United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit
CM/ECF Application
ECF Filing Standards
Table of Contents
General Information. ....................................................................................................Page 1
Registration. .................................................................................................................Page 2
Sealed Information & Privacy ......................................................................................Page 3
Technical Information. .................................................................................................Page 3
Paper Requirements. ....................................................................................................Page 5
Signatures. ....................................................................................................................Page 5
Training. .......................................................................................................................Page 5
Help. ......................................................................................................................... ....Page 5
Page 1
A.
General Information
(1)
Electronic case filing (ECF) as prescribed by 5TH CIR. R. 25.2 began on
December 7, 2009. Mandatory electronic case filing began on March 15,
2010.
(2)
Terminology - As used in these ECF filing standards, “documents” or
“filings” includes briefs, motions, record excerpts, petitions for panel or en
banc rehearing, F
ED. R. APP. P. 28(j) letters, and other case related
correspondence with the court, such as appearance forms, transcript order
forms, etc. The term “initiating documents” includes matters filed in this
court’s original jurisdiction such as petitions for review of agency actions,
see, F
ED. R. APP. P. 15; writs of mandamus and prohibition and other
extraordinary writs, see F
ED. R. APP. P. 21, appeals by permission, see
F
ED. R. APP. P. 5.
(3)
Counsel filing via ECF must carefully review the technical information
on the court’s website for the most complete and current information.
(4)
An ECF “filing user” is an attorney who is a member in good standing of
the Fifth Circuit bar and properly registers as a filer.
(5)
Filing users are urged to prepare in advance by completing registration and
reviewing reference materials. Lack of familiarity with ECF procedures is
not an acceptable reason for extensions of time to file.
(6)
In addition to a certificate of service, all ECF pleadings must include
certifications that: 1) required privacy redactions have been made, 5
TH CIR.
R. 25.2.13; 2) the electronic submission is an exact copy of the paper
document, 5
TH CIR. R. 25.2.1; and 3) the document has been scanned for
viruses with the most recent version of a commercial virus scanning
program and is free of viruses.
(7)
The Notice of Docket Activity (NDA) is the method of service to those who
are registered ECF filers, provided the filing complies with all other service
requirements. Otherwise, service is by alternative means as prescribed by the
rules, 5
TH CIR. R. 25.2.5.
(8)
ECF must be completed by 11:59 p.m. Central time to be considered timely
filed that day. A document is deemed filed at the date and time stated on
Page
2
the NDA.
(9)
Filing users may only file on behalf of parties they are linked to in a case.
(10)
We may edit your docket entry to correct or supplement the text. We will
make a notation that the entry was edited.
(11)
In accordance with 5TH CIR. R. 25.2.2, the court accepts original
proceedings in both paper format and electronic format. Attorneys may
upload electronic versions of original proceedings through the CM/ECF
Utilities tab for docketing by the court. Originating proceedings requiring a
fee can also be paid at that time via Pay.Gov.
B.
Registration
(1)
Registration to access the ECF system is provided through the PACER
Service Center and involves confirmation that certain technical
requirements are met. These include, but are not limited to, an
Internet browser and software to convert word processing documents
to portable document format (PDF).
Public Access to Court Electronic
Records | PACER: Federal Court Records (uscourts.gov)
(2)
A filing user’s registration constitutes consent to electronic service of all
documents. All court orders/forms will be served electronically via the
NDA.
(3)
If you or your firm does not have a PACER account, apply for that at:
Public Access to Court Electronic Records | PACER: Federal Court Records
(uscourts.gov)
(4)
Filing users are urged to register as early as possible. Registration is not
instantaneous. All accounts must be accepted by the court. Do not wait
until the filing deadline to register as lack of a completed registration is not
an acceptable reason for extensions of time to file.
(5)
Filing users are responsible for protecting the privacy of their login and
password. Authorized use of an attorney’s login name and password by
another is deemed to be the act of the attorney. Users should contact the
PACER Service Center and clerk immediately if their password is
compromised.
(6)
All filing users must maintain accurate contact information through the
Page 3
PACER Service Center which in turn updates the court. Service of a filing
to an invalid email address constitutes valid service if the individual has
failed to provide a current address. In situations where the attorney is
exempt from electronic filing, contact information should be provided to the
clerk’s office, see 5
TH CIR. R. 46.1.
C.
Sealed Information & Privacy
(1)
Proposed sealed materials, or those already sealed, may be filed
electronically by taking the actions prescribed for sealed items. Failure to
follow these steps will result in public disclosure of sensitive material. ECF
filers solely are responsible for ensuring that sealed materials are filed
appropriately, see also 5
TH CIR. R. 25.2.8.
(2)
Filing users must follow the privacy and redaction requirements of Fed. R.
App. P. 25(a)(5), see also 5
TH CIR. R. 25.2.13. Required redactions include
social security numbers and taxpayer identification numbers (the last four
digits may be used), birth dates (year of birth may be used), minors’ names
(initials may be used), and financial account numbers (except those
identifying property allegedly subject to forfeiture in a forfeiture
proceeding). Filers, and not the court, are solely responsible for redacting
pleadings.
(3)
Filing users do not need to take special privacy and redaction action on
pleadings submitted in social security and immigration cases as these are
protected automatically from public viewing electronically. However, court
staff, judges and parties/attorneys in the case may access the documents in
electronic form. Court orders and opinions in these cases are available to
the public on PACER. Non-parties may inspect the court’s paper file in the
case at the clerk’s office, but may not access them in electronic form from a
remote location.
D.
Technical Information
(1)
All documents must be submitted in native PDF text format (not scanned to
PDF) unless permitted by 5
TH CIR. R. 25.2, or unless granted leave to file a
scanned document. If a scanned document is permitted, set your scanner to
‘black and white’ and ‘300 dpi’.
(2)
Current versions of the following browsers are compatible with Appellate
CM/ECF and may be used:
Page
4
Mozilla Firefox 3.5 or higher
Internet Explorer 7 or higher
Google Chrome
Microsoft Edge
Safari
Opera has not been tested with CM/ECF, but no problems have been
reported.
Do not use Netscape, Internet Explorer 5 or below, AOL or MSN Explorer
browsers. They are not compatible with CM/ECF.
(3)
Documents filed electronically are limited to 20 megabytes per uploaded
file. (This size will be more than adequate for any document which needs to
be filed with the court as long as the PDF file does not contain scanned
material. There is no exact correlation between file size and pages, so filing
users should check the file size before submitting an electronic filing).
(4)
If more than one file is uploaded with a particular entry, the maximum file
size for all documents/attachments in the entry is 50 megabytes.
(5)
Filing users are responsible for verifying that any scanned material is
legible and complete.
(6)
If a technical failure prevents the filing of a document, contact the help desk
at [email protected] or 877-232-1038 about seeking
appropriate relief from the court.
(7)
Electronically filed documents may contain the following types of
hyperlinks: links to other portions of the same document; links to other
CM/ECF or PACER documents; links between documents filed at the same
time. Hyperlinks to cited authority may not replace standard citation
format, see 5
TH CIR. R. 25.2.14.
Page 5
(8)
The recommended screen resolution with Appellate CM/ECF is 1024 x 768.
Computers with different settings can use CM/ECF, but horizontal scrolling
on the screens may be needed.
E.
Paper Requirements
(1)
When the court requests paper copies in addition to the electronic copies,
filing users must file the same number of paper copies of documents as
currently required by the rules for briefs, motions, petitions for rehearing,
record excerpts, etc., see 5th Cir. R. 25.2.1. You must submit paper copies
of pleadings within five days after the court requests them.
(2)
Filing users must maintain in paper form documents filed electronically for
three years after the mandate or order closing the case issues, 5
TH CIR. R.
25.2.9.
(3)
Electronically filed pleadings should not include a cover letter. Paper
filings still require a cover letter.
F.
Signatures
(1)
The filing user’s login and password constitutes their signature to file
documents with the court. The filing user’s name under whose login and
password is submitted must be preceded by an “s/” in the area where a
physical signature would go, 5
TH CIR. R. 25.2.10.
(2)
Documents requiring more than one signature must be filed by either a)
submitting a scanned document containing all necessary signatures, or b)
showing the consent of the other parties on the document.
G.
Training
(1)
The court’s website contains user manuals and other reference materials to
assist users in preparing for electronic filing.
H.
Help
(1)
If you have questions or problems concerning electronic filing through
CM/ECF, contact the ECF Help Desk at [email protected].
Please include any relevant information such as case numbers, filer’s name
and any other information that will assist us in answering your question.
Page
6
Your inquiry will be a priority and we will strive to answer it as quickly as
possible.
The help desk is available during the Clerk’s Office regular business hours,
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m Central time. Alternatively,
you may call the ECF Help Desk at 877-232-1038 for assistance.
(2)
The court’s main and satellite libraries can provide access to the training
and reference materials and some degree of assistance with electronic filing.
