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Local Rule 5-3 – Eligibility, Registration, Login Credentials for Electronic Filing; Exemption from Electronic Filing

(a) Registration. To register to use the ECF system, an attorney must complete the process in PACER.

(b) Change in Information; Compromise of Password. An attorney who has registered to use the ECF system must:

(1) within 5 business days of any change, update the attorney's contact information in PACER and file a Notice of Change of Attorney Information form in each of the attorney's pending cases; and

(2) notify the clerk immediately upon learning that the attorney's login credentials for the ECF system have been compromised, and immediately change the attorney's login credentials in PACER.

(c) Exemption from Participation Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(3)(A). An attorney must file a petition for ECF exemption and a CM/ECF technical requirements exemption questionnaire in each case in which the attorney seeks an exemption. (The CM/ECF technical requirements exemption questionnaire is available on the court's website, www.insd.uscourts.gov).

(d) Suspension of Electronic Filing. Only attorneys who are active and in good standing with the court's bar may utilize the ECF system. Upon receipt of a court order subjecting an attorney to suspension or disbarment, or notice that the attorney's license to practice law is inactive, the clerk will suspend the attorney's ECF rights, pending the attorney's reinstatement to active, good standing status.

(e) Electronic Filing by an Unrepresented Person. If authorized to file electronically pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(3)(B), the person's electronic signature in accordance with Local Rule 5-7 constitutes the person's signature on the document for purposes of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including Rule 11, and these local rules, and for any other purpose for which the unrepresented person's signature may be required in connection with the court's activities.

Note: Amended November 8, 2021, and July 1, 2022, to reflect procedural changes associated with the court's adoption of the NextGen CM/ECF system.