The Case Management/Electronic Files (“CM/ECF”) System is an electronic filing system used to electronically file documents with the Court via the internet.

The Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”) System is an electronic public access service that allows users to run reports and view documents from all federal courts via the internet.

PACER acts as a portal to the documents and case information stored on CM/ECF. The same information, functions, queries, reports and documents that were available through the Court’s CM/ECF System in the past are available through the PACER System.

The CM/ECF Users Manual is available on the Website to download. Upon receipt of the login and password, it is highly recommended that attorneys familiarize themselves with the CM/ECF System by reading the materials available on the Website and practicing in the training database.

The Clerks Office will provide training classes in New York City and Washington, D.C. The locations, schedule of classes and Training Registration Form will be posted on the CM/ECF Training Page of the Court=s Website, as the dates become available.

If you have any CM/ECF-related questions, please contact the CM/ECF Help Desk at 1-866-450-1859 or send an email to: cmecf_helpdesk@cit.uscourts.gov

PACER provides a Frequently Asked Questions section, free training and video tutorials on their website at: www.pacer.gov.

If you have any PACER-related questions, please contact the PACER Service Center at 1-800-676-6856 or send an email to: pacer@psc.uscourts.gov.

For questions about the CM/ECF System, case information or technical assistance regarding hardware and software requirements, please contact the CM/ECF Help Desk at 1-866-450-1859 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time or send an email to: cmecf_helpdesk@cit.uscourts.gov.

Staff support for CM/ECF will not be available on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or any other day on which the Court is not open for business. After 5:00 pm EST, callers should leave a message and they will receive a response the next day that the Court is open for business.

If you have any PACER-related questions, please visit the PACER website at: www.pacer.gov, contact the PACER Service Center at 1-800-676-6856 from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Central Standard Time or send an email to: pacer@psc.uscourts.gov.

For a CM/ECF Filer or Confidential Information Filer account, attorneys must submit a completed CM/ECF Registration Form to the Court.

Attorneys will receive CM/ECF User IDs and Passwords for the live database and the training database. Once attorneys are registered with the CM/ECF System, they will have the ability to file documents electronically and will receive Notices of Electronic Filing in cases in which they appear.

You must register for a PACER account at the PACER website: www.pacer.gov.

No. You may use your current PACER account to run reports and view documents.

To update your CM/ECF account, you must notify the Court by submitting a Request for Change in Information form. If you appear in active cases before the Court, you will need to file the appropriate forms in each of your cases.

If you have a PACER account that is shared with others in your previous law firm, you must register for a new PACER account. Information on registering for a PACER account is available at: www.pacer.gov.

If you have your own PACER account, you must update your PACER account through the “Manage My PACER Account” page on the PACER website at: www.pacer.gov.

If you have previously linked your CM/ECF and PACER accounts together and wish to link your CM/ECF account to a different PACER account, you must update that link by logging in to CM/ECF and clicking on ‘Utilities’. Click on ‘Change Your PACER Login’ and enter a new PACER Login and Password. To link your CM/ECF account with the new PACER account, check the box marked, “Make this my default PACER login” and click on the Login button.

It could be one of the following reasons:

1. All CM/ECF User ID and Passwords are case sensitive.
2. CM/ECF Logins are in lower case letters.
3. If you have updated your CM/ECF Password since November 1st, 2011, your password must be at least 8 characters long and include both upper and lower case letters and a digit or special character (i.e. 0-9, @, #, $, %).
4. If you have not updated your CM/ECF Password, your Password must be at least 7 characters long and include a digit or special character.
5. Only CM/ECF Filers or Confidential Information Filers may use a CM/ECF User ID and Password.

If you have lost your CM/ECF Password, click on the link, “If you have lost or forgotten your CM/ECF Password, click here.,” on the CM/ECF Login page. Follow the instructions and the CM/ECF System will send an email to your primary email address with a link to the CM/ECF screen where you will be able to create a new password.

For help, please contact the CM/ECF Help Desk at 1-866-450-1859 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time or send an email to: cmecf_helpdesk@cit.uscourts.gov.

Click on the link, “If you have lost or forgotten your CM/ECF Password, click here.,” on the CM/ECF Login page. Follow the instructions and the CM/ECF System will send an email to your primary email address with a link to the CM/ECF screen where you will be able to create a new password.

Login to CM/ECF, click on Utilities, then Maintain Your Password. Enter your new password and click Submit.

Note: Your new password must be at least 8 characters long and include both upper and lower case letters and a digit or special character (i.e. 0-9, @, #, $, %).

Generally speaking, access to documents, docket sheets or case-specific reports is $0.10 per page for the public and private attorneys and $0.08 per page for the government(until 2015, and then the government will also be charged $0.10 per page). The fee is capped at 30 pages for most documents - for most documents, no fee is charged beyond the 30th page (see the PACER website for those few documents where charges beyond 30 pages are incurred. No PACER fees are charged for accessing slip opinions and PACER fees will not be charged until an account holder accrues more than $15.00 in fees in a quarterly billing cycle. Also, documents served on parties by a Notice of Electronic Filing can be viewed once without incurring any charges. After this “one free look,” however, charges will begin to incur. To view the PACER Fee Schedule, visit the PACER website at www.pacer.gov.

No. Whether or not you have a PACER account, CM/ECF will send you a Notice of Electronic Filing when there is activity in your cases.

Yes, all attorneys of record receive one free look at the document served upon them via Notice of Electronic Filing.

First, make sure you are listed as an attorney of record in the case. If you are listed on the docket sheet, contact your organization’s technical support or review your e-mail settings to verify whether your server restricts e-mail from the CM/ECF System.

If you continue to experience difficulties, please contact the CM/ECF Help Desk at 1-866-450-1859 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time or send an email to: cmecf_helpdesk@cit.uscourts.gov.

A document shall not be considered electronically filed until the filer receives a CM/ECF System-generated Notice of Electronic Filing.

You can search for docket events by clicking the Search button located on right side of the CM/ECF toolbar. When you are prompted to search for menus and events, type in a word or phrase and click ‘Search.’ The system will then provide you with a list of docket events using that word or phrase. If your docket event is listed, you may click on it to begin the filing process.

If you cannot find the docket event using the Search feature, contact the CM/ECF Help Desk at 1-866-450-1859 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time or send an email to: cmecf_helpdesk@cit.uscourts.gov.

If you need to file a document after Clerk’s Office hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m, EST), you can use the docket event, Z-motion or Z-document, to preserve your filing date.

Contact the CM/ECF Help Desk at 1-866-450-1859 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time or send an email to: cmecf_helpdesk@cit.uscourts.gov.

The Rules of the Court and accompanying forms can be found here.

CM/ECF forms can be found here.

Per Administrative Order 02-01, the electronic filing of any document and the Court’s transmission of a Notice of Electronic Filing of that document shall constitute service on all counsel or pro se parties who are registered with the CM/ECF System.

Documents that are not filed electronically, initial jurisdictional filings requiring service per CIT Rule 4 and documents requiring service upon pro se parties that are not registered with the CM/ECF System must be served in non-electronic form.

Yes, pursuant to Administrative Order 02-01, parties will receive five extra days to respond to motions when they are filed and served electronically.

Each document should be filed separately and in this order: Motion to Intervene, Notice of Appearance, Form 13, Form 17(attorneys) and Form 17(consultants).

The CM/ECF User’s Manual provides sample instructions for a typical conversion.

Note: Your software may be different than what is described in the sample instructions. Please consult your technical support staff or software provider if you require additional help.

Depending on how the data was suppressed, all the information you included in your document can be available to anyone who views it.  PDF documents are not necessarily secure if you unknowingly leave Metadata behind in the document for others to view.  For a more detailed explanation, see the Court's recent Technical Broadcast on Metadata (click here).

It means that the CM/ECF System is unable to complete your request. Please contact the Court’s Server Administrator at cmecf_it@cit.uscourts.gov and inform them of the error.

If you encounter this problem while trying to file a document, print a copy of the message and send it to the Court with your filing and a completed Declaration that Party was Unable to File in a Timely Manner Due to Technical Difficulties form.

You should compress your PDF in Adobe Acrobat and submit your document again by following the steps below:

1. Open your PDF document in Adobe Acrobat
2. Click on File, then Print
3. In the Print pop-up window, select Adobe PDF from the Printer drop- down menu
4. Click on Properties button next to the Printer drop-down menu
5. In the Adobe PDF Document Properties pop-up window, click on the Paper/Quality tab
6. Click on the Advanced button
7. Under Graphic, next to Print Quality, click on 1200 dpi and select 300 dpi from the drop-down menu
8. Click on the OK button twice to return to the Print pop-up window
9. Click on the Print button
10. Type in your file name in and click on the Save button
11. Log in to CM/ECF and file your document

You must deactivate the Adobe Acrobat security features, such as password protection, save the file, and submit the document again.