About E-Filing

Electronic Filing (E-Filing) refers to the electronic filing of notices of appearance, pleadings, and other public documents in Part 3 adjudicative proceedings before an Administrative Law Judge or before the full Commission through the FTC E-Filing System.

For filers, E-Filing is free, convenient, fast, secure, and the most accurate way to submit a Notice of Appearance and pleadings. E-Filing also reduces paper, printing, and delivery costs - making it environmentally friendly.

The E-Filing system is available 24 hours a day, except for Wednesdays from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time when the E-Filing system is unavailable for routine maintenance.

If the E-Filing system is unavailable, the FTC will post this information in the announcements section on the www.ftcefile.gov home page. Otherwise the E-Filing system will be available 24 hours a day.

The FTC E-Filing system supports Microsoft Internet Explorer (ver. 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0) and Mozilla Firefox (ver. 2 and 3).

Submit a Filing

The E-filing system should be used only to transmit information to the Commission that is public in all respects. In camera or otherwise non-public documents must not be filed through the E-Filing system.

Documents must be formatted for electronic filing into Portable Document Format ("PDF") and the file name is required to be no longer than 128 characters. The first page of each attachment to this filing must be clearly labeled "PUBLIC DOCUMENT." All PDFs must be full text searchable prior to uploading into the E-Filing system. Parties are encouraged to use the "Convert to PDF" function for MS Office and WordPerfect files to ensure the PDF is full text searchable. Please DO NOT compress large PDF files to reduce size.

The E-Filing system will accept single documents up to 16MB in size. No more than 80MB may be uploaded in a single submission. If you have a document larger than 16MB or need to submit more than 80MB in a single submission, please contact the Records and Filings office at (202) 326-2932.

Yes. Each individual document must be no larger than 16MB. No more than 80MB may be uploaded in a single submission. If you have files larger than 16MB or need to submit more than 80MB in a single submission, please contact the Records and Filings office at (202) 326-2932.

Electronic versions of documents must be filed by the same deadline as paper documents. Filing a document electronically does not alter or extend any filing deadline. A document that is received electronically after the close of business (5:00 PM Eastern Time) is considered to have been filed on the next business day.

After submission, the system will display a confirmation page. Print the page for your records. If you have signed up for email notifications, you will also receive an e-mail receipt confirming a successful transmission. PLEASE NOTE: Documents are not considered filed until the clerk reviews the electronic document. You will receive another e-mail notification when the clerk accepts or rejects the filing, usually within one business day.

Yes. You need to serve a copy of your submission to the other parties in the case. The E-Filing System does not serve electronic copies to other parties.

If you are filing a pleading before the Administrative Law Judge in your proceeding, paper copies of electronically filed documents should not be submitted unless otherwise specifically requested. If you are filing an interlocutory appeal before the full Commission, you should also submit 12 paper copies of the electronically filed document to the Records and Filing office. PLEASE NOTE: This requirement to submit paper copies is provisional and will be eliminated as we improve our processes.

System Rules

Yes, you are required to retain a paper copy of all electronically filed documents.

No. It is strictly forbidden to use other filer's credentials and is a breach of FTC's security policy.

No. Each attorney must have a separate E-Filing account under his/her own name.

Yes. A paralegal can create an account and submit a filing on behalf of a lawyer/attorney.

Account Issues

If you are getting a message that says "incorrect password and/or username" verify your login and password and that your Caps Lock key is not on (your password is case sensitive). If you have forgotten your login or password, click here to reset your username/password.

The system will lock a user's account after three failed login attempts. If you have locked your account, email the Help Desk at ftcefilesupport@icfi.com or call 703-934-3515 to get it unlocked.

All information (except your username) can be updated. You can change your password or any other user account information at any time by clicking on the "Update User Account Information" on the left navigation panel once you are logged in. After you update your information, make sure to save your changes before exiting.

Status Notifications

Yes. Additional emails can be added by entering them in the Additional Emails box on the E-Filing submission page. Listed recipients will receive email notification from the system every time the submission status is updated.

Prior to contacting the FTC, please verify that your spam filters are not blocking e-mails from admin@ftcefiling.gov. If this is not the problem, please contact the FTC E-Filing Help Desk at (703) 934-3515 or by e-mail at ftcefilesupport@icfi.com.

If your submission is filed incorrectly, the Records and Filings office will indicate the problem, and return all original recipients' submissions in E-Filing. You will then, receive an email notification of the problem and what action is required, to correct the submission.

If you file a document incorrectly, the Records and Filings office will notify all original recipients via email. The notification will specify the type of error and indicate whether any further action is required.

No. In order to check the status of your filing, you must log into the E-Filing system. All properly filed submissions can also be found on the webpage for your specific adjudicative proceeding through the FTC website.

A large file (e.g. 8MB or above) typically, takes a few minutes to process. In most browsers a status bar located towards the bottom of the web page shows progress of the upload. If the process fails, the E-Filing system will generate an error message or a browser time out message will be displayed.

Contact Us

The Help Desk is available 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

Please contact the Records and Filings office at (202) 326-2932. The Records and Filings office is open 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.