Electronic Filing Survival Guide

<p>The once-bustling public intake counters at
our nation's bankruptcy courts are rapidly becoming relics. The sounds
of the file stampers, copy machines and the rustling of paper are being
replaced by the clicking of keyboards. The
public intake counters are being replaced by the virtual intake counters
on the Internet. For better or worse,
electronic filing has become the norm for the majority of bankruptcy
courts and will soon be the norm for all federal
courts.

</p><p>Nearly 70 percent of the bankruptcy courts are now accepting
electronic filings. Electronic filing was made possible
through the nationwide implementation of the federal courts' new Case
Management/ Electronic Case Files
(CM/ECF) systems. Although some courts may choose not to offer
electronic filing on their CM/ECF systems, it
is clear that most bankruptcy courts favor electronic filing. It is
probable that more than 90 percent of the
bankruptcy courts will offer electronic filing by the end of 2005. A
growing number of courts are requiring attorneys
to default to electronic filing unless granted exemptions by the court.

</p><p>Clerks' offices across the country have retooled their operations to
support the bar in its conversion to
electronic files. All courts offer either classroom-style training,
computer-based training or a combination of both to
prepare attorneys for electronic filing. Many court web sites have
special pages devoted to electronic filing with
local electronic filing administrative procedures and training manuals.
A few courts have gone as far as forming user
groups and posting frequently asked questions on their web sites.
Survival in this new electronic world is not much
different than survival in the paper world. The first rule is to get to
know your local clerk's office. Clerks of court
and their deputies will, as they always have, be your best source of
information on how to get something filed.

</p><p>In my research for this article, I found three court web site sites
that are particularly helpful to the electronic
filing attorney. The first stop on the electronic filing superhighway
should always be the PACER Service Center
(www.pacer.psc.uscourts .gov). The PACER Service Center web site offers
computer-based training, an excellent
frequently asked questions page, and several manuals including "Creating
PDF Documents" and "Managing
E-mail." In addition, you can read the latest news about electronic
filing and get a complete listing of court web
sites.

</p><p>Learning to manage e-mail is the single most important skill
attorneys will need to master to survive in
the virtual courthouse. E-mail must be managed in the same way you
manage paper mail. Someone needs to sort
and route mail to the correct recipients in the firm. Rules can be set
up in your e-mail program to do the same
function the mail clerk performs. Each e-mail you receive from the court
will have a subject line describing the
contents. For example, you can tell your e-mail program to send all
§341 meeting notices to your §341 meeting
clerk. Hearing notices can be routed to your paralegal in charge of your
schedule. The "Managing E-mail" manual
mentioned above will walk you through the process of setting up rules
and help you effectively deal with ECF
e-mail.

</p><p>Two excellent examples of what many courts are doing to help
electronic filers can be found at the web
sites for the bankruptcy courts in the District of South Carolina
(www.scb.uscourts.gov) and the District of Alaska
(www.akb.uscourts.gov). Each of these sites have a page titled
"CM/ECF‹Tips and Tricks." These sites will help
you with everything from troubleshooting printer problems with PDF files
to setting up your browser for optimal
performance. In addition to posting information on web sites, most
courts also offer help desks, both telephonically
and via e-mail, to assist attorneys with their filings. Common issues
court web sites and help desks address include
duplicate notices, Internet fee payments, PDF software configurations
and file size, and PACER vs. CM/ECF
access.

</p><p>Many electronic filers complain of receiving multiple e-mail notices
and paper notices issued for the same
event. Although electronic filing attorneys serve parties through the
courts' CM/ECF systems, clerks' offices are
required to either serve paper notices, usually through the Bankruptcy
Noticing Center (BNC), or electronic notices
through the BNC's Electronic Bankruptcy Noticing Service. Bankruptcy
Rule 9036 requires electronic confirmation
(return receipt) of all e-mail notices sent by the clerk. Although
CM/ECF automatically sends notification of
electronic filing to parties, it does not provide the clerk with a
confirmation of service. However, notices served
electronically by the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) do comply with
Bankruptcy Rule 9036. A proposed
amendment to Rule 9036 that would eliminate the electronic confirmation
provision is pending in the Rules
Committee of the Judicial Conference. If adopted, clerks' offices will
be able to use CM/ECF service for electronic
users.

</p><p>Paying filing fees through the Internet (e-commerce) can be
particularly daunting for the novice electronic
filer. A growing number of courts are now accepting filing fees over the
Internet. Most, if not all, electronic filing
courts will soon offer e-commerce to their users. However, paying fees
via the Internet requires users to disable
pop-up window blockers. When paying over the Internet, some users have
received "invalid credit card" error
messages. The fault is in the browser. Court web sites or the browser
web site, <i>e.g.,</i> Microsoft Explorer or
Netscape, will recommend patches to solve the problem.

</p><p>The backbone of the CM/ECF systems that enables electronic filing is
the PDF (portable documents
format) attachment. Users need to think of PDF documents as electronic
paper. Problems with PDF software can
occur when new versions are released by the manufacturer. Users need to
configure their new software version for
backward compatibility with earlier versions. Scanning or imaging
documents into PDF files is necessary when
attachments or exhibits do not exist in electronic form. However, most
courts limit the size of scanned documents
to 4.0 megabytes. You should be able to submit up to 70 pages if you set
your scanner to black and white,
resolution to 200 dpi and paper size to 8 1/2'' x 1l''. Some courts will
allow the omission of pictures to reduce the
size of documents. If your documents still exceed the limit, you will
need to submit attachments in sections. Be
sure to check with your local court for scanning requirements.

</p><p>It is important for CM/ECF filing attorneys to remember that PACER
and CM/ECF are two separate
systems. CM/ECF is supported by each local court unit. PACER is
supported by the national PACER Service
Center. Attorneys attempting to access other documents while filing in
CM/ECF will get a second "PACER" login screen. This is not an error.
While CM/ECF is a free
service, PACER is a fee-driven service. You can, however, make your
PACER login your default to avoid having
to login repeatedly.

</p><p>The courts' CM/ECF systems are user-friendly. You do not need to hire
expensive automation
professionals to maintain your systems. What you do need in your offices
are file management, software application
and Internet skills. Most paralegal professionals with recent
certifications or degrees will have the skills you need to
convert to the electronic world. In addition, companies specializing in
training staff in using CM/ECF-related
applications are available in most districts. And don't forget that your
clerk's office can and will help you as you
convert to electronic filing. The trick to surviving in the electronic
filing world is to take advantage of the services
offered by your local clerk's office and the Administrative Office of
the U.S. Courts.