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Attorney Admissions, E-Filing Registration, and Renewal Information

On October 7, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upgraded its Case Management/Electronic Case Filing system (CM/ECF) to the Next Generation of CM/ECF (NextGen).  To access the upgraded system, you must have your own individual PACER account. 

Attorneys already admitted to our court must register for e-filing. 

Attorneys wishing to be admitted must submit their applications via PACER. 

Please select the appropriate menu option(s) below for detailed instructions and appropriate forms. 

 

Notice to Attorneys Regarding Bar Membership Renewal

Pursuant to LCvR 83.9, attorneys admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia must renew their memberships by July 1 of every third year.  Pursuant to LCvR 83.2(e)(f), attorneys practicing on behalf of the government must submit a government certification form prior to initial appearance and every three years thereafter.   Pro Hac Vice attorneys should not renew. 

Attorneys who fail to renew or recertify will be placed in provisional status and will not be permitted to appear or file.  After five years from the renewal or recertification deadline, attorneys who have not complied will be removed from our rosters. 

To check your status and/or last date of renewal, please click here. 

Renewals and recertifications must be submitted electronically.  For detailed instructions, please click on the Attorney Renewal and Government Certification tab below. 

PACER

Registering for a PACER Account

If you do not have your own PACER account, follow the steps below to register for an account.

  1. Go to https://www.pacer.gov.
  2. Click on Register for an Account then click on Attorney Filers for CM/ECF.
  3. Click on Register for a PACER account.
  4. Complete the PACER registration form.  For User Type: If you are an attorney in private practice, select INDIVIDUAL.  If you are a State or Federal Government attorney, select the corresponding field.
  5. Click Next
  6. Create a Username and Password and select Security Questions.  Click Next when finished.
  7. Enter the Payment Information (optional).
  8. Read the policies and procedures and acknowledge by checking the box.
  9. Click Submit.

If you already have a CM/ECF account, please follow the instructions in the Linking PACER Account to Existing CM/ECF Account tab to link your new PACER account to your existing CM/ECF account for e-filing.

If you don't have a CM/ECF account, please follow the instructions in the E-Filing tab to register for e-filing.

Upgrading Your PACER Account

If you have your own individual account and it was created prior to August 11, 2014 (also known as a Legacy account), you must upgrade your account before you can electronically file in a NextGen court.  Follow the steps below to upgrade your account.

  1. Go to https://www.pacer.gov.
  2. Click on My Account & Billing then click on Manage My Account Login.
  3. Click on Log in to Manage My Account.
  4. Enter your current PACER username and password then click Login.
  5. If the Account Type lists “Legacy PACER Account (Upgrade)”, then click on Upgrade; otherwise, there no need to upgrade.
  6. Follow prompts to update/enter all necessary information in each tab.
  7. Click Submit.

NOTE:  Once the upgrade is complete, you can no longer use your old PACER username and password.

If you already have a CM/ECF account, please follow the instructions for Linking PACER Account to Existing CM/ECF Account to link your upgraded PACER account to your existing CM/ECF account for e-filing.

If you don't have a CM/ECF account, please follow the instructions in the E-Filing tab to register for e-filing.

If you have any questions, please contact the PACER Service Center at 1-800-676-6856.

Linking PACER Account to Existing CM/ECF Account

E-Filing

E-filing is required for accessing the upgraded system (NextGen CM/ECF) for filing documents and renewing your bar membership with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  Follow the steps below to register for e-filing for this Court.

  1. Go to https://www.pacer.gov.

  2. Click on My Account & Billing then click on Manage My Account Login.

  3. Click on Log in to Manage My Account.

  4. Enter your new/upgraded PACER login and password.

  5. Select the Maintenance tab and select Attorney Admissions/E-File Registration.­

  6. Select U.S. District Courts as the Court Type from the drop-down list.

  7. Select District of Columbia District Court as the Court from the drop-down list then click Next.

  8. On the What would you like to apply/register for? screen:

    • Attorneys already admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia needing to e-file select E-File Registration Only.

    • MDL attorneys select Multi-District Litigation.

    • Attorneys from State or Federal Government agencies select Federal Attorney.

    • Pro Hac Vice attorneys whose motion pursuant to LCvR 83.2(d) has been granted select Pro Hac Vice.

    • Pro Bono attorneys practicing pursuant to LCvR 83.2(g) select E-File Registration Only.

    • CJA attorneys practicing pursuant to LCrR 57.22 select E-File Registration Only.

    • Attorneys needing e-filing for miscellaneous cases only select E-File Registration Only.

  9. Review the Filer Information section and make changes, if needed.

  10. In the Additional Filer Information section:

    • Pro Hac Vice attorneys MUST fill out the Pro Hac Vice Case Number field.

    • MDL attorneys MUST fill out the Multi-District Litigation Case Number field.

    • Pro Bono attorneys MUST enter 'pro bono' in the Other Names Used field.

  11. Complete the Delivery Method and Formatting section and click Next.  Note: This is used for electronic notification in cases in which you are involved.  Complete this section even if you will not be actively practicing in federal court.  Email address information comes from your existing PACER information.  Check the box to use a different email if desired.  Email Frequency and Email Format are required and are also used for electronic notice in cases in which you are involved. In the Email Frequency drop-down list, select Once Per Day for a daily summary notification or At The Time of Filing for individual notice. In the Email Format drop-down list, select HTML unless you are having difficulty with your emails.

  12. Set default Payment Information if desired (not required).  Click Next when finished or to bypass this screen.  You can add a credit card or ACH payment method or designate your existing card as the default method for each of the following fee types: Autobill PACER fees, E-filing fees default, and Admissions fees default.

  13. Check the two boxes for the E-Filing Terms of Use.

  14. Click Submit.  The Court will review your e-filing request for eligibility.  You may be contacted for further information or to correct deficiencies, if any exist.  If your eligibility is confirmed, your account will be activated, and you will be able to file.

Pro Hac Vice Admission

To request permission to appear pro hac vice, you must seek a sponsor who is an active member of our bar.  The sponsor should e-file a motion in the case requesting permission for you to appear pro hac vice, and attach to the motion your hand-signed declaration as well as a certificate of good standing pursuant to LCvR 83.2(c) or LCrR 44.1(c).  A $100 fee will be assessed during filing.

Please note that a motion and the payment must be submitted in each case in which pro hac vice admission is desired.

When the motion is granted and the minute order is entered, please register for e-filing using the instructions in the E-Filing tab above.

Attorney Admissions

Application for Admission

Applying for Admission

  1. Go to www.pacer.gov.

  2. Select My Account & Billing , then Manage My Account Login.  Log in using your PACER credentials.

  3. Select the Maintenance tab.

  4. Choose Attorney Admission/E-File Registration.

  5. In the Court Type drop-down menu, choose U.S. District Courts; in the Court drop-down menu, choose District of Columbia District Court.

  6. Click Next.

  7. On the What Would You Like To Apply/Register For? page, click Attorney Admissions and E-file.

  8. Enter other bar admission information.  PLEASE NOTE:  You must be admitted to the local DC Bar or the bar of the state in which you maintain your principal office to apply for admission to the U.S. District Court for DC. 

  9. Complete the Sponsoring Attorney information.  The sponsor must be an active member of our bar who has known the applicant for at least one year.  Government attorneys who have not been fully admitted are not eligible to serve as sponsors.  Complete all fields in the Attorney Information section.  If you are not sure what type of law you will practice, choose Civil.  PLEASE NOTE:  The application fee will not be waived for any attorney.  You must acknowledge the fee in order to proceed.

  10. Document Upload: Click the Upload button, then +Browse to attach pdfs of the Application for Admission, Sponsor’s Affidavit, and a Certificate of Good Standing from your state bar.

  11. Complete the E-File Registration information.

  12. Complete the Filer Information and make any preferred changes.

  13. Enter Additional Filer Information, if desired (not required).

  14. Complete the Delivery Method and Formatting section of the form. This is used for electronic notification in cases in which you are involved. Complete this section even if you will not be actively practicing in federal court. Email address information comes from your existing PACER information. Check the box to use a different email if desired. Email Frequency and Email Format are required and are also used for electronic notice in cases in which you are involved. In Email Frequency dropdown, Select Once Per Day for a daily summary notification or At The Time of Filing for individual notice. Select from the Email Format dropdown. Select HTML unless you are having difficulty with your emails.  Select Next.

  15.  Set default Payment Information if desired (not required). You can add a new credit card or ACH payment method or designate your existing card as the default method for filing fees or admission fees.  Click Next.

  16. Check the Acknowledgment of Policies and Procedures for Attorney Admissions box.

  17. Check the two boxes acknowledging the E-Filing Terms of Use.

  18. Select Submit.

The court will review your application materials and will contact you to correct any errors or deficiencies.  If your eligibility is confirmed, you will receive an email with link to pay the admission fee as well as an oath to sign.  (Please note that you must pay your admission fee online.)  

The motions judge signs the order of admission on the first Monday of the month according to this schedule.  While the court strives to notify each attorney when the order is signed, please confirm your bar status using our attorney lookup function at Bar Member/Attorney Information Lookup | District of Columbia | United States District Court (uscourts.gov).

Once admitted, your account will be activated, and you will be able to e-file using your PACER credentials.

 

Application, Fee, and Oath Deadlines

Attorney Renewal and Government Certification

In compliance with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia's Local Rule 83.9(a), each member of the bar of this Court shall renew his or her membership every three years by filing with the Clerk of the Court a renewal certificate and pay a renewal fee in the amount of $25.00.

Pursuant to LCvR 83.9(c) attorneys failing to file the required renewal certification and pay the renewal fee will be provisionally removed from the list of members in good standing.  If the certificate and renewal fee are filed within five years from the due date, the name of the attorney provisionally removed will be restored to the list of members in good standing.  Should nothing be filed within five years from the due date, the attorney's name will be removed permanently from the membership list, without prejudice.  To become a member in good standing with the Court again, the attorney will have to reapply for admission to the bar as a new member.

Notification of the renewal requirement and the renewal certificate are electronically mailed to the last known e-mail address of all applicable attorneys prior to the renewal date.

NOTE:  Government attorneys are not required to file in the renewal case or pay the renewal fee.  Please see the Government Certification tab below.

Attorney Renewal

  • If you are an attorney who would like to maintain an Active bar status, follow the steps below.

  1. Fill out the Attorney Renewal Form.

  2. Print the renewal form to PDF. This saves the Attorney Renewal Form as a non-fillable PDF.  Do not proceed to step three with a fillable PDF.

  3. Navigate to www.dcd.uscourts.gov and click on E-filing (CM/ECF).

  4. Click on Document Filing System.  When prompted to log in, use your PACER login.  You do not need a client code.

  5. Accept all the warnings.  You will see Civil on the top left of the page.

  6. Click on Civil, then under Other Filings, click on Other Documents.  Choose Attorney Membership Renewal Fees (Use only in 1:23-mc-9999).  NOTE:  if you do not see the Civil tab, please follow the instructions for e-filing under the E-Filing tab above.

  7. Enter the case number 1:23-mc-9999.

  8. Follow the prompts.  When you come to the payment section, you may be asked to log in to PACER again.

  9. After you have paid the fee, be sure to continue clicking “Submit” until you cannot click it any longer.  Confirmation of payment is not sufficient to renew your membership.  Your renewal is not considered filed until you have received a confirmation of filing with a document number.

  10. Please allow five business days for our office to process your renewal.  You may check your status here.

Government Certification

  • If you are a Government attorney who would like to certify for the first time or renew your certification, follow the steps below.

  1. Fill out the Government Certification Form.

  2. E-mail the form to attorney_admissions@dcd.uscourts.gov

  3. Register for e-filing (go to the E-Filing tab above).

  •  Renewal fees are waived for State/Federal Government attorneys.

Certificates of Good Standing

To request a Certificate of Good Standing with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, complete and submit the Certificates of Good Standing Request Form, and an invoice will be emailed to you for payment through Pay.gov (see the Paying an Invoice with Pay.gov tab below).

Paying an Invoice with Pay.gov

eBilling is a pay.gov application that allows the Clerk’s Office to send and manage electronic payments.  For step-by-step instructions on paying an eBill with pay.gov, see instructions below.

  1. From your email, open Pay.gov Accessing your U.S. government electronic bill for DCD eBilling.
  2. Click the link in the email to access Pay.gov.
  3. Enter the Access code from the email in the Access code field to view the bill and click Submit.  The eBills are viewable whenever you log in to Pay.gov.  No access code is required.
  4. Enter 20001 for the DC District Court’s zip code. The security answer can be found in the Pay.gov Accessing your U.S. government electronical bill for DCD eBilling email.
  5. Click View Bill to view bill.
  6. Click Pay Bill to pay bill.
  7. Select payment type ACH or Debit or credit card. Click Next.
  8. Enter your name, billing address, and card number information. Click Review and Submit Payment.
  9. Review your credit card information, enter and confirm your email address.  At this time, additional email addresses may be entered in the CC field.  Payment confirmation emails will be sent to those email accounts.
  10. Accept the authorization agreement by selecting the checkbox. Click Submit Payment.
  11. After you submit payment you will receive a Pay.gov payment confirmation email.

FAQs

Q1:    How can I find my membership status, date of admission, and/or bar number for the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia?

A1:    Please consult our attorney information lookup site at https://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/bar-memberattorney-information-lookup.

Note: if no information shows up, the attorney is not admitted into the U.S. District Court and should check with the DC Bar.  If you believe your results are incorrect, please send an e-mail to attorney_admissions@dcd.uscourts.gov for verification.

 

Q2:    My membership status says “Provis.”  What does this mean?  What should I do?

A2:    If your membership status says “Provis,” this means that you are in a provisional status and need to renew your membership with the court’s bar. 

 

Q3:     When is my renewal due?

A3:    Pursuant to LRCvP 83.9(a), renewals are due every three years.  Please consult the attorney information lookup to check your last renewal date: https://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/bar-memberattorney-information-lookup.

 

Q4:    How do I renew my membership with the U.S. District Court?

A4:    Fully admitted attorneys should renew their memberships by completing the renewal form and e-filing it in the renewal case.  The $25 renewal fee should be paid during the e-filing process.  Detailed instructions can be found in the Attorney Renewal tab under the  Attorney Renewal and Government Certifications tab.

Government attorneys should renew by completing the government certification form and emailing it to attorney_admissions@dcd.uscourts.gov. 

 

Q5:    Which attorneys are required to renew their memberships?

A5:    Fully admitted attorneys are required to renew their memberships and pay the renewal fee. 

Government attorneys are required to submit the government certification form. 

Pro Hac Vice, MDL and Pro Bono attorneys should not renew their memberships with this court.

 

Q6:    I am a Pro Hac Vice attorney and I paid the fee to renew my membership. What should I do now?

A6:    Pro Hac Vice attorneys should not renew their memberships.  Please submit a request for a refund to dcdml_financeoffice@dcd.uscourts.gov. 

 

 

Q7:    When I try to e-file my document in CM/ECF, I do not see the “Civil” option. What should I do?

A7:    Please register for e-filing.  We are now a NexGen court, meaning that all e-filing is done using your PACER credentials.  Even if you previously registered and have an old CM/ECF account, you must re-register so that your old account can be linked with your PACER account.  Instructions can be found under the E-Filing tab.

 

Q8:    I am a government attorney.  How do I register to electronically file in the U.S. District Court?

A8:    First, complete the renewal form found here.  Once you have completed the document, save it as a pdf and e-mail it to attorney_admissions@dcd.uscourts.gov.  Lastly, register to e-file via PACER.  Instructions for registering can be found under the E-Filing tab.

 

Q9:    I submitted an application for admission.  How long will it take to be processed?  Can I have it expedited?

A9:    Applications will be processed in the order in which they are received.  Please review the application, fee and oath deadlines under the Attorney Admissions tab.  Applications cannot be expedited. 

Q10: Are original signatures still required on Applications for Admission and Sponsors’ Affidavits during COVID?

A10:   Yes, original signatures are still required.

 

Q11:  Why does my application status say “unknown?”

A11:   An application for admission’s status remains “unknown” until it is processed.  Once it has been processed and the application meets all requirements, you will receive a link for payment along with additional instructions.  This can sometimes take a few weeks. 

 

Q12:  Is the U.S. District Court still holding admissions ceremonies?  Do I need to come to an in-person swearing in?

A12:   All in person admission ceremonies have been postponed until further notice; however, we are still admitting new members via order of the court on the first Monday of each month.  Please see the following Standing Order for more details:  COVID-19 Standing Order 20-68: Fourth further extension of postponed court proceedings due to ongoing exigent circumstances caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Q13:  I need to appear or file prior to the next admission date.  What should I do?

A13:   Please file a motion to appear pro hac vice.  A member of our bar must e-file the motion on your behalf and include a declaration hand-signed by you.  See LRCvP 83.2(d) for more information.                     

 

Q14:  I am trying to file my application for admission, but your court is not showing up in the drop-down menu of available courts.  Is this because I was previously admitted pro hac vice?

A14:  Yes.  Please email attorney_admissions@dcd.uscourts.gov to have your accounts unlinked.  This will not affect your PHV status but will allow you to choose our court on the list. 

  

Q15:  How do I update or change my contact information with the U.S. District Court for DC?

A15:  All updates must be submitted via PACER.  Please note that this can only be done if you have linked your NextGen CM/ECF account to your PACER account.

To update your information, log in to PACER here:          https://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/pscof/login.jsf.

  • Click on Maintenance- Update Personal Information to update your name, prefix, and suffix.

  • Click on Maintenance- Update Address Information to update your firm name, address, and phone numbers.

  • Click on Maintenance- Update E-Filer Email Noticing and Frequency to update your email address(es).

 

Q16:  How do I reset my PACER password?

A16:   For information on resetting your password, click here: https://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/pscof/forgotPassword.jsf?csoLogin=true.