NDA include the text of the docket entry, the unique electronic document stamp, a list of the case participants receiving email notification of the filing, and a hyperlink to the document(s) filed. Parties to the case will receive one free look when they click the document number link within 15 days of receipt of the NEF or NDA.
All courts using electronic filing treat the use of an attorney’s unique system login and password as a signature. Most courts require that attorneys retain copies of certain paper documents, such as affidavits or bankruptcy petitions, containing original signatures of third parties, for a set period of time. These procedures are managed by each individual court through a local court rule or order.
The notice of electronic filing (NEF for district and bankruptcy courts) or notice of docket activity (NDA for appellate courts) that is emailed to the registered parties in the case, lists the parties and their preferred method of receiving the notice.
Only the attorney of record in certain types of cases (e.g., social security, immigration) may view PDF documents remotely.
In district courts, you should be able to view all criminal documents through the notice of electronic filing (NEF), except those under seal. In addition, most criminal case documents filed in district court prior to November 1, 2004, may be viewed only by the attorney of record.
You cannot delete or edit filings after they have been submitted through CM/ECF. If you made an error like filing in the wrong case or submitting the wrong version of a document contact the clerk's office. Use the Court CM/ECF Lookup to find the clerk's office contact information.
In general, an associated case is a case the court has identified as related to another case. Typically, these cases may involve the same, similar, or related issues of law. If applicable, associated case(s) will appear in the Applied Case Selection box on the File a Document screen. A filing may be submitted in all or some of the associated cases listed. If all associated case(s) are deselected, the filing is only submitted to the lead case. Tip: When submitting a filing, the case(s) to which the filing applies is displayed on the filing screens.
Users can register at the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) to receive bankruptcy notices electronically or consolidate all U.S. Postal Service notices to one address. These notices are sent on the same day they are produced at the court, and can be accessed 24/7. Court notices mailed to multiple locations can be routed to a centralized address and then easily forwarded to interested parties.
Access to the filing portion of CM/ECF is available to authorized users only. Learn more about who can file using CM/ECF. Authorization and training of users is provided by the individual federal court. Contact the court for details on filing privileges.