UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
John M. Domurad James M. Hanley Federal Building
Clerk of Court P.O. Box 7367 100 S. Clinton Street
Syracuse NY 13261-7367
Daniel R. McAllister (315) 234-8500
Chief Deputy
Updated: December 1, 2023
FILING INITIAL PLEADINGS (COMPLAINTS/NOTICES OF REMOVAL)
Pursuant to General Order #22, Section 4.2, all civil actions commenced by
members of the NDNY Bar must be filed electronically in CM/ECF. The payment
of the filing fee will be made through a secure United States Treasury site known
as Pay.Gov. All members of the NDNY Bar must have a PACER log in to access
CM/ECF for the NDNY. The filing user will be prompted to enter either credit
card or checking account information while filing the initial pleading (complaint or
notice of removal), if no credit card/bank account information was saved
previously to their PACER account. New cases are deemed filed the day the
Clerk’s Office receives the complaint/notice of removal and required filing fee.
The attorney will log into CM/ECF and submit all initiating documents in
.PDF format. The below screens illustrate what the filing user will see as the initial
complaint in a civil case is filed, and the fee is paid via Pay.Gov. If your initial
complaint includes a motion for TRO, please file the complaint as the main
document with proposed summons, civil cover sheet and motion papers as
attachments, and call the Clerk’s Office to notify of the filing pursuant to
Local Rule 7.1(e). Once the case is opened and judges are assigned, you can
file any additional supporting papers in the assigned civil action.
EXCEPTION: If you are seeking to have your complaint filed under SEAL,
this should be filed traditionally at the Clerk’s Office.
1
The example below is for filing a new civil COMPLAINT. The screens for
filing a Notice of Removal are very similar.
Select Civil from the menu bar at the top of the CM/ECF screen to file a Civil
Initial Pleading.
Then select Complaints and Other Initiating Documents.
Select COMPLAINT. Click NEXT.
(For a Notice of Removal, select “Notice of Removal”)
2
ALWAYS use 00-99999 as the case number. Click “Find this Case”. Click
NEXT.
Click NEXT.
For all complaints, Plaintiff will be the Filer. Select Plaintiff. Click NEXT.
(Do not add parties names)
3
For ALL Defendants, Defendant will be the Filer. Leave “No Group” as Default.
ALWAYS leave Defendant as Default. (Do not add parties names). Click NEXT.
Warning Page:
• Make sure the case number 5:00-at-99999 appears at the top left of the
screen.
• Do NOT add parties or attorneys to this shell case.
• If you have already added parties and/or attorneys, ABORT this transaction
now and begin again.
• Click NEXT.
4
Answer questions:
• Enter the case number of any related case in the NDNY.
• Answer the question as to whether a motion for PI/TRO will be filed. See
Local Rule 7.1(e). If you do not plan to file a motion for PI/TRO with the
complaint today, but you do plan to file such a motion within the next week,
answer Yes to this question.
• Enter the contact information of the person filing the complaint (i.e.
attorney/paralegal/secretary) to contact in the event of any questions or
errors in your filing.
FILING FEE REQUIREMENTS: Review and click NEXT.
5
Decision Screen regarding the Filing Fee Requirement:
• For cases where the filing attorney is paying the filing fee, enter N;
• If you’re filing on behalf of the U.S. Government or are seeking In Forma
Pauperis status, enter Y and file the In Forma Pauperis Application as an
attachment to the complaint.
• Click NEXT.
Filing Fee: $402. Click NEXT. Clicking Next will take the user to the PACER to
log in and make a payment via Pay.Gov payment screens.
6
Log into the attorney’s PACER account to make a payment using pay.gov.
Pay.gov will use the credit card or bank account you have saved in your PACER
account. Or you can select an alternative credit card or bank account (ACH) now.
PACER accepts VISA, MasterCard, American Express. Enter appropriate payment
information. Click NEXT.
7
Confirmation Page: Check the box at the bottom of the page to authorize
payment to your credit card or ACH account. Click SUBMIT.
You will be redirected back to CM/ECF.
8
Document requirements. Review and click NEXT.
Select PDF Document and any attachments:
• Upload all your documents on this page: the Complaint should be uploaded
as the main document, with all other documents added as attachments.
• Click “Browse” to add each document separately and use the category drop
down list to describe each document.
• Include a civil cover sheet, proposed summons(es), any exhibits to the
complaint, any application to proceed In Forma Pauperis, and any motions
for TRO/PI as attachments.
• All documents will be returned to you via a Notice of Electronic Filing
(NEF) once filed in the assigned case.
• After all documents have been uploaded. Click NEXT.
9
Add the short title of your case in the text box as well as the county of origin from
the complaint/civil cover sheet. This will assist the clerk’s office when the case is
processed. Click NEXT.
Review the final docket text and click NEXT. This will commit the transaction
and file the documents with the clerk.
The Document number should be disregarded, as this is only a temporary shell
case, and this document number will not carry over to the permanent case.
10
WHAT THE ATTORNEY WILL RECEIVE UPON CASE ASSIGNMENT
AND OPENING
1. Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) of Complaint with Civil Case Number
and Assigned Judges via email address in attorney’s record in PACER.
2. Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) of Summons Issued with summons for
service upon defendant(s). One entry will be one for each named defendant.
Please note that the Northern District of New York utilizes an electronic
signature with the Court Seal for summons. Use the NEF hyperlink in the
email to retrieve the issued summons form to effect service of process.
3. Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) of G.O. 25 Filing Order Issued. This
will be a copy of the Court’s General Order #25 packet with a date for the
Rule 16 conference before the assigned Magistrate Judge. Use the NEF
hyperlink in the email to retrieve the issued General Order #25 packet. The
General Order #25 packet will need to be served along with your summons
and complaint upon each named defendant.
4. Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) of any motion papers filed.
MONITORING INTERNET CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS
Internet fees and payments may be reviewed by using the Internet Payment
History option found under the Utilities menu in CM/ECF.
An example of the report is shown below:
The report includes all payments of charges paid via Pay.Gov and may be viewed
for a particular date range.
11
