Local rule can't bounce notice of appeal

The 5th District today, in this published opinion, makes clear that a local superior court that requires a notice of appeal to be paper filed does not allow the court to reject a timely notice of appeal submitted for efiling.

The MetNews story is Notice of Appeal Was Wrongly Bounced by Clerk's Office -- Justices say such an action may not be taken based on local rule alone

PACER fees increase

Law360 reports PACER Fees Will Rise To Fund Cyber Defense Upgrades

The federal judiciary announced Friday it will temporarily increase the fees for electronic access to court records to pay for a potential $800 million upgrade that will modernize and strengthen court records systems PACER and CM/ECF, an upgrade it previously said is needed to respond to escalating cyberattacks.

• Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, the cost of accessing court records through PACER will increase from 10 cents to 12 cents per page. The price increase will last for five years. The announcement didn't say whether the current $3.00 cap to access a single document would also change.
• This is the first adjustment in PACER fees in nearly 15 years, it said. In 2012, the per-page fee was raised from 8 cents to 10 cents.
• fees will be waived for users who spend $40 or less per quarter, an increase from the current $30 waiver.

Bloomberg law has Courts Raise PACER Fees to Fund System Upgrades After Hacks

Law.com has Judiciary to Increase Pacer Fee to Fund Fast-Tracked System Upgrade

Pacer fees currently generate about $147 million a year in collections, while costs for the modernization project are estimated at $700 million to $800 million over a six-year period ending in fiscal year 2030, the judiciary said June 26.

6th DCA takes credit cards!

The Sixth District announces: Credit Card Payments Now Accepted

The Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District, is pleased to announce that it now accepts credit cards as a form of payment. The Court accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Debit cards with a MasterCard or Visa logo are also accepted. For additional information regarding the various payment methods accepted by the Court, please visit: https://appellate.courts.ca.gov/district-courts/6dca/rules-forms-filing/fees

E-Records at LASC!

Superior Court of Los Angeles County to Deliver Record on Appeal Transcripts Electronically in Civil, Family Law and Probate Appeals Beginning Sept. 8, 2025

Beginning Sept. 8, 2025, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County will serve the record on appeal, both the clerk’s and reporters’ transcripts, electronically to attorneys in Civil, Family Law, and Probate appeals, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6.  

Attorneys will no longer be required to submit the Request for Electronic Delivery of Record on Appeal and Notice of Electronic Delivery Address form for Civil, Family Law, and Probate appeals to receive an electronic copy of the clerk’s and court reporters’ transcripts.

Additionally, attorneys will no longer be required to coordinate with the primary reporter for receipt of the electronic reporter’s transcript on appeal. The Court’s Civil Appeals division will provide electronic service of the clerk’s transcript and reporter’s transcript to the parties when the complete record on appeal is delivered to the reviewing court, pursuant to California Rules of Court, rules 8.150(h) and 8.840(b).  

Electronic Delivery of the Record on Appeal:  Delivery of the Record on Appeal will be received from “eCart Notification <eCARTDoNotReply@courts.ca.gov>” with the subject line of “Transcript Transfer Request for Case (number) is ready.” The email will contain a link providing access to the record. 

Self-represented parties will have the option to select their preferred format for the reporter’s transcript when they file the Notice Designating Record on Appeal using one of the following forms:  - - - - Appellant's Notice Designating Record on Appeal (Unlimited Civil Case) (APP-003)  Respondent's Notice Designating Record on Appeal—Unlimited Civil Case (APP-010)  Appellant's Notice Designating Record on Appeal (Limited Civil Case) (APP-103)  Respondent's Notice Designating Record on Appeal—Limited Civil Case (APP-110)  In addition, self-represented parties who consent to eService will receive the clerk’s transcript electronically.    

E-service of briefs to LASC!

Superior Court of Los Angeles County Establishes New Electronic Process for Service and Delivery of Appellate Briefs to Judicial Officers

Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County will establish a new uniform process for parties to electronically serve appellate briefs on the trial court clerk for the purpose of delivery to the trial court judicial officer.     Attorneys representing parties shall email a copy of their appellate brief to the Court’s new designated resource account, appellatebriefs@lacourt.org. Self-represented litigants may elect to use this electronic process for service, but they may still choose to deliver the briefs to the courtroom by first-class U.S. mail.  Submission of Appellate Briefs via Email:  • Parties shall submit one copy of their brief electronically to appellatebriefs@lacourt.org.  • Court staff will monitor the resource account for the receipt of briefs and forward the briefs to the applicable judicial officer.  Note: This resource account is for the sole purpose of receiving appellate briefs. Any other documents submitted to the account will not be processed, and any inquiries will not receive a response.  Background on Appellate Briefs:  After the Record on Appeal is delivered to the reviewing court, a briefing schedule is sent to the parties. California Rules of Court rules 8.212(c)(1), 8.360(d)(4), 8.412(e)(1), 8.630(g)(3), 8.882(e)(3), and 8.927(c)(3) require that one copy of each brief be served on the trial court clerk for delivery to the trial court judicial officer.   The new resource account, appellatebriefs@lacourt.org, will streamline the delivery process and ensure compliance with California Rules of Court.    For more information on the Court’s current programs and services, follow the Court on X (@LASuperiorCourt), Instagram (@LASuperiorCourt), Threads (@LASuperiorCourt), or visit the Court’s website, www.LACourt.ca.gov.

The DJ has LA courts to streamline appellate brief delivery -- Beginning Sept. 2, Los Angeles County Superior Court will accept appellate briefs via a designated email account, streamlining delivery, ensuring compliance with court rules, and complementing broader technology upgrades and remote appearance initiatives.

LASC Appellate Division e-service

SUPERIOR COURT OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY TO EXPAND ELECTRONIC SERVICE FOR APPELLATE CASE DOCUMENTS STARTING JUNE 16, 2025

Beginning June 16, 2025, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County will implement electronic service (eService) for transmitting, delivering, and serving required documents in Appellate Division cases. This initiative marks a significant milestone in the Court’s phased rollout of eService, which initially launched with appeals documents and has since expanded to include all required case documents in Probate, Mental Health, Family Law and Civil case types.  

9th Cir.'s Model E-Filing System

Bloomberg Law has Ninth Circuit’s Case Filing System Used as Model for Judiciary

• The federal judiciary’s administrative office is using the Ninth Circuit’s modernized case management system as a “model” and “testing ground” for its own project to update its own electronic filing program, the appeals court’s chief judge said.
• The San Francisco-based court started processing all new cases as of October through its newer Appellate Case Management System, though cases reopened before then continued to be processed in the older system. The development of the new system was a coordinated effort with the Second Circuit, Murguia said.
• Murguia also said that the Ninth Circuit has seen a significant decline in case filings over the last five years. She said the appeals court is “more current in its caseload than it has been in several years.” As of March 2024, the Ninth Circuit had fewer than 7,000 pending cases, which represents a 23% drop from 2019, and the current number of pending cases is the “lowest we’ve had in decades,” she said.

Some not-to-miss 9th Circuit opinions: This one (with concurrence) on stare decisis, and this dissent (a "disgrantle") from the grant of rehearing en banc (Newsweek article here).

The Recorder has LA Superior Court Still Grappling With Effects of Ransomware Attack -- The sprawling trial court system was operating with limitations on Wednesday as questions remain about how the cyberattack happened and whether sensitive information was exposed.

LASC still having IT issues

LASC Announcement: Remote Appearances Unavailable Today in Civil, Family Law and Probate Cases --Due to ongoing connectivity issues resulting from last week’s ransomware attack, remote appearances will not be available today in Civil, Family Law and Probate cases. Parties with cases on calendar today in Civil, Family Law and Probate departments are instructed to appear in person if possible. Matters in which parties do not appear in person will be continued and parties will be notified of a continuance date by the Court. Please follow the Court on ‘X,’ @LASuperiorCourt, or Instagram, @LASuperiorCourt, for the latest updates, or visit this page for latest information on the Court’s recovery from the ransomware attack."

And: ”As a result of the tireless work of court staff and security experts, the Court will reopen all 36 courthouses tomorrow, July 23. Court users should expect delays and potential impacts due to limits in functionality. Additional information regarding court operations and availability of services will be shared later this evening.” For the latest Court updates, visit onthe Los Angeles Superior Court  Media Center.

The Recorder has Los Angeles Courts Reopen After Ransomware Attack Leads to 1-Day Closure -- Court officials say the court will have "limited functionality" as IT professionals work to restore network services disrupted in the hack.

9th Circuit ACMS webinars

As of October 1, 2023, all new appeals and original proceedings in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will be opened and processed in this Court's new electronic filing system, ACMS (Appellate Case Management System). Notices of appeal will continue to be filed in the lower court but appeals will be opened in this Court in ACMS. New counseled original proceedings (petitions for writ of mandamus/prohibition and petitions for permission to appeal) must be submitted electronically through your ACMS Portal. Appeals and original proceedings opened in this Court in CM/ECF prior to October 1, 2023 will continue to be processed in CM/ECF. Please note that Notice of Docket Activity emails for cases in ACMS are sent from ca9.fedcourts.us, while those notices for cases in CM/ECF are sent from ca9.uscourts.gov, and ensure that your spam filters are set to allow emails from both domains.
All attorneys and parties who are registered for electronic filing in the Ninth Circuit will automatically have access to the ACMS Portal using their PACER credentials. You can find more information about ACMS, as well as a link to the Portal https://ca9-portal.powerappsportals.us/ and the Administrative Order Regarding ACMS https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/general/2023/06/16/Admin-order-final-June-2023.pdf on our website at https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/efiling/acms/

The Court will provide two open Zoom training sessions for anyone who would like a demonstration of the new system, and will post a recording of the first session on the website at the above-referenced link. These sessions will occur on the following dates at the link below:

Monday September 18 at 11:00 AM PDT
Tuesday October 17 at 11:00 AM PDT

https://www.zoomgov.com/j/16101846149?pwd=MEZpeXBLWlNRR3BFRlFmbjIxM1Vndz09
Meeting ID: 161 0184 6149
Passcode: 104582

New SCOCA website alert system

Sign Up for California Supreme Court Website Alerts

The California Supreme Court has launched a new subscription center. You can now sign up to receive email alerts when important information goes live on the website. You may subscribe to alerts in the following categories:

· Forthcoming Opinions: Notice of forthcoming written opinions
· Oral Argument Calendar: Cases to be considered at the upcoming oral argument session
· Matters Scheduled for Conference: Matters to be considered at the upcoming petition conference
· Weekly Conference Results: Results of decisions from the weekly petition conference
· Pending Issues Summary: Summaries of all pending civil and criminal issues, updated weekly
· Weekly Case Summaries: Cases accepted and related actions during the current week
· Webcast Library: Upcoming and archived webcasts with associated opinions
· Briefs of Argued Cases: Oral argument briefs for cases before the court
· Minutes: Official minutes

To subscribe to News Releases and other updates from the Supreme Court, visit the California Courts Newsroom.
You can sign up and manage your preferences at the Supreme Court subscription center using the following links: manage your preferences or opt out from all communications.

CA courts websites down...

Hoping this gets resolved soon! [Update: the websites are back up!]

"The website is currently unavailable due to a service outage. We are working to resolve the issue and restore service as soon as possible. Please try again later."

5th DCA Admin Order

The Fifth District has posted Administrative Order 2023-3-10: ORDER ON MULTIPLE VOLUME  ELECTRONIC CLERK’S AND REPORTER’S TRANSCRIPTS

It is hereby ordered that effective April 11, 2023, electronic clerk’s and reporter’s transcripts consisting of multiple volumes must be submitted as a single PDF, while maintaining the individual components outlined in California Rules of Court, rules 8.74 and 8.144, in order to comply with the 300-page per volume requirements. 

5th DCA e-filing rule

The Fifth Appellate District has approved amendments to Local Rule 8, Electronic Filing. Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 10.1030, the rule will be printed in Advance Pamphlet No. 20, Issue Date August 12, 2021, and will become effective as of September 27, 2021.

6th DCA amends e-filing rule

The Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District has approved amendments to Local Rule 2, Electronic Filing.  Pursuant to rule 10.1030, the rule will be printed in Advance Pamphlet No. 19, Issue Date August 3, 2021 and would become effective as of September 20, 2021. Click here to read the amended rule.

The existing rule, Local Rule 2 (from 2018), is here. The 2021 amendments seems to update the rule without making any particularly noteworthy changes.

New 9th Cir. program for immigration PFRs

Court of Appeals Implements New Electronic Case Management System for Immigration Petitions for Review

Beginning May 1, 2021, all new immigration petitions for review must be filed in the new Appellate Case Management System (ACMS). As of midnight (PDT), on April 30, 2021, electronic filers will be automatically directed to ACMS to file their petitions. Any paper petitions received on or after May 1, 2021 will be opened in ACMS. If an attorney submits a paper petition on or after May 1, 2021, the Clerk will contact the attorney to provide a copy of this Order and instructions for submitting the petition in ACMS.

Instructions for submitting a new petition for review in ACMS are below. Chief Judge Sidney R. Thomas has issued an order that governs all ACMS filings pending further order of the Court.

In immigration petitions for review submitted prior to May 1, 2021, filings will continue to be made in the CM/ECF system as will all appeals from district court decisions and all other original proceedings.

Attorneys can use their PACER credentials to use ACMS, assuming they have authorization to file in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. There are no changes to the “one free look” policy or the payments process.

The Court will prepare documentation for ACMS and will make it available under the E-Filing tab on the Court’s website.

Send a note to efilerhelp@ca9.uscourts.gov for filing assistance.

 Submitting an Immigration Petition for Review (instructions, PDF)

Want to listen to 3d Dist. arguments?

Instructions for Telephonic Oral Argument for Public and Press — Listen-Only
Following are instructions to join a conference call with the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, for purposes of telephonic oral argument. The public and members of the press can listen but will not be able to speak during oral argument. REMINDER: The court requests that if you would like to listen to the oral argument, join the conference call no later than 9:25 a.m. for the morning session, and no later than 1:55 p.m. for the afternoon session. When a caller joins, the conference line makes a beeping sound, which can be disruptive to the proceedings. If for any reason you get disconnected, immediately call the phone number and use the participant code listed below and you will be reconnected. If you experience any technical issues during the call (i.e. static on the line, hold music plays during call), press *0 and a CenturyLink technical support specialist will help you. For further assistance, please contact CenturyLink Technical support at 1-800-485- 0844 or 1-719-885-1577. Make sure you have your Toll-Free Number and passcode on hand when you call.
1. Dial 1-877-820-7831. If the line is busy, dial 1-720-279-0026.
2. Enter the participant code: 4809807#.
3. Hang up when the oral argument is completed.

9th Cir. e-filing problems continue

Here's today's official announcement

CM/ECF Issues

Due to the unavailability of CM/ECF on Monday 23 September and Tuesday 24 September, all discretionary deadlines (briefs, motions, Petitions for Rehearing etc) from September 23 and 24 are hereby extended until 11:59PM (PDT) on Wednesday September 25, 2019.

To the extent you were attempting to file a document with a mandatory and jurisdictional deadline, for example a Petition for Review from an agency or a Petition for Permission to Appeal, please keep a record of your attempts to file timely. See Circuit Rule 25-5(d)(2) (Timeliness. An electronic filing successfully completed by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time will be entered on the Court’s docket as of that date. The Court’s Appellate ECF system determines the date and time a filing is completed. If technical failure prevents timely electronic filing of any document, the filing party shall preserve documentation of the failure and seek appropriate relief from the Court.) Please file any such document with a declaration as to your attempt to file it timely.

In other Ninth Circuit news, The Recorder notes Another Trump Ninth Circuit Nominee Takes Step Toward Confirmation -- "Oregon state court Judge Danielle Hunsaker, a former clerk for Ninth Circuit Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain, took largely friendly questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee during a confirmation hearing Wednesday."

9th Circuit e-filing problems

Today's announcement

Today's problems with CM/ECF continue and we still do not have an estimated resolution time. At this time, CM/ECF is inaccessible to outside filers. All discretionary deadlines (briefs, motions, Petitions for Rehearing etc) are hereby extended until 11:59PM (PDT) on Tuesday, September 24, 2019.

To the extent you are attempting to file a document with a mandatory and jurisdictional deadline, for example a Petition for Review from an agency or a Petition for Permission to Appeal, please keep a record of your attempts to file timely. See Circuit Rule 25-5(d)(2) (Timeliness. An electronic filing successfully completed by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time will be entered on the Court’s docket as of that date. The Court’s Appellate ECF system determines the date and time a filing is completed. If technical failure prevents timely electronic filing of any document, the filing party shall preserve documentation of the failure and seek appropriate relief from the Court.) Please file any such document with a declaration as to your attempt to file it timely. We will provide additional updates as the status changes. Thank you for your patience.

NextGen coming to CD Cal

The United States District Court for the Central District of California is upgrading its CM/ECF software to NextGen CM/ECF on February 18, 2020. Please view the Notice From the Clerk for important information.

Today's MetNews has Granting of New Trial on Punitive Damages Precludes Any Enforcement of Judgment about this 2/8 opinion.

Today's DJ has 4/3's Justice Eileen Moore in A Vietnam Veteran: Let's all hope that Lee Robbins continues to do well. He wants to move out of state and has been paying rent on a town home that sits empty waiting for him to get the green light to leave California.

TrueFiling 3.0 Update

Below is a schedule of the transition to the TrueFiling 3.0 platform:
•1st District – Completed
•6th District – Completed
•3rd District – Completed
•5th District – Completed
•4th District, Division 1 – Completed 6/22/2019
•4th District, Division 2 – Completed 6/22/2019
•4th District, Division 3 – Completed 6/22/2019
•2nd District – 7/13/2019
•California State Supreme Court – 7/27/2019