United States District Court’s New Filing Requirements

The United States District Court’s Southern District of Florida’s new filing requirements for Civil Sealed and Ex Parte, Emergencies, Pro Hac Vice Motions, and Arrests in Rem are effective as of December 1, 2015. These new filing requirements will be extremely helpful. [The complete Local Rules revisions can be found at http://www.flsd.uscourts.&ov /?pa&e id=12074.] The most important changes involve the filing of civil sealed and civil ex parte documents. Starting December 1, 2015, attorneys must file civil sealed and civil ex parte documents electronically in CM/ECF using newly created events designed specifically for sealed and ex parte matters. It is critical that the proper procedures are followed to insure these matters are not inadvertently made accessible to the public. Conventional filing will still be required for civil sealed documents if the entire civil case is sealed, as well as for all criminal sealed and criminal ex parte documents. Also as of December 1, 2015, electronic filing will be expanded to include emergency matters, motions to appear pro hac vice, and motions for the issuance of a warrant of arrest in rem. Please take special note that criminal emergencies only may be filed electronically as long as the emergency is not also sealed or ex parte. Sealed or ex parte emergencies in criminal cases must still be filed conventionally. Brief videos and procedural information regarding these changes can be found on the Court’s website (http://www.flsd.uscourts.&ov /?pa&e id=54).