Electronic Filing in Criminal Cases Begins March 1, 2004

To All Counsel Who Practice In Criminal Cases Before This Court:

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio will allow attorneys to file electronically in criminal cases beginning March 1, 2004.

All criminal cases have now been entered into the Court's Case Management / Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system. Counsel of record are currently being sent electronic e-mail notice of all filings in the matter as long as they are registered CM/ECF users. Registered counsel of record are also able to access the documents in their cases over the Internet at any time. Beginning March 1, registered attorneys will also be permitted to file documents electronically in criminal cases and the Court has the strong expectation that attorneys will begin doing so, absent a showing of good cause, as so as possible.

If you have not yet registered to become a CM/ECF user, the Court strongly encourages you to do so today. Please join over 7,000 other Northern Ohio attorneys who already use CM/ECF for civil litigation by completing an online registration form.

After we receive your registration, we will provide you with a CM/ECF user identification name and password that will permit access to the system, including a test database in which you can practice retrieving and submitting documents electronically. Once the Court permits electronic filing in criminal cases, the identification name and password will also serve as your signature on documents submitted electronically.

The CM/ECF system is convenient and easy to use. Attorneys have told us they like the immediacy of e-mail notification of filings, and many have reported achieving savings in copying, courier and noticing costs. We strongly encourage criminal case practitioners to become familiar with our electronic case file system and to register to use it as soon as possible, if you have not already done so.

System requirements are minimal and inexpensive. All that is needed is a personal computer, an Internet connection, Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 5.5 or Netscape Navigator 4.7x browser (both available for free), and Adobe Acrobat PDF (portable document format) reader/writer software. In addition, a scanner may be needed for imaging documents which do not exist in electronic format. To retrieve documents from the system, you will also need a PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) account. PACER is a national system that includes case information from nearly all federal courts. Many attorneys already have a PACER account. If you do not, you can obtain a PACER account through the PACER Service Center at http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov or by
calling 1-800-676-6856.

If you are already a registered user of our CM/ECF system for civil cases, you need to do nothing more because criminal case information will be entered into the same system. You may, however, wish to view the criminal case components of the CM / ECF system in an online tutorial. Training in electronic filing is also available through the Clerk's Office at:

Cleveland: 216-357-7010 Akron: 330-375-5764 Toledo: 419-259-6412 Youngstown: 330-746-0019

:

Absent a showing of good cause, the Court expects attorneys to take advantage of the benefits of this service which include: 24 hour access to file and view documents; immediate e-mail notification of all filings; access to up-to-the-second docket sheets as well as to the documents themselves; potential elimination of paper files that can be misplaced or lost; and potential for savings in copying, courier and noticing costs.

Please join our 7,000 registered users, including nearly 4,000 attorneys who have filed documents electronically, by taking advantage of this exciting service.

Return to the main CM/ECF system page. .

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