CM/ECF Training

Opening a Miscellaneous Case in CM/ECF

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Page

Table of Contents

Required Information ................................................................................................................................... 2

Filing fee ........................................................................................................................................................ 2

Opening a Miscellaneous Case ..................................................................................................................... 2

Searching for a Party ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Docketing the Lead Event ............................................................................................................................. 5

Paying the filing fee ....................................................................................................................................... 6

Opening a Miscellaneous Case in CM/ECF

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Page

Required Information

Electronically filed documents must include a signature block and must set forth the name,

address, telephone number and the attorney’s state bar identification number. In addition,

the name of the ECF Filing User under whose log-in and password the document is

submitted must be preceded by an “s/” and typed in the space where the signature would

otherwise appear.

Do NOT attach any of the following to your miscellaneous case:

Civil Cover Sheet

Designation Form

Corporate Disclosure Statement

Filing fee

The $52 filing fee for filing a miscellaneous case must be tendered to the Clerk of Court

after filing the initial pleading in the miscellaneous case via the secured, online payment of

the pay.gov system. A debit or credit card is required.

Opening a Miscellaneous Case

Log into CM/ECF and select Civil from the menu bar, then click Open a Civil Case. See

figures below.

Opening a Miscellaneous Case in CM/ECF

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Page

Case Type must be changed from the default cv to mc, then click Next.

Jurisdiction is 5 (Local Question) for all miscellaneous cases.

Cause of Action should be chosen from the following list. Choose misc (Civil Miscellaneous

Case) if you don’t find an appropriate Cause of Action.

adsup Administrative Subpoena

affseizwar Application and Affidavit for Seizure Warrant

appadm Application for Admission

appcounsel Appointment of Court Appointed Counsel

appentprem Application of the U.S. to enter premises to Effect Levy

appltrrog Application for Letters Rogatory

appointrec Appointment of Receiver

appt Appointment

apptsm Appointment of Special Master

appttrust Appointment of Trustee

certL.R.12 Certifying Students to Practice Under L.R. 12

certLR83.5 Certifying Students to Practice Under L.R. 83.5

certobk Certified Copy of Order from Bankruptcy Court

certousca Certified Copy of Order from U.S.C.A

cmpextr Complaint for Extadition

Opening a Miscellaneous Case in CM/ECF

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Page

confarbawd Motion for Confirmation of Arbitration Award

contempt Contempt Proceedings

cpodd copy of Order from Another District Court

disbar Disbarment Proceedings

eeocom Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Complaint

enfadsup Enforcement of Administrative Subpoena

fordepo Foreign Deposition

minspwarr Motion for Inspection Warrant Under the OSHA of 1970

misc Civil Miscellaneous Case

motamd Motion to Amend

motappt Motion to Appoint

motcomp Motion to Compel

motcompset Motion to Compel Settlement

motdisp Motion for Order to Dispose

motenf Motion for Enforcement

motexpapp Motion for Expedited Appeal

motext Motion to Extend Time

mothrg Motion for Hearing

motlvapp Motion for Leave to Appeal

motorder Motion for Order

motquash Motion to Quash

motrel Motion to Release

motret Motion for Return of Property

motseize Motion to Seize Property

motst Motion to Stay

motstapp Motion for Stay Pending Appeal

motstr Motion to Strike

mottn Motion for Transcripts

ntcfedlien Notice of Federal Lien

object Objection

petenf Petition to Enforce IRS Summons

petnat Petition for Naturalization

petper Petition to Perpetuate Testimony

petpresevi Petition for the Preservation of Evidence

petrev Petition for Review

petserv Petition for Leave to Serve John Doe Summons

petvacawd Petition to Vacate/Modify The Award of Arbitration

regjgm Registration of Foreign Judgment

retcashbl Return of Cash Bail

rshowcaus Rule to Show Cause

tranff Transmission of Proposed Findings of Fact and Concl. of Law

tranrr Transmission of Report & Recommendation

writgar Application for a Writ of Garnishment

Nature of Suit is 111 (Miscellaneous)

Origin is 1 (Original Proceeding)

Citizenship plaintiff and Citizenship defendant should remain blank.

Change Fee Status to wv (waived) if filing on behalf of the U.S. Government.

Opening a Miscellaneous Case in CM/ECF

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Page

Searching for a Party

Filers should refer to the Guide to Adding Parties in CM/ECF for assistance with adding parties:

http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/CMECF/ug_addparty.pdf

Create Case

Review your parties in the Case Participant Tree for final accuracy. Once you click Create

Case you can NOT go back and add, delete and/or modify parties. When all parties appear

correctly in the Case Participant Tree click Create Case to generate a case number and to

open the case. This will complete the searching and adding parties’ portion of opening a

miscellaneous case.

Docketing the Lead Event

After opening a case in ECF click Civil on the top bar. You may use the Search feature or

browse the categories to select the appropriate event for your document.

Opening a Miscellaneous Case in CM/ECF

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Page

Proceed with filing your event the way you are accustomed to in civil cases.

Paying the filing fee

After the event is filed the $52 fee for miscellaneous cases must be paid. Return to Civil on

the top bar and select Other Documents.

Select Filing Fee (Miscellaneous) from the event options and click Next.

Confirm your case number then click Next.

Opening a Miscellaneous Case in CM/ECF

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Page

Select your filer then click Next.

CM/ECF will display the fee information. Click Next.

Opening a Miscellaneous Case in CM/ECF

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Page

Review the warning on the following screen, then click Next.

Note: Accounts with a stored debit or credit card will see the screens below. Accounts that

don’t have a card stored on their PACER account will be prompted to enter a one-time

payment, for this transaction only.

Opening a Miscellaneous Case in CM/ECF

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Page

After your payment is processed you will be re-directed back to CM/ECF. See figure below.

Do not abandon your request or click the back button after receiving this screen. Doing

either will result in being charged twice.

Below is the last screen you will see before submitting the request. Clicking Next submits

the payment.

Opening a Miscellaneous Case in CM/ECF

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania Page

If you encounter any issues during the case opening process call the Clerk’s Office at 215-

597-7704 and choose option 3 from the automated menu.