CourtAlert - Tip of the Week
Quiz of the Month, U.S. Supreme Court Update, PACER & SDNY System Down

Subject: Quiz of the Month, U.S. Supreme Court Update, PACER & SDNY System Down

U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has posted the following message on their web site. If you have a Washington DC office please pass this along.

Please note that beginning Monday, December 3, the direction of the one-way traffic pattern on Maryland Avenue between Second Street, NE and First Street, NE will change from westbound to eastbound.

PACER

The PACER Service Center web site and the PACER Case Locator will be down intermittently for maintenance on Sunday, December 2, 2012. The maintenance will begin at 8 AM CT and is expected to be completed by 12 PM CT.

SDNY USDC

Notice of ECF Service Interruption on Sunday, December 2, 2012, from 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM. You will be unable to view or file documents during this time.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind our clients what the procedures are when there are technical difficulties preventing you to file time sensitive matters. Please find below the courts instructions along with some examples we found from the Southern Districts docket to use in the event you need to make a quick application.

ECF Service Alerts & Technical Difficulties

Technical difficulties may prevent you from filing electronically. Such difficulties may be related to the Court's ECF computer system or they may be related to your own computer.
A Filing User whose filing is made untimely as the result of a technical failure may seek appropriate relief from the Court?(SDNY ECF Rules & Instructions, section 11).
If a technical failure prevents you from filing electronically, follow the steps below:
A Do not attempt to file paper documents in ECF cases except for emergency filings (eg. Temporary Restraining Order);
B If the Court's ECF system is out of order you should electronically file your document as soon as the system is restored;
C If you missed a filing deadline when the ECF system was out of order, attach a statement to your electronic filing explaining how the interruption in service prevented you from filing in a timely fashion;
D If the problem concerns the Filing User's own equipment or Internet Service Provider (ISP), and the Court's ECF system remains in service, the Filing User may use the document scanners at the ECF Help Desk in the Clerk's Office to file electronically. Bring your paper documents and your SDNY ECF password (SDNY ECF Rules & Instructions, section 23.8).

What can you do when the ECF system is unavailable? You can start a new civil action by filing paper documents at the courthouse during regular office hours, and you can email stipulations and proposed orders to the Clerk for the Court's consideration.
Questions concerning Electronic Case Filing (ECF) may be directed to the ECF HELP DESK at (212) 805-0800, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 AM to 7:00 PM.

Application examples:

07- 3216

07-8783

10-4645

11-6214

CourtAlert ECF Assurance To The Rescue:

Technical difficulties may prevent you from receiving an ECF Notification, and previous court decisions on this issue have all held the attorney responsible as to what is on the PACER docket sheet, not the e mail notification. This is why the new CourtAlert ECF Assurance is becoming a popular service. For $143 a year, for a US District, Circuit and MDL case (Bankruptcy costs are higher) you will receive a notification, and optionally SMS, if there is a new or modified docket that you did not receive an ECF email as to the entry.

We find that in many courts, SDNY for example, modifications to dockets that are done by the court are seldom reported by an email to the parties. Clients also noticed the surprising high frequency of PACER dockets that were not reported via email at all.

The entire service can run at CourtAlert with almost no involvement from the firm Information Technology and there are no set up charges.

For details of the service and the legal research to support the need for the ECF Assurance

Quiz of the Month

This month's winner is: Trevor A. Franklin from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

*As soon as we have received the correct answers we will post them on the Tip of The Week for that day. We will accept individual responses from other members of your staff or firm, but the winning submission can only come from one person and not a combination of answers from the same firm. Responses by email will only be accepted. Please email your answers to Support@CourtAlert.comor reply to this email.

Quiz Topic: The questions will come from selected Tips from this month and CourtAlert's website.

1) What is the local rule for the Southern District of New York that allows you to make service by overnight delivery service? 5.3

2) How many days notice do you have to provide when serving notice of a proposed order, judgment and decree pursuant to New York State Uniform Civil Rule 202.48 by mail?10

3) When an attorney applies for a New York State Unified Court System Attorney Service Pass where does the application get submitted?111 Centre Street

4) If you are unable to file electronically in the Southern District of New York because of technical difficulties what section of the courts ECF Rules & Instructions should you review for guidance?11 or 23

5) As you already know CourtAlert has reached the West Coast and covers the Superior Court of California (San Diego County). How often does CourtAlert check each day for any new Tentative Orders issued by the court? Hint: Check the tool bar on the left side of our home page for assistance with this.Every 15 minutes

We are Committed to Remain the Best!

Thanks,

Izzy Schiller, President
CourtAlert