eFiling across the state
Each of California’s 58 counties choose if and when to implement electronic court filing for each of their case types.
View a list of all California eFiling counties>>
eFilings are deemed complete on the date and time the electronic filing is received by the court’s system. Filings completed before midnight are considered filed on that business day. Filings submitted after midnight are considered filed the following court day.
Document requirements
California Rule of Court 8.74 establishes rules for formatting documents that are filed electronically where allowed or required by local county rule.
The requirements for eFiled documents are:
- Documents must be submitted as PDFs
- Documents must be text searchable
- File size must be within individual court limits
- Sensitive information must be redacted from all filings, including minors’ names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and bank or credit card numbers
- Metadata must be removed
- Electronic exhibits must be bookmarked
Many of the general formatting rules for traditional paper filing are also applicable to eFiled documents, such as paper size, margins, and page numbering
Electronic signatures
California Rule of Court 2.257
(b) Documents signed under penalty of perjury…
May contain a handwritten signature or an electronic signature indicator (“/s/”, “s/”, or “/s/ [NAME]”)
(c) Documents not signed under penalty of perjury
…Deemed signed by the person who eFiled it. When requiring the signature of opposing parties or persons not the filer, other persons must have signed the document before the filing date.
(d) Digital signature
“A party or other person is not required to use a digital signature on an electronically filed document.”
Best practice
- While leaving the signature line blank is an option, it is recommended to add “/s/ [name of signee]” to the signature line.
- This helps the clerks know that you are aware of the rules and confirms that you have followed the prior procedures for signing before filing.
Some Superior Courts have more specific requirements for signatures on eFiled documents. Please check with your local court to confirm.
Courtesy copies
Each court and judge will have different rules around if a printed courtesy copy is required. Many filers choose to provide the judge with separately tabbed exhibits to assist in the reviewing before and during the hearing, even when not required.
Rejected documents
After the clerk reviews the filing, you will receive a notification that your filing has either been processed successfully or rejected, along with the reason why.
Exceptions to eFiling
Each county Superior Court determines specific exceptions to any mandatory eFiling requirements, including at the filer, the case type, and the document level.
The state outlines these exceptions:
- Self-represented litigants may eFile but are not required to
- When submitting electronic documents consisting of more than 10 files
- When electronically filing the document would cause undue hardship
- If the clerk is not able to accept and retain electronic filings or has not had electronic filing procedures approved
- If the court determines that justice so requires
Check with each county for specific exceptions and exemptions to eFiling.
Electronic service
California Rule of Court 2.251
(a) Authorization for electronic service
When a document may be served by mail, express mail, overnight delivery, or fax transmission, the document may be served electronically under Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6.
(b) Electronic service by express consent
Consent is obtained by serving a notice on all parties, filing consent to eService forms, or confirming that a party has consented through the terms of service of an eFiling service provider.
(c) Electronic service required by local rule or court order
eService through InfoTrack is conducted via electronic notification.
It is the responsibility of the serving party to confirm that the email address is correct before eServing.
Court fees, charges, and billing
Court fees
InfoTrack disburses all court fees and convenience fees on behalf of filers. California filing fees vary by county.
Superior Court of California statewide Civil fee schedule>>
Service charges
You may see several court fees appear on the review screen of your order or later in your invoice. These fees are applied for different reasons and based on different factors.
Here is a breakdown of the fees you may be charged, why they are being applied, and by which entity.
| Court fee | About |
|
Initial filing fee |
These are the fees that must be paid when the complaint or other first paper is filed, the cost to initiate a case. |
|
Other filing fees |
Subsequent filings submitted later in the lifecycle of a case may also incur fees. |
|
Other court fees |
Courts may impose fees for a wide range of other court-related costs, from the hiring of a court-provided court reporter to the copying of official records. |
| Court Technology / Court Transaction / EFM Fee | This is the fee charged by the court's technology vendor--meaning the company that provides the court's back-end eFiling system with which One Legal connects. (i.e. eFile CA) |
| Cost recovery fee | This is an additional court fee intended to help the court cover the cost of running the eFiling system. |
| Court / EFM-imposed credit card convenience fee | These are fees charged by the court or its EFM when court fees are paid by credit card.* |
| eCheck fee | If a court allows for court fees to be paid by electronic check, $0.25 is charged for the processing of that eCheck.* |
*Note: InfoTrack will pay court fees on your behalf via eCheck in order to incur the lowest fee.
Payment and billing details
InfoTrack accepts all major credit cards, for which a 2.9% convenience fee will be applied.
Payments by ACH will not be charged convenience fees.
Learn more about payment and billing options>> (LINK)
State-specific rules to note
- Rule 2.251. Electronic service
- Rule 2.252. General rules on electronic filing of documents
- Rule 2.253. Permissive electronic filing, mandatory electronic filing, and electronic filing by court order
- Rule 2.257. Electronic signatures
- Rule 8.74. Document formatting requirements