NextGen CM/ECF Information

The California Northern Bankruptcy Court's Case Management/Electronic Case Filing System (CM/ECF) has been upgraded to the Next Generation of Case Management/Electronic Case Filing System (NextGen CM/ECF).

The Case Management/Electronic Case Filing is a comprehensive case management system that allows courts to maintain electronic case files and offers electronic filing over the Internet.

California Northern Bankruptcy Court will be upgrading its Case Management/Electronic Case Filing System (CM/ECF) to the Next Generation of CM/ECF (NextGen). This upgrade will provide users with several benefits including Central Sign-On, which is the ability for e-filing attorneys to sign into any NextGen court, they practice in, using one login and password.

You must link your upgraded PACER account to your NextGen CM/ECF account by NextGen’s February 16, 2021 release date. Users will NOT be able to file in NextGen until their CM/ECF account is linked to their upgraded individual PACER account. These accounts cannot be linked before February 16, 2021.

To prepare for the upgraded system, you must take a few preliminary steps. Your PACER Account will be your login (entry point for both PACER and CM/ECF). Therefore, you must have access to an Individual PACER Account.

Follow steps 1 through 3 below.

1. If you do not already have one, you must obtain your own individual PACER account. You can register for a new PACER account at: https://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/pscof/regWizard.jsf.

If you already have your own PACER account, go to Step 2.

Upgrade Your PACER Account

2. If your PACER account was created prior to August 2014, you may need to upgrade your account before using NextGen CM/ECF. An upgraded PACER account allows you to use the same account to search for case information and to file electronically in any NextGen CM/ECF court.

To upgrade your existing PACER account: Log in with your PACER username and password, and check the Account Type. If your account is already upgraded, it will say Account Type: Upgraded PACER Account. If it indicates Account Type: Legacy PACER Account, select the Upgrade link.

Link Your CM/ECF Filing Account to Your Upgraded PACER Account

3. After the court moves to NextGen CM/ECF, you must link your CM/ECF filing credentials (login and password) to your upgraded PACER account. You must know both sets of credentials to link the accounts.

  • 1.  Go to the NextGen CM/ECF website of the court in which you are registered to e-file. Look up the court’s website using the Court CM/ECF Lookup.
     
  • 2.  Click the CM/ECF Document Filing System link. At the login screen, log in with your upgraded PACER account credentials.  Click the Utilities menu.
     
  • 3.  Click Link a CM/ECF account to my PACER account.
     
  • 4.  Enter your CM/ECF login and password.
     
  • 5.  You will be prompted to confirm the CM/ECF account being linked to the PACER account to ensure you are not connecting the wrong accounts.

If successful, you will be sent to the welcome screen for that court. If the filing menu options do not appear, refresh your browser (F5) and/or clear your cookies, cache, and history.

If unsuccessful, please try again. To reset your CM/ECF password, or obtain your CM/ECF username, contact the IT Helpdesk at helpdesk@canb.uscourts.gov

CM/ECF and NextGen CM/ECF are case management systems implemented in all bankruptcy, district and appellate courts.

The case management systems allow courts to accept filings and provide access to filed documents over the Internet.

Features:

- 24-hour access to case file documents over the Internet

- Ability to file pleadings electronically with the court

- Automatic email notice of case activity

- Ability to download and print documents directly from the court system

- Concurrent access to case files by multiple parties

- Savings in time and expenditures for attorneys

- Expanded search and reporting capabilities

- Easy to use -- based on Standard Internet browser

- No waiting in line or unavailable files at the courthouse


Benefits:

- Replaces aging electronic docketing and case management systems in all federal courts

- Is being used enthusiastically by attorneys in pilot courts nationwide

- No delays or added expenses associated with mail or courier services

- Speeds delivery and allows easier tracking of case activity

- Reduces physical storage space needs and document processing times

- Low start-up costs -- uses Internet standard software and established "PDF" format

- Secure and reliable

Please click the link to accesss our case management system (NextGen CM/ECF).

 

Hardware Minimum Requirements

 

Operation speed 100 megahertz

minimum

Memory 256 MB RAM

minimum

1 gigabyte of free hard disk space to be used for storage

minimum

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

ex. Verizon, Comcast,

Internet Connection

Cable modem, DSL, or other.

Scanning or Imaging Device

To be used for scanning of documents that need to be imaged and sent to the court.

Software Requirements

 

   

Operating system that supports a web browser. (compatible systems include Windows, Linux, Macintosh and others).

Web Browser (compatible):

  • Firefox
  • Google Chrome
  • Microsoft Edge

The following have not been tested with CM/ECF but appear to be compatible:

  • Safari
  • Opera

It is recommended that a verified web browser, that is proven compatible with CM/ECF, be used.

Any PDF compatible windows-based word processor such as recent versions of WordPerfect and Microsoft Word.
Adobe Acrobat - to be used for conversion of scanned documents to Portable Document Format (PDF) and for viewing PDF documents.

Note: The Court's IT help desk is available to address questions regarding Hardware and Software requirements. The IT help desk can be reached at (415) 268-2349.

 

CM/ECF is the Federal Judiciary's Case Management and Electronic Case Filing System. The system gives authorized users, such as attorneys and creditors, the ability to file electronically with the court.

NextGen CM/ECF has enhanced CM/ECF in that public filers now have a single login and password for e-filing and for PACER access. Eventually all Federal Courts will convert to NextGen CM/ECF.

The requirements for access to NextGen CM/ECF courts are different than for CM/ECF courts. We are a NextGen CM/ECF Court.

To become a filing user with us, you must have a PACER account. You can register for a new PACER account by using PACER’s Registration Wizard. All existing PACER accounts must ensure they are upgraded to the latest version (the login name is more than 6 characters).

To upgrade a PACER account you must do the following:

1. Go to http://www.pacer.gov

2. Click My Account and Billing, then Manage My Account Login. When prompted, enter your PACER username and password.

3. Your account type may be listed as Legacy PACER Account. To upgrade, click the Upgrade link.

4. You will be directed to the Upgrade PACER Account page. Verify your personal information and update/enter all required information in each tab (Person, Address, and Security).

• Person Tab: Verify the information listed in the required fields and update, if necessary. Enter your date of birth, and then from the User Type list, select a user type, if one was not previously selected. Select the user type that best describes the individual or organization associated with this account. The user type information is used for statistical purposes. Click Next.

• Address Tab: Verify and/or update the address information listed. From the County list, select your county. Click Next.

• Security Tab: Create a new username, password, and security questions. Click Submit.

5. Your PACER account is now upgraded. A dialog box displays confirming the upgrade was successful. NOTE: You are no longer able to use your old PACER username and password.

For an Existing CM/ECF User, Link your CM/ECF Account with you PACER Account

  1. Go to our CM/ECF login at https://ecf.canb.uscourts.gov, click on the link for the Northern District of California– Document Filing System (NextGen CM/ECF ver. 1.5.3)
     
  2. At the login screen, log in with your PACER account credentials.  
     
  3. Click the “Utilities” menu
     
  4. Click “Link a CM/ECF account to my PACER account”
     
  5. Enter your CM/ECF login and password
     
  6. You will be prompted to confirm the CM/ECF account being linked to the PACER account to ensure you are linking the correct accounts  

After successfully logging into the system, you will be sent to the welcome screen for the court. If the filing menus Bankruptcy and Adversary do not appear, try the following:  

  • Refresh your browser (F5)    
  • Clear your browser cache  (Ctrl+Shift+Delete) or for Safari (⌥Opt+ ⌘Cmd+ E)  
  • Log out, close the browser, open the browser, and log back in.

The Clerk's Office has public access computers available to view case information free of charge.

The NextGen CM/ECF system is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

The NextGen 1.6 upgrade will include a new feature to check all documents that are uploaded to the system.

Filer’s should not submit PDFs that contain the following content will be rejected:

•    Contains JavaScript
•    Are encrypted or password-protected
•    Contains Scripts that can launch an external application
•    Contains internal attachments
•    Contains audio and video content
•    Contains hyperlinks to external websites
•    Does not comply with PDF format standards

 

To contact us with your questions or concerns:

Help Desk Contacts

NextGen CM/ECF: (888) 821-7606
IT Help Desk: (415) 268-2349
Case Management Help Desk: (888) 821-7606

Email Information
For questions or information related to training, please email us at ecf_training@canb.uscourts.gov

For questions or information related to NextGen CM/ECF, please email us at helpdesk@canb.uscourts.gov