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Tips for Young Lawyers

Tips for E-filing Under the New Rules
By: Chris Daniel, Harris County District Clerk

Effective January 1 of this year, the Supreme Court of Texas mandated electronic filing in Texas’s largest counties—Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, Travis, El Paso, Denton, and Hidalgo. That order restricts the clerks in those counties from accepting paper filings from anyone other than pro se filers. Effective on July 1, that mandate will expand to all counties with a population of more than 200,000: Collin, Fort Bend, Cameron, Nueces, Montgomery, Galveston, Jefferson, Williamson, Lubbock, Brazoria, Bell, and McLennan. Other courts will follow until e-filing is mandated throughout Texas in 2016.

You can find more information generally at www.efiletexas.gov. That site contains a list of approved electronic-filing service providers (EFSPs) through which you can e-file. The list includes Efile.TXCourts.gov, the state-provided EFSP that charges no fees for its e-filing services.

Here are some tips to help you comply with the new rules and to deal with some common problems.

Requirements

• Documents must be in text-searchable PDF format on an 8.5" x 11" page with the contents appropriately rotated.
• A scanned document must be made text-searchable using optical-character-recognition software (OCR), which you may have to purchase. Some scanners and scanning software have that capability. All scanned documents must have a text resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi) for black-and white-documents. Any documents with color images must have a minimum resolution of 600 dpi.
• Documents must include the filer’s contact information in the signature block, including name, address, phone number, and email address.
• Documents may not contain any security or feature restrictions, including password protection or encryption, and may not contain embedded multi-media video, audio, or programming.
• Document file names should contain only alphanumeric characters that are part of the Latin1_General character set. No special characters are allowed. The filename should be no longer than 50 characters. Make sure that are the actual document title is submitted on the document.
• You can file multiple documents pertaining to a single filing or case number at the same time (“in the same envelope”). Make sure the documents are separated within the filing. For example, the lead document would be separate from the attachments, or pleadings would be separate from exhibits.
• An e-filed document must not contain a virus or malware. The e-filing of a document constitutes a certification by the e-filer that the document has been checked for viruses and malware.
• Filers who are uncomfortable with using more robust word processing and document preparation functionality are encouraged to shop around for an EFSP. Several offer document-management and preparation services.

Reasons for potential rejection

Most clerk’s offices will return documents that do not meet the requirements with a notification of the error so the document can be corrected and re-filed. Although clerk’s offices may use different terminology, the types of errors that will require you to refile are generally consistent. Here are our Harris County District Clerk’s office’s pre-determined reasons for returning an e-filed document:

• File sealed under TRCP 76a, with order on file: Sealed documents must be brought to the office for processing.
• No attorney signature: Follow the instructions on Supreme Court order. There needs to be some type of signature as mandated.
• Incorrect filing code: Some filing codes will limit your options if you enter the wrong one and will not charge properly. For example, if you enter a case code of “Divorce” and it should be “Divorce with Children,” the fees are different. If we cannot make the change before we accept the document, it will be returned for correction.
• Incorrect agency or jurisdiction: Though some counties have a unified filing system, Harris County does not. Both the Harris County District Clerk and Harris County Clerk are involved in e-filing, but we cannot accept each other’s filings. Check to make sure that you are filing with the correct clerk’s office. If you file documents with us which should be filed with Harris County Clerk, they will be returned for proper filing. Similarly, if you file them in the wrong county, they will be returned for proper filing.
• Insufficient payment: If the charge card will not go through due to insufficient payment, the filing will be returned for proper payment.
• Missing necessary information.
• Document unreadable or illegible.
• Rejections requested by filing party: You may accidentally file a document twice or file an earlier draft of your document instead of the final version. You can call ourt office to ask that we reject that filing. Make sure you give your name when you request something be rejected and it will be included in the rejection notification.
• Incorrect case number.
• Documents not separate: If an envelope is submitted with all contents joined as one large document (for example, an motion for leave to amend a petition with attachments of the amended petition, exhibits, a proposed order, cover letter to the clerk, and a request for service), it will be returned so the documents can be refiled in the same envelope as separate documents.

Handling e-filing problems

• My case isn’t on the list: Check to be sure you are using the correct case number. If you have an existing case number and it does not come up when you search for it, contact the appropriate clerk’s office. Cases are sometimes unavailable for e-filing because they have not been unsealed or because the case has been closed due to consolidation with another case.
• The system won’t accept my document/I can’t download a document: If you have problems with e-filing due to technical issues with the interface, contact your EFSP. Similarly, if you have problems downloading documents that have been filed or served upon you, or if you have problems accessing an e-filing account, contact your EFSP. If you are using the state-provided EFSP, contact their support at (855) 839-3453.
• Duplicate filings: It is not the clerk’s responsibility to determine if a filing is a duplicate or if there is some reason it needed to be filed twice. Unless you contact the clerk’s office before the filing is accepted to request the filing be cancelled, it will go into the system. If there is a cost associated with filing the document, refunds are not guaranteed.

Chris Daniel is a lawyer in Houston. He serves as the Harris County District Clerk.