GENERAL

INFO.

 

Sometime in the future, a fillable “Affidavit of Service of Summons” form will be available on our court’s website. 

 

The attorney for the plaintiff(s) will be able to complete the “Affidavit of Service of Summons” form and print it out for signing and filing.

 

Instructions for downloading and completing the “Affidavit of Service of Summons” form will be available on the court’s website as soon as the form is available.

 

After the “Summons” has been served and the “Affidavit of Service of Summons” has been created, a copy of the “Affidavit” must be filed with the court.  The steps to file this “Affidavit” are shown below.

 

NOTE:  The “Affidavit” requires the attorney’s original signature to be witnessed by a notary public.  Since there is no login and password that is the substitute for the notary public’s signature, this document would need to be scanned and converted to .pdf format after all signatures had been affixed.  This signature page would then need to be saved by the attorney for the plaintiff for 2 years after the case is closed pursuant to our new local rules and Administrative Procedures Manual.

 

 

 

HELP SCREENS

 

Help is available for most screens by clicking on the  button.  The help box will display describing the fields and what entry is required for the window you are currently viewing.

 

 

Click on the  button at the upper right hand corner of the screen or the  button to close the help screen.

 

 

 

STEP 1

 

Log in to the CM/ECF System using your ECF Login and Password if you aren’t already logged in.

 

NOTE:  After logging in, if you click on Netscape Navigator’s  (resize) button accidentally instead of clicking the minimize  button, or if you drag the sides to resize the Netscape window, there is a Netscape Navigator bug which will throw you out of your CM/ECF session and you will lose all the information that you have entered up to that point.  So, resize the window before you login!

 

 

 

STEP 2

 

Click on “Adversary” in the blue menu bar at the top of the screen.

                                   

 

 

 

 

ADVERSARY

CATEGORIES

 

The available adversary categories are now displayed.

 

 

 

 

STEP 3

 

Click on the  hyperlink in the categories list.

 

 

 

STEP 4

 

The “Complaint/Summons” case number screen will display next.

 

 

It may contain the case number of the last case you have been using during the current login session.   Leave the number if it is the correct case, or enter the correct case number (yy-nnnn), including the hyphen.

 

For training purposes, it will not be necessary to change the case number. 

 

NOTE:  If you change the case number and make an error entering the new case number, the system will display the following message regarding the case number format. 

 

 

Click the  button or the  button and try entering the case number again.

 

 

 

STEP 5

 

Click the  button.

 

 

 

COMPLAINT

/SUMMONS

SELECTION

BOX

 

The “Complaint/Summons” selection box now displays.

 

 

 

 

STEP 6

 

Type “a” or click on the “Affidavit of Service of Summons” to highlight it as shown below.

 

 

 

 

STEP 7

 

Click the  button.

 

 

 

STEP 8

 

The opportunity to search for and select the .pdf image of the “Affidavit of Service of Summons” is now provided.

 

 

Follow the separate instructions for “Browsing For and Selecting the Correct .pdf Document” to find, open, review and select the “Affidavit of Service of Summons” .pdf image.

 

For the training case, the .pdf documents will be on the local “c:/” drive.

 

NOTE:  At your law firm, the .pdf documents may be stored on a network drive or on the “c:/” drive of a staff member’s computer.

 

 

 

.PDF WARNING MESSAGE

 

If you click on the  button to advance without attaching a .pdf document, a “Warning Message” will be displayed.

 

 

Click the  button to close the message.

 

You will then, once again, have the opportunity to browse to select the .pdf image of the document.

 

 

 

ATTACH- MENTS

 

The legal mind thinks of an attachment as any supporting document(s) stapled or attached to the back of the main pleading.  These types of legal attachments will be referred to in this documentation as “supporting documentation”.

 

In the USBC EDKY, the “attachment” feature is used in only two situations:   (1) when the main pleading, plus any supporting documentation is more than 50 pages in length, and (2) for attaching proposed orders.

 

The “Affidavit of Service of Summons” in this training case is less than 50 pages, so leave the attachment setting at “No”.

 

 

 

 

STEP 9

 

The opportunity to choose the defendant(s) upon whom the “Summons” was served is now presented.  There should never be a need to search for or create a party here because a “Summons” would only be served if a “Complaint” had been filed and defendant(s) added.

 

 

Select the defendant(s) upon whom the “Summons” was served by using your mouse to click on their name to highlight it as shown below.

 

 

NOTE:  You can tell which parties are defendants because they have [pty:dft] after their name.

 

 

 

STEP 10

 

Click the  button.

 

 

 

STEP 11

 

Since the installation of Version 2.2, occasional “non” screens have cropped up such as the example below from a main case event.

 

 

When such a screen appears, simply click the  button. 

 

 

 

FINAL DOCKET TEXT SCREEN

 

The “Docket Text: Final Text” screen now displays.

 

 

NOTE:  The “Attention!!” message shown above is to alert you to the fact that this is the point of no return!  This is the last opportunity to make any changes before the document is officially filed.  

 

 

 

NOTES RE: ERRORS MADE WHILE FILING

 

If the docket text is incorrect, click on the browser’s  button as many times as necessary to find the error and correct it.

 

NOTE:  You will not be able to use the  button to correct your errors if you are using Internet Explorer 5.5 because you will be thrown out of the system the 2nd time you click it.  You will need to click on the “Adversary “ hyperlink in the main menu bar. 

 

 


 

Then, you will have to start the event all over again and you will have lost most of the “Affidavit of Service of Summons” information that you have entered.

 

NOTE:  If using Netscape Version 4.7,  you can usually go backwards and forwards through the various screens using the browser’s “Back” and “Forward” buttons without losing any data as long as you make no changes.  But, if you make a change, the information on the screens from the point of the error forward will have to be re-entered after you have corrected the error because the information from the error forward will have been lost.  Also, if you back up to a screen earlier than the screen where you search for the .pdf document, you will lose the .pdf document and you will have to search for the .pdf document and select it all over again.

 

 

 

STEP 12

 

Click the  button to send the document to the court.

 

 

 

SUMMARY

OF CHARGES SCREEN

 

There are no filing fees for filing an “Affidavit of Service of Summons”.  However, if you owe filing fees for previous documents filed, the “Summary of Current Charges” screen will display next. 

 

Click the  button and follow the separate instructions for “Payment of Fees Via the Internet”, if you wish to go ahead and pay the filing fee immediately.

 

Click the  button, if you wish to pay all the filing fees for a particular day all at once near the end of the day.  Later, when you desire to pay all your accumulated filing fees for the day, follow the separate instructions for “Payment of Fees Via the Internet”.

 

 

 

NOTICE OF

ELEC-

TRONIC FILING

 

After you have continued the filing or completed the payment process, the “Notice of Electronic Filing” will now display.  See the separate instructions regarding “Notices of Electronic Filing”.