E-Filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

SYSTEM DOWNTIME: CM/ECF and ACMS may be be unavailable from midnight until 9:00 AM Pacific Time every Saturday for system maintenance.
Electronic filing is mandatory for all attorneys and all court reporters filing in this Court, unless they are granted an exemption from using the electronic filing system. 

The information on this page applies to CM/ECF and ACMS unless noted otherwise.

Review the information at E-Filing in CM/ECF and E-Filing in ACMS for information specific to each filing environment.

On this page:

Registration

To register for electronic filing in the 9th Circuit, start here.

To request an exemption from electronic filing in CM/ECF, send a completed Form 30. Appellate Electronic Filing Exemption (PDF) to the Court. You cannot request an exemption from electronic filing in ACMS.

Registering prior to the time that you want to enter your first filing electronically will assist you with filing delays. We strongly encourage you to register as soon as possible.

Sharing Your PACER Account Credentials

Sharing your PACER account credentials with a third-party service provider will provide access to sealed case information and documents in violation of applicable rules, statutes and/or orders of this court. It is your responsibility to ensure that sealed documents to which you have access are not improperly disclosed. Fee exempt users may not share the documents they obtain from PACER and/or CM/ECF or ACMS under the exemption, unless expressly authorized by the court.

Updating Your Account

To update your e-filing account (for example, to change your address or add additional email addresses), navigate to Account Update, log in, and under the Maintenance tab, follow the instructions on the page.

Admission

If you are an attorney, you do not need to be admitted to the bar of this Court before you register for electronic filing, but you should concurrently apply for admission. Information on attorney admission is available at Attorney Admissions Instructions.

Rules and Orders Governing Electronic Filing

Circuit Rule 25-5 provides details about which documents can and cannot be filed electronically. Effective December 1, 2009, the Administrative Order Regarding Electronic Filing in All Ninth Circuit Cases is no longer in effect and has been incorporated into the Ninth Circuit Rules.

The applicable Administrative Order provides additional information related to ACMS.

Viewing Documents

To view documents in a case, log in to PACER. 

CM/ECF and ACMS Case Numbers

CM/ECF case numbers start with the year, followed by a hyphen, and a 5-digit number. ACMS case numbers for all cases opened in that system since May 1, 2021, start with the year, followed by a hyphen, and a number less than 5 digits.
For example, 21-70002 is a CM/ECF case number; 21-20 is an ACMS case number.

Last Update: 14 March 2022

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