Electronic Case Filing
Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual
United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
Edward J. Schwartz United States Courthouse
221 West Broadway
San Diego, California 92101
James M. Carter and Judith N. Keep United States Courthouse
333 West Broadway
San Diego, California 92101
Office of the Clerk
333 West Broadway, Suite 420
San Diego, California 92101
(619) 557-5600
casd.uscourts.gov
January 16, 2026
Electronic Case Filing
Administrative Policies and Procedures
Table of Contents
Section 1: The Electronic Filing System
a. Authorization for Electronic Filing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
b. Scope of Electronic Filing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
c. The Official Record and Maintenance of Original Paper Documents . . . 2
d. Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
e. System Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
f. Registration and Attorney Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
g. Logins and Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
h. Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
i. Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Section 2: Electronic Filing and Service of Documents
a. Filing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
b. Pro Se Litigants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
c. Case Initiating Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
d. Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
e. Courtesy Copies for Judicial Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
f. Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
g. Motions, Applications or Other Requests for Ruling by the Court . . . . 12
h. Proposed Orders and Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
i. Ex Parte Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
j. Sealed and Juvenile Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
k. Exhibits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
l. Hyperlinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
m. Technical Failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
n. Correcting Filing or Docket Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
o. Transcripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
p. Exceptions to Electronic Filing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Southern District of California
Electronic Case Filing
Administrative Policies and Procedures
Section 1: The Electronic Filing System
a. Authorization for Electronic Filing
Pursuant to General Order No. 550, beginning on November 1, 2006, the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California will require attorneys and
others who have obtained permission of the court in civil and criminal cases to file
documents with the court electronically, over the Internet, through its Case
Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) system. The court expects all
attorneys practicing in this District to participate in electronic filing to the extent
practicable.
Electronic transmission of a document to the CM/ECF system, together with
the transmission of a Notice of Electronic Filing from the court, constitutes filing of
the document for purposes of Rule 5(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and
Rule 49(d) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and constitutes entry of the
document on the docket kept by the Clerk of Court under Rules 58 and 79 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The following court policies govern electronic
filing in this district unless, due to extraordinary circumstances, in a particular case,
a judicial officer determines that these policies should be modified in the interest of
justice.
b. Scope of Electronic Filing
Except as prescribed by local rule, order, or other procedure, the court has
designated all cases to be assigned to the Electronic Filing System. Unless otherwise
expressly provided in these rules or in exceptional circumstances preventing a
registered user from filing electronically, all petitions, motions, memoranda of law,
or other pleadings and documents required to be filed with the court by a registered
user in connection with a case assigned to the Electronic Filing System must be
electronically filed.
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Case initiating documents in civil cases, including but not limited to the civil
Complaint and Notice of Removal, must be filed electronically. All sealed case
initiating documents in civil cases must be filed in paper format. All case initiating
documents in criminal cases, including the criminal Complaint, Information,
Indictment and Superseding Information or Indictment, must be filed in paper
format at the Clerk’s Office. All subsequent documents must be filed by registered
users electronically except as provided in these rules or as ordered by the court.
c. The Official Record and Maintenance of Original Paper
Documents
The official court record will be the electronic file maintained on the court’s
servers. This includes information transmitted to the Court in electronic format, as
well as documents filed in paper form, scanned, and made a part of the electronic
record to the extent permitted by the court’s policies. The official record will also
include any documents or exhibits that may be impractical to scan. The electronic
file maintained on the court’s servers must contain a reference to any such
documents filed with the court. For cases initiated prior to the implementation of
the Electronic Filing System, the official court record will include both the pre-
implementation paper file maintained by the Clerk, as well as the post-
implementation electronic files maintained on the court’s servers. The Clerk’s
Office will not maintain a paper court file in any case initiated on or after the
effective date of these procedures except as otherwise provided in these procedures.
If an original pleading has some intrinsic value, the filing party must retain
the original paper document for a period of five years from the date the document is
signed, or for one year after the expiration of all time periods for appeal, whichever
period is greater, and must provide the original paper document to the court upon
request.
d. Definitions
CASE MANAGEMENT/ELECTRONIC CASE FILING SYSTEM, referred to in
these procedures as the system or CM/ECF, means the Internet-based system for
filing documents and maintaining court case files in the United States District
Court for the Southern District of California.
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DOCUMENT means pleadings, motions, exhibits, declarations, affidavits,
memoranda, papers, orders, notices, and any other filing by or with the court.
ELECTRONIC FILING means uploading a document directly from the registered
user's computer in "Portable Document Format" (.pdf), using the CM/ECF system
to file that document in the court's case file. Individual .pdf documents must not
exceed thirty-five (35) megabytes (MB) in size. Pacific Time applies to all filings.
Sending a document or pleading to the court via e-mail other than as described
below does not constitute "electronic filing."
NOTICE OF ELECTRONIC FILING, referred to in these procedures as NEF, is a
notice automatically generated by the CM/ECF system at the time a document is
filed with the court. The notice sets forth the time of filing, the name of the attorney
and/or party filing the document, the type of document, the text of the docket
entry, the name of the party and/or attorney receiving the notice, and an electronic
link (hyperlink) to the filed document which allows recipients to retrieve the
document automatically.
.pdf refers to Portable Document Format, a proprietary file format developed by
Adobe Systems, Inc. A document file created with a word processor, or a paper
document which has been scanned, must be converted to Portable Document
Format to be electronically filed with the court. Converted files contain the
extension “.pdf”. Documents which exist only in paper form may be scanned into
.pdf for electronic filing. The Court recommends scanner settings at 400 pixels per
inch (ppi). Electronic documents must be converted to .pdf directly from a word
processing program (e.g., Microsoft Word® or Corel WordPerfect®).
REGISTERED USER is an individual who has been issued a login and password by
the court to electronically file documents.
PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) is an automated system that
allows a subscriber to view, print and download court case file information over the
Internet for a fee.
e. System Availability
The CM/ECF system is designed to provide service 24 hours a day. The
parties, however, are encouraged to file documents in advance of filing deadlines
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and during normal business hours. The Clerk’s Office has established a Help Desk
(866-233-7983) to respond to questions regarding CM/ECF and the registration
process. The Help Desk will be staffed business days from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Information can also be obtained on the court web site at www.casd.uscourts.gov.
f. Registration and Attorney Responsibilities
Registration in the CM/ECF system for the purpose of electronic service of
pleadings and other papers is mandatory for attorneys.
All attorneys in good standing must register for access to the CM/ECF
system. To submit an electronic application for admission/registration, an attorney
must have an individual upgraded PACER account. For additional information on
how to register for an individual PACER account, please visit
https://www.casd.uscourts.gov/cmecf/nextgen.aspx. Once an individual PACER
account has been obtained, visit www.pacer.gov and select Manage My Account >
Maintenance > Attorney Admissions / E-File Registration. Any questions may be
emailed to the CASD CM/ECF helpdesk at
[email protected].
Registration constitutes consent to electronic service of documents by e-mail,
as provided by the Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal and Appellate Procedure. An
attorney may register up to two (2) additional e-mail addresses.
An attorney whose e-mail address, mailing address, telephone or fax number
has changed must update the information through the PACER website and file a
timely notification of the changes. Attorneys employed by federal, state, and local
government agencies are responsible for updating their attorney information upon
their appointment and separation from their respective agency.
Electronic filing through CM/ECF is required for all attorneys beginning
November 1, 2006, except as otherwise provided herein.
A filing party must maintain an electronic mailbox of sufficient capacity, with
the appropriate e-mail permissions, to receive electronic notice of case-related
transmissions.
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If an attorney fails to file electronically and does so without leave of court, he
or she must also file a "Notice of Non-Compliance with Mandatory Electronic
Filing" setting forth the reason(s) for filing in non-electronic form.
After leave to appear pro hac vice has been granted, attorneys will have five (5)
days to register for electronic filing.
An attorney may apply to the court for permission to file documents in paper
form. Effective November 1, 2006, attorneys must show good cause to file and serve
using non-electronic filing. Permission for non-electronic filing may be withdrawn
at any time by the court and the attorney may be required to file documents using
the CM/ECF system.
g. Logins and Passwords
Documents filed under an attorney's login and password will constitute that
attorney's signature for purposes of the Local Rules and Federal Rules of Civil and
Criminal Procedure, including Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The
attorney is responsible for all documents filed with his or her password.
If a registered user believes the security of an existing password has been
compromised, the user must immediately change the password through PACER.
h. Privacy
Unless otherwise ordered by the court, parties must refrain from including, or
must partially redact where inclusion is necessary, the following personal data
identifiers from all pleadings and documents filed with the court, including exhibits
thereto:
1. Social Security numbers. If an individual's Social Security number
must be included in a pleading, only the last four digits of that
number should be used.
2. Names of Minor Children. If the involvement of a minor child must
be mentioned, only the initials of that child should be used.
3. Dates of Birth. If an individual's date of birth must be included in a
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pleading, only the year should be used.
4. Financial Account Numbers. If the financial account numbers are
relevant, only the last four digits of these numbers should be used.
5. In criminal cases, the home address of any individual ( e.g., victims).
The responsibility for redacting personal identifiers rests solely with the
parties. The Clerk's Office will not review each document for compliance with this
rule. A party filing a redacted document must retain the complete unredacted
document for the duration of the case, including any period of appeal, unless
instructed by the Court to file the complete unredacted document under seal.
Pursuant to General Order 514-E, Social Security cases will be excluded from
electronic public access except for access by judiciary employees, the United States
Attorney or its representatives and the litigants in those cases.
Without a court order, the court will not provide public electronic access to
the following documents:
a. Sealed documents ( e.g., motions for downward departure for
substantial assistance, plea agreements indicating cooperation).
b. Unexecuted warrants of any kind and associated petitions for
warrants (e.g., arrest warrants, search warrants).
c. Pretrial bail reports and bond supporting documents.
d. Pre-Sentence reports and the statement of reasons related to the
judgment of conviction.
e. Juvenile records.
f. Magistrate information sheets and financial affidavits filed in
seeking representation pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act.
g. Pleadings and reports related to the competency or mental
health of a defendant.
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h. Civil settlement documents that contain information in section
one above. It shall be the attorney's obligation to obtain an order
sealing such documents.
i. Ex parte requests for authorization of investigative, expert or
other services pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act.
j. Documents in criminal cases containing identifying information
about jurors or potential jurors.
k. Any other documents the court concludes is good cause to
exclude from electronic access.
i. Technical Specifications
Current technical specifications for CM/ECF can be found at the court’s official
web site, www.casd.uscourts.gov. Specifications may change periodically.
Registered users may refer to the web site for the most current requirements.
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Section 2: Electronic Filing and Service of Documents
a. Filing
Electronically filed documents must meet the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P.
10 (Form of Pleadings), and Local Civil Rule 5.1, as if they had been submitted on
paper. Documents filed electronically are also subject to any page limitations set
forth by Court order or by Local Civil Rule 7.1, Local Civil Rule 8.2, and Local
Criminal Rule 47.1.
Unless otherwise expressly provided in these rules or in exceptional
circumstances preventing a registered user from filing electronically, all applications,
motions, memoranda of law, or other pleadings and documents required to be filed
with the Court by a registered user in connection with a case assigned to the
Electronic Filing System must be electronically filed.
Unless otherwise authorized by the court, E-mailing a document to the
Clerk’s Office or to the assigned judge does not constitute “filing” of the document.
The court may, upon the motion of a party or upon its own motion, strike
any inappropriately filed document.
b. Pro Se Litigants
Unless otherwise authorized by the court, all documents submitted for filing
to the Clerk's Office by parties appearing without an attorney must be in legible,
paper form. The Clerk's Office will scan and electronically file the document.
A pro se party seeking leave to electronically file documents must file a
motion and demonstrate the means to do so properly by stating their equipment
and software capabilities in addition to agreeing to follow all rules and policies in
the CM/ECF Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual. If granted leave to
electronically file, the pro se party must register as a user with the Clerk's Office and
as a subscriber to PACER within five (5) days.
A pro se party must seek leave to electronically file documents in each case
filed. If an attorney enters an appearance on behalf of a pro se party, the attorney
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must advise the Clerk's Office to terminate the login and password for the pro se
party.
c. Case Initiating Documents
Case initiating documents in civil cases, including but not limited to the civil
Complaint and Notice of Removal, must be filed electronically. All sealed case
initiating documents in civil cases must be filed in paper format. All case initiating
documents in criminal cases, including but not limited to the criminal Complaint,
Information, and Superseding Information, must be filed in paper format at the
Clerk’s Office. Indictments and all sealed case initiating documents in criminal
cases must be filed in paper format.
d. Service
1. Summons
The Clerk’s Office will issue each summons, and the service of a
summons must be effected pursuant to Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
After a summons has been served, or a waiver of service via summons
has been received, the serving registered user must promptly scan the return
of service or waiver and electronically file it. Non-registered filers may file the
return of service or waiver with the Clerk's Office.
2. Service of Documents
Whenever a document is electronically filed in accordance with
these procedures, the CM/ECF system will generate a "Notice of Electronic
Filing" (NEF) to the filing party, the assigned judge and any registered user in
the case. The NEF will constitute service of the document for purposes of the
Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal and Appellate Procedure. Registration as a
CM/ECF user constitutes consent to electronic service through the court's
transmission facilities.
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Each registered user of the CM/ECF system is responsible for assuring
that the user's e-mail account is monitored regularly, and that e-mail notices
are opened in a timely manner.
A certificate of service is not required when a party electronically files a
document in the court’s electronic filing system. If a certificate of service is
required, the certificate must state the manner in which service or notice was
accomplished on each party. If the certificate of service is signed by someone
other than a registered user, the filing party must scan and electronically file
the original signed document as set forth in Section 2.f.2 below.
Any document that is not filed electronically through the court’s
electronic filing system must be served as a paper copy, pursuant to the
Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal and Appellate Procedure.
A party who is not a registered participant of CM/ECF is entitled to
service of a paper copy of any electronically filed document. The filing party
must serve the non-registered party with the document according to the
Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal and Appellate Procedure.
A non-registered filing party who files document(s) with the Clerk's
Office for scanning and entry to CM/ECF must serve paper copies on all non-
registered parties to the case. There will be some delay in the scanning,
electronic filing and subsequent electronic noticing to registered users. If
time is an issue, non-registered filers must provide a paper copy of the
document(s) to all parties.
e. Courtesy Copies for Judicial Officers
Unless otherwise ordered by the court, parties must deliver to the Clerk’s
Office or mail directly to the judge’s chambers, within 24 hours after filing, any
criminal or civil case filing which exceeds 20 pages in length including attachments
and exhibits. In addition, where a party makes multiple filings in a case on the same
day, and those filings cumulatively exceed 20 pages, a courtesy copy must be
provided to the assigned judicial officer. If the nature of the filing is such that the
need for a judge's immediate attention is anticipated or desired, a courtesy copy
must be delivered on the same day as the filing. A copy of the Notice of Electronic
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Filing must precede the first page of the courtesy copy. Courtesy copies are to be
addressed to the attention of the assigned judicial officer.
f. Signatures
1. Registered Users
The registered user log-in and password required to submit documents
to the CM/ECF system will serve as that registered user’s signature for
purposes of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and for all other
purposes under the Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal and Appellate Procedure
and the Local Rules of this court. The name of the CM/ECF registered user
under whose log-in and password the document is submitted must be
preceded by a “s/” and typed in the space where the signature would
otherwise appear. The correct format for an attorney signature is as follows:
s/Adam Attorney
Attorney for (Plaintiff/Defendant)
E-mail:
[email protected]
2. Non-Registered Signatories
If the original document requires the signature of a non-registered
signatory, the filing party must scan and electronically file the original
document. The electronically filed document maintained on the court’s
servers will constitute the official version of that record. The filing party must
retain the original document for a period of five years from the date the
document is signed, or for one year after the expiration of all time periods for
appeal, whichever period is greater, and must provide the original paper
document to the Court upon request.
3. Criminal Defendants
A document required to be filed electronically which contains the
signature of a defendant in a criminal case must be electronically filed as a
scanned document in .pdf. The filing party is required to verify the legibility
of the scanned document before electronically filing it with the court. The
filing party must retain the original paper document for a period of five years
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from the date the document is signed, or for one year after the expiration of
all time periods for appeal, whichever period is greater, and must provide the
original paper document to the Court upon request.
4. Stipulations and Other Documents Requiring Multiple Signatures
All stipulations must be filed as joint motions. The filer of a joint
motion need not obtain a hearing date prior to filing the joint motion. At
the time a joint motion is filed, the filer must e-mail a proposed order to the
e-mail address of the assigned judicial officer pursuant to the procedures set
forth in section 2.h below.
The filer of any joint motion or other document requiring more than
one signature must certify that the content of the document is acceptable to
all persons required to sign the document by obtaining either physical
signatures or authorization for the electronic signatures of all parties on the
document. Physical, facsimile or electronic signatures are permitted. The
filer must electronically file the document indicating the signatories as "s/Jane
Doe," "s/John Smith," etc., for each electronic signature.
Except as otherwise ordered, parties will have one business day to file
an Objection to Electronic Filing if they object to contents of the joint
motion or document that contains their signature. The assigned judicial
officer will prepare an order, or enter a text order on the docket, following the
filing of a joint motion.
g. Motions, Applications, or Other Requests for Ruling by the Court
1. Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 7.1.b and Local Civil Rule 7.1.e, all
hearing dates for any motion, application, or other requests for ruling
by the Court must be obtained from the law clerk of the judge to whom
the case is assigned before any motion, application, or other requests
for ruling by the Court are filed electronically.
2. Any supporting memorandum of points and authorities, declarations,
and exhibits associated with motions, applications, or other requests for
ruling by the Court, must be filed as attachments to the motion in the
CM/ECF system.
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3. Civil and criminal motions, and responses thereto, must be filed
according to the deadlines set forth in Local Civil Rule 7.1 and Local
Criminal Rule 47.1.
4. A party wishing to file a motion or response on shortened time must
file a motion for an order shortening time as required by the Local
Rules. Counsel must e-mail a proposed order to the assigned judicial
officer at the address indicated in section 2.h below.
5. The Court may, upon its own motion, strike any inappropriately filed
document.
h. Proposed Orders and Orders
Registered users SHOULD NOT FILE OR SUBMIT proposed orders within
the electronic filing system. At the time of filing any joint motion, motion for
continuance or extension of time, motion for an order shortening time, or similar
non-dispositive procedural motion, the filer must also e-mail a separate proposed
order to the assigned judicial officer at the e-mail address provided below, with a
copy of the e-mail and proposed order also being sent to opposing counsel.
The proposed order must be in editable word processing format (i.e.
Microsoft Word), and not in .pdf format. The proposed order should not contain
the name and law firm information of the filing party, and should not contain the
word “proposed” in the caption.
The e-mail subject line should include the case number, followed by a short
description of the attachment (i.e., 10cv1234 – Order Granting Motion for
Continuance). These e-mail addresses are not to be utilized to communicate with
the Court unless otherwise permitted or when communications are solicited by
the Court. Opposing counsel will have one business day to e-mail chambers any
objections to the proposed order.
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U.S. District Judges
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected]
U.S. Magistrate Judges
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
i. Ex Parte Documents
Ordinary Ex Parte motions, for which notice is to be provided to all parties,
should be filed electronically. Ex Parte documents for which no notice is to be
provided to opposing parties should be filed in paper format under seal. Ex Parte
documents filed in the system will be served on all parties.
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j. Sealed and Juvenile Documents
All sealed documents in criminal cases and cases involving juveniles must be
filed and served in paper format. Sealed documents in civil cases are to be filed
electronically in CM/ECF and served in paper format.
Any document submitted for filing under seal in civil cases must be
accompanied by a motion authorizing such filing. In civil cases the motion to seal
will be filed as a public document using the appropriate CM/ECF event located
under the “Sealed Documents” category. The proposed document to be filed under
seal must be lodged electronically using the “Sealed Lodged Proposed Document”
event located under the “Sealed Documents” category.
If the motion to seal is granted, the judge will issue an order authorizing the
electronic filing by the Clerk’s Office of the lodged proposed document under seal.
If the motion to seal is denied, the document will remain lodged under seal without
further consideration absent contrary direction from the Court.
Electronic filing is not permitted in sealed cases. Documents intended for
filing in sealed cases must be submitted in paper format. Ex Parte documents for
which no notice is to be provided to opposing parties should be filed in paper
format under seal.
1. Procedures for E-filing Sealed Documents in Civil Cases
a. To e-file any sealed document in a civil case, including motions,
responses, replies, declarations, etc., a filer must first e-file a
motion to seal using the “Motion to File Document(s) Under
Seal” event located in the civil events menu under “Sealed
Documents.” The motion will be a public entry on the docket
and the document will be available to the public. All parties in
the case will receive notice of the electronic filing. The proposed
sealed documents should not be attached to this public filing.
b. After filing the Motion to File Document(s) Under Seal, the filer
shall immediately submit the proposed sealed documents in
CM/ECF using the “Sealed Lodged Proposed Document” event
located under the “Sealed Documents” category. The proposed
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document must include the notation “UNDER SEAL” in the
caption. The proposed sealed documents will be unavailable for
viewing by any attorney or member of the public. However, the
docket text associated with the entry will be available for viewing
by attorneys and the public. The docket entry will not contain
specific information identifying the nature of the proposed
sealed document. All parties in the case will receive notice of the
electronic filing, however, the document itself will be
unavailable. Counsel must serve copies on opposing counsel in
a conventional manner.
c. Counsel must e-mail a separate proposed order in word
processing format to the assigned judicial officer at the e-mail
address provided above in Section 2.h. If the order is also to be
filed under seal, it must so state.
d. If counsel believes the motion for leave to file documents under
seal itself should be filed under seal, counsel shall follow the
same process to obtain leave to file that motion under seal.
k. Exhibits
Exhibits must be submitted electronically in CM/ECF as attachments. If the
entire exhibit exceeds thirty-five (35) megabytes, it must be submitted in multiple
segments, not to exceed thirty-five (35) megabytes each.
Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 5.1.e, except where compliance is impracticable,
exhibits must be paged in consecutive numerical order. Each document containing
exhibits must have, as a cover page to the exhibits, a table of contents indicating the
page number of each of the succeeding exhibits.
The filing party is required to verify the legibility of the scanned exhibits prior
to electronically filing them with the court. Parties should scan documents in black
and white, unless color is a critical feature of the information.
Original exhibits must be retained by the submitting party for the duration of
the case, including any period of appeal.
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A party may seek leave of the court to allow the non-electronic filing of
exhibits when they are not convertible to electronic form (e.g. videotapes, maps,
etc.). If leave is granted, the filing party must prepare a cover page in pleading
format to be submitted with the exhibits. The cover page must contain a table of
contents indicating the page number of each of the succeeding exhibits. The
caption will state what document, if any, the exhibits are supporting. The actual
exhibits must be tabbed and bound if appropriate.
Evidentiary and trial exhibits must be submitted directly to the appropriate
courtroom deputy clerk and will not be filed with the court.
l. Hyperlinks
In order to preserve the integrity of the court record, attorneys wishing to
insert hyperlinks in court filings should continue to use the traditional citation
method for the cited authority, in addition to the hyperlink. The Judiciary's policy
on hyperlinks is that a hyperlink contained in a filing is no more than a convenient
mechanism for accessing material cited in the document. A hyperlink reference is
extraneous to any filed document and is not part of the court's record.
m. Technical Failures
A registered user whose filing is made untimely as the result of a technical
failure may seek appropriate relief from the court.
n. Correcting Filing or Docket Errors
1. Once a document is submitted and becomes part of the case docket,
corrections to the docket may be made only by the Clerk's Office. The
CM/ECF system will not permit the filing party to make changes to the
document or docket entry once the transaction has been accepted.
2. The filing party should not attempt to re-file an incorrectly filed
document.
3. The filing party must contact the Clerk's Office CM/ECF Help Desk as
soon as an error has been discovered and provide the case number and
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document number. If appropriate, the Clerk's Office will make a
docket entry indicating the document was filed in error. The filing
party will be advised if the document needs to be re-filed.
4. If the Clerk's Office discovers filing or docketing errors, the filer will be
advised of what further action, if any, is required to address the error.
However, if the error is minor, the Clerk's Office may correct the error,
with or without notifying the parties.
5. In the event it appears a document has been filed in the wrong case, the
Clerk's Office will docket an entry indicating this possible error and
notify the filing party. If it is confirmed as an error, the party will be
directed to re-file the document in the correct case. The Clerk's Office
will not delete any documents filed by a party unless ordered by the
court.
o. Transcripts
The Judicial Conference has adopted a policy regarding electronic access to
court transcripts. The following procedures apply as to transcripts:
Transcripts filed by contract court reporters or official transcribers will be
submitted to the Clerk's Office in .pdf through e-mail to a designated e-mail address.
The e-mail address for contract court reporters and official transcribers is
[email protected].
Transcripts will be electronically filed and available for viewing at the Clerk’s
Office public terminal, but may NOT be copied or reproduced by the Clerk’s Office
for a period of 90 days. Registered users who have purchased the transcript during
the 90 day period will be provided remote electronic access to the transcript in
CM/ECF. The court reporter or official transcriber will notify the Clerk’s Office
when a registered user in a case has purchased the transcript so that access to the
transcript can be given to the purchaser through the court’s CM/ECF system.
Within 7 calendar days of the filing of the official transcript in CM/ECF,
each party wishing to redact a transcript must electronically file a “Notice of Intent
to Request Redaction.” If no such notice is filed within the allotted time, the court
will assume redaction of personal data identifiers from the transcript is not
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necessary. If redaction is requested, within 21 calendar days from the e-filing of the
transcript with the Clerk, or longer by order of the Court, the parties must submit to
the court reporter or official transcriber a redaction request statement indicating by
page and line where personal identifiers appear in the transcript and how they are to
be redacted. The responsibility for redacting personal identifiers rests solely with
counsel and the parties. Personal identifiers are Social Security numbers, financial
account numbers, names of minor children, dates of birth, and in criminal cases,
home addresses.
p. Exceptions to Electronic Filing
The following documents must be submitted in paper form:
1. Sealed Documents in Criminal Cases and Cases Involving Juveniles
2. Sealed Civil Complaint and Sealed Notice of Removal
3. Indictment
4. Financial Affidavit in Support of Request for Appointment of Counsel
5. Bond Documents
6. Writs Issued
7. Reports of Medical or Mental Evaluations of Criminal Case
Defendants
8. Letter to Sentencing Judge Recommending Downward Departure
Under USSG § 5K1.1
9. Stipulation of Fact and Joint Motion for Release of Material Witnesses
(in Alien Smuggling Cases)
10. Grand Jury Matters, including:
a. Grand Jury Returns
b. Voting Slips
c. Grand Jury Transcripts
11. Consent/Declination Form (Pursuant to General Order No. 707)
12. Consent of a Civil Action to a Magistrate Judge (Pursuant to Civil
Local Rule 73.1.b)
13. Civil Miscellaneous Cases Filed by Unregistered Attorneys
14. Any other document or filing that the court orders not to be
electronically filed, imaged or maintained in the CM/ECF system.
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