Cancellation Policy:

The court reserves the right to cancel any training session with 24-hours advance notice should at least half the number of available seats not be filled.

Who Should Attend?

Any registered attorney filer, as well as, their legal assistant, secretary, or any other support staff who may be responsible for filing on the attorney's behalf. Pro se filers who have been granted leave to participate as an ECF Filer in a pending case before the court are also strongly encouraged to attend a training session. Additional information about registering as an ECF Filer appears below.

What Will I Learn?

Trainees will receive an overview of court policy and the rules governing electronic filing, be provided with resources on where to find useful information to assist them with filing, learn about ECF Filer account maintenance, and participate in several hands-on exercises to gain practical experience using the court's CM/ECF system.

Where Will Training Occur?

Training will be provided in Room #5718 on the fifth floor of the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse. This training facility can accommodate up to twelve students. Please arrive at the courthouse no later than 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the training session.

How Do I Register to Be an ECF Filer?

To qualify as an attorney ECF Filer, counsel must be a member of the DC Circuit bar and register for an ECF Filer account. Pro se litigants who wish to qualify as an ECF Filer must file a motion for leave to file documents electronically in a case pending before the DC Circuit, and be granted leave to participate as an ECF Filer for the purpose of that case only. Once the court has granted a pro se litigant permission to file electronically, they will be allowed to register for an ECF Filer account or be given the appropriate filing privileges if they previously registered.

To begin filing electronically, persons should:

1) Register for a PACER account at https://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/psco/cgi-bin/regform.pl. A PACER registration grants you access to view docket reports and documents from a court’s database, while an ECF registration enables you to file documents electronically. You must have a PACER login and password that you can use to view documents before registering for an Appellate ECF Filer account.

2) Register for an Appellate ECF Filer account through the PACER Service Center at https://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/psco/cgi-bin/cmecf/ea-regform.pl. Unlike District and Bankruptcy Court ECF Filer accounts, for which you register at the local court site, you register for a centralized Appellate ECF Filer account through the Pacer Service Center. Once you complete the initial registration in one circuit, you may request filing privileges in additional circuits. Each circuit must separately approve and activate your ECF Filer privileges, but the same login and password are used for all appellate courts in which you register.

Use of the ECF login and password to file documents electronically is equivalent to signature on a paper filing. Counsel may authorize an agent, such as a paralegal, secretary, or co-counsel, to use counsel’s login and password to file documents electronically on counsel’s behalf.

How Do I Request On-Site Training for My Firm/Agency?

By request, on-site training is available for groups of 10 or more in the DC area. Please contact our Training Coordinator, Tara Glover by email to ECFHelp@cadc.uscourts.gov for technical requirements and scheduling information.