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Notice to CJA Panel Attorneys Regarding NextGen CM/ECF

Thursday, July 13, 2017

The First Circuit Court of Appeals is upgrading its current (legacy) CM/ECF system to the next generation of CM/ECF (NextGen) on Monday, August 21, 2017. In the NextGen system, your ECF account will be combined with your PACER account to create a single account which you will use to view and file documents in CJA and non-CJA cases.

Notice of the upgrade was recently sent to all attorneys with pending cases in this court, so some of you may already be aware of what's coming. Notification has also been posted on our website, where you can find complete information. There is a two step process that needs to be completed on your end. The first step should be completed at your earliest convenience. The second step cannot be completed until after the court upgrades to NextGen on August 21, 2017.

Step 1: Upgrade Your Non-Exempt PACER Account

Part A. Before you can begin, you have to determine whether your non-exempt PACER account is an individual or shared account. If there are other e-filers in your office who use the same PACER account, it is a shared account. If you are the only e-filer in your office who uses your non-exempt account, it is an individual account.

  • If your non-exempt PACER account is a shared account, you have to register for a new PACER account. Your new account will be an upgraded account.
  • If your non-exempt PACER account is an individual account, log in to Manage My Account in PACER. The type of account you have will be listed in the Account Type field. If you already have an upgraded PACER account, proceed to Part B. If you have a legacy PACER account, click the Upgrade link to begin the process of upgrading your account.

Part B. Once you have an upgraded, individual, non-exempt PACER account, contact the PACER Service Center at pacer@psc.uscourts.gov and request to have your CJA privileges added to this account. Your email should include the following information:

  • Your name and the district or circuit in which you have been appointed to the CJA Panel.
  • The username and account number for your upgraded PACER account. You can find this information by logging in to Manage My Account in PACER.
  • The username and account number for your PACER-exempt account. You can find this information by logging in to Manage My Account in PACER.

The PACER Service Center will send you an email with instructions on how to proceed. Your separate PACER-exempt account will be canceled once CJA privileges have been added to your upgraded PACER account, as you will now be able to switch between exempt and non-exempt status using your upgraded PACER account.

Step 2: Link Your Appellate ECF Account to Your Upgraded PACER Account

This step cannot be completed until after the court upgrades to NextGen on August 21, 2017.

  • Make sure you are completely logged out of PACER and close your browser.
  • Open a new browser and go to the CM/ECF login screen for this court.
  • Log in using your upgraded PACER account credentials.
  • Click Link My Filer Account to My PACER Account.
  • Enter your legacy CM/ECF credentials and click Submit. If you have forgotten your legacy credentials, go to www.pacer.gov and select the Help option for resetting your legacy appellate filer password.
  • If the linking process was successful, you will see the new NextGen landing page. From this point forward, use your upgraded PACER account credentials to log in to file and/or view case information. If the linking process failed, make sure your username is all lowercase and try again.

If you have any questions, please refer to the following resources, or call the PACER Service Center at (800) 676-6856.