UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
ELECTRONIC CASE FILING
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
Revised September 30, 2025
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. THE ELECTRONIC CASE FILING SYSTEM ................................................................ 1
A. IN GENERAL. ................................................................................................................ 1
B. REGISTRATION, LOGINS, AND PASSWORDS. .................................................... 2
C. PAYMENT OF FEES. ................................................................................................... 3
II. ELECTRONIC CASE FILING AND SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS ............................. 3
A. FILING. ........................................................................................................................... 3
B. SERVICE. ....................................................................................................................... 5
C. SIGNATURES. ............................................................................................................... 6
D. ORDERS. ........................................................................................................................ 8
E. PROPOSED ORDERS. ................................................................................................. 8
F. DOCKET ENTRY EVENTS......................................................................................... 9
G. MODIFYING DOCKET ENTRIES. ............................................................................ 9
H. TECHNICAL FAILURES. ........................................................................................... 9
I. PRIVACY. .................................................................................................................... 10
III. CONVENTIONAL FILING OF DOCUMENTS. ............................................................ 11
IV. PUBLIC ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS. ....................................... 11
A. PUBLIC ACCESS AT THE COURT. ....................................................................... 11
B. INTERNET ACCESS. ................................................................................................. 12
ECF Users can access specific guidance and instruction for case opening and the filing of
documents, including sealed documents, in the E-Filing Procedures section of the Court’s
website at www.wied.uscourts.gov
ELECTRONIC CASE FILING
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
I. THE ELECTRONIC CASE FILING SYSTEM
A. IN GENERAL.
Unless otherwise permitted by the local rules, these policies and procedures, or
unless otherwise authorized by the assigned judge, all documents submitted for
filing in this District must be filed electronically using Electronic Case Filing
(ECF).1 Documents must be submitted for filing in Portable Document Format
(PDF).2 Documents must be converted to PDF directly from the filer’s word
processing software rather than scanned. Documents must be submitted in text
searchable format, whenever possible.
1. Parties proceeding pro se cannot file electronically unless authorized by the
court.
2. An attorney must file documents electronically using ECF unless nonelectronic
filing is allowed by the Court for good cause. Fed.R.Civ.P. 5(d)(3)(A).
3. The Clerk’s Office, or any judge of this Court, may deviate from these
procedures in specific cases without prior notice, if deemed appropriate in the
exercise of discretion, considering the need for just, speedy, and inexpensive
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“Electronic filing” means uploading a pleading or document directly from the registered user’s computer,
using the Court’s Internet-based system, to file that pleading or document in the Court’s case file. Sending a document
or pleading to the Court via e-mail does not constitution “electronic filing.”
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A document created with almost any word-processing program can be converted to PDF. The PDF program
in effect takes a picture of the original document and allows anyone to open the converted document across a broad
range of hardware and software, with layout, format, links, and images intact. For information on PDF, refer to the
ECF User Manual, Appendix D.
determination of matters pending before the Court. The Court may also amend
these procedures at any time without prior notice.
4. Attorneys must check the Court’s website at www.wied.uscourts.gov (under the
tab “Judges”) for any standing orders or specific instructions entered by the
assigned judge with respect to electronic filing or the submission of courtesy
copies.
B. REGISTRATION, LOGINS, AND PASSWORDS.
1. Each attorney must complete the ECF Registration Section on the PACER
website (www.pacer.gov). PACER will issue a login and password to any
attorney who is admitted to practice in this District and in good standing.
2. After registering, an attorney may change his or her assigned password in
PACER. An attorney must immediately change his or her current password if
there is reason to believe that the security of that password has been
compromised and a threat to ECF exists.
3. No attorney may knowingly permit or cause to permit his or her login and
password to be utilized by anyone other than an authorized employee of his or
her office. The attorney is responsible for all documents filed with his or her
login and password.
4. The login used to electronically file a document must be that of the attorney
whose electronic signature (s/Attorney Name) appears on the document.
5. Each attorney is responsible for maintaining current contact information with
PACER and the Court. An attorney can update his or her e-mail in the “Manage
My Account” section of the “Maintenance Folder” in PACER. In addition to
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updating contact information with PACER, notification of a change of firm
and/or change of address is to be electronically filed with the Court and served
on all other parties in accordance with Section II.B. of these policies and
procedures.
6. Additional or secondary e-mail addresses for e-filers can only be added through
CM/ECF “Maintain Your Account” utility.
C. PAYMENT OF FEES.
Payment of filing fees may be made from a checking account, savings account, or
by credit card through Pay.gov. The option to use Pay.gov for payment is offered
to the filer during the filing of the document. The Court may expand the usage of
Pay.gov for payment of other fees in its discretion. Any fee required may be paid
at the Office of the Clerk of Court by credit/debit card, check, or money order.
Payments in cash are accepted in the Milwaukee Division only.
II. ELECTRONIC CASE FILING AND SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS
A. FILING.
1. An electronically filed document is considered filed for the purposes of the
federal rules when the filing party receives an ECF-generated “Notice of
Electronic Filing” as described in Section II.B.1 of these policies and
procedures.
2. Documents that originate with the filer must be directly extracted from the
filer’s word-processing software and not scanned. If a document cannot be
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extracted and a scanned document is filed, the attorney is required to verify the
legibility of the document before electronically filing it with the Court.
3. Unless the assigned judge orders a document to be filed by a specific time,
documents are timely if filed before midnight on the day they are due.
4. A megabyte limit for documents has been set by the Court. This limit applies
individually to each main document, attachment, or exhibit. The current
megabyte limit can be found in CM/ECF by clicking on the CM/ECF logo in
the blue menu bar.
From the pop-up Court Summary box, click on Further court information.
The maximum PDF file size is shown in the Court Details section.
5. The official Court record is the electronic file maintained on the Court’s servers.
The official record includes any paper documents or exhibits filed in accordance
with these procedures.
6. The Clerk’s Office will not retain original documents that have been submitted
in accordance with these rules after they have been scanned and uploaded to
ECF. Original documents are disposed of pursuant to the National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA) Records Disposition Authority, Effective
May 12, 2006.
7. An official transcriber or contract court reporter must electronically file the
certified transcript of a Court proceeding with the Clerk’s Office in accordance
with the policy adopted by the Judicial Conference in September 2007
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regarding the availability of transcripts in electronic format (JCUS-SEP 07, p.
12).
B. SERVICE.
1. Whenever a pleading or other paper is filed electronically in accordance with
these procedures, ECF will generate a “Notice of Electronic Filing” to the filing
attorney, all registered case participants, and the assigned judge.
a. Registration as an ECF User constitutes the User’s consent to
receive and make electronic service of all documents in accordance
with Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(E) and Fed. R. Crim. P. 49(b).
b. A pro se party is entitled to a paper copy of any electronically filed
pleading or document in accordance with the federal rules, together
with the required certificate of service.
c. An attorney who has been excused by the Court from the
requirement of electronic filing is entitled to a paper copy of any
electronically filed pleading or document in accordance with the
federal rules, together with the required certificate of service.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 5(d)(1)(B)(i).
d. In all cases where a party is represented by multiple attorneys, the
attorney(s) who are registered ECF Users are responsible for service
on any non-registered attorney(s) representing the same party.
2. No certificate of service is required for papers served electronically if all parties
were served through ECF. The Notice of Electronic Filing will be deemed the
certificate of service. When a paper that is required to be served is filed and
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served by other means, a certificate of service must be filed with it or within a
reasonable time after service. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(1) (B), Fed. R. Crim. P.
49(b), and Civil L.R. 5.
C. SIGNATURES.
1. In General. Signatures must comply with General Local Rule 5(c)-(f).
2. Filing Attorney Signature Block Requirements. The combination of the Central
Sign-On User Name and Password constitutes proper authentication for the
signature of the filing attorney for all electronic document, as well as for the
purposes of the federal rules, and any other purpose for which a signature is
required in connection with proceedings before the Court. The proper format
for entering an attorney’s signature on a pleading or other document is:
s/ [type attorney name here]
Attorney Name
Attorney Bar Number:
Attorney for (Plaintiff/Defendant)
ABC Law Firm
123 South Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Telephone: (414) 123-4567
E-mail:
[email protected]
3. Signature, Methods for Electronic Documents. The following methods may be
used to obtain the electronic signature of a person other than the filing attorney
for the purposes of a court filing:
a. A scanned image of the originally signed document containing a wet
ink signature, in which case the document should be text searchable;
b. An image with a digital signature from a software program that
creates a secure electronic signature that uniquely identifies the
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signer and ensures both the authenticity of the signature and that the
signed document has not been altered or repudiated; or
c. A document with an “s/”, followed by the printed name of the signer
when:
1. The Filing User obtained the signer’s signature by an authorized
method provided in subsections (2)(a)-(b) of these policies and
procedures; or
2. The Filing User obtained the signer’s written permission to use
the signer’s electronic signature. For purposes of this
procedures, written evidence of permission includes
correspondence.
4. Retention Requirements for Electronic Signatures. A Filing User must retain
the signed document or evidence of permission to use the electronic signature
for at least one year after the case is closed and all appeals have been exhausted.
On receipt of a request from the Court or a party, the Filing User must provide
the Court or other parties in the case a copy of the signed document or evidence
of permission to use the electronic signature.
5. Notary Signatures. If the original document requires notarization, the filing
attorney must:
a. Obtain the signature of a Notary Public on the original document;
and
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b. Electronically file the document indicating the Notary Public’s
Certificate of Notarial Acts with their signature typed in the
following format: “s/Notary Name”.
D. ORDERS.
1. All orders and judgments will be entered electronically by the Court.
2. The assigned judge may grant routine orders by a text-only entry upon the
docket. In such cases, the text-only entry will constitute the Court’s only order
on the matter.
E. PROPOSED ORDERS.
1. Proposed orders are to be filed electronically as an attachment to a motion or
stipulation. The motion or stipulation is not to be combined with the proposed
order into one document. The proposed order is not to be filed as a separate
document.
2. In addition, the proposed order must be e-mailed, in a word-processing format
(not PDF), to the assigned judge’s chambers.
3. The judges’ e-mail addresses, for proposed orders only, are:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
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F. DOCKET ENTRY EVENTS.
The attorney electronically filing a pleading or other document is responsible for
choosing the correct docket event from the docket event categories prescribed by
the Court.
G. MODIFYING DOCKET ENTRIES.
1. Once a document is electronically filed and is part of the case record,
modifications to the docket can only be made by the Clerk’s Office.
2. If an error is discovered after an electronic entry has been completed, the filing
attorney must contact the Clerk’s Office for direction.
3. Documents that have been filed in an incorrect case may be re-filed in the
correct case, with notification to the Clerk’s Office of the error.
4. The Clerk’s Office reserves the right to correct any docket entries that have
been entered incorrectly.
H. TECHNICAL FAILURES.
The Clerk’s Office will deem the Eastern District of Wisconsin ECF site to be
subject to a technical failure if the site is unable to accept filings continuously or
intermittently during any period of time greater than one hour after 10:00 a.m. on
any given day. Known system outages will be posted on the website if possible. A
problem on the filer’s end, including problems relating to phone lines, the filer’s
Internet Service Provider (ISP), and hardware or software problems, will not
constitute a technical failure under these procedures nor excuse an untimely filing.
A filing attorney whose filing is made untimely as a result of a technical failure
may seek appropriate relief from the presiding judge.
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I. PRIVACY.
1. Redacted Documents. Attorneys are to comply with the redaction procedures
set forth in the federal rules. The responsibility for redacting personal identifiers
rests solely with counsel and the parties.
2. Confidential Documents under General L.R. 79(d). An attorney may file
sealed or restricted documents in public cases under the following restriction
levels:
a. Restricted Level – civil cases only. Documents filed using this
restriction level allow viewing by the Court, but are not accessible
by the filer, any other case participants, or members of the public.
Pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, case participants
entitled to a copy will be served by the filer. Case participants can
also request a paper copy from the Clerk’s Office with appropriate
proof of identity and payment for copies.
b. Sealed Level – civil and criminal cases. Documents filed using this
restriction level allow viewing by the Court, but are not accessible
by the filer, any other case participant, or members of the public.
Pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, case participants
entitled to a copy will be served by the filer. Copies of sealed
documents are only available with permission of the court.
c. An attorney filing a confidential document under this section must
comply with the requirements of General L.R. 79(d).
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d. All documents filed in sealed cases must be filed conventionally in
accordance with Section III of these procedures.
3. Redacted and Restricted/Sealed Versions of the Same Document. Redacted
and Sealed versions of the same document should be filed in a single docket
entry. First, file a motion to seal or restrict. Then, file the redacted version of
the document with no restriction as the main document and the unredacted
version as a sealed or restricted attachment.
4. The Clerk’s Office will not review documents for compliance with the
federal rules, seal on its own motion documents containing personal data
identifiers, or redact documents, whether filed electronically or on paper.
III. CONVENTIONAL FILING OF DOCUMENTS.
The following types of documents are to be filed in paper format. This list may be
amended from time to time:
x All documents in sealed cases. Documents should be submitted in paper format
together with a media storage device containing a PDF copy of the documents. Media
storage devices should be labeled with the case number. Note: sealed documents in
public cases should be filed electronically in accordance with Section II.I.2 of these
policies and procedures.
x Criminal indictments, informations, and waivers of indictment.
IV. PUBLIC ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS.
A. PUBLIC ACCESS AT THE COURT.
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Access to electronic court records is available to the public at no charge in the
Clerk’s Office during regular business hours. Fees are required for printing copies
of any record or document accessed electronically. See Electronic Public Access
Fee Schedule (issued in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1914).
B. INTERNET ACCESS.
Remote electronic access to electronic court records is limited to subscribers to the
Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system. Fees are required for
printing copies of any record or document accessed electronically through PACER.
Attorneys of record and parties who are ECF registered users will receive one free
electronic copy of all publicly filed electronic documents. See Electronic Public
Access Fee Schedule (issued in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1914). Parties entitled
to sealed, restricted, and other documents not electronically available will be served
a copy pursuant to the Federal Rules.
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