1. What is CM/ECF?
2. What does CM/ECF provide for attorneys and the public?
3. Where is ECF available?
4. Can any member of the public use ECF to file documents with the court?
5. How will users learn how to file documents in CM/ECF?
6. What hardware/software is needed on the attorney's end to use ECF?
7. What is Adobe Acrobat?
8. Are there fees associated with CM/ECF?
9. How is the requirement of an original signature (attorney and/or debtor) handled for ECF cases?
10. Can an attorney authorize someone in their office (such as a paralegal) to use their login name and password to file documents in ECF?
11. Are documents filed in CM/ECF secure?
    
    

General Questions

CM/ECF — the Case Management/Electronic Case Files project — is a joint project of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and the federal courts to replace existing case management systems with a new system based on current technology, new software, and increased functionality. This system gives federal courts the ability to maintain electronic case files and offer electronic filing of court documents over the Internet.

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• Case information, including the docket sheet and the filed documents, is available for viewing and downloading to attorneys and the public at any time from locations other than the courthouse, via the Internet through the PACER system at a cost of eight cents per page. Attorneys and/or parties are provided with a copy of each document filed electronically in their cases via a link in the Notice of Electronic Filing that is e-mailed to each registered attorney upon the filing of each electronic document. The document may be printed or saved for future use.
  
• Parties, the judge, court staff and the public can review the case file simultaneously.
  
• Registered attorneys can file case documents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, over the Internet, with no additional filing fees. Attorneys can file case documents from their offices or homes right up to the filing deadline, without worrying about postage, messenger services or traffic congestion.
  
• Attorneys filing over the Internet automatically create docket entries, and docket sheets are updated immediately when documents are filed.
  
• A notification of activity in a case, in the form of a Notice of Electronic Filing, is sent by e-mail to the filer and all registered participants in the case immediately after each electronic filing. The Notice of Electronic Filing contains a hyperlink to the filed document and the docket sheet.
  
• Since CM/ECF uses common PC hardware and software, the incremental cost to be CM/ECF-ready is very low for the typical attorney.

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3. Where is ECF available?

At the present time(February, 2005), ECF is a functioning application in 80 of the 94 Federal Bankruptcy Courts. CM/ECF is also available in many District Courts. The CM/ECF system for bankruptcy courts began implementation nationally in early 2001. The district court CM/ECF system began to roll out nationally in May 2002. A CM/ECF system for appellate courts is also being deployed. CM/ECF is currently in use in more than 197 courts. Millions of cases and tens of millions of documents are on CM/ECF systems, and tens of thousands of attorneys across the country are filing documents electronically.

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4. Can any member of the public use ECF to file documents with a court?

No. Access to ECF filing is available to authorized attorneys and creditors only. The public may use ECF to view case information at federal courthouses.

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Each court that offers electronic filing will provide training. If an attorney is trained and registered in one court, that attorney may be authorized to register and file in another court without further training at the court’s discretion. Filing documents in CM/ECF is easy; a minimal amount of training is generally all that is needed. Many courts also have developed user manuals for attorneys and other users, which are available on their Web sites. A set of training modules is also available here. Attorneys should contact each court in which they wish to register and file for information about training requirements.

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• A personal computer running a standard platform such as Windows or Macintosh with minimum memory of 256MB (Windows 2000 requires a minimum of 512 MB).
  
• A PDF-compatible word processor like Macintosh or Windows-based versions of WordPerfect or Word.
  
• Internet service.
  
• Netscape Navigator version 4.6, 4.7, or 7.0x (Netscape 6 is not recommended for use with CM/ECF.) or Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6.0. Some courts have reported success with other browsers but they have not been tested by the Administrative Office.
  
• Software to convert documents from a word processor format to portable document format (PDF).
  
• PDF reader software, often available for free.
  
• A scanner may be necessary to create electronic images of documents that are not in your word processing system.

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Adobe Acrobat is commercial software from Adobe that allows you to save your documents in PDF (portable document format). All documents filed in ECF must be in PDF format. Adobe also distributes a program called Acrobat Reader that allows you to view and print (but not create) PDF documents. The reader is available for free download from www.adobe.com.

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There are no added fees for filing documents over the Internet using CM/ECF, although existing court document filing fees do apply. Electronic access to individual case docket sheets and filed documents is available through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) program. Litigants receive one free copy of documents filed electronically in their cases through a link in the e-mailed Notice of Electronic Filing; additional copies are available to attorneys and to the general public for viewing or downloading at the current PACER cost of eight cents per page with a maximum cost per document calculated to be the equivalent of a 30 page document ($2.40). Transcripts of court proceedings are not subject to the fee limit. Directed by Congress to fund electronic access through user fees, the federal judiciary has set the fee at the lowest possible level sufficient to recoup program costs.

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9. How is the requirement of an original signature (attorney and/or debtor) handled for ECF cases?

At present, this is a matter for local court rule or order. All courts using electronic filing are currently treating use of an attorney’s unique system login and password as a signature. Most of the courts require that attorneys retain copies of certain paper documents, such as affidavits or bankruptcy petitions, containing original signatures of third parties, for a set period of time.

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Yes, but the court recommends that such access be very limited and controlled since whatever is filed under that name and password is deemed to have the attorney's signature on it.

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11. Are documents filed in CM/ECF secure?

Yes. There are two utility programs that verify documents. One program is used to verify the integrity of a PDF document as it is filed in CM/ECF. Another, separate program run automatically at preset times to verify that the documents have not changed since they were filed.

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