July E Newsletter

US District Court for
the District of Utah

Volume 10
July 2006

Inside This Issue

	Pay Filing Fees Online
Attaching Exhibits	Citation Hyperlinks	Don't Double Docket
Filing an Expedited Motion	Filing a Motion for Leave to File	Filing Proposed Orders
Filing Stipulations or Joint Documents	How do you create PDFs?	Improvements to CM/ECF
Note From Clerk's Office	Updated Documents
		View Previous Newsletters

Pay Filing Fees Online

Effective Monday, July 10, 2006, attorneys will be able to pay fees online during an event. When E-filing a Notice of Appeal, Motion for Pro Hac Vice and now case opening documents, you will have the option of paying the fee with a major credit card. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club/Carte Blanche and Discover cards are accepted.

Within the event you will see new screens that will take you through the payment process using Pay.gov, the U.S. Treasury's Internet Payment Processing Service. After successfully completing the payment process, you will be returned to CM/ECF to complete the event.

An "Internet Payment History Report" under the Utilities category will be available to users through CM/ECF so Internet credit card payments may be tracked.

A modified Pro Hac Vice admission form is now available on our website so that local counsel may efile the motion with the application of the pro hac vice attorney attached as an exhibit. Local counsel should also attach a proposed order to the motion as an exhibit.

Click here for Complete information and instructions on how to pay online.

Note from the Clerk's Office

Welcome to this edition of our newsletter. This newsletter serves to update all our e-filers on CM/ECF. It also provides tips and reminders to make your electronic filing experience a more pleasant one. Please share this with your support staff who assist you with filing in CM/ECF.

Efiling is now MANDATORY for all members of the Court's Bar! If you are not yet a registered efiler and have not yet signed up for a training session, please do so today! You can register for training on-line at http://ors.utd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/class.pl

If you are not sure how to efile a document call the Help Desk BEFORE you file the document!

How do you create PDFs?

The district court staff scans attorney filings each day to find filings of unusual size. It appears that some offices routinely create PDFs by scanning or copying, even for documents produced on their word processors. Apparently, some staff are unfamiliar with the differences between scanned PDF files and text based PDF files. Or some offices may lack software to create PDF files directly from a word processing document or other document.

Differences between scanned PDF files and text PDF files:

Scanned PDF files are created by scanning paper or running it through a copier that converts paper to PDF files. Text based PDF files are created directly from a word processing document, without scanning. Text based PDF files are superior to PDF files created by scanning or by a copier because: File sizes are smaller, they can be key word searched, they appear more clear on the computer screen, a reader can copy and paste from them, they can contain hyperlinks to electronic research services, and they download and upload more quickly. In short, the court strongly prefers text based PDFs.

PDF Creation Software

While Adobe Acrobat Standard and Professional are often used to create PDF documents, there are many alternative methods of creating text based PDFs. WordPerfect comes with a Publish to PDF feature that creates PDF files from any WordPerfect document. Many other software packages come with PDF creation software that simulate printing, but create a PDF file. There are a few free or nearly free PDF creators, including CutePDF, PDF995, PdfFactory, PDF Creator and PrimoPDF. More information on PDF creation software is available at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1195058,00.asp Cost is not a barrier to creation of text based PDF files. Of course, spending more will often buy a product with more features than simple PDF creation, but basic products will create good quality PDF files.

For more information, see http://www.utd.uscourts.gov/cmecf/pdfissuepaper.pdf and resources at http://www.utd.uscourts.gov/cmecf/documents/ecfpage2.htm#TechnicalInformation

Keep everything moving smoothly by not double docketing. If you think you filed something incorrectly or you think the transaction did not work properly, call the Help Desk FIRST. DO NOT just file the document again. Duplicate entries clog the dockets and reports for the judges.

Getting Citation Hyperlinks into an Existing PDF Document
You receive a memorandum from another party and want to streamline your Westlaw or Lexis research. Unfortunately, the submitting party did not provide it to you in electronic form, or if it is electronic, they did not include hyperlinks. West and Lexis provide free tools to automatically generate hyperlinks in WordPerfect and Microsoft Word documents. If you had received the document in WordPerfect or Microsoft Word format, you could run the citation generators described at http://www.utd.uscourts.gov/judges/nuffer_resources.htm#hyperlinks. But if the document is a PDF document, how can you generate citation hyperlinks so that a mouse click takes you to your research service? Or, even worse, if someone has delivered a paper memorandum, how can you get the convenience of clicking into the cited authorities?

PDF Document: Open the PDF document inside WordPerfect X3, which can draw the text out of PDF documents. Then run CiteLink. Or save the PDF document in RTF or Microsoft Word format using Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional, open the document in Microsoft Word or Word Perfect, and then run CiteLink.

Paper Document: Scan the paper document to word processing format and then run CiteLink. Or scan the paper document to PDF format using and run the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) option as you scan. Then, take the steps described above for a PDF document.

Improvements on the Horizon

Over the next few months the Court staff will be working on transitioning us to CM/ECF Version 3.0. There is much work to do behind the scenes before it is made "Live" by loading it in place of the current version of CM/ECF that we are all using. Efilers will see some enhancements, such as:

Court Information on the CM/ECF welcome screen and the Utilities menu which displays the following information: the court name, the version of CM/ECF the court is currently running, the date the court went live on CM/ECF, the file size limitation for documents, the court's address, phone number, e-mail address, and hours of operation, and the PACER Service Center's address, phone number, and email address.

Restricted access to non-sealed ex parte motions: The enhanced software will accommodate the filing of non-sealed ex parte motions. Now, notice of non-sealed ex parte motions filed by attorneys in CM is given to all parties. Version 3.0 will limit access to non-sealed ex parte motions to court staff, judges, and the attorneys for the filing party.

Attaching Exhibits? Don't forget step 2!
Here at the Court we see many exhibits and attachments that are not labeled. Please make sure that you are labeling your exhibits so they are easier for all to use when viewed on the docket sheet. Please see the article in the March newsletter for more information.

If you are unsure what event to use to file a document, CALL the Help Desk at (801)524-3248.

Helpful Hints from the Help Desk

Question: When I file a Motion for Leave to file a document do I file my document at the same time?
Answer: When you file a Motion for Leave to File you may attach the document in question to the motion as an exhibit. This allows the Court to review the document prior to ruling on the motion. Please do not file the document with the Court until the motion has been granted.

Question: What is the proper method for filing stipulations or joint documents?
Answer: First of all if you are filing a stipulation that requires a ruling from a judge you must file it as a motion. This will ensure that it will appear on the judge's reports for ruling. If it is stipulated you may select "Stipulated" from the drop down box that appears during the docketing process. Example - Your document is entitled "Stipulation Amending Scheduling Order" this document would be efiled as a "Stipulated Motion to Amend/Correct Scheduling Order."

Second, remember to select all of the parties that have agreed to be part of the filing. If you do not represent that party you may see a screen that asks you to associate yourself with that party. DO NOT associate yourself with them. You are only selecting them so that their names appear in the entry as a filing party.

Question: Oops, I forget to attach the PROPOSED ORDER to my motion. I can't find the event to use to efile the proposed order. What do I do now?
Answer: At this point, you cannot e-file the proposed order. But you can still email the PROPOSED ORDER to the judge's chambers email box as is required with all proposed orders. State in the email that the proposed order is in reference to motion/document no. ____ in case (name) (number). Be sure to copy all counsel.

Expeditiously Expedite Your Motions

If you desire expedited treatment of your motion you should include that request in your motion and be sure to docket the motion to expedite. Indicate whether you have consent to an expedited schedule from the other counsel. Submit a proposed order for expedited treatment.

When you are efiling your motion be sure to select both Expedite and the other relief sought. To select multiple types of relief codes when filing a motion hold down the Control key and then click each of the types of relief that apply to your motion.

This will tell CM/ECF you are filing both a Motion to Expedite and, in our example, a Motion to Disqualify the Judge. When CM/ECF prompts you to enter what you are trying to expedite you may simply enter "Treatment of Motion to Disqualify Judge(or other relief you are seeking)." This will ensure that the judges are aware from the NEF and their reports that you want this matter to be expedited. If the request to expedite is only on the image of the document no one may know you want expedited treatment and there may be a delay in the matter.

Updated

Get Your Updated Documents Today!

The Pro Hac Vice Form has been updated. Please click here to download the newest version of this document.

The CM/ECF User Guide has also been updated. Please download the current version today! Click here.