Vol. 28, No. 4 #4 (August 2005). Federal Appeals:.

• Author: The Scoop on Electronic Submission and Filing

Wyoming Bar Journal

2005.

Vol. 28, No. 4 #4 (August 2005).

Federal Appeals:

WYOMING LAWYER August 2005/Vol. XXVIII, No. 4 Federal Appeals: The Scoop on Electronic Submission and Filing

By Douglas E. Cressler Senior partner: "There was a time when we had to print everything that was to be filed with the court on paper, along with several copies as required by the rules, then physically mail or deliver the whole stack of stuff to the court and send additional paper copies of everything to all the parties in the case."

New associate: "Wow. And were the deliveries made on dinosaurs?"

A near-future law firm conversation.

Since December 1, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has required that motions, briefs, and petitions filed with that court be submitted electronically, in addition to the usual hardcopy filing. At the same time, the court is developing a new docketing system that will permit true electronic filing, eliminating the need for filing paper documents. This article summarizes the federal appellate court's current electronic submission requirements and previews the changes appellate practitioners can expect when true electronic filing becomes a reality with the circuit court.

The Current Practice

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals is currently operating under an Emergency General Order filed October 20, 2004, made effective December 1 of that year. The Order provides generally that in addition to the paper filings required by the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and local Tenth Circuit Rules, certain documents must also be transmitted to the court in electronic form. The Order is accessible from the court's website at www.ca10.uscourts.gov by clicking on "Electronic Submissions."

The Order has been amended twice since its adoption. It currently requires that all motions, petitions, briefs, bills of cost, and Fed. R. App. P. 28(j) letters be submitted to the court in "digital form." That term is expressly defined in the Order as follows: "[I]n Portable Document Format (also known as PDF or Acrobat format and sometimes referred to as Native PDF) generated from an original word processing file, so that the

text may be searched and copied: PDF images created by scanning documents do not comply."

The required digital format, as opposed to the scanned form of PDF document, allows the court...