(a) Form. All motions, briefs, and all other papers filed in CM/ECF or presented for filing
must be formatted to 8-1/2" x 11" paper, with one-inch margins and at least 12-point font.
If the filing is made in paper format, the filing must also be one sided. All material, except
headings, footnotes, and quoted material, must be double spaced. Footnotes must also be
at least 12-point font but must be single-spaced. Documents presented to the Clerk for
filing must be typed, printed, or prepared by a clearly legible duplicating process and all
pages must be numbered at the bottom.
(b) Citations of Legal Authorities. Citations of legal authorities in any filing must conform
to the following:
(1) United States Supreme Court Decisions. Citations of United States Supreme Court
decisions shall be U.S. only, if therein, otherwise S.Ct. or L.Ed., in that order of
preference. For recent or unreported decisions, Westlaw or Lexis citations are
acceptable.
(2) State Cases. Citations of reported state cases must include at least the official state
reporter citation and the regional reporter citation where available. For recent or
unreported decisions, Westlaw and Lexis citations are acceptable.
(3) Federal and State Statutes. Citations of federal statutes must include at least the title
and section designation as the statute appears in the United States Code. Citations of
state statutes must include at least the title and section designation as the statute appears
in the state’s official code.
(4) Unreported Decisions or Administrative Opinions. Citations of any unreported
federal or state court decisions or administrative opinions must include Westlaw or
Lexis citations.
(5) Availability of Cited Authority. If a cited authority is not available in any reporter or
legal research database, a copy of the decision, order, statute, regulation, or other cited
authority must be appended as an exhibit to the memorandum of law.
(c) Exhibits and Attachments. All exhibits or attachments to filed documents must be filed
electronically, unless the Court permits filing in paper form. When uploading exhibits and
attachments in CM/ECF, filers are required to select the appropriate document category
and enter a brief description of each document. Failure to include the document description
may result in the issuance of a deficiency notice.
(d) Signatures.
(1) Electronically filed documents shall set forth the filer’s name, address, telephone
number, e-mail address, and, in the case of licensed attorneys, their Board of
Professional Responsibility registration number.
(2) Only licensed attorneys may sign documents electronically.
(3) Pro se parties may not sign documents electronically. Documents submitted by pro se
parties must contain an original signature.
(4) Documents requiring an original signature (e.g., affidavits, declarations, filings by pro
se parties, etc.) shall be filed electronically by transmitting a scanned image of the
document in PDF format. The filing party shall maintain the originally signed
document for one year after all time periods for all appeals expire. On request of the
Court, a filing party must provide the original document for review.
(5) Defendant’s Signature. A document containing the signature of a defendant in a
criminal case may, at the option of the Court, be filed: (1) in paper form with an original
written signature or (2) in electronic form as a scanned image of the document
containing an image of the defendant's original signature.
