ECF Essentials E-Newsletter Topics

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2012

Update RE: Electronic Filing of Civil Complaints by Attorneys

April 2012 On March 15, 2012, the Attorney Civil Case Opening module was made available for optional use in CM/ECF. Between now and June 30, 2012, any active member of the bar of this court and registered ECF user who receives training can voluntarily open new civil cases electronically (complaints only). To date, more than 40 cases have been opened successfully by attorneys. Effective July 1, 2012, it will be mandatory that most new civil cases be opened by attorneys using the case opening module. (Note: Emergency matters, Notices of Removal, and Petitions for Writ of Habeas Corpus will not be filed electronically by attorneys in the foreseeable future). To learn more about attorney civil case opening, including Frequently Asked Questions, please visit our website here.

Training for Opening New Cases Continues

Training on opening new civil cases is strongly encouraged prior to the July 1st mandatory requirement and has been in full swing since its announcement last month. Currently, all training classes for May and June show as “closed” on our online registration site. However, prior registration is no longer necessary. Anyone interested in attending training is encouraged to simply select a scheduled training class, report to the Clerk’s Office (Room 1225) at the appropriate time, and someone will escort you to the training area. Arrangements for training large groups (minimum 15 people) at your agency or law firm may still be made by contacting Joe Burgess at (202) 354-3172 or Tiffany Reed at (202) 354-3064. In addition, stay tuned for information regarding webinar training opportunities in the near future.

Reminders For Attorneys Filing New Cases

Miscellaneous cases are not being opened electronically at this time, only civil complaints.
Use Internet Explorer to open new cases when possible; some problems have arisen with other web browsers.
Be sure to use OUR civil cover sheet (form JS 44), and not that of another court: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/new-case-forms
Submit the appropriate summonses for 21/60-, 30-, 60- or 45-day answer deadlines: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/new-case-forms
Multiple summonses can be merged together and attached to the complaint as one PDF file.
Before attaching the civil cover sheet or summons, PRINT them to a new PDF file (select Adobe PDF as your printer) so that the fillable text fields are made fixed and unable to be modified; simply saving the completed forms allows text fields to be modified once attached to the complaint.
Remember the acronym CASE: Capital letters, Active member of our bar, Search for parties, Electronic.

Please Submit All Necessary Summonses

Please remember to include all appropriate summonses with new case submissions, whether done electronically or over the counter. A summons is required for each named defendant in the complaint. In addition, complaints against the United States or other federal defendants require additional summonses to be issued to both the U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General. Also, complaints against the District of Columbia or other DC government defendants require that additional summonses be issued to the DC Attorney General and DC Mayor. All required sections (i.e. case caption, defendant’s name and address, attorney’s name and address) must also be filled out completely and accurately.

Mandate Re: Electronic Filing of Civil Complaints by Attorneys

March 2012 Beginning March 15, 2012, the Attorney Civil Case Opening module will be available for optional use in CM/ECF. Upon receiving training, any active member of the bar of this court and registered ECF user can voluntarily open new civil cases and file complaints electronically. Effective July 1, 2012, it will be mandatory that most new civil cases be opened by attorneys using this module. (Note: Emergency matters, Notices of Removal, and Petitions for Writ of Habeas Corpus will not be filed electronically by attorneys in the foreseeable future).

Training is available at the court by online registration: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/ecftraining/. Arrangements for training large groups at your agency or law firm may be made by contacting Joe Burgess at (202) 354-3172 or Tiffany Reed at (202) 354-3064.

Some benefits of Attorney Civil Case Opening include:

Attorneys can open a new civil case (complaints only) and receive a case number immediately, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Summonses are available immediately upon issuance; no need to make a trip to the courthouse to pick them up, or wait for them to arrive by mail.
Filing fee is paid online; no need to send a check to the Clerk’s Office via messenger.
Reduced costs associated with paper filings.

To learn more about attorney civil case opening, please visit our website at: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/ecf-information.

Frequently Asked Questions About Mandatory Opening of Civil Cases

Q: Is training mandatory?
A. No. However, new case filing by attorneys is completely new to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and there is a lot of room for error. Deficiency notices will be sent to the judges and placed on the public docket when errors are made. In addition, training may not be readily available after July 1, 2012. Therefore, we strongly encourage training to make this transition as easy as possible for both attorneys and Clerk’s Office staff.

Q: Is everyone in the firm required to attend training? A: No. A paralegal or administrative assistant may attend training in place of the attorney(s). We ask only that a list of the attorneys in that firm be provided to us so that the necessary case opening permissions can be given to their ECF accounts.

Q: Are attorneys outside the DC Metropolitan area required to attend training? A: No. You can review our training materials online and fill out and sign the Out of Town Certification form. (http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/ecf-information)

Q: What is considered “outside the DC Metropolitan area”? A: Generally, attorneys in Virginia and Maryland that are over an hour away from the DC limits would be considered outside the DC Metropolitan area and can review training materials online, rather than appearing in person. This would also include all other out-of-state attorneys that may practice in our court.

Q: What are the requirements for hosting the training at our firm? A: A minimum of 15 trainees are required to be present for training at a law firm or other agency. Required equipment includes: a screen that everyone can view, a computer/laptop, and an internet connection. Also, the firm must be within walking distance of a Metro station. To schedule group training, call Joe Burgess or Tiffany Reed.

Q: I am a criminal attorney, pro hac vice attorney, or a pro se party with ECF filing privileges. Should I receive training? A: No. Mandatory case opening is only for civil complaints filed by active members of the bar of this court.

Q: When I click on a date on the training calendar, it says the sign up is closed. What do I do? A: Training classes are booked for all of March and most of April. You may check for availability for the end of April and May. Training classes for June will be available in the near future.

Local Rules Governing the Filing of New Complaints

There are a number of local rules that must be followed when filing a new complaint and other case-opening documents, whether done in paper or electronically. Below are the most important ones:

The plaintiff’s residence address must be provided in the caption. (LCvR 5.1(e))
The complaint must be double spaced. (LCvR 5.1(f))
Motions must be accompanied by a proposed order. (LCvR 7(c))
A Disclosure of Corporate Affiliation and Financial Interest is required for every corporate plaintiff. (LCvR 7.1)
A civil cover sheet is required and is specific to this court. This court’s civil cover sheet can be found at: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/sites/dcd/files/JS-44CivilCoverSheet2011.pdf
DO NOT file sealed material electronically. (LCvR 5.1(j)(4))
DO NOT file a request to allow pseudonym electronically. (LCvR 5.1(j)(1))

New Response to Motion Event: A new event is now available on the CIVIL docketing menu in ECF. It is Response to Motion and can be found on the Oppositions and Replies menu. This event should be used when filing a response to a motion that is not an opposition (e.g., a separate consent to a motion or a response stating you do not oppose it). If you are filing an opposition, please continue to use the appropriate Memorandum in Opposition to Motion event.
ECF/System Outages or Problems: As a reminder, documents may be submitted by email in the event of a system outage or problem with ECF (dcd_cmecf@dcd.uscourts.gov). In addition to an email submission, counsel should also contact the Clerk’s Office by phone (202-354-3190 for civil, 202-354-3160 for criminal) to alert us of the problem you encountered (unless it is scheduled maintenance planned in advance by the Clerk’s Office). If there is any concern in missing a court-imposed deadline, a Motion to Extend Time should be filed either by email or directly in ECF. Please keep in mind that email submissions are a courtesy to those filers experiencing technical difficulties (whether it is a planned outage on our part, or some other problem) and the use of them should not be abused.
Details in Email Submissions: Documents submitted by email should contain an appropriate subject line (including the case number and caption) and a brief message describing what is being filed and why. Also, please make sure PDF files are named appropriately for faster and easier processing.
Case Numbers and Captions in Consolidated Cases: There are a couple of different ways to docket in consolidated cases, based on judge preference. Regardless of whether you are ordered to docket your pleadings only in the lead case or to spread the docket entry to all member cases, it is important to note how your document should be captioned. All documents in a consolidated case should include the lead case number and lead case caption as part of the main header. Then list any member case numbers below the lead case number. It is important to include the case numbers of all of the consolidated cases on your documents for easy reference.
Case Numbers and Captions on Returns of Service: All returns of service MUST contain a case caption and case number. If you are filing process server affidavits or return receipts (from the U.S. Postal Service, Fed Ex, etc.), they must contain the case caption and case number OR be attached as exhibits to a Notice of Filing or other applicable main document with the full cast caption and case number.
Selecting Parties Served for Returns of Service: When filing returns of service, be sure to only select the appropriate party or parties served. Please DO NOT select the “All Defendants” option to the right of the filers menu unless all defendants have in fact been served and are represented in that single docket entry. For all other instances, select the specific party or parties served that match the return of service being filed with that docket entry.

2011

Bar Membership and Attorney Information Lookup

November/December, 2011 Attorneys are required to be an “active” member of the bar of this court to be permitted to file a new complaint or document in a case. (This is separate and in addition to being a member of the DC or other state bar). To stay active, attorneys are required to renew their bar memberships with our court every three (3) years or they become “provisional” and are temporarily barred from filing. If you are unsure of your status with the court prior to appearing in a case and/or filing a document, you can check your status and other information (e.g., whether your address, phone number, etc., are current) on our website at: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/bar-attorney-lookup

Problems Exist for Certain Internet Browsers

Some problems have arisen from the use of ECF in conjunction with certain versions of internet browsers. Notices of Electronic Filing (NEFs) may not be viewed properly and filing problems may occur when using the following web browsers:

Safari (for Mac and iPads)
Mozilla Firefox (any version higher than 3.5)
Internet Explorer (any version higher than 9)

Filers should refrain from accessing NEFs via email using these browsers.

Pay Attention to Deadlines

The Clerk’s Office strongly encourages filers to refrain from waiting until the last minute to file your documents, particularly when dealing with large and/or numerous attachments. Although the filing process might begin before midnight on a given day, processing the documents in ECF may take longer or be slower than expected, resulting in the docket entry being posted after midnight and therefore, after the deadline. Please keep in mind, the “Date Filed” is determined by the date/time the docket entry is posted to the docket, not the date/time the entry was submitted. In addition, there is no telling when a technical problem may arise, barring a successful and timely filing. When faced with time constraints or technical difficulties with a looming deadline, please note the following Local Rule:

Local Rule 5.4

(g) INCORRECT FILINGS AND TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

(3) The inability to complete an electronic filing because of technical problems may constitute “cause” for an order enlarging time or “exclusable neglect” for the failure to act within the specified time, within the meaning of F.R.Civ.P. 6(b). Counsel or parties encountering technical problems with CM/ECF filing shall immediately notify a Clerk’s Office employee of the problem by telephone and immediately send written confirmation of that notification to the Office of the Clerk. This Rule does not provide authority to extend statutory and jurisdictional time limits.

COMMENT to LCvR 5.4(g): Notice to the Clerk that technical problems interfered with electronic filing can provide a contemporaneous record in support of a party’s motion under F.R.Civ.P. 6(b) for an order enlarging time. Only the Court, not the Clerk, may enlarge time. However, if the filing deadline is statutory and jurisdictional, electronic filers should take care not to wait until the last minute to file since not even technical difficulties will provide a means for the Court to extend the deadline.

Friendly Reminder Regarding Logins and Passwords

Please remember that although it may appear that ECF and PACER are one and the same, they are really two separate but interconnected systems that have two different functions, and therefore require two unique logins. Generally, ECF is used to file documents in a case. PACER is used to view documents in a case (Note: See next topic for special circumstances).

If you are unable to see the Civil and Criminal docketing menus in ECF, it means you are logged in as a PACER user and will not be able to file anything electronically without first logging out and then logging back in using your ECF login information. Please keep your login and password information available and ready to use when a filing deadline approaches. If you forget or lose your ECF password, you can request a new one on our website at: https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PwReset.pl. (Please allow 24-48 hours to process your request). However, if you have issues with your PACER login/password, you will need to contact the PACER Service Center directly at (800) 676-6856.

Accessing Restricted Documents Via NEFs

There are a few instances in which an ECF login, rather than a PACER login, is necessary to view a document. This occurs when certain private or restricted documents are received via a Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) email. In order to view these types of documents, ECF must recognize that you are an attorney of record in the case before allowing you to view the document. Therefore, you must be logged in using your ECF login/password and not your PACER login/password. Such private/restricted documents are filed in criminal, alien detainee (Nature of Suite Codes 462, 463 and 465), and Social Security cases. As a rule of thumb, if you are unable to view a document from an NEF using your PACER login, log out and log back in with your ECF login. If you are still unable to view the document, call the Clerk’s Office for assistance at (202) 354-3190.

Update on Civil Case Opening Training for Attorneys

In August of this year, the Clerk’s Office began a pilot program to train attorneys and their staff to open civil cases and file new complaints in ECF. In mid-October, trained attorneys and staff were given permission to file their own complaints. During that time, two new civil cases were filed electronically with the assistance of Clerk’s Office staff. Currently, we have trained attorneys and staff from 28 law firms and several private and government agencies. Permission to open cases electronically was given to 138 attorneys in October and November and training will continue monthly.

Those attorneys wishing to file new civil cases electronically can schedule training at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse using the ECF Training Class Calendar on our website: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/ecf-information (Limit 10 people per class; the next scheduled class is Monday, Dec. 12th). On-site training at law firms can also be arranged for groups of 20 or more (must be present for entire training class) by contacting Joe Burgess at (202) 354-3172. In addition, login names and passwords can be issued to interested attorneys who wish to use our training database to practice opening new civil cases. To request this information, please contact Joe Burgess (joe_burgess@dcd.uscourts.gov) or Tiffany Reed (tiffany_reed@dcd.uscourts.gov).

Change in Miscellaneous Fees

October, 2011 The Judicial Conference has approved changes to the miscellaneous fee schedule for district courts. The following fees will go into effect November 1, 2011:

New Miscellaneous Case:	$45.00
Record Search:	$30.00
Certification:	$11.00
Audio Recording:	$30.00
Microfiche:	$6.00
Record Retrieval:	$53.00
Returned Check Fee:	$53.00
Misdemeanor Appeal:	$37.00
Attorney Admission:	$201.00
Certificate of Good Standing:	$18.00
Cuban Liberation Civil Filing:	$6355.00

Civil Case Opening Training Has Begun!

Training is now available for attorneys interested in opening new civil cases electronically in ECF. Attorneys eligible to receive training must be active members of the bar of our court and be able to pay the case-opening filing fee with a credit card or ACH payment (debit) via pay.gov. Once trained, attorneys will be certified to open and file new civil cases electronically. All support staff who may be involved with ECF filing are also encouraged to attend training.

Those attorneys wishing to file new civil cases electronically can schedule training at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse using the ECF Training Class Calendar on our website: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/ecf-information (Limit 10 people per class; Classes for November will be available for registration on Nov. 4, 2011). On-site training at law firms can also be arranged for groups of 20 or more (must be present for entire training class) by contacting Joe Burgess at (202) 354-3172. In addition, login names and passwords can be issued to interested attorneys who wish to use our training database to practice opening new civil cases. To request this information, please contact Joe Burgess (joe_burgess@dcd.uscourts.gov) or Tiffany Reed (tiffany_reed@dcd.uscourts.gov).

How Do I File ... A Cross Motion and Opposition?

A cross motion and opposition can be combined into one document, but must be filed as two separate docket entries with the same document and exhibits attached to each entry. File the documents twice, once as a Motion and once as a Memorandum in Opposition. The same applies to a combined opposition and reply (two entries: Memorandum in Opposition and Reply to Opposition) or combined status report and motion (two entries: Status Report and Motion).

Training on Opening New Civil Cases Electronically: Beginning mid-October, training classes on how to open new civil cases electronically in ECF will be available to attorneys and their staff at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse. Those firms wishing to file new civil cases electronically should schedule training using the ECF Training Class Calendar on our website: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/ecf-information. Eligible attorneys must be active members of the bar of our court and be able to pay the case-opening filing fee with a credit or debit card via pay.gov. Once trained, filers will be certified to open and file new civil cases electronically. All support staff who may be involved with ECF filing are encouraged to attend training.
ECF Version 5.0 Coming Soon!: The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will upgrade to version 5.0 of ECF before the end of this year. While the majority of the new features of this release will only affect court staff users, there is one change that will require attention by public users: more secure passwords. Upon first logging in after the upgrade, all attorneys and pro se filers with access to ECF will be required to change their password to conform with new password security requirements (at least eight characters, both upper and lower case, and at least one digit or special character). An email alert will be sent to all ECF users prior to the upgrade.
Retroactive Application of Crack Cocaine Amendment: On November 1, 2011, the retroactive application of crack cocaine amendment to federal sentencing guidelines implementing the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 will take effect. Any motions related to this retroactive amendment should be filed as a Motion to Reduce Sentence re Crack Cocaine Offense - 18:3582. This event can be accessed via the CRIMINAL docketing menu in ECF, under Motions. Please be sure to use this specific event when filing motions related to this retroactive sentencing amendment, or the motion will be entered in error and you will be required to refile it using the correct event.
New Motion Reliefs Added!: Based on the number of motions that are filed regarding scheduling orders and the modification thereof, three new “reliefs” (events) have been added to the civil Motions menu in ECF for your filing convenience. They are: Briefing Schedule, Scheduling Order, and Modify. Please be sure to use these specific reliefs when filing the applicable motion rather than using generic options like Motion for Order or Miscellaneous Relief.
How do I File a......Surreply?: Leave of court is required before filing a Surreply. To accurately move for leave, file a Motion for Leave to File with the proposed Surreply attached to the motion as an exhibit. If the Motion for Leave to File is granted by the court, a member of the Clerk’s Office staff will refile the Surreply as a new and separate docket entry.

Volunteers Needed: The Clerk’s Office is seeking 20 volunteers for a pilot project for the electronic filing of new civil cases (complaints only). If you anticipate filing a new civil complaint on or before September 1st and have an interest in filing your case electronically, please contact Joe Burgess (Joe_Burgess@dcd.uscourts.gov) or Tiffany Reed ((Tiffany_Reed@dcd.uscourts.gov). In order to participate, volunteers must take a three-hour training class at the courthouse at a time to be determined by the trainer and your schedule. Thank you in advance for your interest!
When do I file an Errata?: An Errata is to be filed to correct minor typos, omissions, or similar errors in a previously filed document. It should be titled an Errata, filed using the event Errata (under Other Documents), and linked to the previous docket entry that contained the errors. If you are making substantive changes to your original document, or would prefer to file a corrected version of it, you should file the amended or corrected document/motion in full, as if you were filing it for the first time. For instance, if substantive corrections were made to a Memorandum in Opposition to a Motion to Dismiss, you would file an amended opposition, using the event Memorandum in Opposition (under Oppositions and Replies). You can then add the word “Amended” to your docket entry. Rule of thumb: A simple Errata should not be filed as a Memorandum in Opposition, and an Amended Memorandum in Opposition should not be filed in full as an Errata.
Fillable Forms: When submitting an online fillable PDF form for filing (e.g., Notice of Appearance), please be sure to first PRINT it as a new PDF document before attaching it to the docket entry. Printing the document to a new PDF makes the information/text fields fixed and unalterable. Conversely, simply saving the PDF allows the information/text fields to remain open and unfixed, thereby allowing them to be altered or tampered with.
Select ALL Filers: Please be sure you are correctly selecting all parties represented in your motion/document when filing it. To select more than one party from the Party Selection list, hold the <CTRL> key down and click on each name. Be sure to double check you have selected all of the represented parties and not just the lead plaintiff or defendant before making your final submission
How Do I File......an Administrative Record?: Whether you are filing an Administrative Record in full or in part, it should be accompanied by a Notice of Filing and filed in ECF using the event Administrative Record (under Other Documents). Please do not use the generic event Notice (Other). Whenever possible, Administrative Records should be scanned and attached to the docket entries in their entirety, rather than submitted to the Clerk’s Office on CD/disk or paper. More than one docket entry can be made to accommodate the size of your filing, as long as each one is filed as an Administrative Record and contains the Notice of Filing as the first attached document.
Reminder Regarding Sealed Documents: Please remember that it is counsel’s responsibility to serve any sealed documents on the opposing party. The Clerk’s Office is not responsible for effecting service of such documents. Also, all sealed documents must contain a Certificate of Service.

Take Your Time!

July, 2011 Many filing errors can be avoided if you can take just one extra moment to review your entry before submitting it to ECF. Here are some questions to ask yourself before the final submission:

Does my document contain the correct header, case number/caption, and appropriate signatures?
Did I select the event that best matches the title of my document?
Did I select all applicable filers?
Did I select all parts of my motion from the Available Events menu (if applicable)?
Did I attach all the necessary documents to the entry?
Did I link my current docket entry to the correct previous docket entry (if applicable)?
Is my entry clear and concise, without containing redundant information/language?

New Case Documents

Please remember to include a disk or CD containing PDF versions of your case-opening documents (i.e. complaint, civil cover sheet, etc.) at the time your new case is submitted to the Clerk’s Office. This expedites the opening and availability of your case in ECF. If you cannot submit a disk/CD with the complaint or other initiating document, you MUST deliver a disk/CD or email the documents by 9:00 a.m. the next business day. PDFs can be emailed to: mailto:dcd_cmecf@dcd.uscourts.gov.

Converting to PDF v. Scanning

Documents that are created in a word processing program such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect should be converted or printed to a PDF document, not scanned. Registered ECF users (who have been assigned a login and password) can use a typed signature on such documents (e.g., /s/ John Johnson) and there is no need for a handwritten signature. Converting a document to PDF helps reduce file size, making documents faster and easier to download and view. Scanning should be reserved for exhibits or attachments to your main document and any affidavits or declarations that must contain a real signature. Also, please remember to scan at a low resolution (300 dots per inch) and in black and white only.

Documents that Require a Notice of Filing

A Notice of Filing must accompany any document that A) does not contain a proper court header/caption (e.g., exhibits or affidavits that are filed separately from a motion or related filing), and/or B) was inadvertently left off of a previous filing/docket entry (e.g., proposed orders, certificates of service). The Notice of Filing should also contain a brief description of what is being filed and why as well as the attorney’s signature.

Filing Fees

Filing fees paid in person can be paid in cash, by check, or by money order. Please note that “starter checks” (checks temporarily issued on a new checking account) cannot be accepted for payment of filing fees. Appeal fees can be paid online by registered ECF users using a credit card and the online payment service, pay.gov.

Attorney Admissions Renewal Now Online

June, 2011

The U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Columbia require members of the Bar to renew their membership every three years to remain active. There are now two options for renewal of membership – online using ECF and Pay.gov (credit card) or by the standard method of mailing the renewal form and fee (check). When notified that it is time to renew, attorneys are encouraged to complete the renewal process online using ECF and Pay.gov as outlined further on our website:

http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/sites/dcd/files/atty-renewal_pay.gov_letter.pdf

Attorneys who elect to complete the renewal process by mail should send their renewal form and check to the following address:

U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Columbia
P.O. Box 79399
Baltimore, MD 21279-0399

Please note, this is not a notice that all attorneys should renew their membership to our Bar right now. Attorneys will be notified when it is time to renew. The Clerk’s Office just wishes to advise attorneys of the new online renewal option for future use.

Large Additional Attachments

In an effort to eliminate as much paper as possible, the Clerk’s Office encourages even the most voluminous of exhibits to be filed electronically via ECF. To that end, the event Large Additional Attachment(s) (found under Other Documents on both the Civil and Criminal docketing menus) was created. If the exhibits, attachments, declarations, etc., of any document are too large or numerous for one docket entry, they can be broken down and filed in ECF as additional docket entries by using the Large Additional Attachment(s) event. A Notice or Praecipe must accompany these large exhibits and include the case caption, case number, and attorney’s signature (typed or handwritten). The event allows for 10 attachments (5 MB each) to be uploaded within a 20-minute window before the system will time out. As many docket entries can be made as needed to get all exhibits uploaded to the docket, but be sure to select the original docket entry (i.e. Motion for Summary Judgment) to which the attachments relate when asked to do so. Also, please note that the Large Additional Attachment(s) event should only be used when filing numerous and voluminous exhibits. Use the event Errata (also found under Other Documents) when one or more smaller exhibits were inadvertently omitted from the original document.

Appeal Fees in Consolidated Cases

According to the District Clerks’ Manual, Chapter/Section 13.03(f), if an appeal is for more than one case and the cases are consolidated, only one docketing fee and one filing fee are paid ($455.00 total). To avoid paying the appeal fee multiple times, make only one docket entry for the Notice of Appeal in the lead case (if asked to “spread text” to the member case(s), do so, but do not file individual Notices of Appeal in each individual member case).

Criminal Notices of Appearance

When filing a Notice of Appearance in a criminal case, defense counsel should designate whether they are retained or CJA appointed. For sealed cases, submit an original and one copy of the Notice of Appearance in paper with a certificate of service and a PDF version on disk.

Submission of Sealed Documents

This is a reminder that sealed documents must be filed with the Clerk’s Office between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sealed documents must not be left in the overnight drop box, nor emailed to the Clerk’s Office ECF email box.

New Docket Entries for Returns of Service on DC Defendants

May, 2011 We have created new specific docket entries that should now be used when filing Returns of Service as to District of Columbia defendants (in their official capacity only).

For the summons served on the DC Attorney General, use the docket entry:
➤ SUMMONS RETURNED EXECUTED AS TO DC ATTORNEY GENERAL
For the summons served on the Mayor of DC, use the docket entry:
➤ SUMMONS RETURNED EXECUTED AS TO THE MAYOR FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBI
For the summons served on DC defendants (in their official capacity only), one entry can be made and separate dates of service can be entered for all returns of service using the docket entry:
➤ SUMMONS RETURNED EXECUTED AS TO DC DEFENDANT
The complete Return of Service Quick Reference Guide is available on our website at: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/ecf-filing-pointers

Disk/PDF Must Match Paper

Please be sure that the PDF version of your filing submitted on CD or disk matches the paper version of your document exactly. This includes, in particular, any edits or redactions of personal identifying information, and all exhibits, headers, captions and signatures. For example, if a party’s name appears as John Doe on the paper document, it should appear as John Doe on the disk as well. Or if a social security number has been blacked out on the paper version, it should be redacted on the disk version as well. When a CD or disk is provided, the filing will be made from the CD/disk and should reflect the document exactly as you wish it to appear on the ECF docket.

Reminder of Correspondence/Letter Rule and Proper Formatting of Documents

Pursuant to Local Rule 5.1(b), correspondence/letters to the judge are not permitted (unless directed by the judge) and should never be filed on the docket. Anything that should be made a part of the record MUST be in proper pleading/motion/notice format, pursuant to Local Rule 5.1(f), which states in part: “Every paper shall contain a heading under the caption describing the nature of the pleading, motion or other paper.....The case number on every paper shall be followed by the initials of the judge to whom the case has been assigned.” In addition, documents in multi-defendant criminal cases should include the defendant number in the case number (i.e. 11cr1000-8).

Make Sure to Link Your Docket Entries

If you are filing a document that directly relates to a previous docket entry, please be sure to “link” it to that entry. When presented with the question, Should the document you are filing link to another document in this case?, click the box next to it (a green checkmark will appear) and click SUBMIT. ECF will then open a screen with all of the previous docket entries in the case, and you can select the one(s) your document relates to by clicking the box(es) to the left (again, a green checkmark will appear in those you selected). This is an important step in the filing process, as it makes for a clear and concise docket entry, and allows for easier reference between related docket entries. Examples of documents that should be linked back to previous docket entries include: Erratas, Responses, Replies, Supplemental Memorandums, Notices of Appeal, some Notices of Filing, and some Motions (i.e. Strike, Extension of Time, Amend, Reconsideration, Withdraw, etc.).

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