The United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire has amended its ECF Administrative Local Rules effective 10/1/05.  New matter is underlined; matter to be stricken is crossed out.  The ***** denotes omitted text before and/or after the pertinent rule section.

1.1  General Rules

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(b)  Effective Date.(b)            Effective Date.  Effective June 1, 2004, as amended October  1, 2005.

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2.1  Scope of Electronic Filing

(a)  Applicability.  Except as provided herein, all documents submitted for filing by an attorney admitted to practice in this district, including counsel admitted pro hac vice  a member of the bar of this district in civil cases commenced on or after June 1, 2004, and in criminal cases commenced on or after January 1, 2005, shall be electronically filed in PDF format using ECF.  A case initiated prior to the above dates may be designated as an ECF case upon order of the court or upon motion assented to by all parties and approved by the court.  An assigned judicial officer has the discretion to exempt a case, in whole or in part, from ECF.

(b)  Attorney Exemption.  An attorney may apply to the court for permission to file documents conventionally in a particular case.  Should the court initially grant an attorney permission to file documents conventionally, the court may withdraw that permission at any time during the pendency of a case and require the attorney to re-file documents electronically using ECF.  If one counsel of record is exempted from electronic filing, all electronically filed documents must be conventionally served on exempted counsel shall conventionally file all documents and the case will be maintained in paper format.

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(d)  Pro Se Litigants.  A non-incarcerated pro se litigant in a pending case may apply to the court for permission to file documents electronically using ECF on a form prescribed by the clerk’s office.   If the court initially grants a pro se litigant permission to file documents electronically, that permission is limited to the case specified and the court may withdraw that permission at any time during the pendency of a case. 

In the absence of a court order authorizing electronic filing, all pro se litigants shall conventionally file and serve all documents in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil/Criminal Procedures and the local rules of this court.  In that event, all electronically filed documents must be conventionally served on the pro se litigant the case will be exempt from ECF, all parties and counsel of record shall conventionally file all documents, and the case will be maintained in paper format.

2.3  Format and Quality Control

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(b)  PDF Documents Exceeding Three Megabytes.  No document exceeding 3 megabytes will be accepted in ECF.  Any document exceeding 3 megabytes must be submitted in separate segments of less than 3 megabytes.  Documents that exceed 10 megabytes shall not be electronically filed, but instead shall be submitted on a 3.5 floppy or compact disk.  If a document exceeds 10 megabytes and is an attachment/non-trial exhibit, it shall be submitted consistent with AP 2.5(d).

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(k)  PDF Document Restrictions.  The ECF system will not accept PDF documents containing tracking tags, embedded systems commands, password protections, access restrictions or other security features, special tags or dynamic features.

2.5  Attachments/Non-Trial Exhibits

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(d)  Attachments/Non-Trial Exhibits Conventionally Filed in ECF Case. 

            (1)  Notice of Conventional Filing. If an attachment or exhibit is submitted conventionally in an ECF case, the Filing User shall electronically file a Notice of Conventional Filing on a form prescribed by the clerk’s office in the place where the attachment or exhibit would have been submitted electronically as an attachment to the main document.

            (2)  Filing Date.  If an attachment or exhibit is conventionally filed, the main document shall be deemed filed upon the issuance of the Notice of Electronic Filing, provided that the conventionally submitted matters are filed and served within 48 hours.  A paper copy of the Notice of Electronic filing shall be attached to the conventionally submitted matter.

            (3)  Maintained in Paper Format in the Clerk’s Office.  If an attachment or exhibit is conventionally filed, it will be maintained and available for inspection in the clerk’s office and will not be added to the court’s electronic docket.

2.7  Signatures on Electronically Filed Documents

(a)  Attorneys.

            (1)  Log-In/Password Constitute Signature.  The Filing User’s log-in and password required to submit documents through ECF shall serve as the Filing User’s signature on all electronically filed documents filed with the court.  They also serve as the signature for purposes of the Federal Rules of Civil/Criminal Procedure, local rules of this court, and any other purpose for which a signature is required in connection with proceedings before this court.

            (2)  Form of Signature.  All electronically filed documents must include a signature block and must set forth the Filing User’s name, bar registration number, address, telephone number, and e-mail address.  The name of the Filing User under whose log-in and password the document is submitted must be preceded by a “/s/ [Insert Signatory’s Name]” and typed in the space where the signature would otherwise appear.

(b)  Multiple Party Documents.  The following applies when a pleading, stipulation, or other document requires multiple signatures.

            (1)  Form of Signatures.  All electronically filed documents that contain more than one signature must list thereon all the names of other signatories by means of a “/s/ [Insert Signatory’s Name]” block for each.

            (2)  Certification and Proof of Consent. By electronically filing a document pursuant to subparagraph (b)(1), the Filing User certifies that each of the other signatories has expressly agreed to the form and substance of the document and that the filing attorney has their actual authority to submit the document electronically.

(c)  Affidavits/Verified Pleadings/Other Non-Attorney Signatures.  Preexisting affidavits and other preexisting non-Filing User signature documents shall be filed in a scanned PDF format.  All other affidavits and non-Filing User signature documents, including the signature of a notary or other jurat, shall be filed in an electronically converted PDF format and shall contain a “/s/ [Insert Signatory’s Name]” block indicating that the paper document bears an original signature.

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2.10  Technical Failure

(a)  Definition.  A technical failure is deemed to have occurred when the court’s ECF site system cannot accept filings continuously or intermittently over the course of any period of time greater than one hour after 12:00 pm (noon) on a given day, excepting such periods resulting from scheduled court maintenance for which public notice was provided.

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3.2  Conventional Filings in Civil/Miscellaneous Cases

Unless otherwise provided herein, the clerk’s office will not scan and insert the following documents into the court’s electronic docket.

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(c)  Mediation Documents.  The following mediation documents shall be conventionally filed:  Notice of Proposed Mediators, Attorney Response to List of Proposed Mediators; Notice of Selection of Mediator; Mediator’s Report; and, if the magistrate judge is serving as the mediator in a case, the Mediation Conference Statement and Mediation Conference Statement Confidential Addendum.  The Mediator’s Notice of Mediation may be filed either electronically or conventionally.

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