E-Filing PDF Documents with deskPDF

As many lawyers and legal assistants know, filing paper documents at courthouses is quickly becoming a thing of the past because of the inefficiency of manually sending the documents and the costs of printing and binding paper documents. The Portable Data Format (PDF) is the de facto standard for securely and reliably transferring electronic documents around the world and is the ideal replacement for paper document filing. Unlike other methods, the PDF format preserves the exact look and feel of the document and is an ideal and often times required medium for communicating documents to court systems throughout the United States and the world. 

Typically there are three different ways in which a PDF can be created for a court filing: conversion of an existing document into a PDF, scanning a paper document into a PDF, and authoring a PDF from a PDF graphics program such as Adobe Illustrator®. The first method is the most common approach used for e-Filing and will be the approach covered on this page.

Documents created using word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications such as Word® , Excel®, and Powerpoint® found in Microsoft® Office are great for creating formatted applications, but do not have the ability to convert documents into a PDF.  This is where Docudesk’s deskPDF comes into play.  Once deskPDF is installed, all of the applications on the computer which have the ability to print have the ability to have deskPDF convert files to court electronic case filing PDF.

The following example shows how you would use deskPDF to e-file a motion using an application created with Microsoft Office.

Step 1:  To convert a document to a PDF using deskPDF, instead of printing to a standard paper printer you print to “deskPDF”.  Once this is selected, click the "Ok" button to initiate the PDF creation process.

Step 2:  After selecting the deskPDF printer, you will be presented with a window to specify the location and file name of your new PDF then click the "Save" button. 

That is all that is required to create a CM/ECF compliant PDF.  If you do not already have deskPDF installed, please click here to download the free trial or here to buy deskPDF. Once the PDF has been created, you are ready to submit the PDF file to the courts electronic case management system or e-filing web site.  While the approach varies from court to court, the typical process is as follows:

• Log into court’s e-filing system.
• Select the link for submitting new electronic filings.
• Locate the correct case to add the PDF file.
• Log in as the appropriate party (i.e. defendant/plaintiff).
• Select and upload the newly created PDF file on your computer.
• Once uploaded you should receive a verification page that the file has been received with a timestamp verifying the date and time of the upload.
• This verification page should be saved.  This page should be retained for your records.  A good way to save this page is by printing the web page to deskPDF and create an e-filing receipt.  (i.e. HHD_CV_02_3000002_Complaint_Efiling_Receipt.pdf)
• Following the submission the courts may have a review process which the filing clerks review and approve the submissions. 

For more information on e-Filing and and those courts which have adopted CM/ECF visit the U.S. Courts Site.  For an informative Window’s Media Player video of the benefits of e-filing click here. 

Recommended Products:

deskPDF Standard
deskPDF Professional
deskPDF Standard for Terminal Services
deskPDF Professional for Terminal Services

Note: deskPDF Professional provides several features which may be useful for legal document management.  Some of the features include adding seperate documents into a single document (PDF merging), ability to add stamps and watermarks, and the ability to password protect viewing, printing, and copying of the document.