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10-01-01 Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) at the United States Court

Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF)



Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF)

is part of the system established by the

Administrative Office of the United States Courts through the dual docketing

and accesssystems of PACER & CM/ECF.[1] The NEF provides the

authentication of the service of anelectronically-filed pleading or other filing by

parties, or of service of the electronically-filedorders and judgments of the

courts, upon attorneys in the case who have been permitted by thecourt to

participate in electronic filing in CM/ECF. Therefore, for such parties, theNEF

replaced the traditional certificate of service or proof of service. Likewise, the

graphichand-signatures in traditional certificates of service were replaced in

NEFs by digitalsignatures, which visibly appear as RSA encrypted

alphanumeric strings. Therefore, an NEF bearing a valid RSA-encryption is

today the critical instrument, which provides theauthentication of court papers

as such that should be given "full faith and credit".[2] Albeit,access to this critical

instrument is restricted only to those permitted access to CM/ECF in agiven case, in a given district court.

Contents

1 Sources of information2 Authority in implementation3 Perspectives4 References5 External links

Figure 1Figure 1Figure 1Figure 1:

NEF including a digital signature,encrypted as an RSA alphanumeric string (inred rectangle), U.S. Court, Eastern District ofCalifornia, 2004

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Sources of information

The central source for information regarding NEFs remains in CM/ECFmanuals.[3][4][5][6] For example, the most explicit definition of the power and effect of NEFin the Central District of California, one of the most populous in the U.S., including Los Angeles County, remained in the "Unofficial Manual" of CM/ECF as follows (Rev 07, 2008,page 13):[3]

L. The Notice of Electronic Filing

The system will present you with a Notice ofElectronic Filing (“NEF”) screen and will also e-mail you a copy of the NEF. The Notice ofElectronic Filing (“NEF”) is your proof that thedocument has been E-Filed. You should print thescreen to a piece of paper or a PDF (or both)before proceeding, because you will needto attach the NEF as the last page of thecourtesy copy that you submit to the Court. TheNEF includes a “document number” and a link.Be sure to note that document number, as youwill need it if you need to email a proposed orderto the Court. The NEF also includes an“Electronic Document Stamp” which is a string ofletters and numbers which Court staff can use toverify the authenticity of the NEF. The NEF alsocontains the path and file name of the documentyou uploaded and any attachments.

The other source of information regarding the NEF at the Central District of California was in General Order 08-02, which was posted on the U.S. DistrictCourt's web site, albeit - an unsigned order, with no name of its author, and with no

FiFiFiFigure 2:gure 2:gure 2:gure 2:

NEF with no RSA encrypteddigital signature, U.S. District Court, Alabama,2008

PagePagePagePage 3/8 JanuaryJanuaryJanuaryJanuary 03030303,,,, 2010201020102010

authentication.[7]

Such order stated (page 6):

I. Authorization.

Pursuant to Federal Rules ofCivil Procedure 5(d)(2)(3) and 83, the courthereby authorizes and establishes operatingrules for the electronic filing of pleadings andpapers.

However, operating rules of the court required establishment pursuant to RuleMaking Enabling Act, not a General Order.

Critical definitions were provided in such order (page 7):

II. Definitions.

The following definitions shall apply to these rules regarding electronicfiling:A. “CM/ECF System” refers to the automated Case Management/Electronic Case Filingsystem implemented by the court. The CM/ECF system stores case files in adatabase, and documents are filed electronically, to the extent possible. TheCM/ECF system is available athttps://ecf.cacd.uscourts.gov.B. “CM/ECF Website” refers to the court’s CM/ECF website that provides pertinentinformation regarding the CM/ECF system. The CM/ECF website is available atwww.cacd.uscourts.gov/cmecf.C. “CM/ECF Registration” refers to registering with the United States District Court,Central District of California, to file documents electronically through the CM/ECFsystem. Registration is completed on-line through the CM/ECF website. Uponthe completion of CM/ECF Registration, a CM/ECF login and password is provided.

Figure 3:Figure 3:Figure 3:Figure 3:

Traditional Certificate of Service,by a pro se filer, US District Court, Vermont,2009