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NextGen CM/ECF

The First Circuit Court of Appeals will upgrade its current (i.e. legacy) CM/ECF system to the next generation of CM/ECF (NextGen) on Monday, August 21, 2017. In order to implement the upgrade, the court's CM/ECF system will be unavailable from Friday, August 18, 2017, at 5:00 p.m. EST until Monday, August 21, 2017, at 8:00 a.m. EST.

Highlights of the NextGen system include:

  • Java is no longer required to run appellate CM/ECF.
  • NextGen is compatible with most commonly used browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer and Safari.
  • You will use the same account for both electronic filing and PACER access.
  • Your username and password will be the same in all bankruptcy, district and appellate courts that have upgraded to NextGen.
  • The interface will be the same in all bankruptcy, district and appellate courts that have upgraded to NextGen.
  • The interface has been enhanced. See a preview.

In the legacy system, users are required to have their own CM/ECF account but can share a PACER account with others in their office. In the NextGen system, all e-filers must have their own PACER account. Law firms and other organizations can set up a PACER Administrative Account (PAA) to manage all their user accounts and have central billing for PACER access fees.

If you have a legacy CM/ECF account in this court, you will have to complete a two step process in order to file documents in the NextGen system. The first step is to upgrade your PACER account and the second step is to link your legacy CM/ECF account to your upgraded PACER account.

Step 1: Upgrade Your PACER Account

This step should be completed at your earliest convenience. If you wait until the week of August 21st, and experience difficulty, you may encounter longer than average wait times when you call the PACER Service Center for help. Before proceeding, it is important to ascertain whether you have been using an individual or shared PACER account to view documents. The most common mistake associated with this step occurs when someone upgrades a shared PACER account, believing it was their individual account. Sole practitioners have individual PACER accounts, while employees at larger firms and other organizations typically use a shared PACER account.

If you have been using a shared PACER account to view documents, you will need to register for a new PACER account. Your new account will be an upgraded PACER account.

If you have been using an individual PACER account to view documents, login to Manage My Account in PACER. If you have forgotten your username and/or password, there are links available on the login page for retrieving your credentials. Once you have successfully logged in, the type of account you have will be listed in the Account Type field. If you already have an upgraded PACER account, no further action is required until after the court upgrades to NextGen. If you have a legacy PACER account, click the Upgrade link to begin the process of upgrading your account.

If you are a CJA attorney with two PACER accounts, follow the instructions for Step 1 using your regular PACER account, not your PACER-exempt account. Once you have upgraded your PACER account, contact the PACER Service Center at pacer@psc.uscourts.gov and request to have your CJA privileges added to your upgraded account. Your email should include the following information:

  1. Your name and the district or circuit in which you have been appointed to the CJA panel.
  2. The username and account number for your upgraded PACER account. You can find this information by logging in to Manage My Account in PACER.
  3. 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. NOTE: 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 Legacy CM/ECF Account to Your Upgraded PACER Account

This step cannot be completed until after the court has upgraded to NextGen. If you are linking accounts for someone else, be sure you know whose accounts you are linking because you will not be able to undo this process once you click Submit. The most common mistake associated with this step occurs when someone opts to register for a new account, instead of linking to their legacy account. Please link your legacy account to your upgraded PACER Account. Duplicate registrations will not be approved.

  1. Make sure you are completely logged out of PACER and close your browser.
  2. Open a new browser and go to the CM/ECF login screen for this court.
  3. Login using your upgraded PACER account credentials.
  4. Click Link My Filer Account to My PACER Account.
  5. 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.
  6. 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 login to file and/or view case information. If the linking process failed, make sure your username is all lowercase and try again.

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