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U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIAPlease take a moment to read this month's important news, reminders, and filing tips for ECF.
NEW RESPONSE TO MOTION EVENT: A new event is now available on the CIVIL docketing menu in ECF. It is Response to Motion and can be found on the Oppositions and Replies menu. This event should be used when filing a response to a motion that is not an opposition (e.g., a separate consent to a motion or a response stating you do not oppose it). If you are filing an opposition, please continue to use the appropriate Memorandum in Opposition to Motion event.
ECF/SYSTEM OUTAGES OR PROBLEMS: As a reminder, documents may be submitted by email in the event of a system outage or problem with ECF (dcd_cmecf@dcd.uscourts.gov). In addition to an email submission, counsel should also contact the Clerk's Office by phone (202-354-3190 for civil, 202-354-3160 for criminal) to alert us of the problem you encountered (unless it is scheduled maintenance planned in advance by the Clerk's Office). If there is any concern in missing a court-imposed deadline, a Motion to Extend Time should be filed either by email or directly in ECF. Please keep in mind that email submissions are a courtesy to those filers experiencing technical difficulties (whether it is a planned outage on our part, or some other problem) and the use of them should not be abused. .
DETAILS IN EMAIL SUBMISSIONS: Documents submitted by email should contain an appropriate subject line (including the case number and caption) and a brief message describing what is being filed and why. Also, please make sure PDF files are named appropriately for faster and easier processing.
CASE NUMBERS AND CAPTIONS IN CONSOLIDATED CASES: There are a couple of different ways to docket in consolidated cases, based on judge preference. Regardless of whether you are ordered to dock! et your pleadings only in the lead case or to spread the docket entry to all member cases, it is important to note how your document should be captioned. All documents in a consolidated case should include the lead case number and lead case caption as part of the main header. Then list any member case numbers below the lead case number. It is important to include the case numbers of all of the consolidated cases on your documents for easy reference.
CASE NUMBERS AND CAPTIONS ON RETURNS OF SERVICE: All returns of service MUST contain a case caption and case number. If you are filing process server affidavits or return receipts (from the U.S. Postal Service, Fed Ex, etc.), they must contain the case caption and case number OR be attached as exhibits to a Notice of Filing or other applicable main document with the full cast caption and case number.
SELECTING PARTIES SERVED FOR RETURNS OF SERVICE: When filing returns of service, be sure to only select the appropriate party or parties served. Please DO NOT select the All Defendants option to the right of the filers menu unless all defendants have in fact been served and are represented in that single docket entry. For all other instances, select the specific party or parties served that match the return of service being filed with that docket entry.
For more ECF filing pointers and to view previous e-newsletter topics, visit our website at: http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/dcd/ECFCR
Topics for January/February submitted by: Nicole Wilkens, Reggie Johnson and Joe Burgess
Written by: Nicole Wilkens