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Anderson on Civil E-Filing in the Central District of California

1. Before you complete the E Filing yov ll be given the option to add docket text We recommend that you type in the full title of your document in that location so that the docket entry accurately describes what you re filing R Reply Briefs on Motions Filing Type Civil Responses Replies Other Motion Related Documents Reply motion related S Stipulations with Orders Filing Type Civil Stipulations Special Notes Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 24 Before E Filing it was common practice to submit a stipulation with a proposed order attached that merely read IT IS SO ORDERED This practice is no longer allowed The order must be prepared with a separate caption and submitted as an attachment to the E Filed stipulation Don t forget to e mail the order in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section H P above If your stipulation is for leave to file an amended complaint or a counterclaim or third party claim submit both the proposed order and the proposed amended complaint or a counterclaim or third party claim as an attachment to the stipulation When you e mail the proposed order and the stipulation to the Court also attach the amended complaint in PDF When the order is signed the Clerk s office will E File and docket the amended compl
2. P Oppositions to Motions Filing Type Civil Responses Replies Other Motion Related Documents Memorandum in Opposition to Motion Docketing Questions During the docketing process you Il be asked to select the motion to which your opposition relates Special Notes There have been rare instances where motions were not coded properly when they were filed If this happens the motion you are opposing will not be listed and you will unable to link your opposition papers to the motion you are opposing If that happens use the following Filing Type instead Civil Miscellaneous Filings Non Motion Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition Non Motion Before you complete the E Filing you ll be given the option to add docket text We recommend that you type in the full title of your document in that location so that the docket entry accurately describes what you re filing Q Declarations Supporting or Opposing Motions Separately Captioned Filing Type Civil Responses Replies Other Motion Related Documents Declaration motion related Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 23 Docketing Questions Enter party Role of Filer plaintiff plaintiffs defendant defendants Name of Declarant Enter as stated on the declaration Indicate in opposition to or in suppor
3. page handling Make sure that this option is set to none If you use the default Shrink to Printable Area the text on your courtesy copies will be shrunk well below the font size permitted by the Local Rules Attach a copy of the Notice of Electronic Filing to the end of the courtesy copy Write or stamp the words Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 13 E FILED COURTESY COPY FILED DATE FILED TIME TIME FILED in the upper right hand corner of the first page where the clerk would previously have conformed the document You may wish to order a custom stamp for this purpose Ordinarily one courtesy copy must be received by noon the day after you file the document unless the Judge has ordered otherwise Most Judges require that one courtesy copy of each E Filed document be delivered to the Court by noon the day after you E File However some Judges have different requirements for where and when you should submit courtesy copies and some require more than one copy Before filing any documents be sure to check the Court s CM ECF web site at http support cacd uscourts gov and then click on courtesy copies on the left hand side Please note that Judges may change their requirements at any time It is possible that the Court may strike your document if a courtesy cop
4. Local Rule 6 1 sets a deadline for filing motions that is based upon whether the motion is served by mail or by personal service Since the rule contains no indication of which deadline to use for E Filing it is best to use the longer deadline associated with serving a motion by mail Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 6 B Logging into the Court s E Filing System You can access the Court s E Filing System by pointing your browser to http support cacd uscourts gov and clicking on the login option in the upper right hand corner You will be presented with the Court s CM ECF and PACER login screen CM ECF is the Court s E Filing System and can be used for free to file documents electronically PACER is the Court s public records system and will allow you to access docket text and view electronically filed documents for a fee For convenience we will refer to the Court s CM ECF system as E Filing throughout this manual You will use the very same screen to login both to the E Filing System and to PACER If you enter your E Filing username and password you ll be logged into E File If you enter your PACER username and password you ll be logged into PACER The client code field is ignored when you login to E Filing Because you use the same login screen to access both PACE
5. Note that simply blacking out information on a scanned PDF file in Adobe Acrobat does not redact it The PDF specification retains the original data and simply displays a black box over it Such information can be easily read by deleting the black box The only way to properly redact a PDF file is to use a special redaction option in a PDF program like Adobe Acrobat or by redacting the paper document before you scan it If you inadvertently E File a document without redacting personal information you should immediately contact the Court s Help Desk see the end of this manual for contact information vV TRANSCRIPTS ORDERED BY COUNSEL Effective May 27 2008 the Court will require court reporters to E file all court transcripts using the Court s E Filing system whenever a transcript is ordered by counsel For the first 90 days after the transcript is E Filed the transcript will be available through PACER only to the person who ordered the transcript and court personnel Anyone may view but not print the transcript at the public terminals in the Clerk s office At the same time the Court Reporter will E File a Notice of Filing of Official Transcript which all parties will receive Transcripts that have been ordered sealed will not be E Filed If the transcript contains personal information that must be redacted under the Court s General Order or under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 5 2 any party will have five business days to fil
6. 25 Special Notes A proposed judgment like a proposed order should be submitted as an attachment It should never be filed as a main document In this case the Proposed Judgment should be submitted as an attachment to the Notice of Acceptance of Rule 68 Offer Don t forget to e mail the proposed judgment in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers or to the Clerk s office as described in section II P above V Notice of Settlement and Proposed Order Filing Type Civil Notices Settlement Special Notes Most of the Judges in the Central District have adopted a practice of immediately dismissing the action upon receipt of a Notice of Settlement and giving the parties a certain amount of time to reopen the case You may wish to submit a proposed order dismissing the action without prejudice and retaining jurisdiction to enforce the settlement if necessary A proposed order should be submitted as an attachment to the main document It should never be filed as a main document In this case the proposed order should be submitted as an attachment to the Notice of Settlement Don t forget to e mail the proposed order in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section II P above W Proposed Final Pretrial Conference Orders Filing Type Civil Notices Notice of Lodging Pretrial Conference Order Special Notes A proposed order should be submitted as an attachment It should never be filed as a main doc
7. ORDER Order on Request for Approval of Substitution of Attorney You can get the form by going to the Court s main web site www cacd uscourts gov clicking Forms at the top and then expanding the General Forms category Be sure to download the latest version from the Court s web site Versions of the form that predate March of 2006 contain a combined request and order and will be rejected The newest version of the form changes the title from Substitution of Attorney to Request for Approval of Substitution of Attorney and separates the order from the request The order is available for download only in WordPerfect format Be sure to download both the PDF request and the WordPerfect Order Do not E File any document that has an order combined with something else The proposed order should never be E Filed as the main document The Proposed Order should be separately captioned and submitted as an attachment to the Request for Approval of Substitution of Attorney in PDF Format Don t forget to e mail the proposed order in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section II P above Note that this form is used only to change the identity of the principal attorney or firm handling the case If you want to change your address phone number or remove or add a single lawyer in the case and the firm representing the party remains the same use Local Form G 6 which is entitled Notice of Change of Att
8. Sheet The Southern District uses the standard AO Cover Sheet available on the Court s web site and not the lengthier form used in the Central District The Southern District neither requires nor wants bluebacks The Court scans these documents for you so there is no need to scan and return the initial filing as you would in the Central District 2 All documents other than documents that require a filing fee must be E Filed including Amended Complaints Counterclaims Cross Claims and Third Party Complaints If you E File one of these documents and it adds parties you must use the Add Party link and add the new parties yourself 3 The Southern District has re named Stipulations to Joint Motions Although Proposed orders are required on all motions DO NOT E FILE PROPOSED ORDERS Proposed Orders are never E Filed in the Southern District even as attachments Instead e mail the Proposed Order to opposing counsel and to the Court at efile_JudgeLastName casd uscourts gov where you replace JudgeLastName with the Judge s last name in all lower case Subject line should be the case number description of order Proposed Orders should not have counsel s firm name on them and should not have the word Proposed in the caption Opposing counsel has one day thereafter to e mail any objections to the order to chambers 4 The Local Rules require that the case number appear at the bottom right hand corner of each pa
9. account with the case You have the option of being designated as the lead counsel a counsel who will be noticed on events in the case or both You should always designate yourself as counsel to be noticed or you won t receive any e mails from the E Filing System when documents are filed Generally you also want to designate yourself as lead counsel as well since some Judges require the appearance of lead counsel at all hearings Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 8 If you receive this message on a case that you have previously filed a document something has gone wrong Carefully read the title of the case at the top of the screen to verify that you are filing in the right case G Selecting the identity of the filing party At some point during the E Filing process the system will present you with a screen asking for the identity of the party filing the document This screen appears at different times depending upon the document you are filing For some filings the screen appears before you upload the document and for other filings it appears after you upload the document Regardless there are two important rules to remember about this screen First NEVER USE THE Add Create New Party link that may appear on these screens That link is intended for use by Court staff only and will p
10. amended complaint does not require an order of the Court before you can file it you should file the amended complaint manually A Notice of Manual Filing is not required You will presumably be required to e mail the amended complaint to the Clerk s office in the same manner as an initial complaint see above If you seek leave to file the amended complaint by a stipulation or a motion use the procedures below with respect to motions or stipulations as the case may be Submit the amended complaint as an attachment to your stipulation or motion If your requested order is granted the Deputy Clerk in the Courtroom should electronically file the PDF of the amended complaint that you attached to the stipulation or the motion once the order is signed If you request leave to file an amended complaint in opposition to a motion by another party such as a Rule 12 b motion and the Court grants the motion with leave to amend you should file your amended complaint manually E Request for Entry of Default and Proposed Default Filing Type Civil Requests Clerk to Enter Default Special Notes The proposed default should be submitted as an attachment to the request for entry of default The proposed default should be e mailed to the chambers e mail address in WordPerfect or Microsoft Word format along with a PDF of the main document The proof of service of the Summons and Complaint should be filed separately see above Even though the default i
11. and then obtained a signature from someone other than the E Filing attorney you should consider converting the document to PDF using your word processor and then adding the scanned signature page to the end of the converted PDF That will keep the file size low and make the file text searchable You must Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 5 maintain the original signed document until one year after final resolution of the action including the appeal if any 3 PDF forms If the document is an Adobe PDF form such as the forms on the Court s web site you can fill out and save those forms directly to PDF using Adobe Acrobat Standard or Acrobat Professional and certain third party PDF programs Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available for free at Adobe s web site will not save text that you input into a PDF form If the form requires only the signature of the filer you can file the form without printing and scanning it because by E Filing the document using your username and password you are deemed to have electronically signed the document If the form requires the signatures of others the form should be printed signed by all parties and then scanned 4 Manual filings If the document or thing you wish to file cannot be converted to PDF you should manually file it using the method
12. answers will be used to generate the official docket text More information about the specific questions and the appropriate answers for commonly filed documents is included in section III of these instructions below J Read the docket text carefully After you answer all the screens designed to generate the docket text the system might present you with the Docket Text Modify as Appropriate screen If it does this means that there are some free entry fields available for you to add text to the docket You are not required to add anything here but if you do it will appear in italics on the docket when you are finished K The point of no return The system will present you with the Docket Text Final Text screen You are now at the point of no return Read the docket text carefully If there is anything that doesn t make sense anything that is factually incorrect or anything spelled incorrectly it is because you did not answer the docketing questions correctly If you made an error use the Back button to go back and correct it before proceeding or start over by clicking Civil at the top of the screen Please note that the docket entry will end with the name of the attorney whose username and password were used to E File the document That attorney is responsible for the accuracy of the E Filing and the docket text and is deemed to have signed all documents wherever a signature line appears with his printed
13. described in Part VI of this manual below 5 Proof of service If all of the parties in the action are represented by E Filing users who have not opted out of electronic service you do not need to attach a proof of service to your E Filed document and you do not need to serve your E Filed document The E Filing System will e mail a Notice of Electronic Filing to each user and that will serve as the proof of service However if there are any parties who are not registered E File users or who have opted out of electronic service you must attach a proof of service to your documents showing service on those parties using traditional methods i e mail personal service etc before you E File the document Before E Filing a document you can find out if any parties are not registered E Filing users or have opted out of electronic service and thus must be served manually Login to E Filing click on Utilities at the top of the page then click on Mailings and then click on Mailing Info for a Case Enter the case number and the system will give you a list of manual filers in the case The most likely situation where this will occur is in cases involving pro per parties but it could also happen with attorneys who have just appeared in a case and have not registered for E Filing or attorneys who have elected not to receive electronic service The Court s Local Rules do not address timing issues related to E Filings For instance
14. eeeeeeeseseeeeseeereereesrrsresreesees 22 O Ex Parte Motions and Proposed Orders cccessecessececeeceeceeeeeceeeeeenneeeesteeeenaeeees 23 iii IV VI VI VII P Oppositions to Motigi Ss as eessen e e arrita aee Eas E ES T CEE S EEES 23 Q Declarations Supporting or Opposing Motions Separately Captioned 23 R Reply BSS ort Motions yess oes e a 2s cy gaze gots A A N Aae 24 S Stipulations With Orders s g2cccss sean cccsescecaseneadsanssacesouseaacs agsdacasuseadavensecetssessanasipean 24 T Proposed Orders ye cavssccsasceaseszdaiunsesdeaabasaaessusyaesassavadedsdueadeuubancave legencccaveczceusaeendendousas 25 U Notice of Acceptance of Rule 68 Offer and Proposed Judgments c 25 V Notice of Settlement and Proposed Order 3 322s 0ssseas ace theadicen eens 26 W Proposed Final Pretrial Conference Orders eeesceesseceeneeceeneeceeneeceeneeeneeeees 26 X Memorandum of Contentions of Fact and Law eeseseeeseseseeressersresrerserererrreseese 26 Y rial Bite PEE E ATE E ted 27 Z Joint Exhibit Lists Witness Lists 00 0 0 ccceeccccscccccccssssssceccccseesssssscsccessseseneneeesses 27 AA Proposed Special Verdict FOrms ccccecesccesccecsscecesececssececesseceessccecssccecssceeenseees 27 BB Proposed Jury Instr ctions norssi e i i eye Moe 27 CC Motions in Limine Oppositions Reply cccccceeececesnceceeececeeeeeeceeeeecsneeeeseeeeesaeees 27 DD Proposed Judg
15. govern E Filing Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 33 B The help desk You can contact the E Filing Help Desk by calling 213 894 0242 or by e mailing to ecf helpdesk cacd uscourts gov The help desk is open from 8 00 a m to 5 00 p m pacific Monday to Friday Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 34 Addendum E Filing in the Southern District of California The Southern District of California also uses an E Filing System but it has adopted some different procedures than those in effect in the Central District Before filing in the Southern District be sure to read all of the documents on the Court s web site If you are accustomed to filing in the Central District you should note the following differences between the Southern District and the Central District as of 02 04 2008 1 The Southern District only requires paper filings for initial complaints and other documents that require a filing fee By Spring 2008 the Southern District expects to be accepting new cases by E Filing as well The Court requires an original and one copy of the Complaint an original and two copies of the Summons and an original and one copy of the Cover
16. off the word service because the system will add that word automatically after whatever you type or the words not specified Federal or State Statute federal state not specified Who received service amp title Copy this from your proof of service If it is not specified on the proof of service type not specified Due Diligence Declaration attached not attached Original Summons returned not returned Note There is almost never a reason to return the Summons so don t do it unless you feel you must There s a special video training module on the Court s web site about how to return the original Summons so if you decide you need to return a Summons be sure to watch that video Special Notes You may not file a single proof of service for multiple parties unless you served the multiple parties in the exact same manner i e method of service authorizing statute upon the same person on the same date and time If you served different parties and there is anything different about the manner of service you must E File a separate proof of service for each so that the docket text accurately reflects what has been filed Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 18 D Amended Complaint Filing Type Manually filed unless an order is required Special Notes If the
17. this could take a while so be patient If you changed the Attachments to Document selection from No to Yes the E Filing System will take you to the attachments screen where you can browse to each attachment When you click Browse a new window will open and you can select the file you want to attach Before the attachment will be uploaded to the Court s server you must either select a category or provide a description and then click on Add to List for each attachment If you Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 9 click Next without first clicking Add to List your attachment will not be filed When you click Add to List the system will transfer the file from your computer to the Court s server Depending upon the size of your file this could take a while so be patient The system will display a list of all attachments but not the main document in the box at the bottom of the screen Once you re finished click Next The system will automatically merge the main file and any attachments you upload into a single docket entry 2 When to use attachments Attachments can be used for several reasons l Attachments can be used if you have several different PDF files that make up a single document and you cannot or do not want to
18. to redact other information that party must move the Court for further redaction by separate motion served on all parties and the court reporter within the 21 day period The transcript will not be electronically available until the Court has ruled on any such motion even though the 90 day restriction period may have ended If a Request for Redaction is filed the Court reporter will then E File a redacted version of the transcript which will become available to the public through PACER 90 days after the original unredacted transcript was E Filed The original unredacted transcript will continue to be restricted permanently If no Request for Redaction is E Filed the original transcript will become available to the public 90 days after it was E Filed VI MANUAL FILINGS Filing Type Civil Notices Docketing Questions Choose Manual Filing G 92 from the event list Describe document or object to be filed over the counter here enter a brief description of the item you are manually filing Special Notes Manual filings are not permitted except in the circumstances referenced in General Order 08 02 Part V Manual filings are commonly used for applications and orders to file documents under seal exhibits that cannot be converted to PDF i e blueprints DVDs and other tangible things Administrative Records initiating documents pro se litigants and others listed in the General Order Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Centra
19. ANDERSON ON CIVIL E FILING IN THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA THE UNOFFICIAL CIVIL E FILING USER MANUAL For E Filing Users In THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA Il Introduction A B C D E Overview of filing a document using E Filing A Table of Contents Whats new inthis manual oionn iea a aei EA EiT Why use the E Filing System ssssesessseeessseessresseessersseessseesseessresserssseesssees The benefits of using the E Filing System eeeeeecceeeseceeeteeeenteeeenaeeees What you need to use the E Filing System eeeeeessececssececseeeeesseeeesaeees The best time to use the E Filing System ncnssaygasteauds eendscgestetiens eG Converting your document to Adobe PDF Format eeeeesereerrereerereererse 1 Word processing COCwImMenis 0355 es ves5sGessnedecasosscee seccavqeusteas as ccztaess 2 Paper CHOU TIS nn a a E TE a AES 3 PDF fOPMS ssssseiissgesi inpor eset ee eet ee SEA nn eee eerie 4 Mangal Tiling issessadeicsedentangeccasiee sedadasasies ea eedentasastadea atbsdeta steeaencesd cates 5 Proof OL SERVICE sais i ios aaah etnias aa Doge etn She deeds Logging into the Court s E Filing System eee eeseecsseceseeeeeeeeneeeaeenes Choosing the type of document that you intend to file ee eee eeeeeee Entering the case number and verifying that you are filing on the correct CaSe nire Soe Lode caida tana ea aA edna ghd et T oe aie Selecting a more specific type Of docum
20. G 92 Notice of Manual Filing is towards the bottom of that list According to the training videos you must submit the manual filing to the Court within 3 days of E Filing the Notice of Manual Filing It is probably a better practice to file it the same day The manual filing should comply with all Local Rules governing filing of documents i e original and one copy bluebacks proof of service exhibit tabs etc must be served on all opposing parties counsel and should be accompanied by one courtesy copy of the Notice of Manual Filing and the Notice of Electronic Filing that you received after you E File the Notice of Manual Filing Submit the courtesy copy of the Notice of Manual Filing as a separate blue backed document with the Notice of Electronic Filing at the end along with the manually filed documents VII DEFICIENCY NOTICES If you make an error the Clerk s office will file a Notice of Deficiency and all parties will be notified The assigned Judge will decide what action to take and you will receive an order advising you if the Judge strikes the filing or requires you to take corrective action VII WHERE TO GET HELP A Authority The Central District s General Order Number 08 02 is the most comprehensive source of information regarding E Filing At some point in the future the Court may adopt some or all of the General Order into the Local Rules Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rules 5 d 2 3 and 4 and 83 also
21. R and E Filing you should make sure that your login on PACER is different than your E Filing login When you login using your E Filing Password some of the options at the top of the screen will be E Filing functions Civil Criminal and some will be PACER functions Query Reports and some are for both Utilities Logout Also while you are E Filing you will be presented with some links that link to PACER functions If you select one of those links you Il be asked for your PACER login and password and you ll be charged for accessing those items by the PACER system Although PACER and CM ECF use the same login screen they are different systems Anyone can get a PACER account by registering with PACER PACER charges a fee for accessing certain functions In contrast only attorneys who are admitted to practice in the Central District can get a CM ECE account and use of the system is free Furthermore by filing a document using the Court s E Filing System using an attorney s login and password the attorney is deemed to have signed every document filed whenever his name appears next to a signature line For this reason an attorney should never provide his username and password to anyone unless he would have authorized that person to sign his name to documents that are filed with the Court Only one person can be logged in to the Court s E Filing System using a specific username and password at a time If someone else tries to log
22. achment to the application The application and order are available in PDF format and the order is available in WordPerfect format from the Court s web site at www cacd uscourts gov Click on Forms at the top of the screen and then click on General Forms Don t forget to e mail the order in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section H P above After E Filing the application and order submit a courtesy copy to the Court in accordance with the Judge s requirements Submit the required filing fee along with another copy of the application to the Clerk s office in Los Angeles Once the application has been approved the non resident attorney can register for E Filing on the Court s web site at http support cacd uscourts gov If the non resident attorney is already registered for E Filing in another district training is not required However remind the non resident attorney that the Central District has E Filing procedures that are different than those in other districts Il Writ of Execution Filing Type Manually Filed Special Notes The Court has two forms that are used to obtain a writ of execution The Affidavit and Application for Writ of Execution CV 24 and the Writ of Execution CV 23 You can obtain both at the Court s web site http cacd uscourts gov Click on Forms at the top and then Civil The Clerk appears to require manual filing of these documents
23. aint or counterclaim or third party claim If you need to serve the amended complaint you must submit a paper Summons to the Clerk s office and have it issued after the amended complaint is E Filed by the Clerk s office T Proposed Orders Filing Type Civil Notices Notice of Lodging Special Notes A proposed order should never be E Filed as the main document If the Proposed Order is submitted at the request of the Court use the filing type above to file a Notice of Lodging The Proposed Order should be submitted as an attachment to the Notice of Lodging If the proposed order is not requested by the Court it should be submitted as an attachment to the main document to which it is related i e the motion opposition etc If you forget at the time of filing you can attach it to a notice of lodging later Don t forget to e mail the proposed order in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section II P above U Notice of Acceptance of Rule 68 Offer and Proposed Judgments Filing Type 1 Offer Civil Miscellaneous Filings non motion Offer of Judgment 2 Acceptance Civil Miscellaneous Filings non motion Acceptance of Offer of Judgment 3 Proposed Judgment submit as an attachment to the Acceptance Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page
24. although nothing in the current General Order so indicates It appears that these documents can be filed manually without a Notice of Manual Filing All of the other requirements of manual filing apply i e original plus one copy bluebacked proof of service etc Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 30 IV REDACTING PERSONAL INFORMATION Because every document filed using the E Filing System is immediately available to anyone using the PACER system the Court requires that attorneys redact certain types of personal information You must carefully review any documents and redact any of the following types of information Social Security Numbers if necessary you can leave the last four digits Taxpayer ID Numbers if necessary you can leave the last four digits Names of Minor Children if necessary use initials Dates of Birth if necessary leave the year Financial Account Numbers if necessary leave the last four digits and Home Addresses if necessary leave the City and State There are some exemptions to the redaction requirement so be sure to read General Order 08 02 section IV E F and G if redaction is an issue If the personal information is relevant to the case and you want the Court to see it you may follow the procedure described in General Order 08 02 section IV G
25. cifically M Motions other than discovery Filing Type Civil and then either Application Motion Petition or Requests as appropriate Docketing Questions During the docketing process the E Filing System will ask you for the name of the Judge before whom the motion is set Please note that the system will calendar the motion to the assigned District Judge in the case regardless of the name you select The selection you make is used for the docket text only Special Notes A proposed order should never be E Filed as the main document The Proposed Order should be separately captioned and submitted as an attachment to the motion Don t forget to e mail the proposed order in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section II P above Declaration and other documents supporting motions that are captioned separately should be filed using a different filing type See the section II Q below N Discovery Motions including a Joint Stipulation Filing Type 1 The Motion Civil and then either Discovery Ex Parte Applications or Discovery Motions as appropriate 2 The Joint Stipulation Motions and Related Filings Responses Replies Other Motion Related Documents Joint Stipulation re Discovery Motion Rule 37 Docketing Questions During the docketing process the E Filing System will ask you for the name of the Judge before whom the motion is set Please note that the system will calendar the moti
26. e a Notice of Intent to Request Redaction indicating that a Request for Redaction will be filed Within 21 calendar days after the Notice of Filing of Transcript is E Filed the party must file a Request to Redact The Request must identify by page and line number any portions of the transcript that must be redacted because they contain personal information subject to the Court s General Order and indicate how the redaction should be performed 1 e Redact the Social Security number on page 12 line 9 to read xxx xx 6789 Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 31 Only the following personal identifiers listed by the Judicial Conference in its policy on the Electronic Availability of Transcripts may be redacted 1 Minors names use the minors initials 2 Financial account numbers use only the last four numbers of the account number 3 Social Security numbers use only the last four numbers 4 Dates of birth use only the year 5 Home addresses use only the city and state applicable in criminal cases only A party is only responsible for reviewing and indicating the redactions in the testimony of the witnesses it called and its own statements e g opening statements and closing arguments statements of the party and any transcript of the sentencing proceeding If a party wants
27. e mail the proposed order in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section II P above K Attorney Settlement Officer Selection Form Filing Type Civil ADR Mediation Documents Stipulation Re Attorney Settlement Officer Note There are several different Stipulation Re Attorney Settlement Officer choices designated with parenthesis Pick the one that most closely matches the choice made in the stipulation L Discovery Demands and Responses Filing Type NOT E FILED Docketing Questions Special Notes Discovery demands and responses should not be E Filed except in cases permitted under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or the Local Rules It is unclear from the Court s General Order whether these documents can be served electronically via e mail On the one hand the General Order states that by signing up for E Filing you consent to receive service electronically On the other hand a Court might interpret this rule as applying only to Notices of Electronic Filing issued by the E Filing System when a document is filed and not to items that Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 21 are e mailed by the parties without being E Filed For this reason it is probably best to continue serving these items on paper and by mail until the Court addresses this issue spe
28. eceived a Notice of Electronic Filing then you have passed the point of no return Either re file your document correctly file a Notice of Errata Civil Miscellaneous Filings Errata correcting the error or contact the ECF Help Desk Contact information is at the end of this manual Il PROCEDURES FOR SPECIFIC TYPES OF DOCUMENTS A Complaint and Related Documents Civil Case Cover Sheet Notice of Assignment to Magistrate Judge Notice of Interested Parties Filing Type NOT E FILED Docketing Questions None Special Notes Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 16 At this time the complaint and related initiating documents should not be electronically filed In the future the Court may implement a system for E Filing new cases but that system is not yet operational Instead submit the Summons Complaint Civil Case Cover Sheet and Notice of Interested Parties along with the required filing fee currently 350 or waiver documents to the Court on paper The Summons CV 001A Civil Case Cover Sheet CV 071 and Notice of Interested Parties CV 030 are all available in PDF on the Court s web site http cacd uscourts gov by clicking on Forms at the top and then clicking on Civil Forms The Complaint and Notice of Interested Parties should be bluebacked The Summo
29. en the name of the filing attorney on the signature line If you want to include an image of your signature you can find instructions on how to scan your signature and place it ina MS Word document before you convert to PDF here http www pcmag com article2 0 1759 1204832 00 asp In addition Adobe Acrobat and other PDF programs have similar features which allow you to stamp your signature onto a PDF document You can find instructions on how to do that here http blogs adobe com acrolaw 2007 02 creating a_tran html Alternatively you can convert the document from your word processor and then scan the signature page only and append it to the document that was converted from your word processor 2 Paper documents To E File a document that you did not create in your word processor and which you cannot obtain in PDF format you must scan the document We recommend scanning at 200 300 dots per inch black and white This will keep the file size relatively small while still allowing the pages to be read For reference 200 dots per inch is the standard used by fax machines that are set on Fine settings Many laser printers print at 300 to 600 dots per inch The Court uses 200 dots per inch on documents that are scanned to the E Filing System If the documents have large black areas such as copying borders it may reduce the file size dramatically if you redact them before scanning If you prepared the document in your word processor
30. ent eee eee eeseceseeeeeeeeaeeenaeeneeneees Associating an attorney With a Case cee cceescecesececssececeeceeceeeeeceeeeecseeeeeneeeees Selecting the identity of the filing party 0 0 eee ceceeeeeceeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeteeeesaes Uploading the file and any attachments eee ceeeeeeeesceceeeceeeeseeeeneecaeenes 1 How to upload the file and attachments eee eeeeeeseeesteceseeeeeeeeaees 2 When to use attachments sseseseeseeseeeseesessersereseesreseresresseseresrenseseeesees 3 Limits on Tile SIZ Siiinisios sessies reisini e iaaa i 4 Filenames and paths nocni enaa ogee ie eee ade ll satis 1 sanh 3 IIL I Entering docket specific information sessseeseesrsesesseesersresrresersrersresseseresresseseess 12 J Read the docket text Care tl ly 2 10 osc casenccematesatenceatesanecenatanceasesecetatiense tea gqeeuat as 12 K The pO OF MO TORII e a e few A a aa 12 L The Notice of Electronic Filing 2 3 ai sssscisvscad cies secasssvniaacs leg ddevasdseed tas secetssoasanes access 13 M Downloading and saving your one free COPY ceeeseceesteceeneeceeneeceeeeeeeneeeeesaeees 13 N PROS 1TA BIG 2 ds ah ulead es us Seas sates es oe en nats lng ne ae 13 O Submitting courtesy Copies to the Coutts soc cise veveves seticess as Geaes es ueendecedgeayhedenaseteent 13 P E mail Proposed Orders in Word or WordPerfect format to chambers along with PDFs of the relevant documents eccceeseeceeneeceeeeeceeneeceeeeecee
31. ered and you can click on the filing type Select your filing type by clicking on it D Entering the case number and verifying that you are filing on the correct case The E Filing System will ask you for the case number of the case you are filing If you have previously E Filed a document during this session the case number you filed in the last time will appear here Enter the case number in the correct format HH HHH F and then click Find This Case Enter only the numbers separated by a dash Leave off any letters in the case number Then click Find This Case If more than one case title appears click the check box next to the correct case title and click Next The system will then present you a screen showing the case number and short title If you click the case number short title you Il be transferred to the PACER system to look at the docket To continue click Next THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE FILING IN THE CORRECT CASE READ THE CASE NUMBER AND TITLE CAREFULLY E Selecting a more specific type of document After you verify the case number you will be asked to indicate the specific type of document that you will be filing For more information on which type to select please see section III of this manual below F Associating an attorney with a case If you haven t previously filed a document in this particular case you will be asked to associate your E Filing
32. ge of each document other than the initial filing 5 A proof of service is required on all E Filed documents even if everyone on the case is an E Filer If all parties are E Filers your proof of service can simply indicate that everyone listed was served electronically by the Court s CM ECF system 6 Courtesy copies must be sent direct to chambers within 24 hours but only if the document is more than 20 pages or if more than 20 pages total are filed in one day The Southern District does not require and does not want bluebacks 7 The file size limit is 10 megabytes Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 35 8 Motion dates must be obtained from the law clerk for Judge before you file your motion 9 The Southern District has far fewer Filing Types the Court calls them Civil Events for civil cases and it is much easier to find the correct type for whatever filing you need to make 10 For policies of your particular judge visit the Court s web site at www casd uscourts gov Click on the Rules link at the top and select Chambers Rules Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 36
33. hat you need to use the E Filing System You need a personal computer that is 1 capable of creating Adobe PDF files from both your word processor and by scanning paper documents 2 capable of sending and receiving e Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 3 mail and 3 capable of browsing the internet using standard HTML protocols You also need an e mail address that is capable of receiving electronic mail from the internet You also need a PACER account and a CM ECF account Anyone can obtain a PACER account at http pacer psc uscourts gov Attorneys who are admitted to practice in the Central District can obtain a CM ECF account by registering at the Court s E Filing web site at http support cacd uscourts gov We recommend a PC running Windows XP or Windows Vista with Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional Microsoft Word or WordPerfect and an e mail program of your choice We recommend using Internet Explorer for E Filing Both Canon and Fujitsu make small reasonably priced 500 desktop scanners that are capable of creating PDF documents and come with Adobe Acrobat Standard included You should also consider purchasing the Adobe Acrobat 8 PDF Bible by Wiley Publishing E The best time to use the E Filing System The best time to access the system is before 9 00 a m and afte
34. ice and the Judge will probably strike the filing You must make the order a completely separately document with its own caption and submit it as an attachment to the main document Remember to also e mail proposed orders to Chambers as indicated in section II P of this manual below 4 DO NOT use an attachment to file a separately captioned document unless that separately captioned document is a document which would have traditionally been lodged see point 3 above Rather E File that separate document separately Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 10 The words separately captioned mean a document that would traditionally have been stapled and filed by itself with its own face page containing the attorney s information the court name the case caption case number and document title For instance if you have prepared a motion and a separate declaration E File the motion and E File the declaration separately On the other hand if you have prepared a single motion with an attached declaration that is not separately captioned then E File that as one using attachments as indicated above if necessary Again Proposed Orders Judgments Amended Complaints etc must always be separately captioned and submitted as an attachment to the main document to which it relates or as an attachmen
35. in using your username and password while you are logged in they will be presented with a special message so indicating If they choose to proceed you will be logged out This may present problems if you are in the middle of a filing For this reason you should instruct any staff who receive such a message to check with all other authorized users before proceeding You may also receive the same error message if you exited your browser without clicking on the log out option in the upper left hand corner of the screen Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 7 C Choosing the type of document that you intend to file To file a document begin by clicking on the word Civil on the bar at the top of the screen You will be presented with a list of possible filing types the Court refers to them as Civil Events Click the one that accurately reflects the document you are filing For more information on which filing type to select please see section III of this manual below which lists some commonly filed documents and the correct selections to make when filing them You can also initiate a filing by clicking Search on the bar at the top of the screen Type in part or all of the filing type and click search The system will present you with all filing types that match what you ent
36. ing a Rule 12 b motion amended complaints should be filed manually Updated section I to add web addresses for Judge s policies and procedures and courtesy copy requirements 06 11 08 Revisions Updated section III GG concerning the procedures to update name address etc using CM ECF Updated section II C and II D to reflect software updates to the CM ECF system 05 20 08 Revisions Added section V regarding transcripts ordered by counsel and changed the numbering on the old section V and the sections that followed 05 08 08 Revisions Added section II II regarding filing applications for writs of execution Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 1 04 14 08 Revisions Revised help desk hours and section III C concerning the filing type for proofs of service 04 14 08 Revisions Added section II II regarding filing applications for writs of execution 04 02 08 Revisions Revised section III EE to reflect new e mail addresses for e mailing bill of costs and related documents to the Court 03 28 08 Revision Revised section II A 1 to add reference to GoPDF and FoxIt Software as less expensive alternatives to Adobe Acrobat 03 26 08 Revision Revised section II O regarding courtesy copies to recommend setting page scaling to none when printing your PDFs 03 21 08 Revis
37. ion Numerous non substantive changes to improve clarity 03 18 08 Revision Updated section II O regarding courtesy copies to add addressing information for overnight deliveries from the Court s FAQ page 03 06 08 Revision Added section II G regarding selecting the filing party when E Filing a document Updated section II O to indicate that the Court has now designated a location outside of each courtroom where overnight carriers may leave courtesy copies and to indicate the proper method to use this location Revised section HI D regarding amended complaints to indicate that a Notice of Manual Filing is probably not required and to clarify when the amended complaint must be manually filed and when it must be electronically filed 03 05 08 Revision Added section III GG regarding filing substitutions of attorney 03 03 08 Revision Updated section I Z on filing witness lists to indicate that witness home addresses should be redacted pursuant to the Court s General Order 02 23 08 Revision Revised section II H 1 to make the procedure for uploading attachments clearer No substantive changes were made 02 22 08 Revision Revised section II A to reflect new procedures for scanning and returning new actions to the Court The Summons is now scanned with the Complaint instead of separately 02 20 08 Revision Revised section III H to eliminate E Filing a Notice of Manual Filing when filing a counterclaim cross claim third party com
38. l District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 32 For more information on filing a document under seal visit the Court s web site http www cacd uscourts gov click on Filing Procedures at the top and select Preparing Sealed Documents on Civil Cases Note that the application and order to file under seal should themselves be manually filed Manual Filings are also used if you choose to return the original summons to the Court because when returning the original summons you must return the actual original summons to the Clerk s office Note however the returning the original summons to the Court is almost never required If you are required to manually file a document you must E File a Notice of Manual Filing in place of the document to be manually filed If the entire document is being manually filed E File a Notice of Manual Filing If one exhibit in a larger document is being manually filed insert the Notice of Manual Filing where the exhibit would appear but E File the remainder of the document Remember that you must submit a courtesy copy of the Notice of Manual filing to chambers as you would with any other E Filed document The Notice of Manual Filing form Form G 92 is available on the Court s main web site www cacd uscourts gov Click on forms at the top and the select General Forms Form
39. ling in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 27 2 Oppositions Civil Responses Replies and Other Motion Related Documents Memorandum in Opposition to Motion 3 Reply Civil Responses Replies and Other Motion Related Documents Reply Motion related DD Proposed Judgments Filing Type Civil Notices Notice of Lodging Special Notes A proposed judgment should usually be submitted as an attachment to a Notice of Lodging Don t forget to e mail the proposed judgment in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section II P above EE Bill of Costs and Application to Tax Costs Filing Type Civil Applications Clerk to Tax Costs Special Notes In federal court unlike state court the Bill of Costs Local Form CV 59 is not effective until it is signed by a Deputy Clerk Because the Bill of Costs must be signed by a Deputy Clerk it should be treated like a proposed order Thus it should be attached to the application to tax costs as an attachment and e mailed to the Clerk s office Since the form is not available in Word or WordPerfect format you should send the bill of costs in PDF Send it along with a PDF of the Application to Tax Costs to the following e mail address depending upon where your case is assigned Cost_billsLA cacd uscourts gov for Los Angeles Cost_billsSA cacd uscou
40. m and will be displayed on the Notice of Electronic Filing For this reason you should avoid including any information that you may not want the public to know in the path i e client name ThirdDUI or in the file name i e OpptoBozosMotion pdf It is even possible that the Court may impose sanctions if disparaging information is included in the path or file name Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 11 I Entering docket specific information After you select the files to upload the E Filing System will present you with a series of screens that ask for information that the system needs in order to generate the text that will appear on the docket in connection with your filing At this stage you are essentially doing what the Clerk s office used to do when you filed a document manually Depending on the type of filing you may be asked which party is doing the filing the role of the party doing the filing Plaintiff Defendant various related dates and others You may also be asked to click a check box indicating whether the document you are filing relates to another document that was already filed such as which complaint you are answering which motions you are opposing etc It is very important that you answer these questions correctly and using exactly the desired text because your
41. ments hienn e e a a e a a aeea ett ESSE 28 EE Bill of Costs and Application to Tax Costs ssssesesssessssseesseesseessersssersssrersseesseso 28 EFs UNOUCE OR Appeal a eu aca oe a E N a aS 28 GG Substitution of Attorney ssssssesssesesseeessresseesseesseeesseessstesseesseesseeesseeesseesseesseeeseet 29 HH Pro Hac Vice Admissions 22 2942 Aaah da eee 30 Il Writ OF EXGCUUION sessing insni i apna ied a aKT ities 30 Redacting personal 1M lOnmanlOnssccsiahieteca con aaeyeeteadsangetbe mind auadea get etieeso Quay aiacs 31 Transcripts Ordered DY Counsel srece E E E E E oe 31 Man al FINES ii cst esccoctid ons n a e R E E E EES 32 Deficiency NotCE Smissen iyare e hala e A e E aE Sa Eaa aE 33 Ede et gma ep Get HelPzeenneace naaa ea a a reenter ES 33 A AUO eS ea a a a ae a a ale N R 33 1V B Th helpdeskin irci getea ee a Addendum E Filing in the Southern District of California I INTRODUCTION This is an unofficial instruction manual for the Civil Case Filers using the United States District Court Central District of California s Case Management Electronic Case Filing System CM ECF For convenience we will refer to the Court s CM ECE system as the E Filing System throughout this manual This manual is written and is copyrighted by Martin W Anderson an attorney in Santa Ana California who specializes in automobile lemon law consumer warranty law and consumer fraud law You may freely distribute and
42. merge them into one file yourself For instance if you prepared a motion on your word processor which you converted to PDF and you have a scanned declaration which is not captioned separately and several scanned exhibits you can convert the motion to PDF and upload it as the main document and then upload the scanned declaration and each scanned exhibit as an attachment Itis much better however if you combine all of these into a single file using Adobe Acrobat or a similar program 2 Attachments can also be used if a PDF file is too large and the system times out while uploading the file You can break your document into several smaller PDF files and upload them separately The first file is the main document and each document thereafter would be an attachment 3 Attachments must be used for any document that would traditionally have been lodged rather than filed including proposed orders proposed judgments proposed amended complaints and any other document that requires a judicial officer s or a deputy clerk s signature Never E File such a document as a main document Such documents must always be E Filed as an attachment to either a Notice of Lodging which can be the main document or preferably as the last attachment to the main document to which the proposed order relates If you attempt to E File a stipulation or an ex parte application with the order as part of the document the Clerk s office will issue a discrepancy not
43. name regardless of who actually E Filed the document Before you click Next nothing has been filed with the Court or sent to anyone else and you may abandon the filing by logging out or clicking the civil option at the top of the page However once you click Next the document is filed all E Filing users on the action will be e mailed a copy of the Notice of Electronic Filing and the document will be available to anyone using PACER You will be unable to change modify or delete the document Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 12 L The Notice of Electronic Filing The system will present you with a Notice of Electronic Filing NEF screen and will also e mail you a copy of the NEF The Notice of Electronic Filing NEF is your proof that the document has been E Filed You should print the screen to a piece of paper or a PDF or both before proceeding because you will need to attach the NEF as the last page of the courtesy copy that you submit to the Court The NEF includes a document number and a link Be sure to note that document number as you will need it if you need to e mail a proposed order to the Court The NEF also includes an Electronic Document Stamp which is a string of letters and numbers which Court staff can use to verify the authen
44. neeeees 15 Q It youmake a mistake aerei arene eevee ieee edad 16 Procedures for specific types of GocuMents ic csscece ce iclecccieeesace hee einen enieten gence 16 A Complaint and Related Documents Civil Case Cover Sheet Notice of Assignment to Magistrate Judge Notice of Interested Parties eee eee 16 B Responses to Orders to Show CAUSE a2 ncnaisliags eaasasevaeanees vat dads iegeeage coegavaeoreowehe 18 C Proof of Service of Summons and Complaint ec eeeccecesceeeseeeeeeteeeenteeeenaeeees 18 D Amended Complainte spanen n a E ES EE 19 E Request for Entry of Default and Proposed Default 00 0 eee eeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeees 19 F Stipulation Extending Time to Answer no order required 00 0 0 eeeeeeeeeseeeeeeee 19 G Answer and Related Documents Notice of Interested Parties cc cccccceees 20 H Counterclaim Cross Claim Third Party Complaint etc ceeeeseceesceeeeeeeeeeeees 20 I UL GRC Use aa Pace ap a AAE ES E sean a E AEE A EES 21 J Settlement Procedure Selection Form and Ordet e eee eeseeeseeeeeeseeeeseeesneenes 21 K Attorney Settlement Officer Selection Form esceeeeeseesseceneeeeeeeeseeenaeenseesees 21 Discovery Demands and Responses ssscccessceeesececeesceceenceceeneeceeneecesteeeenaeees 21 M Motions other than discovery sesesssesessseesseessesssersssetssstessressersseeesseeesseesseesse 22 N Discovery Motions including a Joint Stipulation
45. nly redact the street address and not the city and state Under current rules you are required to serve your witness list at the pretrial meeting of counsel and then file it a few weeks later with your Memorandum of Contentions of Fact and Law and Joint Exhibit List You may wish to add the following language to the witness list that you serve at the pretrial meeting of counsel The witness list stated above may contain home addresses Pursuant to General Order 08 02 E 6 before filing with the Court the home addresses will be redacted and replaced with the words HOME ADDRESS REDACTED Plaintiff will file the redacted Witness List pursuant to General Order 08 02 G 1 The witness list served on opposing counsel at the pretrial meeting of counsel was not redacted and included the home addresses A copy of the unredacted witness list has been retained by counsel and will be made available to the Court and any other party upon request Serve the unredacted witness list at the pretrial meeting of counsel and then redact home addresses before filing the witness list with the Court AA Proposed Special Verdict Forms Filing Type Civil Pretrial and Trial Documents Jury Verdict Proposed BB Proposed Jury Instructions Filing Type Civil Pretrial and Trial Documents Jury Instructions Proposed CC Motions in Limine Oppositions Reply Filing Type 1 Motions in Limine Civil Motions in Limine Anderson on Civil E Fi
46. ns and Civil Case Cover Sheet should not be bluebacked All documents should be two hole punched and labeled as originals or copies You should submit one original and one copy of each document for the Court to keep plus one additional copy or face page to be conformed and returned to your office The Court also requires an additional copy for a total of one original and two copies of the Civil Case Cover Sheet After you receive the documents back from the Court you must scan the documents in PDF format and e mail them to the Clerk s office within 24 hours The following documents should be scanned into a single PDF File in this order 1 the Complaint Removal 2 the Notice of Assignment to Magistrate Judge 3 the Summons and 4 the Cover Sheet Any other documents that were filed should be scanned by themselves into a separate PDF file i e the Certification and Notice of Interested Parties etc and e mailed together with the PDF you created above However it is not necessary to scan and return the civility guidelines At this time the Court is providing a one page flyer on the procedure for scanning and e mailing documents Be sure to check that flyer to make sure that you are following the correct procedures because the Court has made changes in the past and may do so after this manual is published The subject line of the e mail should be the case number E mail the documents to the e mail address indicated below based
47. on to the assigned discovery judge in the case regardless of the name you select The selection you make is for the docket text only Special Notes A proposed order should never be E Filed as the main document The Proposed Order should be separately captioned and submitted as an attachment to the motion Don t forget to e Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 22 mail the proposed order in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section II P above Declarations and other documents supporting motions that are captioned separately should be filed using a different filing type See the entry concerning Declarations below for more details O Ex Parte Motions and Proposed Orders Filing Type Civil and then Ex Parte Application or Ex Parte Motion as appropriate Docketing Questions Special Notes A proposed order should never be E Filed as the main document The proposed order should be separately captioned and submitted as an attachment to the motion Don t forget to e mail the proposed order in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section II P above Declarations and other documents supporting motions that are captioned separately should be filed using a different filing type See the entry concerning Declarations below for more details
48. orney Information The advantage to Local Form G 6 is that no order is required to effect the change Be sure to read the instructions They explain when G 6 is appropriate and when you must use the substitution of attorney form instead When filing Form G 6 use the Civil Notices Change of Attorney Information G 06 filing type You should also update your information in the CM ECF system using the Utilities option If you wish to change the address telephone number e mail address or the firm name associated with your E Filing login use the Utilities option at the top of the CM ECF main screen You must also file Form G 6 on all pending cases The Court has more information on updating your information on CM ECF at the following web address http support cacd uscourts gov Updating Attorneys_Profiles pdf Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 29 HH Pro Hac Vice Admissions Filing Type Civil Applications Appear Pro Hac Vice Special Notes Be sure to read Local Rule 83 before submitting your pro hac vice application Local counsel must E File the application on the Court s G 64 Form Application of Non Resident Attorney to Appear in Specific Case and the Court s G 64 Order Order on Application of Non Resident Attorney to Appear in Specific case must be submitted as an att
49. otified by e mail after a document is E Filed You can obtain one free copy of each electronically filed document by clicking the link on the e mail notification When you register for E Filing you have the option to be notified immediately or to receive a summary of all E Filings each day If you choose the summary a summary will be e mailed to you sometime after midnight each day Choosing the summary option is not wise If you choose only to receive a summary you won t receive electronically filed ex parte applications or responses to those applications until you arrive at your office the day after they are filed In addition you won t be able to download and print out your free copy until the midnight after you E Filed the document The E Filing System automatically serves all E Filed documents by e mailing a Notice of Electronic Filing on all registered E File users except those who have opted out of receiving electronic service Each user is responsible for clicking on the link on the Notice of Electronic Filing in order to obtain a PDF copy of the document You are only required to serve paper copies on parties who are not automatically served by the E Filing System A proof of service is not required on an E Filed document in the Central District unless you served a paper copy on a person who does not receive electronic service i e an attorney who has opted out of electronic service a pro per or a manually filed document D W
50. plaint 02 08 08 Revision Revised manual to refer to General Order 08 02 instead of 07 08 because 08 02 was issued on February 7 2008 and it supercedes General Order 07 08 Updated section Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 2 II A 2 concerning signatures of non E Filers Updated section II A 1 to include the option of typing s and then the name of the signing attorney who is an E Filer Revised section II A 1 to indicate that the Court s General Order requires conversion rather than scanning in addition to text searching 02 07 08 Revision Added section I A concerning what s new Added filing type for Notice of Interested Parties in Section HI G Added Section I E concerning the best time to use the system B Why use the E Filing System E Filing is mandatory in all cases filed in the Central District of California as of January 1 2008 E Filing is governed by the General Order 08 02 which you can read on the Court s web site http support cacd uscourts gov Any attorney representing a party in an action must register as an E File user and must submit most documents electronically C The benefits of using the E Filing System When using the E Filing System you can file documents 24 hours a day seven days a week unless the system is down You will be n
51. py of the proposed order or other document to the Court or the Clerk s office in WordPerfect or Microsoft Word doc not docx format along with the one free PDF of the main document that you downloaded from the PACER system It is also a good idea to include the one free PDF of any other documents filed in connection with the matter if there are any It is unclear whether parties should e mail proposed documents that don t need a signature but do need to be docketed by the Clerk i e Proposed First Amended Complaint submitted with a motion for leave or a proposed judgment submitted with a Notice of Acceptance of Rule 68 Offer There are two ways to e mail a document to the Court First you can click on Civil and select the Proposed Orders link on the right hand side of the screen The system will prompt you for the information needed to send the e mail Alternatively you can obtain the e mail address for each Judge on the E Filing System and for the Clerk s office by clicking on Utilities at the top screen and then selecting Chambers Email Addresses You can send directly to these addresses from any e mail program The e mail address for most Judges follows this format Judge s initials from the case number and then _Chambers cacd uscourts gov Thus Chief Judge Alicemarie H Stotler s address is AHS_Chambers cacd uscourts gov while Judge Charles F Eick s address is E_Chambers cacd
52. r 5 00 p m on weekdays and anytime during the weekend Filings are heaviest during business hours There have been times during business hours when the system has been running very slowly The Court s position is that if the system is up you must use it even if the system is running very slowly You can find the system status at http support cacd uscourts gov If you are unable to file a document using the E Filing System consult General Order 08 02 section IV M Note some Judges restrict when you can E File documents in cases assigned to them to certain times during the day Be sure to read your Judge s web page any case related orders from your Judge and your Judge s policy on courtesy copies before you E File a document Il OVERVIEW OF FILING A DOCUMENT USING E FILING A Converting your document to Adobe PDF Format 1 Word processing documents To E File a document that you created in your word processor you should convert your file directly to PDF from your word processor The latest version of WordPerfect has this option built in and there are several aftermarket programs that will allow you to convert files directly from Microsoft Word including Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional CutePDF Writer www cutepdf com and DoPDF www dopdf com are both free programs that allows you to create PDF files by printing from any program PDF Tools www pdfill com pdf_tools_free html is a free program that allows you to
53. robably be removed soon This point was emphasized repeatedly during the training videos prepared by the Court If you are filing a document on behalf of a party that is not listed or your filing adds a new party you should submit your filing on paper and not electronically following the procedures specified in section III A of this manual below Second if you are filing a stipulation or any kind of joint document you should only select the parties you represent and not all of the parties whose counsel signed the document H Uploading the file and any attachments 1 How to upload the file and attachments The E Filing System will present you with an opportunity to upload a main file and to upload additional files The system refers to additional files beyond the first uploaded file as attachments Click Browse to select your main document A new window will open and you can find and select the document you want to E File Before selecting a particular file you might want to right click and select Open to double check that you have selected the correct document If you wish to attach additional files change the Attachments to Document selection from No to Yes before proceeding After you select your main document and indicate whether you want to add attachments click Next When you do so the system will transfer your main document to the Court s server Depending upon the size of the file
54. rts gov For Santa Ana Cost_billsR V cacd uscourts gov For Riverside Please note that the Court has changed these e mail addresses in the past To ensure that you are using the correct e mail address login to E Filing click utilities on the top of the screen and then click Chambers E mail Addresses When asked whether you want to link your filing to another document you may wish to link your filing to the judgment to which the application to tax costs relates For information on when to notice the application to tax costs go to the Court s web site click on General Information at the top and then click on Bill of Costs Handbook FF Notice of Appeal Filing Type Civil Appeal Documents Appeal to 9 Circuit Court of Appeals Special Notes Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 28 After E Filing your Notice of Appeal submit courtesy copies to the Court as required by your Judge Submit the filing fee along with an extra copy of the Notice of Appeal to the Clerk s office so that they can process the filing fee GG Substitution of Attorney Filing Type Civil Applications Substitute Attorney Special Notes Substitution of Attorney is accomplished using the Court s Local Form G 01 Request for Approval of Substitution of Attorney and Local Form G 01
55. s signed by the Clerk and not the Court send these documents via e mail to chambers and not to the Clerk s office Chambers will forward the documents to the appropriate clerk for handling F Stipulation Extending Time to Answer no order required Filing Type Civil Stipulations Extending Time to Answer First Request 30 days Docketing Questions Role of Filer plaintiff plaintiffs defendant defendants Special Notes If you are granting a second extension or the extension is for more than 30 days an order is required Do not use this procedure Instead read the section on Stipulations and Orders below Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 19 G Answer and Related Documents Notice of Interested Parties Filing Type 1 The Answer Civil Answers to Complaints 2 Notice of Interested Parties Notices Certificate of Interested Parties Docketing Questions Even though you associate your Answer with the complaint early in the docketing process you must check the box next to the words Should the document you are filing link to another document in this case and relate your answer to the complaint a second time This may seem redundant and it is but you must do it regardless Special Notes When selecting the type of Answer be aware of the following An
56. s attachments Follow the instructions below with respect to stipulations and orders Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 20 I Rule 26 Report Filing Type Civil Pretrial and Trial Documents Joint Rule 26 f Discovery Plan Docketing Questions Enter Estimated Length of Trial number of days weeks or months read your Rule 26 Report and enter the number of days weeks or months for the trial estimate in the report your entry should be a number and then days weeks months or the words not specified Filing Party Select only those parties who you represent J Settlement Procedure Selection Form and Order Filing Type Civil ADR Mediation Documents Notice Request of Settlement Procedure Spx Note Replace x with the settlement procedure selected on the form i e procedure 1 2 or 3 Special Notes The Court has revised its settlement procedure selection form and the order to be separate documents and has made the order into a WordPerfect document You must use the new forms You cannot E File any document that has an order combined with something else The proposed order should never be E Filed as the main document The Proposed Order should be separately captioned and submitted as an attachment to the Settlement Procedure Selection Form in PDF Format Don t forget to
57. split merge and make other changes to PDF documents FoxIt Software www foxitsoftware makes several PDF programs designed to do what Acrobat does at a fraction of the cost You should read the instructions associated with those programs for more details Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 4 Converting a file directly from your word processor has several benefits over printing and then scanning the document First the Court s General Order prohibits scanning except in limited circumstances so converting directly from your word processor is required in most instances Second it will ensure that the file is text searchable which is also required by the Court s General Order Third it keeps the file size small and makes it faster to upload to the Court s web site Finally a document that is converted will look better and be easier to read than a scanned document If the document is designated for the signature of the attorney whose user name and password will be used to E File the document no signatures are required on the E Filed document By E Filing the document the attorney is deemed to have signed the document on any signature blank that contains his name including declarations Customarily other districts have instructed filers to sign the document by typing s and th
58. stores Use the 9 x 12 5 covers and not the longer legal sized covers Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 14 If your Judge requires delivery of courtesy copies to the Clerk s office address the envelope as follows Judge s Name U S District Court Office of the Clerk Courthouse Address and Clerk s Office Room Number City State Zip You can obtain the Judge s or Clerk s office room number by going to the Court s main web site www cacd uscourts gov Click on General Information at the top and then select Directories Most Judges will probably rely on the courtesy copy and not the E Filed document so timely submission of the courtesy copy is essential This is especially true if you are filing a reply brief the law clerks often begin working motions up during the week the reply brief is due an ex parte related document or any other document that requires immediate judicial action If you do not submit a courtesy copy as required it is possible that the Judge may never read your document P E mail Proposed Orders in Word or WordPerfect format to chambers along with PDFs of the relevant documents If you included a proposed order proposed judgment or any other document requiring a signature of the Court or the Clerk s office you must e mail a co
59. swer to Complaint recovery is for use in student loan cases Answer to Complaint referred is for use in cases where the entire action was referred to the Magistrate Judge there will be an upper case X after the Magistrate Judge s initials which appear in parenthesis at the end of the case number Answer to Complaint discovery is for use in cases where only discovery was referred to the Magistrate Judge there will be a lower case x after the Magistrate Judge s initials which appear in parenthesis at the end of the case number Be sure to also file a Notice of Interested Parties on the form provided on the Court s web site H Counterclaim Cross Claim Third Party Complaint etc Filing Type Not E Filed Special Notes If you are filing a counterclaim cross claim or you are filing a third party complaint submit the documents to the Court on paper following all of the requirements of the Local Rules for paper filings A Notice of Manual Filing is not required After you receive the paper documents back from the Clerk s office you must scan and e mail them to the Clerk s office in the same manner as you would for a new Complaint Do not E File these documents However if you are submitting a proposed counterclaim cross claim third party complaint pursuant to a stipulation or a motion you may E File the stipulation or motion with the proposed counterclaim cross claim third party complaint and proposed order a
60. t of as appropriate at the prompt in opposition to in support of You ll be asked to relate your declaration to a pending motion Your declaration should be linked to the moving document even if your declaration is filed in opposition to that motion Click the check box next to the motion to which the document relates and click Next Special Notes If the Declaration is not separately captioned it should be submitted as an attachment to the main document or just attached as part of the main PDF file However if the Declaration is separately captioned use this Filing Type to E File it If the Declaration and the attached exhibits exceed 5 5 megabytes see section II H 3 of this manual for instructions on how to split the Declaration and exhibits into several files If you re filing something that s motion related other than a Declaration and you can t find a better choice on the pull down menu you can use the Motion Related Document as an all purpose option During the docketing process you ll be asked to select the motion to which your opposition relates There have been rare instances where motions were not coded properly when they were filed If this happens the motion you are opposing will not be listed and you will unable to link your opposition papers to the motion you are opposing If that happens use the following Filing Type instead Civil Miscellaneous Filings Non Motion Declaration Non Motion
61. t to a Notice of Lodging 3 Limits on file sizes After you have uploaded your main file and attachments the system will combine the documents in the order you submitted them into a single docket entry The total size of the main document and all attachments cannot exceed 5 5 megabytes for each E Filed document We expect to see this limit increase in the future so be sure to check the Court s web site if you have a document that may exceed that limit Converting your documents to PDF without scanning will dramatically reduce the size of your documents If you need to file a document that exceeds the limit you should consider breaking the filing down into several documents For instance instead of one large document with a declaration and exhibits 1 to 30 you could instead E File three separate documents that are captioned and titled as follows 1 Declaration of John Smith Supporting Motion for whatever Exhibits 1 to 10 Exhibits 20 through 30 filed separately 2 Declaration of John Smith Supporting Motion for whatever Exhibits 11 through 20 3 Declaration of John Smith Supporting Motion for whatever Exhibits 21 through 30 Alternatively if the PDF file is too large you can file the document manually after you E File a Notice of Manual Filing See section VI of this guide for more information 4 Filenames and paths The full path and file name of the main file and any attachments will be recorded in the E Filing Syste
62. ticity of the NEF The NEF also contains the path and file name of the document you uploaded and any attachments Be sure to read the next step before you click anything on this screen M Downloading and saving your one free copy Each E Filing user gets one free copy of the filed PDF document You can access that one free copy by clicking on the blue document number to the right of the words Document Number of the e mailed NEF Note that if you click on the link in the NEF on the E Filing web site you will be charged for accessing the document on the PACER system Be sure to save the PDF on your hard drive You will need it in order to prepare the mandatory courtesy copy and to e mail to chambers if you are submitting a proposed order For each E Filing User who gets a NEF the first person to click on that link gets to view the file at no charge Each additional click results in charges from the PACER system N Logging out Click the Logout option in the upper right hand corner If you forget you ll get a warning message the next time you login and you may spend unnecessary time wandering the office asking if anyone else is using your login and password O Submitting courtesy copies to the Court Using the one free PDF copy that you downloaded print out a courtesy copy to submit to the Court On the final screen before you print a PDF Acrobat presents you with a page scaling option left side third box down under
63. ument In this case the Proposed Final Pretrial Conference Order should be submitted as an attachment to a Notice of Lodging of Final Pretrial Conference Order Don t forget to e mail the proposed order in WordPerfect or MS Word format to Chambers as described in section II P above X Memorandum of Contentions of Fact and Law Filing Type Civil Pretrial and Trial Documents Memorandum of Contentions of Fact and Law Special Notes Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 26 Y Trial Brief Filing Type Civil Pretrial and Trial Documents Trial Brief Z Joint Exhibit Lists Witness Lists Filing Type Civil Pretrial and Trial Documents Witness List or Exhibit List Special Notes If the witness list contains a home address the home address must be redacted pursuant to the Court s General Order governing E Filing The General Order offers three options when redaction is required First you can simply file a redacted version of the document and retain the unredacted version for inspection by the Court and opposing counsel Second you can file the entire document under seal without redaction Third you can redact the addresses and place unique identifiers in place of the redacted information and then file a decoder for the unique identifiers under seal In any case you need o
64. upon the first two digits of the case number Case No E mail address CV CivilIntakeCourtDocs LA cacd uscourts gov SA CV CivilIntakeCourtDocs SA cacd uscourts gov ED CV CivillntakeCourtDocs RS cacd uscourts gov You must serve the summons complaint and whatever other documents were given to you by the Clerk s office in the manner prescribed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 17 B Responses to Orders to Show Cause Filing Type Civil Miscellaneous Filings non motion Response Non Motion C Proof of Service of Summons and Complaint Filing Type Civil Service Waivers of Summons and Complaints Docketing Questions If you are filing a proof of service of a summons and complaint you ll most likely select Service of Summons and Complaint Returned Executed 20 days However read the choices carefully and pick the one that s most appropriate to your case Role of Filing Party plaintiff plaintiffs defendant defendants Date Served use either xx xx xx or not specified The system will automatically calculate the date the answer is due but you may need to modify the date due if the response date is extended Method of Service Enter the method as reflected in Item 4 or Item 5 of the Proof of Service but leave
65. uscourts gov Anderson on Civil E Filing in the Central District of California Rev 07 02 08 Copyright 2008 by Martin W Anderson efile andersonlaw net Tel 714 516 2700 www efilecdc com Page 15 Please note that the Court may change the e mail address format in the future To ensure that you are using the correct e mail address login to E Filing click utilities on the top of the screen and then click Chambers E mail Addresses When e mailing these documents to the Court the subject line of the e mail must use the following format Court s Divisional Office LA SA ED Year 08 Case Type CV Case Number 00001 docket number of main document from the Notice of Electronic Filing 01 Judge s Initials AHS and filing party name Johnson Here s an example SA07CV00001 10 AHS Johnson This would indicate case number SA CV 07 00001 AHS document number 10 on the docket and the filing party is Johnson So basically you take the full case number switch the year with the CV put the docket number of the document between the last number in the case number and the Judge s initials drop the Magistrate Judge s initials add your client s name and add dashes Q If you make a mistake If you make a mistake and you have not yet passed the point of no return simply click on the Civil option at the top of the screen Nothing has been transmitted to the Court and you can start over If you have r
66. use this manual provided that you make no alterations to the manual and you keep all of the pages together You may cite this manual using the following convention Anderson on Civil E Filing Anderson Law Firm 2008 section number This manual has not been written by or approved by the Court This manual is provided AS IS WITH NO WARRANTIES We ve done our best but the information in this manual could be wrong The procedures for E Filing could also change after this manual is published If you rely on this manual alone there is a chance that your document will not be correctly filed or will be stricken Always review the Court s General Order on E Filing the Court s E Filing web site your Judge s web page www cacd uscourts gov and click on Judges Procedures and Schedules at the top and your Judge s statement on courtesy copies support cacd uscourts gov and click on Courtesy Copies on the left hand side before attempting to E File a document The Court will probably be changing the E Filing procedures in the future and we will update this manual periodically You can always find the latest version of this manual at http www efilecdc com To be notified of major updates by e mail visit www efilecdc com and click on the update option A What s new in this manual 07 02 08 Revisions Updated section III D regarding filing amended complaints to clarify that if the Court grants leave to amend after sustain
67. y is not received by the deadline set by the Judge and in the location designated by the Judge The courtesy copy must comply with all of the requirements of the Local Rules including Local Rule 11 3 i e 13 point font bluebacks two hole punched at the top stapled at the top exhibit tabs etc Because the Notice of Electronic Filing is your proof of filing the Clerk s office will not conform a copy for you when you submit the courtesy copy You do not need to send the courtesy copy with an attorney service The Court will accept courtesy copies by Federal Express or any other overnight method of delivery The Court has established a location near each courtroom where overnight documents may be left by overnight carriers If you use an overnight method of delivery be sure to designate that the document may be left without a signature Note that some Judges only allow these boxes to be used for overnight deliveries so check your Judge s specific rules on courtesy copies before you instruct your attorney service or office staff to leave a document in such a box If your Judge requires delivery of courtesy copies to Chambers or the Courtroom address the envelope as follows Judge s Name United States District Court Chambers of Judge Name Courthouse Address and Room Number City State Zip Bluebacks are made by Southworth and marketed as manuscript covers They can be purchased at amazon com and other stationary

Anderson on Civil E-Filing in the Central District of California

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